Author Austin Channing Brown C鈥�06 (center)
Austin Channing Brown C鈥�06 was purposely given a masculine name at birth so future employers would assume she was a white man, her parents told her when she was seven.
In her new book, I鈥檓 Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Channing Brown explores the realities of growing up black in a white world.
The book, which shot to the top 20 on Amazon鈥檚 Best Sellers list within weeks of its release, even caught the attention of Chelsea Clinton who tweeted in May: 鈥淛ust ordered @austinchannings #imstillhere and can鈥檛 wait to read it.鈥�
A business management major at North Park, Channing Brown also has a master鈥檚 degree in social justice from Marygrove College in Detroit, Michigan.
During a recent interview with WTTW鈥檚 Chicago Tonight, Brown spoke about the message she hopes her book sends.
鈥淚 know what it is to be a black girl trying to navigate spaces that are predominantly white,鈥� Channing Brown said. 鈥淚 would be heartbroken if black women picked up this book and didn鈥檛 feel seen and heard, if they didn鈥檛 feel it was truthful, if they didn鈥檛 read it and think, 鈥榊up, I鈥檝e been in that situation.鈥欌��