Bill Text: IL SR0351 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the death of Dr. James Burnett.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-15 - Resolution Adopted [SR0351 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-SR0351-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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5 | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett's passion and love for his | ||||||
6 | family was, above-all, most important to him; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Dr. James Burnett was preceded in death by his | ||||||
8 | twins, James Michael Burnett and Jasmine Marie Burnett; and
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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
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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
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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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