Dr. Yohuru Williams Dr. Yohuru Williams is a distinguished University Chair and Professor of History and Founding Director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas. He received his Ph.D. from Howard University in 1998. Dr. Williams has appeared on a variety of local and national radio and television programs most notably ABC, CNN, MSNBC, Aljazeera America, BET, CSPAN, EBRU Today, Fox Business News, Fresh Outlook, Huff Post Live, and NPR. Dr. Williams' scholarly articles have appeared in the American Bar Association’s Insights on Law and Society, The Organization of American Historians Magazine of History, The Black Scholar, The Journal of Black Studies, Pennsylvania History, Delaware History, the Journal of Civil and Human Rights and the Black History Bulletin.
Eilzer Darris
As a juvenile, he was sentenced to life in prison without hope of parole, but he studied in prison and worked with his state-appointed counsel to get his life-sentence reversed on appeal. Upon his release, Elizer became a business owner, consultant, educator, IT specialist, community organizer, youth mentor, and motivational speaker. Elizer has also worked as a Coordinator for the ACLU of Minnesota’s Smart Justice Campaign, which aims to reduce mass incarceration, reform the criminal justice system, and create racial equity. In 2017, Elizer was named an African American Leadership Forum Josie R. Johnson Leadership Fellow. His past work includes field operations director for the Nekima Levy-Pounds for Minneapolis Mayor Campaign and campaign manager for Anika Bowie’s Campaign for St. Paul City Council. Most recently, Elizer was appointed by Governor Tim Walz to the State Board of Public Defense.
Ayolanda Mack
Ayolanda is rooted in youth and family advocacy and is actively engaged in an array of community initiatives. She is passionate about developing, building access to, and advocating for resources needed to ensure under-represented and under-resourced communities are not forgotten in decision-making processes. Driven by Shirley Chisholm’s quote, ”You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas,” Ayolanda’s professional experience includes building effective partnerships amongst community programs; organizing social action initiatives to address youth violence; developing culturally specific parent education classes; coaching parents to increase their parenting capacity; and facilitating professional development and community-based workshops. She is also a family life educator, doula, and certified parenting coach. She holds a B.A. degree in Family Science from Concordia University.
Justin Terrell Justin Terrell is a political strategist with a track record of policy victories and community engagement. Terrell has led successful campaigns focused on Criminal Justice and Democracy reform and community efforts to restore voting rights for people on felony probation. Through this work, he has helped hundreds of formerly incarcerated eligible voters to participate in elections and advocacy. Justin has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work with over ten years of experience working with youth and families in crisis. As a Civil Rights Advocate, he has advocated for police accountability and continues to expand on this work. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Advocacy and Political Leadership at Metro State. Justin lives in Richfield with his wife and two sons.
Kevin Reese
Kevin Reese is a key leader in the Twin Cities community, serving and utilizing his platform to make effective change. After his encounter with the judicial system, his eyes were opened to the inadequacies and injustice that permeate the system. As a result, his life’s mission is to rectify the detrimental effects of mass incarceration. One of the main ways he accomplishes this is by serving as a former director of Criminal Justice at Voices For Racial Justice for over 6 years and founder and Executive Director of Until We Are All Free. Ultimately, His work centralizes the topics of humanity, organizing, transformative movements, and ancestral vision.
Meet our Host
Anika Bowie
Anika Bowie is the Founder and CEO of Run like Harriet coaching and consulting. She is widely recognized for her strategic vision in program development, community engagement, campaign marketing, and systems change. With ten years of experience in the non-profit sector, she has successfully designed and managed comprehensive work plans for several city, county, state, and federal grants. As Former Vice President of Minneapolis NAACP, she is passionate about serving people with lived experience navigating the criminal justice system and overcoming systems of institutionalized racism. Anika paved the way for Black women in politics while running for Saint Paul City Council. She is a proud former Josie R. Johnson Fellow (African American Leadership Forum), ACLU-Minnesota Smart Justice board member, Irreducible Grace Foundation founding board member, and former Commissioner for Saint Paul Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review. |
Comments