小塞缪尔·布拉德利., 他是电子游戏软件社会工作学院的助理教授, likes to share his favorite motto: “I want to build cool stuff with my friends.”
And since joining BC in 2019 he has lived up to his words, collaborating with assistant professor 泰隆米. 羊皮纸 to create a suite of academic programs aimed at preparing master’s students to develop solutions to complex problems in Black communities.
“This is both an innovation that moves us forward and a recalling of the work that many Black pioneers of social work practice have engaged in for a long time,布拉德利在周五的年度会议上说 Pinderhughes多样性讲座. “It’s important to not only create outstanding classes but to also push the boundaries with regard to what practice, 社区, 奖学金是这样的.”
这个讲座, hold on Zoom, zeroed in on the goals of the new academic offerings and paid tribute to Black social workers who have paved the way for Bradley and 羊皮纸 to design these programs. 它的命名是为了纪念一位这样的先驱，名誉教授 伊莱恩Pinderhughes, 谁的开创性电子游戏正规平台揭示了这个种族, 种族, 权力强烈地影响着社会工作者与客户的互动.
Pinderhughes, 特邀嘉宾, told the virtual attendees that she cultivated her approach to social work as a clinician at a treatment center for kids. 它就在那里, 她回忆道, that she and her colleagues began to ask what they needed to know in order to help Black children thrive.
“Soon it became clear that we needed to look at ourselves in the context of many layers and levels of cultural influence,平德休斯说, 谁在1975年至2016年在学院工作. “Among these layers we found out were our own culture as it influences us and the overarching influences of United States-based American culture.”
Bradley和羊皮纸都有 设计 三个新的学术项目——一个创举, 一个证书, and a field of practice—that center the cultural experiences and 值 that connect people of African descent. 的 黑人领导倡议, a cohort-based program that trains students to tackle problems facing Black communities, 这是我们努力的核心.
参与项目的学生, 9月推出, do internships that support Black communities and take electives that focus on the history of the African diaspora. Bradley和羊皮纸都说过BLI要求学生 仔细看看 他们过去是谁，现在是谁，想成为什么样的人. 每个月, 他们聚在一起反思各自的经历, 听取黑人领袖的意见, 并且互相检查.
“的re are so many 学者 like Professor Emerita Pinderhughes that provided the foundation for why we created the BLI,羊皮纸在回答主持人提问时说 Lujuana弥尔顿他是该计划的项目协调员. “One of the striking points from reading her work was the need to aid ethnically marginalized students and the importance of remaining positively connected to your own cultural group.”
迪恩·高塔姆·N. Yadama drew parallels between the BLI and Pinderhughes’ 学者hip, pointing in particular to a paper she 发表 1982年 社会工作 题目是“非裔美国人的家庭功能”.” “Every decade or so she says something that then everybody picks up on and she’s always ahead of the curve,亚达玛说. 在本文中, 她说系统, 环境, 结构对于理解人群的实践是至关重要的. And I think it is that concern of professor Pinderhughes that is also at the core of our BLI program today.”
“的re are so many 学者 like Professor Emerita Pinderhughes that provided the foundation for why we created the BLI. One of the striking points from reading her work was the need to aid ethnically marginalized students and the importance of remaining positively connected to your own cultural group.”
Students in the first cohort of the BLI have studied in fields as far-flung as neuroscience, 刑事司法, 以及人类服务. 他们在医院工作过, 县监狱, 和非营利组织, 帮助改善自闭症儿童的生活, 有药物滥用问题的青少年, 以及患有创伤性脑损伤的成年人. And Bradley和羊皮纸都有 said that many of them will go on to join the 非洲中心社会工作实践领域 and earn the certificate in Black Leadership, both of which will launch in fall 2022.
非洲中心社会工作实践领域, one of six pathways that include specialized coursework and field placements, will require students to take “Advanced Practice in Afrocentric 社会工作” and complete an internship with an organization that supports the Black 社区. 根据教学大纲, one assignment for the class will ask students to write a paper that describes how they have integrated “African-centered knowledge, 值, 和方法”，在实习期间与客户打交道.
黑人领袖证书 will require students to complete three specific courses—“Re-thinking Diversity,”“非洲中心组织,和“黑人社区行动主义的历史”.一道菜, “非洲中心主义的组织,” will train students to develop the leadership skills to combat racism in Black communities and build capacity within Black organizations. 一个作业, 学生将扮演企业家的角色, 为服务黑人社区的公司制定商业计划.
“I’m always thinking about what can we do to push the envelope a little bit further in social work,布拉德利说, 谁来监督 学校的公平、正义和包容倡议. “I think I would live and die a happy man constantly challenging the profession to think about new opportunities that we can expand into with regard to our practice.”
Bradley and 羊皮纸 told Milton that they are already working to recruit the second cohort for the BLI, 与校友建立合作关系，指导学生, 与社区中潜在的合作者发展关系. 的ir ultimate goal, they said, is to create leaders who take an Afrocentric approach to social work. “If we are creating leaders who are grounded in the Black perspective but they’re in a setting where they can’t implement their learning, 那就有点伤害了,羊皮纸说。, 谁电子游戏正规平台家庭的行为健康. “So the long term impact is to build the capacity of organizations working with folks in the African diaspora and to maximize this knowledge base.”
讲座结束后, 学校播放了一段12分钟的视频，向平德休斯致敬, 谁将在八月庆祝她的百岁生日. 的 video featured remarks from more than two-dozen important people in her life, 包括朋友, 家庭, 还有以前的同事.
“You truly represent empathy, and wisdom, and kindness, and knowledge,” said 露丝·麦克罗伊他现在是社会工作学院的名誉教授. “你养育了, 培养, 并指导了一代反种族主义的人, 学者, 和专业人士,霍华德·平德休斯说, 她的一个儿子. A group of friends described Pinderhughes as their “role model,” “dancing teacher,” and “inspiration.”
“You’ve taught us that we are as old as our ancestors and as young as our descendents,” they said. “您教会了我们，即使我们不敢希望，桥梁也可以建立起来. You’ve taught us to be loving to others, even when we didn’t think we were a good match. 你教会了我们用自己的声音说话是多么重要.”
平德休斯被这段视频所感动. “我不知所措，”她说. “我不知道该说什么，除了‘衷心感谢’.’”