An Identity Erased: Lemn Sissay, Author of “My Name Is Why”

On this week’s episode we discuss the Biden administration’s possible crackdown on the use conversion therapy, Los Angeles’ new child welfare director, and a promising new legal clinic for mothers of newborns.

Guest Interview Details

Lemn Sissay, chancellor of the University of Manchester, was stolen from his mother by the U.K. care system, renamed Norman, and placed with a family he was told was his forever but who callously discarded him as an adolescent. The award-winning poet and writer joins us to talk about growing up in care, the social worker who made a difference in his childhood, and much more.

Reading Room

Stability Now! Getting Proactive About the Child Welfare Workforce Register for Free! https://imprintnews.org/webinars Executive Order on Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals https://bit.ly/3OtkbDj Ending Conversion Therapy: Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Youth https://bit.ly/3bbXhlp HHS Leader Rafael López: It’s Time to Flip the Script on Child Welfare https://bit.ly/3QvTC1N Child Welfare Leaders Sign on to Letter Urging States to Ban Conversion Therapy https://bit.ly/3bavMst Decision Backing Conversion Therapy Inches Controversy Closer to U.S. Supreme Court https://bit.ly/3zNRMnc Longtime County Official Tapped to Lead Los Angeles Child Welfare Agency https://bit.ly/3tC9YMA Keeping Moms With Their Newborns: A Team of Washington Lawyers and Advocates Works to Avoid Foster Care Separation at Birth https://bit.ly/3MWZApE My Name Is Why, by Lemn Sissay https://bit.ly/3OkSVXt