Among other aspects of my identity, I am a Christian and a Social Worker. Both of these pieces of my identity help me make values based decisions, including my thoughts on capital punishment. I have utmost empathy for victims of violent crime and for their surviving family members. I cannot imagine the pain they haveContinue reading “Social Work, People of Faith, and the Death Penalty”
Tag Archives: Beloved community
Tennessee and policy violence
Yesterday was my day to read the Psalm reading at church, and to offer the prayer that follows. I read Psalm 11 in its entirety, but the section I personally held onto was Verse 4 and Verse 5: The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.He observes everyone onContinue reading “Tennessee and policy violence”
Hattie Cotton Elementary and the Twin Towers
Though the Brown vs Board of Education Supreme Court ruling in 1954 admonished states to “end racial segregation with all deliberate speed”, the “Nashville plan”was to integrate one grade a year beginning in 1957, meaning that a complete desegregation plan would take 12 years to roll out. (Spoiler alert: The court case of Kelley vContinue reading “Hattie Cotton Elementary and the Twin Towers”
Birthday truth-telling
It’s almost your birthday, 48 Contiguous States plus Alaska and Hawaii. I would say “Happy birthday America” but some years ago I learned that there are other Americas. (It is a lesson I should have learned earlier.) I would say “Happy Birthday to the US” but we don’t seem to be united. (And when thereContinue reading “Birthday truth-telling”
Meeting people where they are
In social work we talk a lot about “meeting people where they are”. We mean it in the sense of beginning the work where the client is, not where we (or they) wish they were. We mean it in the sense of being non-judgemental, and of prioritizing client voice and choice. Below I reflect onContinue reading “Meeting people where they are”
Ponderings of an academic in early summer + resources for self care and mindfulness
A week ago we had graduation, and earlier this week I turned in my final grades. I have been alternating going through piles of paper, a slew of emails, and attending meetings. I have also done a couple of walks and enjoyed not feeling like my hair was on fair. As graduation is more inContinue reading “Ponderings of an academic in early summer + resources for self care and mindfulness”
Social Prescriptions, Loneliness, and Isolation
A few weeks ago I learned that it was “Social Prescription Day”, celebrated annually on March 26. I learned of this in the evening of March 26, of course, kind of too late to prescribe myself, or anyone else, something social to do. (If you are new to the term, social prescriptions are “a systematicContinue reading “Social Prescriptions, Loneliness, and Isolation”
What “A Different World” taught me 30 years ago
Wow, that title makes me sound old. (Spoiler alert: I guess I am old.) When I was in college, one of the few things I watched religiously each week was A Different World. I loved Whitley and Dwayne Wayne and Jalisa and Walter and Kim and Freddie and all the rest. I watched the show inContinue reading “What “A Different World” taught me 30 years ago”
Daughters
A little over a year ago I wrote about teaching in the Integrated Learning Community, part of the general education core where I teach. Last year, I wrote about the synchronicity of learning from my co-teacher and being able to put it in use in the community the following day. This year we are teachingContinue reading “Daughters”
Mutual aid: How we care for each other
The term “mutual aid” is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a collaboration between community members, and a voluntary exchange of resources between them. We generally may think of mutual aid as existing most often in communities that have been economically (and in other ways) marginalized, but mutual aid also exists in faith communitiesContinue reading “Mutual aid: How we care for each other”
