CSUSB alumna and author, Keeonna Harris, discusses her memoir at March 12 Conversations on Race and Policing

Author Keeona Harris, who earned her sociology degree at Cal State San Bernardino, returns virtually to her alma mater to discuss her latest book, “Mainline Mama: A Memoir,” at the next Conversations on Race and Policing.

The program, free and open to the public and with support from CSUSB’s Project Rebound, will take place at noon Wednesday, March 12, on Zoom at https://tinyurl.com/csusb-race-and-policing-2025. 

According to the publisher’s website, “In this triumphant memoir, Keeonna recalls her challenging journey as a mainline mama, from learning to overcome the exhausting difficulties of navigating the carceral system in the United States to transforming herself into an advocate for women like her — the predominantly Black and Brown women left behind to pick up the pieces of their families and fractured lives.”

Now living in Seattle, Harris is the recipient of several honors for her writing, including a 2018–2019 PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship, a 2021 Tin House Summer Residency, a 2023 Baldwin For The Arts Residency, and a 2023 Hedgebrook Fellowship as the 2023 Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence. She is a 2024 Haymarket Writing Freedom Fellow and a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health.

She was the subject of a Jan. 22 Los Angeles Times article, “‘You’re in a relationship with the prison too’: Keeonna Harris on raising children with her incarcerated husband.”

The Conversations on Race and Policing program began after the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, and its aftermath. Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer, triggering extensive protests, demands for systemic reform in policing, and profound dialogues on race and racism. This also led to the inception of Cal State San Bernardino’s Conversations on Race and Policing, abbreviated as CoRP.

In subsequent court cases, three other former Minneapolis police officers implicated in Floyd’s death were given prison sentences.

The series has featured scholars, journalists, law enforcement officers, lawyers, activists, artists, educators, administrators and others from throughout the nation who shared their experience and expertise on issues related to race and policing.

More than 110 forums have taken place since, and video recordings of the sessions are posted online on the Conversations on Race and Policing Lecture Series Archive. 

Upcoming programs, which take place at noon on Wednesdays (unless otherwise noted) include:

• March 13 (Thursday), Cat Brooks, activist, performer, organizer, and radio host of KPFK’s “Law & Disorder.”
• March 19, Eric Avila, UCLA professor of history, who studies the intersections of racial identity, urban space, and cultural representation in twentieth century America.
• March 26, Madeline Stenersen, St. Louis University assistant professor of psychology, and Cassandra Young, University of Denver assistant professor of gender and women’s studies.
• April 9, film screening of “Breaking Barriers,” with Danny Murillo, co-founder of the Berkeley Underground Scholars, which creates a pathway for incarcerated, formerly incarcerated and system impacted individuals into higher education.
• April 23, Simon Balto, University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor of history, author of “Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power.”
• April 30, Alison Phipps, Newcastle University, United Kingdom, professor of sociology, on “Sexual Violence as a Pretext for Disposal: Rape, Race and Carcerality.”

The series organizers currently include CSUSB faculty, staff, alumni, and community members, as well as collaborators from other institutions: Amber Broaden (CSUSB and CSU Dominguez Hills, psychology), Stan Futch (president, Westside Action Group), German (Brennan Center for Justice), Robie Madrigal (Pfau Library), Jeremy Murray (CSUSB History), Matt Patino (Crafton Hills College adjunct faculty and CSUSB alumnus), and Mary Texeira (CSUSB sociology).

For more information, contact Madrigal at rmadriga@csusb.edu or Murray at jmurray@csusb.edu.

Also visit the Conversations on Race and Policing webpage.