Professor went from prison to prestige through art By Jared Treece, Staff Photographer February 25, 2021
Gallery: National Guard keeps watch over Illinois state Capitol ahead of Inauguration By Jared Treece, Staff Photographer January 17, 2021
Avid Trump supporter helps raise funds for the president By Jared Treece, Staff Photographer October 29, 2020
‘She looks just like me:’ Black women are at the forefront of protest efforts, activism in Louisville By Kallie Cox, Editor-in-Chief September 28, 2020
Outside The Box festival to bring internationally known musicians, virtual reality experiences to SIU By Staff Report, Arts & Entertainment Desk March 16, 2019
![SIU professor, Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, displays a painting of his of a vase in his studio at the Glove Factory on Friday, Feb. 13, 2021 in Carbondale, Ill. As a young adult, Abdul-Musawwir dropped out of high school and was later imprisoned after an armed robbery attempt. While in prison, he had a change of heart after meeting a nearby inmate who encouraged him to self-educate himself “I ended up not being in school and when I got in prison, he [a fellow inmate] made me realize that I couldn’t read...as a result, I read everything I could get my hands on. I read the dictionary several times from front to back," Abdul-Musawwir said. He left prison with his GED and came to SIU to start his undergraduate. Abdul-Musawwir was later offered to teach a class and to this day he is a professor in the School of Art and Design as well as the Department of Africana Studies.](https://dailyegyptian.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Najjar08SRGB-900x601.jpg)
![Michael Thornton, a freshman from Naperville studying digital media arts and animation, carries an LGBTQ flag by the Student Services Building en route to astronomy class Monday, March 20, 2017, in Carbondale. Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, Thornton has been carrying the eight-foot-tall flag everywhere. "After Trump became president, I knew the LGBTQ community would have to fight even harder for our rights and I knew I would have to be more vocal if I wanted to be active in my community," Thornton said. "So carrying the flag was just about bringing visibility and awareness in a way I never really could before [in the suburbs of Naperville]." (Morgan Timms | @Morgan_Timms)](https://dailyegyptian.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/032017_Rainbow_WEB_MT_01-900x607.jpg)
