About

Hi, I’m Laysi

Black feminist writer. anthropologist. facilitator.

Early on

My name is Laysi S. Zacarias. I use she/her pronouns. I hold a Law degree from the Faculty of Law of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo (2018), a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Citizenship from the University of Brasília (2021), and I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). I previously worked as a Legal Advisor for Popular Advocacy at the Núcleo de Assessoria Jurídica Popular de Ribeirão Preto (NAJURP) from 2015 to 2018 and was a scholarship recipient in the MEC Tutorial Education Program (2016). Additionally, I was a member of the Gender Committee at the Faculty of Law of Ribeirão Preto, USP (2017-2018), and participated in research internships at the University of Alberta (2017-2018) and the National University of Colombia (2018). I co-founded the first course for Popular Defenders at the women’s penitentiary in Ribeirão Preto, a partnership between NAJURP and the Public Defender’s Office of Ribeirão Preto. I am also a member of the Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisa em Cultura Jurídica e Atlântico Negro – Maré (UnB) and the Center for Studies in Inequality and Discrimination (CEDD, UnB). My research interests include Criminology, Antinegritude, Human Rights, and Social Movements, with a geographic focus on Brazil, the United States, and Colombia.

Current

Anthropology (2022 – present): University of California, Riverside, US-CA.