Dr. Wesley G. Robinson-McNeese of Springfield, who died Sept. 18 after a long illness, was a stalwart leader and a kind friend. During his full life he carried many descriptors, including East St. Louis native, Vietnam veteran, physician, author, poet, pastor, interfaith convener and family man. His last two decades were spent working professionally in the field of systemic antiracism, heading the office of diversity for the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, and later for the SIU system. He understood the importance and difficulty of getting not just individuals but entire institutions to change and was successful in getting the big ship called SIU School of Medicine to shift course. As a Black man, he bravely took on the assignment of teaching others the importance of standing with people of color. And he, like other courageous people of color, took seriously the task of standing with us who are well-meaning, but often slow, people of white. – Fletcher Farrar, editor
This article appears in Cash bail comes to an end.
