Stacey Patton
Birth placeUnited States
OccupationJournalist, author, professor
Notable worksThat Mean Old Yesterday

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

Early life

Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Patton ran away from home and was placed in an adoptive home in Trenton, New Jersey.[9] 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.[10]

Career

Patton has written for The Baltimore Sun, Al Jazeera, BBC America, The New York Times, The Washington Post,[11] The Dallas Morning News,[12] NewsOne,[13] and The Root.[14]

She is also author of the books Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America published by Beacon Press.[15], "Not My Cat," a children's book published by Simon & Schuster, and the forthcoming "Strung Up: How White America Learned to Lynch Black Children (Beacon Press).

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[16] and founder of the anti-child abuse movement Spare the Kids, Inc.[17] She is a research associate professor at Morgan State University and she teaches journalism at Howard University in Washington, D.C.[18][19]

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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

Patton is also the author of the memoir That Mean Old Yesterday,[23][24][25] was published by Simon & Schuster.[26]

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.[27]

Patton said she had been added to the watchlist in 2024 after she wrote material that angered the "MAGA faithful."[27]

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.'[28] Patton stated that "they threatened all manner of violence" and overwhelmed Howard University with calls demanding Patton be fired.[27][28]

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!"[27]

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.[28]

Patton described Kirk as a "hateful racist" that normalized violence.[28] 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."[29]

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."[30]

References

  1. ^ "Simon & Schuster Speakers". Archived March 6, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  2. ^ "Washington Post Writer Who Blasted Amy Schumer's 'Racist' Jokes Never Saw Her Perform". July 10, 2015. Archived February 26, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  3. ^ "WaPo Op-Ed: Amy Schumer 'Inspired' Charleston Shooter". July 7, 2015. Archived March 14, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  4. ^ "7 Black Women Writers to Follow Online in 2015". Archived December 6, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. 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 September 28, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  6. ^ "Loving White People Won't Fix Racism". Dame Magazine. March 23, 2015. Archived May 6, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  7. ^ "The Nation". Archived August 18, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  8. ^ "To Spank Or Not To Spank?: Moms Discuss Discipline". NPR. Archived July 15, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  9. ^ 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."
  10. ^ 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."
  11. ^ "The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Archived November 15, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  12. ^ "The Dallas Morning News". Archived November 5, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  13. ^ NewsOne
  14. ^ "The Root". Archived October 26, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  15. ^ Snowden, Sylvia (19 January 2017). "Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America". Ebony. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  16. ^ "As Rachel Dolezal Breaks Silence, a Roundtable Discussion on Race, Appropriation and Identity". Democracy Now!. Archived November 6, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  17. ^ "Spare the Kids". sparethekids.com. Archived May 17, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  18. ^ "Stacey Patton". Morgan State University
  19. ^ "Stacey Patton". Howard University
  20. ^ Times, Carmen Cusido/The (January 24, 2012). "Womanspace honors Dr. Stacey Patton – author, journalist and advocate". nj. Archived January 25, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  21. ^ "Who's Afraid of Black Sexuality?". The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 3, 2012. Archived January 19, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  22. ^ "2017 Black Studies Fall Conference Call for Proposals | Black Studies Program". blackstudies.missouri.edu. Archived January 19, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  23. ^ "THAT MEAN OLD YESTERDAY | Kirkus Reviews". Archived March 4, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 8, 2015. – via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  24. ^ "Book Review of That Mean Old Yesterday: A Memoir by Stacey Patton". African American Literature Book Club. Archived July 31, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  25. ^ "Publishers Weekly". Archived September 28, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  26. ^ Patton, Stacey (September 16, 2008). That Mean Old Yesterday. Washington Square Press. ISBN 9780743293112. Archived March 6, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2022. – via www.simonandschuster.com.
  27. ^ Wicker, Kay (September 15, 2025). "Stacey Patton, Black leaders recall threats after landing on Turning Point’s ‘Professor Watchlist’". Yahoo
  28. ^ PinkNews Reporter (September 12, 2025). "Journalist put on Charlie Kirk’s ‘hit list’ speaks out about vile abuse: ‘He normalised violence’". PinkNews
  29. ^ Occupy Democrats (September 11, 2025). "BREAKING". Twitter.
  30. ^ Zunes, Stephen (September 12, 2025). "Charlie Kirk Called Gun Deaths the Price of Freedom. And Then He Paid It.". Twitter