April 16, 2008
6:00 PM

Modern Maturity Center, Dover, Delaware
The Tribute is open to the public.  
 
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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.”