SSWAA Solidarity Statement With Black Lives Matter
Editor’s Note: SSWAA Board Members Dr. Leticia Villarreal Sosa and Ms. Christy McCoy co-authored this statement of solidarity in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the protests taking place all over the country. It was approved by SSWAA’s Board and we are proud to share it with you here on SSWN. They write: “As school social workers, we must all step into the discomfort of this conversation as this impacts every one of us when we serve children and teenagers in the schools. If we serve Black youth and other youth of color, we must be willing to assess where we are in our own journey of anti-racism. If we work with white youth, we are equally responsible for breaking the legacy of white supremacy and model for white youth what anti-racism looks like. We need to assess our own spheres of influence and our skill sets, thinking about how we can use our strengths, develop new skills, and be willing to be courageous and take risks in order to enact anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices.”
Leticia Villarreal Sosa
SSWAA-statement-on-BLM
Ms. Christy McCoy, LCSW
Recommended Resources From SSWAA
Craig de Silva, E. et al. (2007). Institutional Racism Social Work Profession: A Call to Action. National Association of Social Workers. https://www.socialworkers.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=SWK1aR53FAk%3D&portalid=0
Flicker, S. S. and Klein, A (2020). Anti Racism Resources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/preview?fbclid=IwAR14OLgdwHAWtGmMJ4jaKSteDfN5ZGWdJBuu MdbOTurRif1dsRSlprhJWNE&pru=AAABcoClP40*1R0A-9lqycUb0EpKJq7YrQ
Kendi, I. (2019). How to be an antiracist. First Edition. One World
Kim, Michelle. (2020). 20+ Allyship Actions for Asians to Show Up for the Black Community Right Now. https://medium.com/awaken-blog/20-allyship-actions-for-asians-to-show-up-for-the-black-community-right-now-464e5689cf3e
Loya, M. (2012). Racial attitudes in white social workers: Implications for culturally sensitive practice. https://www.wtamu.edu/webres/File/Academics/College%20of%20Education%20and%20Social%20Sciences/Department%20of%20Political%20Science%20and%20Criminal%20Justice/PBJ/3n1/3n1_04Loya.pdf
Retana, Alberto. (2015). Why Latinos Should Speak up for Black Lives. https://www.latinorebels.com/2015/05/01/why-latinos-should-speak-up-for-black-lives/?fbclid=IwAR3O0W4AQpoozikG-MRw4UDG-DaslOUWz46TiV84tjUnR- rqKKJuoFctu_U
Social Work Coalition for Anti-Racist Educators. “ Social Work Cares” https://www.swcares.org/.
Southern Poverty Law Center. (n.d). Teaching Tolerance – Teaching about Race, Racism and Police Violence https://www.tolerance.org/moment/racism-and-police-violence
