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Community Conversation
August 25, 2023 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm
The Western Illinois Museum, in partnership with The CT Vivian Project of Macomb, invites the public to a meet and greet followed by a community conversation on Friday, August 25, 2023, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Moderated by Byron Shabazz, the founder of The CT Vivian Project of Macomb, the program will bring together leaders from a cross-section of professions to explore the long-term implications of the recent supreme court ruling on affirmative action. Inspired by Dr. Rev. Vivian’s non-violent Civil Rights work, the conversation will explore how to create a well-informed response to ensure equitable access and full participation across all sectors of our society.
Participants include Dr. JQ Adams, professor emeritus, educational and interdisciplinary studies, Western Illinois University (WIU); Dr. Tracy Davis, Professor at WIU and coordinator for the Educational Leadership: Organizational Justice, Equity & Inclusion Doctoral Program; Dr. Venus Evans Winters, Professor at Ohio State University, Senior Researcher at the African American Policy Forum, and Founder of Planet Venus Institute; Dr. Randy Glean, WIU’s Executive Director of the Center for Global Studies; Michael Hurt, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the City of Bloomington, Illinois, and Byron Shabazz, Founder and President of the CT Vivian Foundation of Macomb.
The meet and greet will begin at 5:00 pm and include an opportunity to socialize while enjoying live music and a cash bar. The conversation will begin at 6:15 pm. This program is funded in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, with additional funding from an Illinois Humanities Council grant and from the State of Illinois American Rescue Plan Act.
There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door. The Western Illinois Museum is located at 201 S. Lafayette Street, one block south of Macomb’s Courthouse Square. For more information, call the Museum at 309.837.2750, text 309.837.2613, or email info@wimuseum.org. More details can be found on our website and social media channels.
About the Participants
Dr. JQ Adams
Professor Adams, after completing a BPh in social studies and psychology in 1975 from Grand Valley State College, went on to earn an MA in alternative education and psychology from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Socio-cultural perspectives in education has been a focal point of Dr. Adams’ entire academic career.
Dr. Adams over the past 45 years has worked with hundreds of P-12 schools, colleges, and university employees, as well as, postal workers, human rights commissioners, railroad employees, law enforcement officers, and mental health professionals. His recent work has focused on the virtues of Nonviolent Communication and the importance of human dignity. He has received numerous awards and recognitions including the National Association of Multicultural Educators Teacher of the Year Award, Alumni Leadership Awards at Grand Valley State University and the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign. Dr. Adams currently is a cultural consultant for Nickelodeon and director of Academic Consulting for Excellence Midwest.
Dr. Tracy Davis
Dr. Tracy Davis serves as Professor at Western Illinois University where he coordinates the Educational Leadership: Organizational Justice, Equity & Inclusion Doctoral Program. Dr. Davis’ scholarship has focused on centering agent identities to both challenge institutional oppression and support individual development. He has published widely regarding social justice issues, men’s development, and sexual assault prevention. He has co-authored or co-edited books like Advancing Social Justice and Gender-Aware Practices: Intersectional Approaches to Applying Masculinities in Student Affairs and Developing Social Justice Allies. More recently he was asked by Dr. Tenisha Tevis and Dr. Zak Foste to write a Foreword to their 2022 book, Critical Whiteness Praxis in Higher Education: Considerations for the Pursuit of Racial Justice on Campus. His sexual assault prevention research has won numerous awards including both the ACPA and NASPA outstanding dissertation awards. Tracy was also selected to the inaugural class of ACPA Emerging Scholars and most recently was selected as an ACPA Senior Scholar. He is a frequent presenter, speaker, and consultant on college campuses. Most importantly, he remains wildly unfinished.
Dr. Venus Evans Winters
Dr. Venus E. Evans-Winters is an author, researcher, and policy scholar. She is the Black Girls & Women’s Research Initiatives Coordinator at the African American Policy Forum and a Visiting Professor of Education at The Ohio State University in the Department of Educational Studies. She is also the Founder of Planet Venus Institute and creator of The Planet Venus Mental Wealth Academy as well as the Write Like A Scholar program. She has also served as an expert on the state of Black school girls’ psychosocial development and mental health on Pushout: A Documentary (Morris, 2019).
Dr. Evans-Winters researches and teaches in the areas of Black feminist thought, critical race theory, educational policy, and qualitative inquiry.
With years of experience as a psychotherapist and a certified clinical trauma professional, Dr. Evans-Winters embraces resilience-building practices throughout her work. She is also a licensed school social worker and youth advocate with experience serving in South Africa and West Africa and participating in critical pedagogue (Paulo Freire) institutes across Europe, including Malta, Greece, and Spain.
Michael Hurt
Michael Hurt is a Social Justice graduate from the University of Illinois, Springfield. He has worked in social justice positions including disability accommodations, and equal opportunity employment since 1995.
He has served as an Equal opportunity officer for the City of Peoria Il; Human Resources Director for the Peoria Housing Authority, Assistant Director of Disability Services at Illinois State University and Employee and Community Relations Director for the Salvation Army Southern Territory in Atlanta, Georgia.
He is currently the inaugural Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for the City of Bloomington, Illinois. His office is responsible for the creation of the City’s ADA Transition Plan, Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Plan, and the Diversity Procurement Ordinance which provides contract opportunities for disenfranchised business owners to work on city-funded construction projects. Michael is a Certified Diversity Executive as designated by the Society for Diversity Inc.
Dr. Randy Glean
Randy Glean is currently Associate Vice President of Global Services at Western Illinois University (WIU). He was previously a tenured professor of political science and a director of international programs and services in Texas before arriving at WIU in 2020. He holds advanced degrees in international relations, political science, and public law. He is from Brooklyn, New York, and earned his advanced degrees at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.