Who is Claudia Rankine as noted in the essay collection, Well Read Black Girl?

Claudia Rankine's poetry, prose, and visual art collection titled "Citizen" is the inspiration behind Morgan Jerkins' essay, "To Be a Citizen." Rankine writes, "because white men cannot police their imagination black men are dying," (123) evoking imagery and themes highly relevant in today's era of racial tension, police brutality, and the rise of movements such as Black Lives Matter. Jerkins, having had the chance to interview Rankine, says that she felt incredibly emotional to be in the presence of a woman who unabashedly exposed cruelties faced by black people on a daily basis. Rankine's poetry encourages the reader to recognize and document the small aggressions they face each and every day, in an effort to collectively remember and learn from these experiences.