Quintin Williams Interview
Title
Quintin Williams Interview
Subject
Quintin Williams, Former Field Building Project Manager at Heartland Alliance (currently at the Joyce Foundation)
Issue area: Research and Policy, wrongful incarceration, permanent punishments.
qwilliams@joycefdn.org
Quintin is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at Loyola University in Chicago. His research interests include the Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Social Inequality, and Crime and Punishment. Quintin works with the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois (RROCI) working with people with records and advocating for the expansion of their opportunities and for broader criminal justice reform in Illinois. He believes in the inherent worth of all people, the urgency of expanding opportunities for the most marginalized, and the paramount role of lived experience in creating strong and sustainable policies. Quintin currently holds an Associate in Arts from Malcolm X College, a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Concordia University Chicago, and a Master’s Degree in Sociology from Loyola University Chicago.
Issue area: Research and Policy, wrongful incarceration, permanent punishments.
qwilliams@joycefdn.org
Quintin is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at Loyola University in Chicago. His research interests include the Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Social Inequality, and Crime and Punishment. Quintin works with the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois (RROCI) working with people with records and advocating for the expansion of their opportunities and for broader criminal justice reform in Illinois. He believes in the inherent worth of all people, the urgency of expanding opportunities for the most marginalized, and the paramount role of lived experience in creating strong and sustainable policies. Quintin currently holds an Associate in Arts from Malcolm X College, a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Concordia University Chicago, and a Master’s Degree in Sociology from Loyola University Chicago.
Description
Quintin Williams
Age: 36
Former Field Building Project Manager at Heartland Alliance (currently at the Joyce Foundation)
"I mean, everything is virtual and what that means is I have to, you know, figure out how to make connections, virtually like and I figured out how to do that, I think I can do that in a way that feels good in a way that, you know, you can still make genuine connections and have great events, even though it's virtual. So I think the biggest part is just like not being with people. I guess it's--a lot of my job is being with people. I was in meetings, having one on one conversations in offices. So, I mean, it's made me really rethink why the heck were we even in the office in the first place. So all those expenses and paying rent in places, because once I did settle into the new normal, I can be really effective at, you know, at home, so. That’s the biggest change.
So that and the last thing I’ll say about that; the other hard part and the part that keeps me up at night is the fact that I feel like black people in particular are being taken away from us on multiple fronts. So you have our elders who have underlying conditions or whatever, losing their lives in droves from COVID. And then you have our young men and young women and babies and children being shot down in the street. And it just feels like this, really. I don't know, it just feels like an attack. You know, it feels like it just feel it was like that feels like getting it from both sides. I heard them say on the radio, we're dealing with two pandemics, and that's the part that's really difficult."
Age: 36
Former Field Building Project Manager at Heartland Alliance (currently at the Joyce Foundation)
"I mean, everything is virtual and what that means is I have to, you know, figure out how to make connections, virtually like and I figured out how to do that, I think I can do that in a way that feels good in a way that, you know, you can still make genuine connections and have great events, even though it's virtual. So I think the biggest part is just like not being with people. I guess it's--a lot of my job is being with people. I was in meetings, having one on one conversations in offices. So, I mean, it's made me really rethink why the heck were we even in the office in the first place. So all those expenses and paying rent in places, because once I did settle into the new normal, I can be really effective at, you know, at home, so. That’s the biggest change.
So that and the last thing I’ll say about that; the other hard part and the part that keeps me up at night is the fact that I feel like black people in particular are being taken away from us on multiple fronts. So you have our elders who have underlying conditions or whatever, losing their lives in droves from COVID. And then you have our young men and young women and babies and children being shot down in the street. And it just feels like this, really. I don't know, it just feels like an attack. You know, it feels like it just feel it was like that feels like getting it from both sides. I heard them say on the radio, we're dealing with two pandemics, and that's the part that's really difficult."
Interviewer
IW
Interviewee
Quentin Williams
Collection
Citation
“Quintin Williams Interview,” Oral History: Lake Forest College + Heartland Alliance, accessed December 8, 2023, http://oralhistory.lakeforest.edu/items/show/14.