Conversation Starter

03/13/2017 11:00 AM

By Summer Studstill ‘17

Patrisse Cullors, cofounder of Black Lives Matter, spoke to a crowd of 1,200 people at Bradley’s Renaissance Coliseum in February. Cullors’ lecture and the question and answer period that followed constituted a forthright conversation about race, gender, class and sexuality in historical and contemporary American politics.

Sociology professor Dr. Sarah Whetstone described the event as “an opportunity for the Bradley community to engage a dialogue with Peoria about issues that should concern us all.”

Cullors’ lecture emphasized that the fight for racial equality and social justice must apply to all people and must be grounded in solidarity across social movements. Abigail Canchola ’17, a psychology and Spanish double major from Maywood, Illinois, said the speech “inspired me to fight for rights and justice for everyone.”

The event was sponsored by the Sociology Club, the African American Studies Program, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and made possible by more than 20 Bradley University departments and offices, as well as student and community organizations that promoted and supported the lecture.

“The Cullors lecture was an incredible opportunity for students to engage with an activist who represents their generation’s leadership in the creation of an in the creation of an intersectional anti-racist feminist movement,” said Women’s and Gender Studies Program Director Dr. Amy Scott. “I was inspired by student leadership bringing Cullors to campus, the questions our students asked and the turnout from the community.”