You could never give up that Purple Pride, not even for an interesting speaker, but you can secretly admire her work late at night when no one is looking. She’s best known for Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side, which details how Chicago Public Schools are seen from the inside and outside, and Electric Arches, which is an exploration of growing up and living as a Black female through poetry, visual art and narrative prose.