Stacey Patton

Last updated

Stacey Patton
Born
United States
Occupation(s)Journalist, author, professor
Notable work That Mean Old Yesterday

Stacey Patton is an American journalist, writer, author, speaker, commentator and college professor. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Contents

Early life

Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Patton ran away from home and was placed in an adoptive home in Trenton, New Jersey. [10] Patton was awarded a scholarship to attend the Lawrenceville School, where she earned honors as a basketball player, and played for the NYU Violets women's basketball team. [11]

Career

Patton has written for The Baltimore Sun , Al Jazeera , BBC America, The New York Times , The Washington Post , [12] The Dallas Morning News , [13] NewsOne, [14] and The Root . [15]

She is also author of the book Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America. [16]

Patton, a former senior enterprise reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education , was previously a professor of multimedia journalism at Morgan State University's School of Global Journalism and Communication [17] and founder of the anti-child abuse movement Spare the Kids, Inc. [18] She is a research associate professor at Morgan State University and she teaches journalism at Howard University in Washington, D.C. [19] [20]

In 2012, Womanspace of Mercer County, New Jersey, a nonprofit organization that provides help for victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, awarded its annual Barbara Boggs Sigmund Award to Patton. [21] She has won reporting awards from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, National Association of Black Journalists, the Scripps Howard Foundation, National Education Writers Association, and she was the 2015 recipient of the Vernon Jarrett Medal for her reporting on race.[ citation needed ]

Also in 2012, Patton published an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education challenging scholars and students in the fields of Black/African-American studies to address the "gap" of discussing taboo subjects – such as "black sexual agency, pleasure and intimacy, or same-sex relationships" – within the aforementioned fields. [22] In 2017, the Black Studies Department at the University of Missouri dedicated its annual Black Studies Fall Conference to the discussions brought up in Patton's article. [23]

Patton is also the author of the memoir That Mean Old Yesterday , [24] [25] [26] was published by Simon & Schuster. [27]

Charlie Kirk controversy

Patton and other academics were attacked after being added to conservative activist Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA "Professor Watchlist," an internet database of professors thought to be pushing a leftist agenda in their classrooms. The watchlist included such public figures as Cornel West, Al Sharpton and author Angela Davis. [28]

Patton said she had been added to the watchlist in 2024 after she wrote material that angered the "MAGA faithful." [28]

According to Patton, it triggered weeks of abuse from "mostly white men" who filled her voicemail and email inbox with racial slurs and, according to Patton, used such terms as 'b***h,' 'c**t' and 'n****r.' [29] Patton claimed "they threatened all manner of violence" and overwhelmed Howard University with calls demanding Patton be fired. [28] [29]

Patton wrote in a social media post, "The flood was so relentless that the head of campus security reached out to offer me an escort, because they feared one of these keyboard soldiers might step out of his basement and come do me harm. And I am not unique." Patton added, "Kirk’s Watchlist has terrorized legions of professors across this country. Women, Black faculty, queer scholars, basically anyone who challenged white supremacy, gun culture, or Christian nationalism, suddenly found themselves targets of coordinated abuse. Some received death threats. Some had their jobs threatened. Some left academia entirely. Kirk sent the loud message to us: speak the truth and we will unleash the mob!" [28]

Charlie Kirk assassination

Charlie Kirk was assassinated after being shot fatally in the neck during an outdoor gun violence debate at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. [29]

Patton described Kirk as a "hateful racist" that normalized violence. [29] Patton went on to say on social media, "Charlie Kirk did not deserve what happened to him, but nor did his victims deserve the hell that he unleashed on them." [30]

Following Kirk's assassination, Patton wrote a September 11, 2025 Substack column entitled, "Charlie Kirk Called Gun Deaths the Price of Freedom. And Then He Paid It." [31]

References

  1. ↑ "Simon & Schuster Speakers". Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Washington Post Writer Who Blasted Amy Schumer's 'Racist' Jokes Never Saw Her Perform". July 10, 2015. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  3. ↑ "WaPo Op-Ed: Amy Schumer 'Inspired' Charleston Shooter". July 7, 2015. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  4. ↑ "7 Black Women Writers to Follow Online in 2015". Archived from the original on December 6, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Take Two Seats: What's Really Behind Jewish Anger Over Selma (Guest Commentary by Stacey Patton)". February 7, 2015. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Loving White People Won't Fix Racism". Dame Magazine. March 23, 2015. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Dr. Stacey Patton". Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  8. ↑ "The Nation". Archived from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  9. ↑ "To Spank Or Not To Spank?: Moms Discuss Discipline". NPR . Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  10. ↑ Torsiello, Erica. "The 18th Annual Barbara Boggs Sigmund Award Event Honoring Dr. Stacey Patton", Younity, press release dated February 3, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2025. "Dr. Stacey Patton is a distinguished author, journalist, academic, and advocate for adoptees and children who have been abused or neglected. Born in Montclair, NJ, she spent the first five years of her childhood in foster care before being placed with abusive adoptive parents in Trenton, NJ."
  11. ↑ Lee, Felicia R. "Coping; Living With Pain After Justice Delayed", The New York Times , December 3, 2000. Accessed October 13, 2025. "The tale of Ms. Patton, an honor student and a former guard on the N.Y.U. women's basketball team, will be familiar to some readers of this column.... Ms. Patton won all-state honors in basketball during her senior year at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey."
  12. ↑ "The Washington Post". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on November 15, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  13. ↑ "The Dallas Morning News". Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ NewsOne
  15. ↑ "The Root". Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  16. ↑ Snowden, Sylvia (January 19, 2017). "Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America". Ebony. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  17. ↑ "As Rachel Dolezal Breaks Silence, a Roundtable Discussion on Race, Appropriation and Identity". Democracy Now!. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Spare the Kids". sparethekids.com. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Stacey Patton". Morgan State University.
  20. ↑ "Stacey Patton". Howard University.
  21. ↑ Times, Carmen Cusido/The (January 24, 2012). "Womanspace honors Dr. Stacey Patton – author, journalist and advocate". nj. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Who's Afraid of Black Sexuality?". The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 3, 2012. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  23. ↑ "2017 Black Studies Fall Conference Call for Proposals | Black Studies Program". blackstudies.missouri.edu. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  24. ↑ "THAT MEAN OLD YESTERDAY | Kirkus Reviews". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2015– via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  25. ↑ "Book Review of That Mean Old Yesterday: A Memoir by Stacey Patton". African American Literature Book Club. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Publishers Weekly". Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  27. ↑ Patton, Stacey (September 16, 2008). That Mean Old Yesterday. Washington Square Press. ISBN   9780743293112. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022– via www.simonandschuster.com.
  28. 1 2 3 4 Wicker, Kay (September 15, 2025). "Stacey Patton, Black leaders recall threats after landing on Turning Point's 'Professor Watchlist'". Yahoo.
  29. 1 2 3 4 PinkNews Reporter (September 12, 2025). "Journalist put on Charlie Kirk's 'hit list' speaks out about vile abuse: 'He normalised violence'". PinkNews .
  30. ↑ Occupy Democrats (September 11, 2025). "BREAKING". Twitter.
  31. ↑ Zunes, Stephen (September 12, 2025). "Charlie Kirk Called Gun Deaths the Price of Freedom. And Then He Paid It". Twitter.
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