Featured
Speaker - Quincy Lucas
Quincy
Lucas, prior to the year 2003, described her life as
normal and uncomplicated. She was the child of
college educated professionals living in the suburbs
of Baltimore. A product of Parochial schools
and a member of St. Bernadine's Roman Catholic
Church, Quincy's childhood showed no evidence that
she or her family would ever be caught up in the
violence that infected Baltimore City. As adults,
Quincy and her sister Witney were advocates for
change in the Baltimore community. Their
mission was to establish a foundation to help the
needy in inner city Baltimore. That is until one day
her life was dramatically altered by a crime that
would eventually affect 58 individuals in Maryland
in 2003 alone.
In
January, 2003 Quincy's life was changed forever when
her sister, Witney, was murdered at the hands of her
ex-boyfriend, James Buie. Quincy and her
family were not accustomed to a life of violence and
had no reason to suspect that Witney was in danger
of becoming a victim of Domestic Violence.
Buie was eventually convicted of first-degree
premeditated murder and was sentenced to life in
prison.
In
spite of the loss of her sister, Quincy remains
committed to keeping her memory alive and she
continues the mission they had set out to complete
together. Quincy currently lives in Dover, Delaware
with her husband and three children. She works
in the field of education and has become an advocate
for victim's rights and domestic violence awareness.
She is instrumental in the annual Witney H. Rose
Cultural Diversity Day and Psychiatry Scholarship at
the University of Maryland, which features a lecture
series about domestic issues and needs within the
community. Quincy has worked to host the Domestic
Violence/Intimate Partner program: Intimate
Partner Violence Breaking the Cycle, at
Delaware State University. Quincy is currently
working to establish a non-profit organization:
Witney's L.I.G.H.T.S, an organization dedicated to
empowering youth to be aware of the violence within
their communities and teach them to make a
difference. “My life-long commitment,”
Quincy notes, “until I have no breath left in me
is to continue to speak to anyone willing to listen
about the effects that violence has on the victims
and that crime can strike anyone; all are
vulnerable; yet the first step to change is
awareness.” |