Dr. Jay Williams: Passion for Equity and Students at Minneapolis College

Williams grew up in rural Minnesota with an African American father and a Swedish-Irish mother. His father was raised in a sharecropping family in Mississippi, and his mother had ties to rural farmland. With immersion in these 2 worlds, Williams began to understand the importance of intercultural competence. 

“I think it was an early recognition of the importance of cultural fluency,” said Williams who was aware he didn’t have the tools to express and navigate the different worlds he was partaking in but knew the importance of them. 

“I didn’t have words like ‘code switching’ but I was very aware at ages 7 and 8 that the rules at Bessie’s (grandmother on father’s side) house and Mabel’s (grandmother from mother’s side) were going to be very different,” said Williams.

Around age 11, Williams began to spend more time on Native American land with the Brown Thunder Clan, a Ho-Chunk family. The Ho-Chunk Nation has a significant presence in Wisconsin but their traditional territory spans over 5 states. He was eventually ceremonially adopted by the family.