Hearing in Color and Seeing Clearly: Presenters

On Sunday, February 3, NSBC will be hosting an afternoon of conversation and reflection intended to stir our own members, reach our neighbors and revive all those in Chicago with eyes to see and ears to hear the call. We are honored to present the following speakers. A full schedule of the day follows below.

​Rev. Dr. Marie Onwubuariri has served for over ten years as a cross-cultural competency trainer in faith-based, educational, and professional settings, and brings to her engagements a lifetime of continual formation at the intersection of cultures. Marie’s relational and contextual leadership style and unique approach is carefully designed based on her expansive and integrated experiences in local church, denominational, ecumenical, residential community, and secular settings, along with her formal education, which includes a BS in Management, a Master of Divinity with an emphasis in multicultural ministries, and a Doctor of Ministry in Transformation Leadership, which culminated in her dissertation topic, “Cultural Self-knowing and Negotiation: A Spiritual Practice for Intercultural Leaders.” Marie is co-editor and chapter author of Trouble the Water: A Christian Resource for the Work of Racial Justice (Nurturing Faith, 2017). Marie currently serves as Regional Executive Minister (REM) of the American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin, holding the distinct honor of being the first female and first person of color in this position in the region and first Asian-American female REM in the denomination (American Baptist Churches USA).This privilege informs her gratefulness for the many people who have boldly paved the path before her and her call to shape spaces that welcome and give home to the voices and gifts of those too often discounted. 

---

 Rev. Dr. Janette Wilson currently serves as the Senior Advisor to Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., National President of RainbowPUSH Inc., Assistant Pastor of the Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church and is employed Special Assistant to the Chief Administrative Officer of the Chicago Public Schools.Janette is the co-founder of Wilson, Howard P.C. Attorneys at Law Inc., a firm she and her husband formed in 1980. She served as a criminal defense attorney for more than 15 years (1980-1995).
Janette is a member of the Cook County Bar Association. She was instrumental in forming the Interfaith Lawyers Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. She has lectured on a number of subjects in the area of civil rights, affirmative action and school law. She has been an adjunct professor at a number of seminaries and universities, teaching courses  in Marketing, Business Law, Church Law, Ethics, and Church Administration.    

---

Paw Say Ku is a former Karen refugee from Thailand/Myanmar. Paw received her undergraduate degree in Social Justice  from Northeastern Illinois University and is pursuing her Master Degree in the Clinical Mental Health at Adler University. Currently, Paw works at the Heartland Human Cares Services with the Refugee and Immigrant Community Services as a Supervisor for Youth and Family Department after being chosen as a  Hear Chicago and Heal Chicago Fellow through Heartland Alliance.   Paw is passionate about advocating for human rights especially for refugee and immigrant, and community mental health.  Paw believes that we can be empowered to connect and create healing from listening and sharing stories with one another. ​

---

Schedule
​
12:00 Light lunch
12:30 "Hearing in Color and Seeing Clearly"
Keynote by Rev. Dr. Marie Onwubuariri
1:00 Workshops
-"Let's Talk about Race: Where to Begin" by Rev. Dr. Marie Onwubuariri
-"Resurgence of White Supremacy in 21st Century America" by Rev. Janette Wilson, Rainbow/PUSH 
-"Empowered to Connect & Heal" by Naw Paw Say Ku, Heartland Alliance's Refugee & Immigrant Community Services