Antoinette Candia-Bailey loved to shop. Antoinette Candia-Bailey was “a foodie.” Antoinette Candia-Bailey was a sister, friend and mentor to so many.
In April, she was appointed to the role of her dreams as the vice president of student affairs at her alma mater, the historically Black Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Indeed, it was a homecoming, but that job was supposed to serve as the culmination of a distinguished career in higher education that spanned 20-plus years.
Her appointment seemed to disprove that adage. It was possible to return home and be celebrated.
“Everything had just come full circle. I remember she and I talked in April, and she was just over the moon ecstatic,” her friend Marsha B. Clarke told The Chicago Defender recently.
“This was going to be it. This is where she was going to retire. This is where she was going to really make her mark in the world,” said Clarke, “And unfortunately, the light just went out.”
The job soon became a source of depression and anxiety for her.
On Jan. 8, the 49-year-old Candia-Bailey died by suicide in Illinois.
In an email to a friend, Candia-Bailey wrote that Lincoln University President John B. Moseley “intentionally harassed and bullied” her. She also expressed concerns about his leadership. Her family members also learn that, just days before her death, Moseley reportedly terminated her. He has since been placed on paid leave as a third party looks into Candia-Bailey’s allegations and the school’s handling of personnel issues.
Nevertheless, her tragic passing has generated national headlines and elicited outrage. Her case has highlighted the plight of Black women in higher education and elsewhere who have experienced racism and gender bias.
Closer to home, however, her loss has left an enormous hole in the lives of her loved ones who knew of her love of shopping, appreciation for good food and adoration of the students she served.
In an exclusive interview with The Chicago Defender, three of Candia-Bailey’s good friends — Marsha B. Clarke, Nicole Hines and Kenya Nikole Kennedy — spoke about her life and the enormity of her loss. They also touched on the justice they hope to see concerning their friend.
When asked what they would want the world to know about their friend, Antoinette Candia-Bailey, Kennedy said, “She was her ancestors’ dream. She was everything that our ancestors would have ever wanted and hoped for us.”
Hines added, “She was a woman of courage.”
“She was about change, and I believe that, sadly, change is going to come. It’s not how we would have wanted to see it,” Hines said, “But I believe that in all of this, at the end of this, there will be a change because of the call of action that will cause institutions to look at how things are done.”
Watch the full interview below:
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