Words Matter - Dr. Sonja Lanehart

"Every language has value. It has something to offer. People have value. People have something to offer," says Dr. Sonja Lanehart, Professor of Linguistics. Dr Lanehart focuses her scholarship on language and education in African American communities. She examines identity, sociolinguistics, and African American education from Black feminist and Critical Race Theory perspectives. Dr. Lanehart is on the advisory board for the Oxford Dictionary of African-American English and has authored several books. She tries to guide the students in her classes to understand that language and words can construct barriers or take them down.