A Dialogue about literacy rates, reparations, Rantoul police training, ‘walking with the ancestors’, and a pioneering Black classical music host
Top row: children in Danville schools, former Evanston alderman Robin Rue Simmons. Bottom row: Dr. Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum, Roger Cooper Emily Hays, IPM News; AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar; Russ Hawkins of AACT; Jim Meadows, IPM News
On the February 16, 2024 edition of "Dialogue":
- Over one-third of Illinois fourth graders don’t have basic reading skills. The state has a plan to change that.“We have not been serving our Black children well. We need to interrogate why,” said Chicago-based literacy consultant Tinaya York. Click here for the entire story.
- Evanston began issuing reparations years ago. So, what’s next for Illinois and America? There are also discussions about a reparations program in Champaign-Urbana. Click here for the entire segment.
- Two people died at the hands of police in Rantoul last year. Officials say these were the city’s first-ever fatal police shootings. Now, local activists are concerned about the police department’s lack of action to prevent future officer-involved shootings. Click here for the Farrah Anderson's story for Illinois Public Media News and the Invisible Institute.
- Dr. Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum to showcase a journey into slave dungeons and African ancestry in “Walking with My Ancestors." The presentation is scheduled for the Spurlock Museum in Urbana on February 25 at 2:00 p.m. Click here for the entire story.
- Classical music by people of color did not always receive much attention. Roger Cooper, a longtime classical music host at WILL-FM, filled the gap with a series of programs celebrating Black performers and composers. Click here for reporter Jim Meadows' profile about “Classically Black."