Kennedy Vincent named new host of Illinois Soul’s weekly program Dialogue

With the launch of Illinois Soul came a new weekly local community affairs magazine program, Dialogue, highlighting issues important to Black communities in central Illinois. Illinois Public Media is excited to welcome Kennedy Vincent as the new permanent host of the program and as a specialty reporter for Black and immigrant communities for IPM News.

“Even before Illinois Soul hit the airwaves, IPM leadership sought to hire a staff member to create and produce local content to serve Black communities in central Illinois and to engage with local community members,” said Moss Bresnahan, executive director for Illinois Public Media. “We are thrilled to welcome Kennedy into Champaign-Urbana community and the IPM family. We look forward to her work helping Illinois Soul meet its mission and form deeper connections in the community.”

Each week Dialogue features interviews with people across the region along with in-depth stories from the IPM News team about education, health, politics, arts, and more as it relates to local Black communities.

“Kennedy is an emerging early-career audio journalist who will help tell the stories of our neighbors, question leaders, and empower communities with information through Dialogue, an exciting new program for central Illinoisans overall, and the Black communities in particular,” said Reginald Hardwick, IPM director of news and public affairs. “She continuously pushes boundaries and believes sharing meaningful stories globally is what will unite us intentionally.”

Vincent is a native of Las Vegas with West Indian roots who earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada Reno. She specializes in news writing, hosting, and audio and video producing and production work. Now based in Illinois, Vincent is focused on surrounding her work with collective BIPOC stories, universal rights, and community healing.

“Our goal for Illinois Soul and for Dialogue is to create a hub for Black media, where communities of color can listen to everyone’s stories,” Vincent said.

Dialogue aims to be a space to discuss things like distrust with healthcare system; hair discrimination, in particular how it affects Black women; how the Congolese population is growing in Champaign-Urbana and resources they need for integration; and so on.

“We want to create a space where we can all connect, integrate, and build together. Listening and relating to other people’s stories is important, especially when we can relate to someone who looks like us. It lets you know that you are not alone in this world,” Vincent said. “And, of course, having great music on Illinois Soul tying it all together is the cherry on top!”

Listeners can also expect to learn more about Champaign-Urbana’s growing immigrant population through Vincent’s reporting work. It’s her hope that Dialogue will become a hub for local updates on immigrant news and resources, hearing from community leaders and members from all diverse backgrounds.

Aiding in this effort is Nidhi Shastri, who joins the show as a lead producer and sound editor. Shastri is a podcast producer based in Chicago and host of Model Minority: Uniquely American, an award-winning podcast centered on the Asian, African, and Middle Eastern American diasporas. She believes audio storytelling can serve as a medium for educating and creating social change.

“We’ve created Dialogue as a show straight from the soul of Black and immigrant communities in Illinois” Shastri said. “This project seeks to bring us all closer to pockets of society that often get relegated to the shadows of America, and as a producer, I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it.”

Along with these weekly topics, each month Dialogue will highlight mental health and wellness conversations for the Black community, facilitated by IPM Host and Producer Tinisha Spain. "I'm excited to support Kennedy on her new show, and I'm looking forward to having some really meaningful discussions on future episodes of Dialogue,” said Spain.

“At its foundation, public media was built for the people. It's the social glue that builds democracy and shapes our world view. In times of crisis, I believe public media provides people with accurate information they can trust and educates us at the same time,” Vincent said.

Previously, Vincent worked for NPR affiliate KUNR in Reno and as a remote producer for Illinois Public Media’s statewide talk show, The 21st Show. Vincent said some might call her move to Champaign-Urbana, after spending her life in Nevada, a leap of faith.

“It was a beautiful trip witnessing different sceneries and processing emotions of starting a new chapter in my life,” she said about driving cross country by herself to her new home. “I feel all my previous work experiences have prepared me and brought me exactly to where I need to be, here in Champaign-Urbana! This is an amazing opportunity to grow and expand my knowledge and horizons, while connecting with people at the same time!”

Dialogue airs Saturdays at 11 am and Tuesdays at 7 pm on Illinois Soul FM 101.1 and streams live at illinoissoul.org and can be heard Wednesdays at 8 pm on WILL-AM 580. You can listen to past episodes of the Dialogue webpage and subscribe to the Dialogue podcast on Spotify.