Tamika Mallory, a nationally recognized activist and staunch advocate of justice for Breonna Taylor, will be the keynote speaker for the Fall 2020 Culturally Responsive Campus Community (CRCC) Conference.
The conference, which aims to enlighten, educate, and ignite conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion, will be October 29-30 via Zoom. Registration is open on the CRCC website at https://crcc.illinoisstate.edu/. Day 1 attendance is required to register for Day 2. CRCC organizers understand prior, firm commitments, such as class and appointments, and will allow flexibility for those who can attend most but not all sessions.
The theme of this year’s conference, Equity with a Mirror, speaks to the goal of facing personal, institutional, and societal barriers to addressing anti-Blackness. The 2020 CRCC will return to the conference’s origins of confronting anti-Black sentiment.
“Anti-Blackness is a weapon used to dehumanize Black people. It can be found in all systems and institutions, from education and criminal justice to health care and housing,” said CRCC Chair Dr. Christa Platt, who is the director of the University’s Multicultural Center. “We must be willing to examine our work, language, policies, and practices if we are to disrupt the foundations of anti-Blackness and oppression.”
This year the conference will move online. The first day of the conference, October 29, will feature Mallory, along with other nationally recognized speakers who will lead concurrent, reflective sessions on calling out anti-Blackness, education and anti-Blackness, Latino/a/x and anti-Blackness, and healing mindfulness and anti-Blackness. The second day of the conference, October 30, will be an institute—a deeper dive into topics covered the first day.
Second day attendees will be placed into groups based on their position within the Illinois State University community, meaning faculty, staff, students, or community members.
Tamika D. Mallory – Keynote speaker
Mallory is an esteemed social justice leader, political activist, and a next-generation advocate for human rights, equal rights for women, health care, gun restrictions, and ethical police conduct. In 2017, as co-chair of the national Women’s March, she helped organize the largest single-day protest in U.S. history.
Hailed as a “leader of tomorrow” by Valerie Jarrett, then senior advisor to President Barack Obama, Mallory has the gravitas of a long-time political organizer─she served as the National Action Network’s youngest executive director. Following the death of her son’s father to gun violence, Mallory advocated for stronger gun restrictions. Later, she joined Vice President Joe Biden’s gun control task force.
A rising leader in the new wave of feminism, she empowers others to contribute their voice and engage in the political process to create change, while sharing her outspoken perspective on where the civil rights movement goes from here.
More information on the conference can be found at the CRCC website. Those with questions can email CRCC@ilstu.edu.
