Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw is an American civil rights advocate and a founder of the field of critical race theory. She is a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she specializes in race and gender issues. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw is an American civil rights advocate and a founder of the field of critical race theory. She is a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she specializes in race and gender issues.