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Independent Women’s Forum is pleased to announce that Denisha Allen, Senior Fellow at the American Federation for Children and founder of Black Minds Matter, is the latest entry in our popular series of Champion Women profiles ([link removed]) .

Allen founded Black Minds Matter ([link removed]) in response to the Black Lives Matter-sponsored 2020 riots. “Black Minds Matter is obviously a play on Black Lives Matter,” Allen tells IWF, “because if black life is going to matter, the black mind must matter equally. You can’t divorce one from the other. If you’re going to represent people, you need to represent what they actually want.

“I don’t believe Black Lives Matters is supporting what black parents want in education,” she continues. “That’s concerning. It would be similar to the Independent Women’s Forum saying that we’re not going to support something the women who are our constituents want. And that’s how I feel about BLM.” Black Minds Matter is part of the American Federation for Children.

The former school choice liaison in then-Secretary Betsy DeVos’ Department of Education, Denisha is herself an advertisement for the power of school choice. She is the daughter of an unmarried, teen-aged mother, and she failed third grade—not once but twice. Sometimes she went to school in her pajamas because she just didn’t care. Denisha’s unruly relatives were well-known, and teachers often dismissed Denisha because of this.

In the sixth grade, Denisha experienced stability for the first time in her life. She went to live with her godmother and they moved into Habitat for Humanity housing. Her godmother, a beloved member of her community, also applied for a Step Up for Students Scholarship, so that Denisha could enroll in Esprit de Corps Center for Learning, a small, private school in Jacksonville, Florida.

“I went from making Ds and Fs to making As and Bs the first nine weeks and becoming the first in my family to graduate from high school, from undergrad, and I went on to earn my master’s degree. And that’s the power of school choice. I take that message with me everywhere.” Allen first met future Secretary DeVos when the Florida School Boards Association and the state’s teachers’ unions had filed suit to put an end to the very scholarship program that Denisha credits with putting her life on a new and productive path. Denisha wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.

We know you will enjoy meeting this young woman who has overcome obstacles with grace and cheer.
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Sincerely,

Charlotte Hays
Cultural Director
Independent Women's Forum
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