Stacey Patton was in the New Jersey foster care system because she was abandoned by her birth mother. From the outside it appeared that Stacey was fortunate in being adopted by an African American couple. However, her adoptive mother was tyrannical and her adoptive father wasn't protective.


Stacey's way of coping was to focus on her education. She received a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and has since earned a PhD from Rutgers University.


Stacey Patton has written for the New York Times, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera and the BBC amongst others.


As an advocate, Dr Patton runs workshops for young people in care and those aging out of the system. She is also works at Morgan State University in Baltimore where she teaches on multimedia journalism.


She is also the author of 3 books, including a memoir, That Mean Old Yesterday.