Doin’ The Work: Frontline Stories of Social Change

Episode 66 Guest: Amanda Wallace, BSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Amanda Wallace, Founder and Executive Director of Operation Stop CPS, discusses the surveillance and regulation of families—particularly Black families—within the child protection system. Having worked in child protective services for a decade, Amanda realized the harm being inflicted on children and families, leading her to advocate for change and ultimately lose her job in retaliation. She discusses how Operation Stop CPS intervenes to assist families affected by the system, the connection between family policing and anti-Black racism, and the movement to end family policing through education, advocacy, and support. In this episode: How the family policing system surveils and regulates families, especially Black families Amanda's decade in child protective services and why she left How Operation Stop CPS intervenes for families facing family separation The historical and present-day roots of anti-Black racism in the child protection system Building a movement to end family policing www.operationstopcps.com Invest in the work www.operationstopcps.com/donate Instagram operationstopcps Facebook OperationStopCPS Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 65 Guest: Dawn Belkin Martinez, PhD, LICSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Dr. Dawn Belkin Martinez, Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion at Boston University School of Social Work, discusses the Liberation Health Model, which she co-created as a transformative, sociopolitical approach to assessment and intervention. Rooted in radical traditions including Black feminism, Brazilian mental health movements, and Marxist theory, the model originated in a hospital psych unit through collaboration with patients and families. Dr. Martinez explains how to use the Liberation Health Triangle for assessment and shares tools like deconstructing dominant messages and recovering historical memory. This powerful model offers a flexible, collective liberation framework that encourages authentic, action-oriented practice. In this episode: The origin story of the Liberation Health Model Using the Liberation Health Triangle for sociopolitical assessment Deconstructing dominant worldview messages with clients Activism as a therapeutic intervention How the model works alongside other approaches like ACT and CBT www.bostonliberationhealth.org Email dawnbm@bu.edu Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 64 Guests: Ashleigh Washington, JD & Ruth Cusick, JD Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Ashleigh Washington and Ruth Cusick, co-founders of The Collective for Liberatory Lawyering (C4LL), discuss their work as movement lawyers fighting to end the school-to-prison pipeline. They explain how legal strategies must be rooted in community organizing to create lasting change, especially for Black, Brown, Indigenous, disabled, and other marginalized students and families. Drawing on their shift from direct legal services to movement lawyering, they highlight the need for shared power and collective governance beyond traditional civil rights frameworks. The episode also explores their Barefoot Lawyering model and efforts like LA Police Free Schools. In this episode: How legal strategies must be rooted in community organizing to create lasting change The shift from direct legal services to movement lawyering Education as a human right versus a civil rights framework The Barefoot Lawyering interdisciplinary practice model LA Police Free Schools and the fight to end school policing www.c4ll-ca.org Instagram liberatorylawyersca LinkedIn The Collective for Liberatory Lawyering Police Free LAUSD Coalition Report https://www.safeschoolslausd.com/ Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 63 Guest: Yoosun Park, MSW, PhD Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Dr. Yoosun Park, Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses her co-authored article on social work's role in the Americanization movement from 1880 to 1930—a national project rooted in whiteness and white supremacy. She explains how the profession helped define who was deemed American and how this process excluded Indigenous, Black, Asian, and Mexican communities. The conversation reveals how these racist ideologies shaped early social work and continue to influence the field today. Dr. Park's groundbreaking research is being expanded into a book that critically examines this legacy. In this episode: Social work's central role in the Americanization movement from 1880 to 1930 How whiteness defined who was considered Americanizable — and who was not The exclusion of Indigenous, Black, Asian, and Mexican communities from American citizenship How these white supremacist beliefs, policies, and practices persist in social work today Dr. Park's forthcoming book expanding on this research UPenn Faculty Profile Google Scholar Profile ResearchGate To "Elevate, Humanize, Christianize, Americanize": Social Work, White Supremacy, and the Americanization Movement, 1880–1930 Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 62 Guests: Beth Wagner, Claire Mancuso, Natalia Norzagaray & Parham Daghighi Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Beth Wagner, Claire Mancuso, Natalia Norzagaray, and Parham Daghighi—MSW students at the University of Texas–Austin and members of FED UP—share their work organizing for paid social work internships. As part of a growing movement, they discuss how they formed FED UP, their strategies, and the resistance they've encountered from within the profession. The conversation highlights how unpaid internships harm students' well-being and reinforce systemic inequities in social work. Their organizing offers a powerful model for collective action and a challenge to the profession's status quo. In this episode: How FED UP formed and their organizing strategies Resistance from within the profession and how they've responded Guiding principles and organizational structure as a model for others How unpaid internships harm student well-being and reinforce inequity Connections between unpaid internships and the devaluation of social work Part 1 Paid Social Work Internships Part 1: Payment 4 Placements – Matt Dargay, MSW & Arie Davey, LLMSW FED UP Instagram utfedup FED UP Email utfedup@gmail.com Payment 4 Placements Instagram p4pnational Payment 4 Placements Email p4p.national@gmail.com Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 61 Guests: Matt Dargay, MSW & Arie Davey, LLMSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Matt Dargay and Arie Davey, co-founders of Payment 4 Placements, discuss their national campaign to secure paid internships for social work students. As former MSW students at the University of Michigan, they highlight the financial burdens of unpaid placements—including the cost of internship credits—and the inequities this system creates, especially for Black students. They share successful organizing efforts at the university and state levels, including legislation to fund paid internships in Michigan schools. This episode offers strategies and inspiration for challenging the status quo and building a more equitable path into the profession. In this episode: The financial burden of unpaid internships, including paying for internship credits How the unpaid internship system creates inequities in who gets to become a social worker CSWE research on the disproportionate cost of a social work degree for Black students Organizing strategies at the university and state levels, including graduate union work Legislation passed in Michigan to fund paid internships in school mental health settings Part 2 Paid Social Work Internships Part 2: FED UP – Beth Wagner, Claire Mancuso, Natalia Norzagaray & Parham Daghighi Instagram p4pumich Facebook Payment for Placements at the University of Michigan Email p4p.national@gmail.com   p4p.umich@gmail.com Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 60 Guests: Kohenet Shoshana A Brown, LMSW & Autumn Leonard Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Shoshana Brown and Autumn Leonard of the Black Jewish Liberation Collective and Jews for Economic & Racial Justice explore how antisemitism and racism operate as interconnected pillars of white supremacy. They discuss their organizing work to support Black Jews and disrupt systems of oppression through community building and education. The conversation highlights the need to deepen our understanding of antisemitism, even within progressive spaces, and to name it as part of our collective justice work. This episode calls us to confront difficult truths and build solidarity across movements. In this episode: How antisemitism and racism function as features of white supremacy The work of the Black Jewish Liberation Collective to create communal space for Black Jews Organizing to disrupt antisemitism and racism through community building Why progressive spaces must name and address antisemitism Building solidarity across movements to create lasting change Black Jewish Liberation Collective www.blackjewishliberation.org Instagram blackjewishliberation X @bjlcollective Facebook BlackJewishLiberation Kohenet Shoshana www.shoshanaakua.com Instagram illuminatorofx X @ShoB Autumn www.bodygetfree.com Instagram autumng0tstamina Facebook autumn.leonard.31 Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 59 Guest: Turquoise Skye Devereaux, MSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Turquoise Skye Devereaux, a Salish and Blackfeet educator, consultant, and PhD student, discusses how colonial systems continue to harm Indigenous Peoples through education and social work. She breaks down the four stages of colonization, critiques the concept of cultural competency, and highlights the importance of creating culturally safe spaces. Drawing from her personal experience and interviews with Indigenous students, Turquoise offers concrete examples of what inclusion can—and should—look like. This episode calls on educators and practitioners to challenge colonial norms and commit to equity and Indigenous liberation. In this episode: Colonial systems and the four stages of colonization Why cultural competency is a myth rooted in a Westernized, colonial mentality Differences between Indigenous and Westernized worldviews and ways of living How education and social work have caused — and continue to cause — harm to Indigenous Peoples Concrete ways to create culturally safe spaces for Indigenous populations Instagram indigenous.cc & cahokiaphx LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/turquoisedevereaux Email t.s.devereaux@gmail.com Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 58 Guests: Jewel Patterson, MS; Edgar Ibarria; Nicole Bates, JD Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Jewel Patterson, Edgar Ibarria, and Nicole Bates discuss their organizing work to end the school-to-prison pipeline in California. Representing COPE, CADRE, and C4LL, they explain how criminalization in schools—through vague policies like "willful defiance," surveillance, and policing—disproportionately harms Black and Brown students. The conversation highlights their legal and grassroots strategies, coalition building, and a major victory: defunding $25 million from school police to reinvest in Black student achievement. This episode offers a powerful blueprint for reimagining school safety and building collective power. In this episode: How criminalization functions in schools and its disproportionate impact on Black and Brown students The "willful defiance" discipline category and the fight to change it Surveillance, metal detectors, and school policing — and organizing to reimagine safety The victory of defunding $25 million from school police to reinvest in Black student achievement How to build power through coalitions, movement lawyering, and community organizing Jewel Patterson, COPE Instagram JustJewel__ www.COPEsite.org Instagram COPE2000_ Facebook COPE Inland Empire Edgar Ibarria, CADRE www.cadre-la.org Instagram cadreparents X @CADREparents Facebook Community Asset Development Re-defining Education (CADRE) Nicole Bates, C4LL www.c4ll-ca.org Instagram liberatorylawyersca LinkedIn The Collective for Liberatory Lawyering Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 57 Guest: Deadric Williams, PhD Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Dr. Deadric Williams, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, breaks down the relationship between racism, race, and racialization—emphasizing that racism came first, not race. He explains how racism is upheld by both ideology and structures, and how the invention of race served to justify settler colonialism and slavery. The conversation explores how whiteness functions to divide oppressed groups and maintain dominance, including the use of coded language to sustain racial inequities. Dr. Williams offers a vital framework for understanding and dismantling systemic racism at its roots. In this episode: How racism came first — and how race emerged from it, not the other way around Racism as a combination of ideology and structures that uphold white dominance How the invention of race justified settler colonialism and the enslavement of Africans How whiteness was created to divide oppressed groups and provide material and psychological benefits Coded language and how racial inequities are sustained in contemporary society X @doc_thoughts www.deadricwilliams.wordpress.com Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 56 Guests: Charla Yearwood, LCSW; Cassandra Walker, LCSW, CCTP; Alan Dettlaff, PhD, MSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Charla Yearwood, Cassandra Walker, and Dr. Alan Dettlaff discuss the ASWB's long-awaited release of social work licensing exam pass rates by race and age. The data reveals significant racial disparities, confirming what many have long known—that the exam is racially biased and discriminatory toward Black, Latinx, and Indigenous social workers. The conversation unpacks how ASWB has avoided accountability and why this exam must be challenged. This episode is part of the growing movement to end the use of this racist exam and calls listeners to take action. In this episode: The ASWB report on licensing exam pass rates by race and what the data reveals How the exam discriminates against Black, Latinx, and Indigenous social workers How ASWB has avoided accountability and deflected blame The case for ending the use of this exam entirely How to get involved in the #StopASWB movement Charla Yearwood, LCSW www.charlayearwood.com LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/charlayearwood Cassandra Walker, LCSW, CCTP www.i-cch.com Bluesky @intersectionscch.bsky.social Instagram intersectionsllc Alan Dettlaff, PhD, MSW LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/alandettlaff #StopASWB Petition https://www.change.org/p/aswb-end-discriminatory-social-work-licensing-exams #StopASWB Press Conference Recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE_p6b6x06U Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 55 Guest: Maxine Davis, MSW, MBA, PhD Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Dr. Maxine Davis, Assistant Professor at Rutgers School of Social Work, shares her powerful and deeply personal experience navigating anti-Black racism, sexism, and institutional betrayal in academia. She speaks candidly about the toll this took on her mental health, including a suicide attempt, and the lack of accountability within her former institution. Dr. Davis calls attention to the broader issues within social work and higher education and introduces her plan to develop a Green Book and Red Book to guide Black faculty and scholars navigating the job market. This episode is a courageous call for systemic change and collective care. In this episode: Dr. Davis's personal experience of anti-Black racism and sexism in academic institutions The mental health toll of institutional racism, including her suicide attempt The lack of accountability mechanisms for racial harm in higher education How these issues reflect systemic problems in social work and academia as a whole Her plan to create a Green Book and Red Book for Black faculty navigating the job market https://drmaxinedavis.com/ X @DrMaxineDavis The Chronicle of Higher Education: Why They Left Nature: Anti-Black Practices Take Heavy Toll on Mental Health Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 54 Guest: Daye Pope Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Daye Pope, Director of Civic Engagement at T.A.K.E. (Trans Advocates Knowledgeable Empowering), discusses the organization's work supporting trans women of color and resisting the wave of anti-trans legislation across the U.S. She explains how these laws—rooted in racism, classism, and cisnormativity—harm trans youth, deny essential health care, and criminalize affirming providers and families. Daye also highlights T.A.K.E.'s civic engagement efforts, including voting rights advocacy for trans people of color. Grounded in love, resilience, and community leadership, this conversation offers a powerful look at organizing for safety, dignity, and justice. In this episode: The wave of anti-trans legislation and how it targets trans youth, families, and providers How transphobia is rooted in racism, classism, and cisgender white patriarchal normativity The truth about puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and countering misinformation Voting rights advocacy and civic engagement for trans people of color How T.A.K.E. builds community leadership and organizes for safety, dignity, and justice www.takebhm.org Instagram take_resourcecenter Facebook T.A.K.E. Resource Center https://www.equalityfederation.org/ Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 53 Guest: Jessica Isom, MD, MPH Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Dr. Jessica Isom, a board-certified community psychiatrist and clinical instructor at Yale University, shares her work advancing racial equity in medicine and mental health through clinical care, education, and consulting. She discusses how racism—not race—is the true risk factor for poor health outcomes, and how pathologizing Blackness in medical and psychiatric frameworks causes real harm. Dr. Isom explores how whiteness and Eurocentric standards shape mental health systems, including the DSM, and offers insight into practicing with a lens grounded in equity, Black healing, and joy. This conversation challenges deficit-based approaches and calls for systemic transformation in health care. In this episode: How racism—not race—is the root risk factor for poor health outcomes How pathologizing Blackness causes harm and perpetuates racist health narratives How whiteness and Eurocentricity show up in mental health systems, including the DSM Deficit-based ideology and why it fails Black communities Black healing, joy, and what equity-centered clinical practice looks like www.vision4equity.com X/Instagram/Clubhouse @drjessisommdmph TikTok @vision4equityllc LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-elizabeth-isom-md-mph-12ba54a2/ Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 52 Guest: Monica Cox, PhD Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Dr. Monica Cox, Distinguished Professor of Engineering at The Ohio State University, shares her experiences navigating higher education and DEI as a Black woman and unapologetic truth-teller. She discusses the harm of performative diversity, the persistence of systemic racism in academic and organizational spaces, and the cost of authenticity in these environments. Drawing from her personal and professional journey, Dr. Cox offers a bold critique grounded in lived experience, clarity, and purpose. This conversation challenges the status quo and calls listeners to reflect, reckon, and choose transformation. In this episode: Navigating higher education and DEI as a Black woman The harm of performative diversity and organizational dysfunction How systemic racism manifests in academic and professional spaces The cost of living authentically in spaces that resist it A challenge to institutions and individuals to choose real transformation www.drmonicacox.com X, Instagram & TikTok @drmonicacox LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/drmonicafcox Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 51 Guests: Joyce McMillan; Victoria, MSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Joyce McMillan, Founder and Executive Director of JMac for Families and Parent Legislative Action Network, and Victoria, a PhD candidate at UCLA and community organizer, discuss the family policing system—commonly known as the child welfare system—and their abolitionist work. They explain how the system targets families in poverty, disproportionately harms Black, Brown, and Indigenous families, and functions as a carceral system of surveillance and control. Drawing on their personal experiences, they highlight the lack of rights for parents, the misuse of mandatory reporting, and the need to shift from separation to true family support. Together, they call for a complete transformation rooted in justice and care. In this episode: Why this system is more accurately called the family policing system How the system targets families in poverty and disproportionately harms Black, Brown, and Indigenous families The history of racist social control in the creation and operation of this system Mandatory reporting, predictive analytics, and the lack of Miranda rights for parents What it would look like to truly support families rather than separate them Joyce https://jmacforfamilies.org/ X @JMacForFamilies Instagram jmacforfamilies Victoria www.veephd.blog https://upendmovement.org/ https://stoplapdspying.org/ Transformative Justice Handbook https://www.lovewithaccountability.com/ Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 50 Guest: Jasmine Banks Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Jasmine Banks, Executive Director of UnKoch My Campus, exposes how the Koch network influences education and policy through massive financial contributions and targeted campaigns. She explains how this network promotes agendas that suppress voting rights, deny climate change, attack workers' rights, and censor discussions of systemic racism, all while threatening multiracial democracy. Jasmine details how UnKoch My Campus works with students to organize against corporate influence in education and breaks down the consequences of unchecked political spending enabled by rulings like Citizens United. This conversation is a powerful call to follow the money, confront hidden systems of power, and take action for democratic accountability. In this episode: What the Koch network is and how it uses financial influence to shape education and policy How the Koch agenda suppresses voting rights, denies climate change, and attacks workers' rights The Koch network's role in attacking critical race theory, the 1619 Project, and multiracial democracy How Citizens United enabled unchecked corporate financial influence over elections and legislation How UnKoch My Campus works with students to organize and challenge this agenda www.unkochmycampus.org X @UnKochCampus Instagram unkochcampus Facebook @UnKochMyCampus Generation Common Good www.generationcommongood.org Article https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/charles-koch-crt-backlash/ NASW & Sinema petition by Boston Liberation Health Collective https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhaCWsVZ--u8RHFULOWg_BbNqr7GKoqvZX7tycmeHnv53mtw/viewform Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 49 Guests: Kelechi Wright, LCPC, LPC; Kortney Carr, LCSW, LSCSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Kelechi Wright, a doctoral student in the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas, and Kortney Carr, a Professor of Practice and doctoral student at the same institution, discuss their article The Whitewashing of Social Work History, which calls for an honest, equitable retelling of the profession's past. They highlight how traditional narratives erase Black social welfare leaders, uphold white saviorism, and perpetuate white supremacy in social work education and practice. The conversation emphasizes the need to honor Black social work movements rooted in community traditions and to build a just foundation for the field's future. Kelechi and Kortney also explore the responsibilities of educators and practitioners in advancing racial justice within the profession. In this episode: How social work history has been whitewashed and why it matters The erasure of Black social welfare leaders and the perpetuation of white saviorism How an inaccurate history perpetuates white supremacy in social work education and practice The communal traditions of Black social work and social welfare movements The responsibilities of educators and practitioners in advancing racial justice within the profession The Whitewashing of Social Work History: How Dismantling Racism in Social Work Education Begins With an Equitable History of the Profession Kelechi https://www.uh.edu/class/aas/faculty/kelechi-wright/ Kortney www.linkedin.com/in/kortneyacarr Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 48 Guest: Tyra Wanatee-Flores, BSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Tyra Wanatee-Flores, a descendant of the Sac and Fox Nation of the Mississippi in Iowa and an MSW student at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses her work addressing youth suicide, substance abuse, and gender-based violence in Indigenous communities. She shares how she integrates culturally grounded, community-driven approaches to mental health and social work, informed by her experience as a Buder Scholar and her commitment to decolonizing practice. Tyra also talks about her advocacy with Meskwaki RISE, supporting Indigenous survivors of domestic and sexual violence. She highlights her activism in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement and why it is critical for all of us to take action to end this violence. In this episode: Addressing youth suicide and substance abuse in Indigenous communities How Eurocentric mental health frameworks fall short and how to move beyond them Decolonizing practice through community, tradition, and culture Supporting Indigenous survivors of domestic and sexual violence through Meskwaki RISE Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and how we can all take action to end this violence Instagram tyywanatee X @tyerista TikTok @tyrista Meskwaki RISE Meskwaki RISE Facebook Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 47 Guest: Armen Henderson, MD Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Dr. Armen Henderson, Director of Health Programs at Dream Defenders and Founder of Dade County Street Response, shares his work bringing medical care directly to poor and working-class communities in Miami. He discusses how social determinants of health are deeply rooted in racism, classism, and systemic inequity—highlighting examples such as climate injustice, lack of housing, and barriers to healthcare access. Armen reflects on how the murder of Trayvon Martin led him to organize for racial justice through an abolitionist, anti-capitalist lens within medicine. This conversation underscores the need to reimagine public health as a tool for liberation and community care. In this episode: Bringing medicine directly to poor and working-class communities outside the hospital setting How social determinants of health are rooted in racism, classism, and systemic inequity Climate injustice, hurricanes, and how racism and classism determine who bears the greatest harm Serving unhoused communities and the racial profiling Dr. Henderson experienced during COVID How the murder of Trayvon Martin led him to an abolitionist, anti-capitalist approach to medicine www.dreamdefenders.org Instagram dr.doitall305 Facebook armen.henderson Join the Doin' The Work Community https://dointhework.com/join Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/