BLACK GIRLS FILM CAMP PREMIERE WEEKEND: FIRE STORIES SERIES

As part of Black Girls Film Camp’s Premiere Weekend, the Fire Stories Series is a free signature author series hosted in partnership with the Harvey B. Gantt Center to curate powerful conversations with visionary Black women storytellers and narrative change agents.

On Friday, June 26, we are honored to feature two extraordinary voices:

🔥 5:30 – 6:30 PM | A Conversation with Author and TV Writer Angela Nissel
Join Emmy-nominated TV writer, producer, and author Angela Nissel for a heartfelt and humorous discussion of her new memoir, Good Grief: Pass the Bread, Mom Is Dead. Through wit, vulnerability, and cultural insight, Angela explores grief, family, and healing and invites audiences into an intimate journey that reminds us of the power of storytelling to hold both pain and joy at once.

🔥 7:00 – 8:30 PM | An Evening with Kimberlé Crenshaw
We are deeply honored to welcome renowned legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw for a dynamic conversation centered on her new book Backtalker. Known for shaping how we understand identity, power, and justice, Crenshaw’s work continues to influence generations of scholars, activists, and storytellers. This conversation will explore the power of speaking truth to systems and the role of narrative in advancing social change.

About Kimberlé Crenshaw

Kimberlé Crenshaw is the co-founder and Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum and the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia Law School. She is the Promise Institute Professor at UCLA School of Law and the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School.

She is widely known for developing the concepts of “intersectionality” and “Critical Race Theory,” as well as for co-founding the #SayHerName campaign. She is the host of the podcast Intersectionality Matters! and a columnist for The New Republic. She also moderates the widely impactful webinar series Under the Blacklight: The Intersectional Vulnerabilities that the Twin Pandemics Lay Bare. Crenshaw is one of the most cited scholars in legal history and has been recognized as Ms.magazine’s “No. 1 Most Inspiring Feminist,” one of Prospect Magazine’sten most important thinkers in the world, and included in Ebony’s “Power 100” issue.

Crenshaw is a sought-after speaker who conducts workshops and trainings around the globe. She is also the co-author of Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected. Her writing has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, National Black Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, and Southern California Law Review. She is a founding coordinator of the Critical Race Theory Workshop and co-editor of Critical Race Theory: Key Documents That Shaped the Movement. In 1991, she assisted on the legal team of Anita Hill during her testimony at the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Crenshaw writes regularly for The New Republic, The Nation, and Ms., and provides commentary for media outlets including MSNBC and NPR. In addition to frequent speaking engagements, training sessions, and town halls, she has facilitated workshops for human rights activists in Brazil and India, as well as for constitutional court judges in South Africa.

About Angela Nissel

Angela Nissel is a prolific television writer, producer, and author with over 20 years in the entertainment industry and more than 200 episodes of television produced. Her dynamic career spans some of the most recognizable and culturally impactful series in television, including Scrubs and Ginny & Georgia, where she most recently served as an executive producer. She has held senior producing roles across a wide range of acclaimed projects, including co-executive producer on Mixed-ish, co-executive producer on The Last O.G., and consulting producer on The Other Black Girl, Bigger, and The Jellies!. Her earlier work includes writing and producing for The Boondocks and 'Til Death, showcasing her range across comedy, satire, and culturally grounded storytelling.
Beyond television, Nissel is the author of the national bestselling memoir The Broke Diaries, which gained national attention on The Oprah Winfrey Show, solidifying her voice as a humorist and cultural commentator. Her new memoir, Good Grief: Pass the Bread, Mom Is Dead, has already been recognized with HarperCollins’ award for Best Book of 2026, further expanding her impact as a storyteller across mediums. Angela currently resides in Los Angeles, where she also serves as an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, mentoring and developing the next generation of writers and creators.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture