Friday Forum + Conversation Café
Join Diversity & Social Justice Education and the University YMCA for Friday Forum + Conversation Cafe!
We will hear from community leaders tackling our most pressing public concerns through an unwavering pursuit of social justice.
- When: Most Fridays
- Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
- Location: University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL.
Lunch provided at no cost to guests from the Y Thai Eatery.
Series sponsored by Center for Advanced Study, Center for Global Studies and U.S. Department of Education Title VI Grant, College of ACES, College of Education, Counseling Center, Department of African American Studies, Department of Psychology, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Education Justice Project, First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana, Humanities Research Institute, Illini Hillel, Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, League of Women Voters of Champaign County, Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, School of Social Work, Sinai Temple, Social Action Council of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign, Student Cultural Programming Fee, Urbana Champaign Friends Meeting, Urbana-Champaign Reproductive Justice, and Women & Gender in Global Perspectives.
Fall 2023 Schedule
September 15, 2023: Welcoming Immigrants in Champaign County
Akua Forkuo-Sekyere, Director of the New American Welcome Center
September 22, 2023: Reimagine Our Future Undergraduate Sustainability Competition
Warren Lavey, College of Law & Leon Liebenberg, College of Engineering
September 29, 2023: A Shared Commitment to Campus and Community: UIUC and the University YMCA
Chancellor Robert J. Jones, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
October 6, 2023: Nikkeijin Illinois - Extended Stories
Jason Finkelman, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Alexander K. Horton, The Ubuntu Project - Champaign-Urbana
October 20, 2023: Educating for Democracy
Walter Feinberg, Author and Professor Emeritus, College of Education
October 27, 2023: Film Screening & Discussion: "How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps"
Carolina Gonzalez Valencia, Colombian American Artist and Filmmaker
November 3, 2023: Prison-to-Gown Project
Mike Brawn, Education Justice Project
November 10, 2023: Trans Day of Remembrance
Uniting Pride of Champaign County
Friday Forum + Conversation Cafe by the Numbers
Past Calendars
Spring 2023
Our Community in Action: Advancing Social Justice in Champaign-Urbana and Beyond
February 3, 2023: Stories From the Center: University Y Founders Day Event, Speakers Cassie Carroll, Mike Doyle, Becca Guyette, and John Jordan, Moderator: Scott Peters, Cornell University
February 10, 2023: Art, Healing, and Justice, Speakers: Lou Turner, Liza Sylvestre, and Christopher Jones, Moderator: Sam Smith, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
February 17, 2023: Envisioning Equity and Excellence in Public Schools, Speakers: Angela Ward, Amy Bloomberg, and Brandon Caffey, Moderator: Imani Bazzell, Center for Civic Engagement and Social Justice
February 24, 2023: The Importance of Interfaith in Jewish Tradition, Speaker: Rabbi Allyson Zacharoff, New York University
March 3, 2023: Risograph, Zines, and "Cheap" Art, Speaker: Will Arnold, Art @ the Y exhibition on view through 3/10
March 24, 2023: Building Anti Racist Immigrant Communities: reflections on arts mediated dialog projects, Speaker: Ken Salo, Urban & Regional Planning
March 31, 2023: In pursuit of intersectional equity beyond the walls of academia: Learning from the marginalized Sunni-Baluch women needleworkers in peri-urban Iran, Speaker: Atyeh Ashtari, Urban Planning PhD Candidate
April 14, 2023: Community Violence and Anti-Violence Efforts, Speakers: Rachel Garthe, School of Social Work and Jorge Elvir, City of Champaign, Moderator: Sam Smith, KCPA
April 21, 2023: Environmental Activism and Change on Campus and Beyond, Adelina Avalos, Jorge Corral, Stefan Iliev, Alyssa Prisby, Claire Sullivan, Sakshi Vaya, Moderator: Karel Pene Njine, Daniela Marin, Hannah Beck, Terra Salgado, Hanaa Khan
Fall 2022
Our Community in Action: Advancing Social Justice in Champaign-Urbana and Beyond
September 16, 2022: Welcoming Immigrants in Champaign County, Speaker Gloria Yen
September 23, 2022: AZUKI!! Manga as a Bridge Between Cultures, Speaker Kofi Bazzell-Smith
September 30, 2022: We are Here! Cultivating Belonging for our Queer Students of Color at Illinois, Speakers Dementro Powell & Carlton Cummings
October 7, 2022: I Go on Singing: Paul Robeson's Life in his Word and Song, Speaker Anthony Brown, accompanied by Philip De Luna
October 14, 2022: Faith and Race in Building Local Coalitions for Justice, Speakers Rev. Terrance Thomas & Rev. Michael Crosby
October 21 , 2022: Neighborhood Ambassadors Program, Speaker Jacqueline Kalipeni
October 28, 2022: Juvenile Justice in Champaign County: A Wicked Possibility, part 1, Speaker Sam Smith
November 4, 2022: Juvenile Justice in Champaign County: A Wicked Possibility, part 2, Speaker Sam Smith
November 11, 2022: Keep HOPE Alive! We Can Prevent Violence in Champaign County, Speaker Tracy Dace
Spring 2022
February 4, 2022: Art at the Y: Radical Printmaking, Speaker William Estrada
February 11, 2022: Afrofuturism as Social Justice, Speakers Stacey Robinson & Jason Finkelman
February 18, 2022: Building Community Through Re-entry, Speakers Marlon Mitchell and Crushion Stubbs
February 25, 2022: Faith, Race, Loss, and Radical Hope, Speaker Rev. Jennifer Bailey
March 4, 2022: Community Resistance to Gentrification in Chicago, Speakers Christian Mejia & Dr. Jacquelyn Lyon
March 25, 2022: Bad, Fat, Black Girl: An Afternoon with a Trap Feminist, Speaker Sesali Bowen
April 1, 2022: Champaign Racial Justice Task Force, Speakers Minnie Pearson & Dr. Thom Moore
April 8, 2022: In the Wake of Unit 4's Resolution Against Racism, Speakers Dr. Ken Salo, Dr. Angela Ward, Ms. Brenda Taylor
Fall 2021
September 17, 2021: Intersectioins of Racism and Migration, Speakers Susan Ogwal, Lauren Aronson, Michael H. Leroy and James R. Fujimoto
September 24, 2021: Education Justice Project: Prison-to Gown Initiative, Speaker Rebecca Ginsburg
October 1, 2021: Future Spaces in Community Places: Closing the Gap on Town and Gown, Speaker Stacey Robinson
October 8, 2021: Protect our Vote: The History of African American Voting, Speaker Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua
October 15, 2021: Trauma & Resilience Initiative, Inc., Speaker Karen Crawford Simms
October 22, 2021: Moving Upstream: An Anti-Racist Approact to Healthcare Education, Speaker Kaytlin Reedy-Rogier
October 29, 2021: Anti-Hate Training with Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Speaker Catherine Shieh
November 5, 2021: How Oppression and Gender Based Violence are Linked: Why an Anti-Oppression Lens to Domestic and Sexual Violence is Necessary for an Inclusive Approach, Speakers Akua Forkuo-Sekyere, Elena Gonzalez & Women's Resources Center students
November 12, 2021: Shamar Betts Case: Unequal Justice in the Aftermath of George Floyd's Murder, Speakers Elisabeth R. Pollock, Savannah Donavan & Brian Dolinar