Mar 12 2025

Bowman Lecture: Building a Collective Vision of Liberation

Bowman Lecture

March 12, 2025

4:00 PM - 6:30 PM

Location

Room 301, Student Center East

Address

750 S. Halsted Street, Chicago, IL

Calendar

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This poster has a muted yellow background. On the top is text announcing this as the Annual Bowman lecture on race and public policy. Below that in bold black letters at a slant and to the right of the poster are the panelists for the event and on the left are their pictures. Below their names is the title of the event and below that is the date, time, and location for the event as well as where to register. Under that is a description of the event and conversation. At the bottom right in red is the logo for IRRPP. To the left of the text is an image of a jail cell dissolving and one of the bars turning into a plant shoot.

About the event: Join IRRPP for our 2025 Bowman Lecture which will feature abolition educators and activists Mariame Kaba and Dr. Beth Richie. In their lively conversation, they will talk about abolition, dismantling the prison industrial complex, and what time it is on the clock of the world. Please note that we are asking participants to wear masks and that we will be taking photos during the event that may be used on our website and/or social media (you may let us know at the event if you do not consent to having your photo being used). A reception will follow the event.

Registration is required for the event. Please use the link below to register for the Bowman Lecture.

This event is the second in a year of events to celebrate IRRPP's 25th Anniversary in 2025. Future events include talks by Dr. Nancy Krieger on April 10, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill on September 16, and a culminating panel conversation and celebration event with former IRRPP Directors on November 6th. We hope you will join us for this and other events in our Anniversary series. You can support this event, and all the work we do at IRRPP, by making a donation at our giving page.

About the series: This lecture was established to honor Phillip J. Bowman’s contributions to UIC during his tenure as Director of IRRPP and Professor of African American Studies. It features national scholars of race, ethnicity, and public policy who provide timely analysis of issues of critical importance to the field and to communities of color.

Register here

Contact

IRRPP
irrpp@uic.edu

Date posted

Feb 10, 2025

Date updated

Mar 1, 2025

Speakers

Mariame Kaba | Organizer, archivist, and curator

Mariame Kaba's work focuses on ending violence, dismantling the prison industrial complex, transformative justice, and supporting youth leadership development. They have co-founded various Chicago organizations organizations including the Chicago Freedom School, the Chicago Taskforce on Violence against Girls and Young Women, the Chicago Alliance to Free Marissa Alexander, the Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team, and Survived and Punished among others.

Beth Richie | Professor of Criminology, Law, and Justice & Black Studies at UIC

Dr. Beth E. Richie is Head of the Department of Criminology, Law and Justice and Professor of Black Studies at UIC. The emphasis of her scholarly and activist work has been on the ways that race/ethnicity and social position affect women's experience of violence and incarceration, focusing on the experiences of African American battered women and sexual assault survivors.

Avalon Betts-Gaston

Avalon Betts-Gaston is a Chicago native, non-licensed attorney, ordained minister, and passionate advocate to dismantle and change current systems while building a system of care and accountability focused on humane justice and harm reduction, not just punishment. Avalon made her public debut as an advocate at a young age when she convinced her fellow Congressional pages to protest apartheid outside of the South African embassy in Washington, D.C. This passion against various societal injustices continued throughout her life and was extra-charged and focused on the criminal legal system after she was wrongfully convicted in 2015. Avalon received her bachelor’s degree from DePaul University and her JD from John Marshall Law School in Chicago. She is the first known formerly incarcerated Board Chairperson for Community Renewal Society, a 140-year-old faith-based organization and also serves on the boards of Chicago Votes, Challenge II Change, and Giving Others Dreams. Avalon is a 2023 Soros Justice Fellow, a member of the FreeHer Campaign Advisory Council, a 2022 JLUSA Leading with Conviction Fellow and the Executive Director of the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice.