News

In East St. Louis, business activities are soaring, community members continue to engage one another meaningfully, and activists and educators continue to increase capacity building, joining hands with other people of East St. Louis to advance a community of their dreams. 

An upcoming Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Sankofa Lecture and Dialogue Series presentation will dive into the incredibly exciting activities of the people of East St. Louis and discuss the opportunities that abound in the community.

The ongoing series features robust conversations surrounding the history of slavery and its lasting legacies, and is organized through SIUE’s Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, specifically its membership of the international Universities Studying Slavery (USS) consortium.

A panel of involved influencers will present “East St. Louis: Present and Future” at 7 p.m. Monday, April 25 via Zoom.

Registration is available at https://siue.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_46IjbQfZQWyPkPcd1-NmHQ.

This discussion marks part two and the concluding edition of the popular “New Perspective of East St. Louis” panel hosted last year. Panelists include Antwionette Ayers, Tandra Taylor, Cindy Reed, Monique Jameison, Marie Franklin and Maracus Scott.

“There is a wave of entrepreneurs, community organizers, activists and educators working and building in East St. Louis,” shared series coordinator Bryan Jack, PhD, associate professor in the Department of History. “This generation is using lessons from the past to create a new outlook for the city through variety of new initiatives. Our discussion will highlight some of the latest, exciting things happening in East St. Louis and we will explore what is in store for this important Metro East community.”

The Sankofa Lecture and Dialogue Series is one of the University’s many anti-racism initiatives. For more information on the TRHT and its future programs and initiatives, visit siue.edu/vcedi/trht.