Full Text of SR0351 102nd General Assembly
SR0351 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | 3 | | to learn of the death of James Lee Burnett Jr., Ph.D. of | 4 | | Sartell, Minnesota and formally of Champaign, who passed away | 5 | | on April 22, 2021; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett was born to Dr. Evelyn Burnett | 7 | | Underwood (Bishop King James) and James Lee Burnett Sr. in | 8 | | Champaign on September 1, 1959; he was a student at University | 9 | | High Lab School where he excelled in both athletics and | 10 | | academia; after high school, he attended Wilberforce | 11 | | University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business | 12 | | Administration in 1981; he earned a Bachelor of Science from | 13 | | Southwest Minnesota State University in Sociology/Anthropology | 14 | | in 1996; he went on to earn two masters' degrees in 2002 and | 15 | | 2005 from Minnesota State University, Mankato; he continued | 16 | | his education at South Dakota State University where he was | 17 | | awarded a Ph.D. in Rural Sociology in 2011; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, After graduating college, Dr. James Burnett | 19 | | worked as a corrections officer in Michigan for 10 years; he | 20 | | was then a professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato | 21 | | and continued on this path to Idaho State University and | 22 | | Urbana University; throughout his life, he taught and mentored | 23 | | many students for academic and personal development, created |
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| 1 | | peer educator programs, and integrated active learning and | 2 | | service learning into his classes; he designed | 3 | | trauma-informed, academic at-risk youth mentoring intervention | 4 | | programs, such as the Bannock County Idaho and Idaho State | 5 | | University Partnership, where students served as mentors to | 6 | | youth involved in the criminal justice system; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett was a sociocultural ecologist | 8 | | whose research and service agenda examined and promoted the | 9 | | maintenance of a balance between human adaptation and the | 10 | | physical environment; his main areas of research were critical | 11 | | criminology, race ethnicity and social justice, and urban and | 12 | | rural sociology; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett's life experiences led him to | 14 | | find his true calling and purpose as a probation officer for | 15 | | the Mental Health Court; he specialized in intervening for | 16 | | clients in the court system and diverting them to treatment; | 17 | | his areas of specialization were client-centered and involved | 18 | | coordinating and providing intensive supervision and a broad | 19 | | range of rehabilitative and case management services within | 20 | | the Mental Health Court continuum; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, In addition, Dr. Burnett previously worked as a | 22 | | domestic violence facilitator, with the Catholic Charities | 23 | | Hope Community Support Program in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, and |
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| 1 | | as a teaching substitute for St. Cloud School District 742; | 2 | | and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett authored over 50 research | 4 | | articles, books, and presentations; one of his biggest | 5 | | accomplishments was writing and publishing his book Hood II | 6 | | Hood: Helping Prisoners Transition to Freedom; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett was an associate minister at | 8 | | New Free Will Baptist Church where over the years he served the | 9 | | youth locally, regionally, and nationally with Pastor and | 10 | | General Bishop King Underwood; he was a proud member of the 4th | 11 | | Judicial District Racial Equity Committee; in 2016, he was | 12 | | appointed by Stearns County Community Corrections to serve as | 13 | | an Advisory Board Member in Saint Cloud, Minnesota; as a | 14 | | certified sociological practitioner, he was a member of the | 15 | | Association of Applied and Clinical Sociologists (2011); and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett's unrelenting dedication to the | 17 | | community resulted in numerous awards and recognitions, | 18 | | including the NAACP Appreciation Award in 2011; he was proud | 19 | | to be honored at the 5th Annual African Mental Health Summit in | 20 | | recognition of exemplary scholarship in translational science | 21 | | while conducting, presenting, and publishing culturally | 22 | | responsive research (2014-2019) as a postdoctoral research | 23 | | trainee at the University of Minnesota, Crookston; he received |
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| 1 | | many invitations for speaking engagements, such as being | 2 | | chosen as the keynote speaker at Metropolitan State University | 3 | | in St. Paul, Minnesota during their Race and Social Justice | 4 | | Conference; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett's passion and love for his | 6 | | family was, above-all, most important to him; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett was preceded in death by his | 8 | | twins, James Michael Burnett and Jasmine Marie Burnett; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett was survived by his wife, Jody | 10 | | Burnett (Varing); his children, Robbie Rochelle Burnett, James | 11 | | Lee Chad Burnett III (Gwynder), Tobias Alexander Wheeler, | 12 | | DaNeya Martina Burnett, DaNaya Michelle Burnett, Anika Dakota | 13 | | Pendleton-Burnett, Ayanna Rochelle Taylor, Anthony Dale | 14 | | Burnett, Trevor Jodeci Burnett, and Kendra Christine Burnett, | 15 | | as well as Matthew Ryan Wheeler, Duane Michael Carter, and | 16 | | Rachel Renee Nickerson; his grandchildren, Azai, King Tashis, | 17 | | James IV, Tashi, Kyue', Makylah, and DeAndre; his | 18 | | great-grandchildren, Novah and D'Anthoni; and his siblings, | 19 | | Robbin Smith, Minister Ted Burnett (Tuere), Reverend Timothy | 20 | | Burnett (Cynthia), Angela R. Patterson (B. Kirk), and Pastor | 21 | | Herbert D. Burnett (Stephanie), as well as Jeff Underwood | 22 | | (Belinda), Greg Underwood (Priscilla), Janet Ross (Ferron), | 23 | | Prophetess Judy Grant, and King J. Underwood Jr.; therefore, |
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| 1 | | be it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 3 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 4 | | James Lee Burnett Jr., Ph.D. and extend our sincere | 5 | | condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved | 6 | | him; and be it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 8 | | presented to the family of Dr. James Burnett as an expression | 9 | | of our deepest sympathy.
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