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Brown Declares, “The Work Continues Because We Are in It, to Win It!”  

A woman is someone who is courageous, strong and clear about who they are, according to Venessa A. Brown, PhD, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville emerita professor in the Department of Social Work. 

“She is in it to win it, no matter what!” Brown told an audience on Monday, March 3 in the Oak/Redbud Room of the Morris University Center. Brown, a retired tenured professor who enjoyed a long and impressive career at SIUE that included decades of diversity and inclusion work, opened the University’s Wom*n’s History Month (WHM). This year’s theme is Moving Forward Together! Wom*n Educating and Inspiring Generations. 

The audience got the chance to look back into the events and happenings and to hear about the women who helped grow, shape and mold Brown into the strong, bold, boisterous and fearless woman she is today. One of those people is American abolitionist and civil rights activist Sojourner Truth. 

“I believe I am a reincarnation of Sojourner Truth,” shared Brown. “I believe I was sent here to continue her work.” At the time of Brown’s retirement, she was the Associate Athletic Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Chief Diversity Officer for Intercollegiate Athletics, Special Assistant to the Chancellor and Professor in the Department of Social Work. 

But before going any further, Brown took audience members back to meet “five-year-old Venessa” through pictures and stories. As a kindergartener, Venessa met and befriended Capeace, a five-year-old boy in her class. 

“He had thick glasses and walked funny,” she described. “He always played by himself. So, I went up and introduced myself. I found out that the kids were beating him up after school. He asked to leave school with me. I would let the kids beat me up, and he would run home across the street.” 

But one day, Brown was late leaving school and the crowd caught Capeace and began to beat him up. Brown heard Capeace calling her name and ran out of the building in time to see him break free from the pack and dash across the street for home. However, sadly he was struck by a vehicle and died. 

“I decided that day that I would be a person to fight for those that no one cared for,” said Brown, who later found out that Capeace had polio. “My passion is for humanity, which is why social work is designed for me. I have had a lifetime commitment to social justice.” 

Some of the women Brown named for imparting various attributes in her life and for helping her face obstacles and realize achievements included Clytee Brown, mother; Celia Mae Woods, paternal grandmother; sisters, both birth and chosen; Irma Hollister, godmother; the late Judy Cingolani, PhD, SIUE emerita professor; Sharon Hahs, PhD, former SIUE Provost; Rosalyn Sykes, PhD, SIUE emerita professor; Suzanne Kutterer-Siburt, former administrator in the Kimmel Student Center; and Shirley Portwood, PhD, professor emerita and former SIU Board of Trustee (who was in the audience). 

“Dr. Shirley Portwood helped pave the way for me at SIUE,” said Brown. “Then there were women who locked their arms around me during challenging times at SIUE.” 

Brown encouraged the women in the audience to find other women and mentors who could support them and help them realize their life goals. 

“You must recognize your value as a woman,” she added. “Never let anyone make you feel like you don’t have a place or don’t belong. We are leaders across the world. We are leaders in our families. We are change agents. We weather the storm.” 

Brown engaged the audience in several activities. In one, she had the younger women to state what they needed from and admired in women with wisdom. Then Brown asked the “mature” women offer advice to the younger ones. 

“Let’s keep believing in each other and fighting for each other,” said Brianna Wooldridge, SIUE junior and women’s basketball player. “We obviously have rights that people fought for in the past. So, let’s just make sure our rights are not taken away.” 

“My mom gives me strength and confidence,” said Rory Conboy, SIUE first-year student and women’s basketball player. “She leads by example.” 

Encouraging the younger women in the room was Career Counselor Stephanie Lewis, in the SIUE Career Development Center. “When I first started in undergrad at college, I didn’t feel like I belonged," she offered. "And if you are feeling like that, it is not true. You do belong here.” 

“Ask for help when you need it,” advised SIUE School of Nursing Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Jerrica Ampadu, PhD, RN, CCP, and associate professor. “It’s OK to need help. No one does anything by themselves. As women, we have been taught that we have to be resilient and carry the world on our shoulders, and that is not true. Don’t hold onto things you don’t have the capacity for.” 

Throughout the month, the Southern Illinois System, the SIUE Kimmel Belonging and Engagement Hub (K-Hub) and various University departments and student organizations will offer programming to acknowledge and honor Wom*n’s History Month, according to Isaac Fa’amoe, Identity and Belonging program coordinator at the K-Hub, who introduced Brown. 

Fa’amoe explained the K-Hub’s use of the asterisk in its spelling of wom*n. “Historically, the word ‘woman’ comes from the Old English ‘wifman (wifmon)’ which is a combination of wif (female, wife) and man (man, human),” explained Fa’amoe. “Woman literally means ‘wife of man,’ thus establishing men as the standard and women as an appendage.” 

“In an attempt to change the language to make it less patriarchal and more inclusive,” he continued, “alternate spellings that removed the word man developed, hence the asterisk in our spelling.” 

Photos by Howard Ash:
Dr. Venessa A. Brown, SIUE emerita professor in the SIUE Department of Social Work, (center, top row) opened the University’s Wom*n’s History Month on Monday, March 3. Brown held several engaging activities for the audience.