On February 7th, both the Institute on Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Social Justice, and the Diversity Center co-sponsored that month's ECCE Speaker Series Event with Dr. Queen Meccasia Zabriskie's Walking Proudly: Embodying Liberation Capital in Chicago's West African Dance and Drum Communities in celebration and appreciation for Black History Month at UIS.

The Inaugural Event for the Institute on Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice on February 7 2024, featured a dazzling and interactive performance entitled, Walking Proudly: Embodying Liberation Capital in Chicago's West African Dance and Drun Communities, featuring and presented by Dr. Queen Meccasia Zabriskie, Director of the Coretta Scott King Center at Antioch College. We were enthralled and entranced by "The Queen's" journey, as our guide, through performative art, where in our expedition took the form of a voyage beginning with our African ancestral past through the Chicago of the 1980s to the present.

A "Divine" opening salvo!

Dr. Patricia A. Johnson, Instructor in Liberal and Integrative Studies

Here's what one student had to say about the event!

Dr. Zabriskie illustrated how West African drumming and dancing allows for people to celebrate where they come from and gain more identity from doing so.

Sam Pugh, UIS Senior Business Administration Major

We welcome suggestions and requests for sponsorship with the RGSSJ Institute for future events, as we seek to form interactive and diverse partnerships across campus and within the broader Springfield community. Contact us by giving us a call or via email!