Makiah Lyons

The Project

Makiah’s project aims to eliminate school discipline policies and practices that disproportionately harm girls of color in Georgia and other southern states through action research, community education, direct advocacy, and policy advocacy.

Racial and gender biases influence how school discipline policies are drafted and implemented nationally. Southern states, like Georgia, are responsible for staggering rates of exclusionary discipline of Black students. As a result, many girls of color—particularly Black girls—are overdisciplined in southern schools and punished pursuant to vague and often sweeping policies in decisions that go unchallenged. These disparities have immediate and lasting negative consequences for girls of color, their families, and their communities.

Makiah grew up as a deaf Black girl in the South and belongs to a family of proud and passionate educators. Makiah’s family and her time as a teacher inspires her to fight for education access and justice.

Fellowship Plans

During her Fellowship, Makiah will develop a legal participatory action research project to collect the stories and experiences of girls of color in Georgia schools and work within impacted communities to generate solutions. She will engage in direct advocacy on behalf of students who are harmed by harsh or punitive disciplinary decisions. Additionally, she will develop know-your-rights workshops for girls of color and their families as well as trainings and toolkits for educators and advocates.