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Richmond Panelists
How does one
commit to a life focused on social
justice?
A distinguished panel of
long-time social activists and social justice advocates
from the Richmond area.
Debra Susan Abbott has been a social justice
activist since the 1960s. In 2002 she co-founded the
Stillwater Institute for Social Justice, which provides
training for non-profits, schools, and faith-based
organizations on dismantling the ism's. For twenty-five
years she worked at the Monticello Area Community Action
Agency, where she focused on community organizing and
development in rural Virginia. Through the Virginia
Community Action Partnership she works across the state
on various anti-hunger and poverty initiatives.
Zakia Rafiqa Shabazz is an
author, educator, entrepreneur, lecturer, and mother of
five. Since 1996 she has directed United Parents Against
Lead (UPAL), a national organization headquartered in
Richmond and focused on assisting and empowering the
parents of lead-poisoned children. Through her work with
UPAL, Ms. Shabazz has become an advocate for linking the
problem of lead poisoning with the persistent problems
of racism and poverty.
Edward H. Peeples is Professor
Emeritus of Preventive Medicine and Community Health at
VCU. He has been on the front lines of civil rights and
racial justice struggles since the 1950s. Though a white
Richmonder, he spontaneously joined African-American
students in Richmond's first sit-in to protest "whites
only" policies at the Thalhimer's Department Store. He
organized volunteer educators and professionals to teach
African-American students in Prince Edward County where
public schools were closed for five years by white
segregationists. His life since has been one of intense
dedication to similar issues as an activist, advocate,
and academic.
Glyn Hughes, coordinator
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