By Anastasiya Tsoy

Traditional gender roles are characterized by having a cis masculine man as the head of the household who financially supports a family, in some cases is a dictator and external power of the family, and a woman who is feminine, maybe less intellectual, a follower and possesses less strength than a man, but is the soul of household. Gender roles are powerful indicators of societal norms and expectations. In Western society today, we often hear that there are “unlimited choices” for girls to express themselves, study and learn new skills such as leadership, public speaking, and social responsibility. However, “unlimited choices” become limited for various groups of girls based on their socio-economical class, racial and ethnic backgrounds, religious affiliations and family structures that lead to disbalance of gender roles, and gender equality in the society.  

Anita Harris (2004) in her book Future Girl created an image of a modern girl who lives in the 21st century. This girl is an avatar of modern life characterized by the combination of a desire to play boyish sports and play with dolls, independence and timidity, sexuality and modesty. One of Harris’s type of girls is Can-Do Girls or Girlpower — a young woman who is independent, successful and self-inventing. In other words, a young feminist who knows what to say, how to act, and how to be a leader. Education is one of the critical factors in a Can-do Girl’s development. The idea of Can-do Girl should be seeded in early childhood or at least in the school and should portray the power of education, equality among each gender, and ability reaches professional and personal goals. Harris also discussed At-Risk girls who can be influenced and affected by the society in many different ways such as low income, unsupportive environment or bullying. If we imagine a Future Girl by Harris, who is she and can we raise her?   

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2013): 

Between 2001 and 2011, the number of full-time male post-baccalaureate students increased by 36 percent, compared with a 56 percent increase in the number of full-time female post-baccalaureate students. Among part-time post-baccalaureate students, the number of males increased by 14 percent and the number of females increased by 20 percent.  

 If the current generation of young girls pursue advanced degrees compared to 50 years ago, why do women still earn less than men? In theory, young girls with higher education may increasingly occupy more prestigious and well-paid jobs, become more financially independent and increase their freedom of speech, but still might face gendered barriers during their professional and personal growth. The difference between women and men is not simply biological, it is socially constructed. Femininity is formed by the society and created a “practiced and subjected body on which an inferior status has been inscribed” (Bartky, 1990). The idea of feminine woman reflects society’s obsession with keeping a woman in frames so that man can appear more powerful. If we know the education is power, might it be a reason why a Future girl has limited access to it?  

If we know that behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning (Bandura, 1977), why we do not provide equal education to a Future girl? By giving a Future girl an opportunity to study, the number of early marriages, abortions, pregnancies may decrease. Looking to the numbers of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in London, “Women who don’t go to university are having children at much the same age as their mothers and grandmothers did” (DailyMailUK, 2012). Structural barriers including lack of access to educational institution may prevent a Future girl to empower herself by seeing role models in the field of her interests and thus hinder her ability to achieve higher goals.  

Harris discussed different challenges that a young girl may face during her development. One of them pertains to barriers stemming from racial and ethnic group membership. Different color of skin might stop a young girl to reach her goal, feel vulnerable and socially isolated. For instance, because of systemic race and gender discrimination, African American girls are often stereotyped before they even enter a school building, and this affects their self-perceptions and self-esteem as well as the perceptions of their teachers (Blake, Butler & Smith, 2009). If we know the race and ethnicity play a role in a Future girl self-esteem, why we do not create conditions to address racial/ethnic bias and intolerance in the education system?  

Socioeconomic status also plays a significant role in developing a Future girl. Income has been found to be logarithmically associated with brain surface area, “for every dollar in increased income, the increase in children’s brain surface area was proportionally greater to the lower end of the family income spectrum” (Noble et al., 2015; p.5). Th researchers claimed that childhood socioeconomic status (SES) characterized by parental educational attainment, occupation and income, is associated with early experiences that are important for cognitive development. Parental education and family income account for individual variation in independent characteristics of brain structural development in regions that are critical for the development of language, executive functions and memory. In fact, low income might decrease self-esteem during the educational process. Low-income families may have limited access to resources to promote school development, educate children basic skills such as financial literacy, social responsibility and others. If we know all of these factors, why we do not provide external support to a girl such as free extra curriculum courses on self-care, or financial literacy in schools?     

The unlimited choices are visible, but in reality, the idea of “unlimited choices” is very blurred. Being a Future girl with own voice is not prestigious since most of the times, a girl should go against the wave of social norms or traditional gender roles, break stereotypes and be confident in her choices. It is very important to understand that developing Can-do Girls’ philosophy, eliminations of circumstances and their causes are necessary to create a just society. Since internal factors such as family structure or parental support link to external aspects such as level of confidence, curiosity and ability to develop leadership skills, the society should recognize the importance of raising a Future girl. The community that raises girls should understand that giving a girl Future may change her life as well as lives of the next generation that come forward.  

References 

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 

Bartky, S. L. (1990). Femininity and Domination: Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression.  

New York, NY: Routledge.   

Blake, J. J., Butler, B. R., & Smith, D. (2009). Challenging middle class notions of femininity:  

The cause for Black females [48] 19 disproportionate suspension rates. In D. Losen (Ed.) Closing the School Discipline Gap: Research to Practice. New York, NY: Teachers College. 

DailyMailUK. (2012). Women Graduates wait until they hit 35 before having their first child.  

Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2220918/Women-graduates-wait-hit-35-having-child.html#ixzz3WkeRhJ00  

Harris, A. (2004). Future Girl. New York, NY: Routledge.  

Harris, A. (2001). Not waving or drowning: Young women, feminism, and the limits of the  

next wave debate. Outskirts Online Journal. Vol. 8. May. Retrieved from http://www.outskirts.arts.uwa.edu.au/volumes/volume-8/harris 

Noble, K.G., Houston, S.M., Brito, N.H., Bartsch, H., Kan, E., Kuperman, J.M.,  

Akshoomoff, N., Amaral, D.G., Bloss, C. S., Libiger, O., Schork, N., Murray, S.,  

Casey, B. J., Chang, L., Ernst, T. M., Frazier, J. A., Gruen, J. R., Kennedy, D. N.,  

Zijl, P. V., Mostofsky, S., Kaufmann, W. E., Kenet, T., Dale, A., Jernigan, T. L.,  

Sowell, E. R. (2015). Family income, parental education and brain structure in children and adolescents. Nature Neuroscience (2015) doi:10.1038/nn.3983 

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). Digest of  

Education Statistics, 2012 (NCES 2014-2015), Chapter 3. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98 

By Raphael Marinho 
 

Picture Credit: http://www.cartaeducacao.com.br/reportagens/manifesto-defende-paulo-freire-como-patrono-da-educacao-brasileira/

Education has always been a topic dear to me, but it was only after my contact with Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy that I realized its full transformative potential. Though the idea that education is a necessary step towards a “good” future has always been instilled in me since a young age, it never went deeper into the role of education besides its ability to open doors to good jobs. This idea of education and its use is fundamentally a neoliberal conceptualization, where things are only considered valid if they can amplify economic gains. Granted, although the capitalist work system does require specialized workers, and this specialization is usually achieved through education, this view is limited. The critical view of education exemplified by Freire on the other hand approached it as a means and practice towards humanization, a way to be more integrated, connected and aware of the world which surrounds us and the people we share it with. A critical education seeks to not only teach technical know-how, but to also put into question ontological givens as well as axiological standings. This approach towards the discipline of education also inspired the field of critical community psychology. It draws from the work of Freire as well as other Latin American thinkers who revolutionized their fields by connecting their research to the reality of the people. Recognizing this intimate interdisciplinary nature of critical community psychology is what drew me towards this growing field, especially because of its praxis–oriented approach, a key feature of Freirean pedagogy.  

Paulo Freire’s contributions to the field of education and critical social sciences are recognized internationally. But right now in Freire’s, as well as my own, homeland, Brazil, his approach to education is being fervently combatted by conservative right-wing sectors of society. The fact that he is not considered welcome by certain sectors of Brazilian society is common knowledge, as he was exiled from his own country back in 1964 by the authoritarian military regime that took power. He had been involved with a revolutionary adult literacy program and was put in charge of a national literacy campaign shortly before the coup took place. Due to this he was considered dangerous by the regime, as he held the power of education. During the dictatorship his books were banned and those found with it would be deemed subversives, leading to potential torture and in some cases assassination. Freire would only return to Brazil after the re-democratization process, where once again his ideas around education would gain foot within Brazilian academia. Although the Brazilian left wing embraced Paulo Freire, he was still held in negative regards by conservative right-wing sectors. This sentiment did not die down, and in fact grew to an education movement that is attempting to silence teachers all across Brazil from approaching topics in a critical manner.  

“Escola Sem Partido”, or School Without (political) Party, is a movement which seeks to purge from school any political or ideological standings. They argue that schools became a place of ideological indoctrination where students are being pushed into a Marxist discourse by teachers. They critique the idea that schools should be a place to talk about Human rights, sexual orientation, gender differences, racism and social inequalities, all of which they deem to be topics of indoctrination. They believe school should be where students only learn technical knowledge along with Christian values. Everything this movement stands for is diametrically opposed to any of Paulo Freire’s view around education, and as such, they consider Freire to be the manifestation of evil within schools. To make matters worse, proponents of the movement are starting to encourage students to record teachers in class, with the goal of punishing teachers they deem out of line. To any critical reader this movement will sound absurd, but due to a current ultra conservative wave in Brazil the movement has gained power and is attempting to pass legislations to push its agenda. The problem deepened when Brazil elected a proponent of this movement, the fascist, authoritarian, and ultra-conservative Bolsonaro. His goal is to militarize public education and “purge Paulo Freire from schools”. The future of Brazilian education is looking grim and resistance will be necessary.  

It is during situations such a this that the values of critical community psychology become essential for me, especially Liberation Psychology proposals towards a more humane and rooted society. To be able to deconstruct this movement we must first analyze it on an ecological and structural level. Escola Sem Partido does not happen in a vacuum, it is intimately connected to Brazil’s present political situation as well as its violent and silencing historical past. Brazil’s military dictatorship was especially brutal to university students as well as teachers who were critical of its violent ways. By targeting teachers and students the regime’s goal was to silence any critical discussions around social issues. They approached this by decrying a communist plot which wanted to break down Christian values of society, the same approach Escola Sem Partido is using. It is not uncommon to see banners pro-dictatorship during the movement’s protests. Understanding this historical connection is essential if we are to find a way beyond the current struggle. Ignacio Martín-Baró outlined a few important tasks in the process toward a liberation psychology and one of the them is: the recovery of historical memory. It means recovering the elements which were useful for resistance in the past, such as student movements and cultural gatherings to discuss social issues. 

The very premise of the “Escola Sem Partido” movement is flawed. They criticize what they call ideological views and expect school to be a place free from ideology. Yet, their very position is an ideological one. The very foundation of Freirean education ideas is that there is no such thing as neutral and ahistorical education, meaning that every stance is situated within a specific context. Here is where another of Martín-Baró’s task is also essential, that of de-ideologizing the common sense of what it means to teach. It requires a critical participation of the population, especially of parents and students, into the process of education. Many misinformed parents are falling to lies propagated by the movement and this can only change if parents themselves became active members within schools, listening to teachers as well as students.  

The neoliberal market-oriented goals of transforming education into simply a means to transfer knowledge are a global tendency. Brazil is not the only place where such movements has gained power. In Latin America the movement “Con Mis Hijos No Te Metas” (Don’t mess with my kids), starts from similar premise, where they criticize gender and sexual education within schools and argue that it should be a place to only discuss technical knowledge. Even in Europe there are some similar movements, such as Germany’s “Neutrale Schule” (Neutral School) led by far-right politicians. The United States has Betsy Devos as secretary of education, a figure closely associated with for-profit schools and the weakening and de-funding of public schools. All of these serve as examples of the encompassing reach that the neoliberal ideology has on what it means to educate as well as what can or cannot be talked about in schools. 

To end I would like to share a curious story of how I came to know and be interested in Paulo Freire. Though I am Brazilian and had most of my schooling done in Brazil I had never heard of him. It was only 2013 when found out about him in a very comical way. I had been keeping an eye on the political protests which followed the great national protest that I had taken part in, these tended to be much smaller, but one caught my eye at how ridiculous they seemed. They were requesting a military dictatorship again, something that I found infuriating, and they happened to be carrying a giant banner which read: “Enough of Marxist Indoctrination. Enough of Paulo Freire in schools!”. My automatic thought process was: if they are saying bad things about this guy then he must be interesting. So I decided to research him and right then and there I fell in love with everything he represented. In some ways, I find it appropriate that this was how I was introduced to Freire because they lit a fire within me that I hope to keep on burning brighter and stronger. I believe in the transformative potential that education represents, I believe it is an essential tool within the social justice movements, and I hope to be someone who can represent and carry on the transformative education fire to enlighten the dark night which we are crossing. 

References: 

https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-46188434 (‘Escola sem Partido’: como o ensino também virou polêmica na Alemanha) 

https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-46006167 (Mesmo sem lei, Escola sem Partido se espalha pelo país e já afeta rotina nas salas de aula) 

https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-44787632 (Como movimentos similares ao Escola sem Partido se espalham por outros países) 

https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2016/06/22/politica/1466631380_123983.html (A educação brasileira no centro de uma guerra ideológica) 

https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2018/11/14/internacional/1542229156_126326.html (‘Não se meta com meus filhos’: movimento contra políticas de gênero na América Latina corteja Bolsonaro)

By Jenn Zheng

Social change requires the voice of the people from the community that is being changed. When community psychologists and/or those against social injustice try to go against the status-quo, one of the obstacles faced is their own blind spots (Nelson & Prilletensky, 2010). There is a need to be reflexively aware at all times of their values, experiences, and power. This is why the community members of the group that is targeted for social change needs to be involved. The community members need to be involved in the research, in participatory action research where they are not only participants, but have a role as co-researchers (Lykes, 2017). Policy change and analysis also needs to work with groups that will be impacted by these change or lack of change (Nelson, 2013).  

It is important to include the community that faces social injustices in the research portion of social change. They should be given the resources to use their voice and participate in the research as well as be coresearchers. These coresearchers can identify the problem and know what to focus on with their situated knowledge in a way outsider cannot. They can interpret data and know the most applicable questions to ask from a subjugated standpoint. Researchers must not only acknowledge, but enhance the local knowledge and capacity of the community members. 

To have transformative change, for it to be effective, the power dynamics of a community that defines the social roles needs to be assessed and taken into consideration. There also needs to be awareness that there is not a binary way of looking at power, the powerful and the powerless. Power is complicated and fragmented, groups that appear powerless can use their power in discrete or partial ways (Campbell, 2014). The idea is that power dynamics of a community needs to be accounted for when trying to create social change, however, it is also important to realize that it is not just the powerless versus the powerful. There needs to be acknowledgement that groups that are perceived as powerless do have power and should be empowered to created social change. They should be involved in the research and the policy change to create positive social change. 

The first step in understanding the politics of change is to be able to see the world in terms of what we would like it to be, not just what it is (Alinksky, 1989). Discursive approaches to analyzing policy pays attention to values, politics, and language (Nelson, 2013). This approach does not view social problems and solutions as “objective” phenomena, but considers the role of power in analyzing politics and policy. Policy change is also based on the presentation and selection of evidence. That is why it is important to involve community members that are impacted by these policies. They know the values and the political context of how these policies will impact their community. It is as crucial to involve the community members is the shaping of the problem definition. With the help of community members, the problem definition will more likely shift away from defining it in terms of individual deficits. This step is important because how the problem is framed is how the problem is solved.  

Often times people in marginalized groups do not get a say in research that involves them or policy change that impacts their community. By involving those members in research work, it gives a fair and reliable representation of data. Involving those members in policy change and analysis allows for an interpretation and feedback with situated knowledge. This involvement is important to counteract the blind spots that researchers and policy makers from privileged standpoints might have. This also allows for the empowerment of members of marginalized groups and give them voices and resources to create change.  

Reference: 

Alinsky, S. D. (1989). Rules for radicals: A practical primer for realistic radicals. Random House Digital, Inc.: Purpose (pp. 1-23); Tactics (pp. 125- 164) 

Campbell, C. (2014). Community mobilisation in the 21st century: Updating our theory of social change? Journal of Health Psychology, 19(1), 46-59.  

Lykes, M.B. (2017). Community-based and participatory action research: Community psychology collaborations within and across borders. In M. A. Bond, I. Serrano-García, & C. B. Keys (Eds), APA Handbook of Community Psychology: Vol. 2. Methods for community research and action for diverse groups and issues, (pp.43-58). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 

Nelson, G. (2013). Community psychology and transformative policy change in the neo-liberal era. American Journal of Community Psychology, 52(3-4), 211-223. 

Nelson, G., & Prilleltensky, I. (Eds.). (2010). Community psychology: Journeys in the global context. In Community psychology: In pursuit of liberation and well-being (2nd Ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan International Higher Education. (Textbook: Read Chapter 7 – Overview of community psychology interventions)   

 By Destiny Jones

Lack of power, lack of privilege, and inequality are all characteristics of oppression. Oppression impacts the realities of individuals’ daily lives, and as many may think that it is invisible, it is very obvious and noticeable to those who experience it. According to Deutsch (2006), oppression is defined as the experience of repeated, widespread, systemic injustice, that takes on many forms. Not only has oppression impacted my experiences and daily life moments, but it also a concept within community psychology that has transformed my understanding on injustice and its impact on African American communities. While oppression takes many forms within African American communities, this post focuses on moral exclusion, cultural imperialism, and retributive injustice and their impacts on the lives of African Americans.   

Moral exclusion focuses on who is and is not entitled to fair outcomes and fair treatment based on an individual’s moral community and is considered the most dangerous form of oppression (Deustch, 2006; Young, 1990).  For African Americans, being morally excluded creates barriers that hinder communities from advancing, whether it is in political, economic, or personal realms. One example of how moral exclusion negatively impacted the lives of African Americans was during the Great Depression. African Americans suffered the most, as they were forced to leave unskilled jobs that they were initially disdained for by Whites before the depression began (Sustar, 2012). Furthermore, African Americans were faced with 50% of unemployed workers in comparison to 30% of unemployed workers for Whites. Furthermore, during this time, African Americans were also excluded from union membership (Great Depression and the New Deal Reference Library, 2002). This moral exclusion led to lack of resources, financials struggles, hardships, and negative health outcomes for many African American families.  

Another form of oppression faced by African American communities is cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism establishes the dominant (in this case white) group’s experience and culture as the norm and standard way of life (Young, 1990, p. 59). Cultural imperialism creates a pressure to conform and internalize the dominant group’s images as aspirations for one’s own racial group. Cultural imperialism dates back to the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, in which African Americans were forced to migrate to the United States and acculturate the dominant culture. Colonizers dismissed the culture and norms of Africans brought over as slaves, forcing them to adapt to new norms, some of which are evident today. In addition, many Africans were forced to practice Christianity, since it was the dominant religion within the country (Raboteau,1992).  Cultural imperialism thus forces African Americans to live up the dominant culture and the images that are forced upon the community. This suggests that privilege and power allow one to create the standard norm while ignoring others’ cultures, experiences, and traditions. Furthermore, cultural imperialism gives insight as to how power and privilege also allows the dominant community to create these everlasting images of communities even though these images are false representations or have negative impacts on a particular group.  

Retributive injustice is a form of oppression that focuses on the attitudes and the behavior of individuals, especially those in authority, in regard to moral rule breaking (Deustch, 2006). Retributive injustice is seen within the arena of crime among the African American communities. It is evident that when it comes to crimes, African Americans receive the worse punishment. According to the United States Sentencing Commission, African American men who commit the same crime as white men receive prison sentences that are 20% longer than white men’s sentences. This disparity falls upon the judges as they make their sentencing choices at their own discretion (Ingraham, 2017). Furthermore, judges are not likely to voluntarily decrease sentences for African American men, and if so, they may do so in small increments (Ingraham, 2017). Another example of retributive injustice among African Americans is through arrests for marijuana possession. According to Staff (2018), ninety-three percent of people who were arrested for marijuana possession in between January and March within New York City were people of color. Out of the 4,081 arrests for marijuana, only 287 of those arrested were white people, while 2,006 African Americans were arrested for the same crime. This form of retributive injustice is embedded and ingrained within the system, leaving African Americans to endure even more hardships and struggles.  

While it is important to identify how these forms of oppression impact the realities of African American communities, it is also important to engage in meaningful processes that to overcome oppression and systemic injustice. According to Watts and Serrano-Garcia (2003), a critical consciousness is needed to overcome oppression. Critical consciousness allows those of the oppressed group to deconstruct existing ideologies and foundations and develop a perspective of liberation and equality (Watts & Serrano-Garcia, 2003). Critical consciousness involves expansion of knowledge, skills, and faculties that gives the oppressed the ability to move forward toward an effective live. Another key tool to overcome oppression is empowerment. Empowerment can be thought of as a gateway to self-efficacy, self-confidence, and control over one’s life and settings (Watts & Serrano-Garcia, 2003). Empowerment will not only contribute to self-worth and integrity of African American people, but it will also give the community the control to engage in communal acts that are beneficial for the culture and the future of the community. With the force of, African American communities will advance forward with life even though there are still oppressive forces that are against the community. Even as oppression and its many forms plays a role within African American communities, there are possibilities embedded in empowerment and critical consciousness raising.  

References 

Beauboeuf,-Lafontant, T. (2007). You have to show strength: An exploration of gender, race, and depression. Gender and Society, 21(1), pp. 28-51 

Cochran, D. L., Brown, D. R., McGregor, K. C. (199). Racial differences in the multiple social roles of older women: Implications for depressive symptoms. The Gerontological Society of America, 39(4), pp. 465-472. 

Deutsch, M. (2006). A framework for thinking about oppression. Social Justice Research, 19(1), pp. 1-41 

Ingraham, C. (2017). Black Men Sentenced to More Time for Committing the Exact Same Crime As a White Person. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/11/16/black-men-sentenced-to-more-time-for-committing-the-exact-same-crime-as-a-white-person-study-finds/?utm_term=.a99e19e9dc61 

Raboteau, A. J. (1992). The secret religion of slaves. Christianity & the Civil War, 33,  

Staff, I. (2018). Racial Disparities Evident in New York City Arrest Data for Marijuana Possession .Innocence Project. Retrieved from https://www.innocenceproject.org/racial-disparities-in-nyc-arrest-data-marijuana-possession/.  

Sustar, L. (2012). Blacks and the Great Depression. International Socialist Organization. Retrieved from https://socialistworker.org/2012/06/28/blacks-and-the-great-depression 

Watson-Singelton, N. N. (2017). Strong black woman schema and psychological distress: The mediating role of perceived emotional support. Journal of Black Psychology, 43 (8), pp. 778-788 

Watts, R. J. & Serrano-Garcia, I. (2003). The quest for a liberating community psychology: An overview. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31(1), pp.73-78 

Young, M. I. (1990). Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.  

By Jessica Grant

 In Paolo Freire’s The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Freire, 1970) and Education for Critical Consciousness (Freire, 1973) he explores the multidimensional nature of oppression and conditions by which social action can thrive. Freire analyzes the complex interactions between oppressor and oppressed while holding in tension the possibility and hope of collective action despite abysmal conditions. This was due in part to the centering of marginalised groups as change agents and the belief that they held the keys to societal and cultural transformation. In the following essay, I would like to examine the timeline and inception of the #metoo movement through the lense of social change and collective action. Did the movement utilize transformational or ameliorative interventions? What role did identities occupying spaces of power play in the movement’s wide spreading? Lastly, does this movement present unexplored tactics for social change? 

Despite the popularizing of the #Metoo hashtag by Alyssa Milano on Twitter in October 2017; the phrase was inspired by activist Tarana Burke. Burke – a Black Woman and survivor of sexual violence and founder of a girls empowerment non-profit  – started #metoo as a “bold declarative statement” (Santiago C, Criss D 2017) dismissing shame and a form of connection and solidarity amongst survivors. For eleven years, Burke led her organization, traveled to events and served as an outspoken activist addressing sexual violence targeted towards women. Despite the decade of behind-the-scenes work done by Tarana Burke; she admitted that the virality of ‘Me too’ has allowed for the creation of an “entry point to healing” (Santiago C, Criss D 2017) for many survivors. The dialectic nature of #metoo’s popularity opened the door for stories and solidarity amongst survivors, but is it doing the work to change the way society views sexual violence or gender-based violence?  

This question highlights another tension existing within this movement: how can progress be measured? While it is still too early to tell, the charge of any one movement or activist to be the sole changemaker adheres to the widely criticized notion of linear change. In Catherine Campbell’s paper “Community mobilisation in the 21st century: Updating our theory of social change?”; (Campbell 2014) she prods at the notion that change must occur in succinct phases. By believing that change toward a hopeful and “progressive” (Campbell 2014) future is inevitable, it undermines the multitude of resistance faced by identities within the margins. It even suggests that their position within societal margins are a facet of an overwhelmingly positive and progressive process. I believe that this notion of change additionally places invariable pressure upon leaders of social movements and suggests that a failure on their part decreases the validity of their cause. In Reinhart Koselleck’s book, “Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time” he rejects the notion that “history” has been marching humankind “in the direction of progress and freedom” and emphasizes that “every space of human interaction is the product of ‘interrelations of multiplicity, difference and plurality” (Koselleck 1985). This leaves us with the deliberate job of analyzing the #metoo movement as a light amongst darkness but not one existing in a vacuum instead one with deep historical complexity.  

In agreement with Catherine Campbell’s paper, the #Metoo movement poses as a helpful example of the one of the new “burgeoning global protest movements” that fuses historical perspectives of change with developing ones (Campbell 2014). The paper illuminates various examples and stages of Community Mobilisation; but highlights the need for a CM that has a “critical or political emphasis”(Campbell 2014). It is this critical CM that is grounded in the “belief” that efforts to decrease inequality must “promote the capacity of the powerless to demand their rights to health, and develop social environments where the powerful are likely to heed their demands”(Campbell 2014). Similarly, rumblings of the #metoo movement had begun nearly a decade back but had only come to a socially visible and pressuring entity within the past year. Perhaps, the movement was able to come to this critical point because the years prior were spent developing the social environment that would catalyze change. Freire asserts that in addition to this “critical or political” grounding supported by Campbell; CM also must involve dialogue and critical thinking by the marginalized group with the inclusion of an external change agent (Freire 1970,1973). In this particular movement, I believe that the celebrities and Women holding locations of power assisted in the momentum and visibility given to the issues of sexual violence.  

It is hard to say whether the involvement of Alyssa Milano and other positively regarded celebrities aided in the overall push to destabilize the patriarchal structures that promoted such violence or transferred visibility to White, cis and economically privileged women – perhaps both. Milano’s tweet and involvement brought an air of legitimacy to the movement that sparked a global response amongst thousands of survivors. In Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for radicals: A practical primer for realistic radicals”; he notes the difficulty of creating social change in a way that uplifts those on the margins while not ignoring the world as it is (Alinsky 1989). He controversially argues that in order to transform the world into what we desire, “we must first see the world as it is and not as we would like it to be” (Alinsky 1989). Through this knowledge we can see how despite the complex origins of the movement, it’s recent visibility can be partially credited to the involvement of high-profile persons. 

According to Metoorising – a platform created to by Google Trends data to create a visualization of interest in “MeToo” overtime – interest and participation reached hundreds of cities throughout 2017. This high number not only reflects the pervasiveness of sexual violence worldwide but the redefinition of solidarity in present-day social change movements. Although #Metoo is not the first social movement to utilize social media as a launching point for dialogue; it’s popularity merely reflected a deep-seeded discontentment with prevailing power dynamics. Therefore, I believe that through personal storytelling and collective outcry the movement is operating in a transformative intervention space.  

Exhausted with the problematic rhetoric of victim blaming many survivors utilized the hashtag as an opportunity to additionally explain the problem with viewing sexual violence as the fault of the victim. In doing so, they pointed toward the need for systemic change in addition to personal accountability for predators. According to Nelson & Prilleltensky’s definition for ameliorative and transformative interventions; #metoo aligned with the second-order change of transformative by involving “community process” and focusing on the unequal patriarchal power dynamic (Nelson, G, Prilleltensky, I 2010). This appetite for transformational change has sparked adjacent movements calling for systemic and industrial change. Founded in January 2018, TIME’S UP ™ is a movement against sexual harassment and created in direct response to “the Weinstein effect and #Metoo”. In addition to the accepting donations for its legal defense fund and advocating for the everyday rights of women; they aim to address the “systemic inequality and injustice in the workplace” while shifting the cultural “paradigm”. This comprehensive organization represents one of the positive ripple effects of #Metoo’s sense of solidarity and collective agency.  

While it is hard to analyze the short and long-term effects of a movement without significant hindsight, I would project that #metoo movement could have lasting impact in the fight against sexual violence. The movement highlights our cultural tension of desiring power dynamic shifts while also valuing the voices of persons occupying identities of power and sidelining those within the margins. It emphasizes Freire’s point about the strength of solidarity through collective dialogue and introduces social media as a potential catalyzing “external change agent” (Freire 1970, 1973). The fight for justice is far from over and not necessarily confined to the linear progression we may assume, but the success and disruption of the #Metoo movement provides us with a hopeful glimpse into the future.  

References 

Alinsky, S. D. (1989). Rules for radicals: A practical primer for realistic radicals. New York: Vintage Books, a division of Random House. 

Freire, P. (2014). Education for critical consciousness. London: Bloomsbury Academic. 

Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Burnaby, B.C.: Simon Fraser University Library. 

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.timesupnow.com/home#ourmission-anchor 

Koselleck, R. (1985). Futures past: On the semantics of historical times. Cambridge, MA: MIT  Press. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://metoorising.withgoogle.com/ 

Nelson, G. B., & Prilleltensky, I. (2010). Community psychology: In pursuit of liberation and   well-being. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Santiago, C., & Criss, D. (2017, October 17). An activist, a little girl and the heartbreaking origin of    ‘Me too’.  

by Nicole Cruz-Merced 

Growing up in Puerto Rico, an island that is the product of colonialism, the topic of colonialism is not spoken about as much as it should be amongst us Puerto Ricans. For some, colonialism brings on feelings of anger and shame. On the opposite side of it, there are people in Puerto Rico that look at colonialism within the island as a saving grace. Puerto Rico is often divided between those who seek independence and those who seek statehood to the United States. This divide is symbolic of the effects colonialism has had on the identity and mentality of Puerto Ricans. Puerto Ricans have not been freed from colonialism since Spain came to the island and wiped out the indigenous Taíno people. African slaves were brought into the island by the Spanish and soon after the Spanish-American War, the United States took control. The reign of the United States over Puerto Rico is a dark a history that is not talked about in history classes in the United States. The United States colonized Puerto Rico, enslaving Puerto Ricans, forcing them to work in sugar companies that put the island in poverty; they were made citizens with the expressed purpose of having them serve as troops in the war. To this day, Puerto Ricans are caught up in coloniality, our identities being tied to colonialism and our island being dominated by U.S. investors.

In “(De) colonizing Culture in Community Psychology: Reflections from Critical Social Science,” Mariolga Reyes Cruz and Christopher C. Sonn (2011) explore a decolonizing standpoint. The decolonizing standpoint is often taken up by Puerto Ricans that are considered “radical” for their beliefs in independence and moving away from the colonizer mentality so deeply embedded in the Puerto Rican culture. To be able to discuss this standpoint in academia, safely, has allowed me to gain more insight on what colonialism means to those of different cultures including mine. This standpoint is very important, as it allows a new way of viewing ways that power and oppression are reproduced. The authors claim that the “complexity of culture stems from the continuing legacy of coloniality in the social sciences (Psychology included)” (Cruz & Sonn, 2010). This claim resonated with me as I have always felt that when culture is discussed it is often from a Western perspective; this history of culture, especially those of marginalized groups, often have some justification for the actions of oppression and an avoidance of the notion that oppression is related to power. This dominance of Western thought creates a hierarchy of difference, such as White/Other, which serves to benefit the ruling class. This type of thought/ideology can be seen much more now in Puerto Rico when it comes to race and culture. Back in Puerto Rico, the lighter your complexion, the better you are treated. Although it is assumed you are Puerto Rican, it is not uncommon to be given better treatment for having a lighter complexion. Those with darker complexions are often perceived as “the other” and they typically fall under the Afroboriqua1. This type of divide within the people of Puerto Rico further fuels the colonial mentality, as people with lighter complexions identify more strongly with the United States and deny their Puerto Rican identity for the sake of assimilation. As stated previously, Puerto Ricans are divided between those who want to be independent and freed from colonialism and those who want to accept colonialism through statehood. Those who seem to accept colonialism and statehood are mainly of white complexion and those who reject colonialism are mainly of a darker complexion or from an indigenous family. This type of White and “the other” becomes a reality for Puerto Ricans, as those with a whiter complexion start to view themselves as ruling class. This type of ideology can be traced back to when the United States granted citizenship to Puerto Ricans. Since then, Puerto Ricans who do not leave to the United States are seen as “the others” further embedding this colonial mentality in our culture.

The decolonization standpoint has implications for addressing the colonial mentality. . As stated in the article, “Decolonizing culture requires actively deconstructing notions of the other based on the enduring legacy of colonial relations, beginning to understand the meaning of difference, its micro-politics as well as its sociological/historical/ economic/political context…” (Cruz & Sonn, 2010, p.206). Part of the issue in Puerto Rico is that the notion of “the other” has not yet been deconstructed as colonial relations still remain in our culture. It is difficult to separate colonial relations from our culture when it has been embedded in our culture for so long. To this day, our history is taught through the lens of those who have colonized us. Viewing Puerto Rican culture from a decolonization standpoint, helps understand the culture from a historical, social, political, and economic awareness.  This standpoint also helps avoid victim blaming Puerto Rico when speaking about the issues occurring in the island. It is very common for people to blame Puerto Ricans for the consequences of oppression they did not start.  When hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico, the discourse around the tragedy severely victim-blamed the people of Puerto Rico. There was very little effort to try and understand the conditions of the island. Very little effort to look into the political state of the island and why there was no money or resources to help the people in the island. Instead of trying to understand and support, the reaction of the United States was to blame us for not wanting to be a state. This type of victim blaming attitude is also seen within the government of Puerto Rico which is severely corrupt. The people put in place to serve the people often blame the people to justify their corruption in the island. It always leads to same outcome; poverty, struggle, and divide.

Another aspect of being Puerto Rican in the United States and living in Puerto Rico is our sense of identity. Often times, with our culture being so colonized, there is no sense of true identity. We also lose a sense of community which can have negative psychological effects on us. Referring back to the reading Sense of Community: Community Resilient Responses to Oppression and Change by Christopher C. Sonn and Adrian T. Fisher, oppressed communities are not associated with resilience (p.459). As stated before, Puerto Rican culture has lived through colonization for years and it can’t be expected that Puerto Ricans develop resilience to their oppression when they have not been given the resources and education to do so. This type of oppression within our culture can lead to self-hatred and can lead to deculturalization as mentioned in the article (Sonn & Fisher, p. 461). Becoming more aware of our socio-historical contexts as well as continuing to educate ourselves on our realties, can lead the way to decolonizing our mentalities. Resisting assimilation to the United States culture would also allow our culture to stand on its’ own. Puerto Ricans should look towards reclaiming their culture and history by seeking independence from the consequences of colonization. Educating ourselves and upcoming generations about our history is important but one must be cautious in living in that historical context. Remembering and speaking our truth within history is one of the stepping stones to create awareness however often times, individuals become the very issue they are trying to eradicate. Before anything, Puerto Ricans need to attempt as coming together as one culture and begin accepting that we can live both in Puerto Rico and the United States and still have our own identities. The path to independence will always be a long and complicated story with so many Puerto Ricans leaning towards statehood. However, for the benefit of those living in Puerto Rico and the United States, we must seek independence from the colonizer mentality and start looking beyond the consequences and issues our colonizers gave us.

by Sajeda Khalifa

In the article, The language of diversity, Sarah Ahmed (2007) asks a very important question, “what does diversity do?”  Ahmed uses the term “diversity” within the context of higher education, specifically diversity/equity aims and objectives that institutions commit to. These include but are not limited to collective efforts administrations (Ahmed, 2007). First, if I had to define what diversity should look like on a college or a university campus, I envision students from diverse ethnic backgrounds coming together from all over the world to learn not just about themselves or their career field, but to learn from one another and appreciate differences. To me, a college or a university is an institution that represents a microcosm of the world, where people can interact with one another, understand each other, and facilitate collaboration and cooperation.  Through this process, an individual can adapt to differences by having an exposure to other people’s perspectives, cultures, traditions, and practices to become an open-minded person.  An institution of higher education can be a place where students not just acquire knowledge from books, but also learn from first-hand experiences through direct interaction with different ways of being. Hence, welcoming and implementing diversity on a college campus means allowing new ideas, views, and practices to make our communities and societies more inclusive of one another, diminishing discrimination and violence from our biased ways of thinking, and coming to a mutual understanding, so that people can learn to respect differences and love one another.

As a College & Career Counselor, I work with the TRiO Upward Bound Program, which supports high school students to prepare for higher education.  My job is to assist our program participants in finding the right “college fit” where they can find the support to succeed through their four years of college journey after they graduate from high school.  When navigating their college search, I ask my first-generation college bound students from multi-ethnic backgrounds, as to what kind of college campus would make them feel welcomed? They often respond with  something along the lines of  “a college that welcomes people of color, where they feel they can belong.”

Understanding my students by putting myself in their shoes, this statement makes me reflect on my personal college experience. Being a minority who is an Asian Muslim female whose parents never attended college, I can relate to my students’ feelings of being intimidated; I, too, felt out of place, on a college campus during my college years. I attended and graduated from an institution of higher education that calls itself a “diverse” campus. It is true that students of all races, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic, and age, filled up the campus body.  The Institution did enroll diverse student bodies and staff.  To me, it seemed like the “ideal image” of what “diversity” should represent on a university campus. Looking at the institution from outside, it appeared to promote diversity through all their statements and policies. Furthermore, the institution provided Support Services, Ethnic Clubs, and course offerings that teach cultural perspectives;  professors appeared to be open-minded and accepting of differences. From outside, this institution seemed like a good fit for me.

However, once I immersed myself on campus, things were different. Although it was diverse, at times, I found myself frustrated by the lack of staff and student support from a cultural perspective (Ahmed, 2007).  Along with other students, I felt that the institution could have done a better job of creating more inclusive spaces for students of colors by hiring more faculty and staff that represented diverse student bodies and became mentors for students. I wished that clubs were more proactive on campus in engaging students in multi-cultural activities, and campuses to be more alive and vibrant by promoting cultural events that made students feel it embraced celebrating diversity by carrying it out in action. Throughout my college years, I never recall upper administration to have called for an open forum conversation inviting students of all colors to voice their opinions or concerns.  On reflection, I strongly believe that in order to cultivate a welcoming feeling on a university campus, it takes more than just giving “lip service” (Ahmed, 2007), but rather carry out the action through commitment. As Ahmed addresses in her article, “what commitment means still depends on how diversity circulates as a term within organizations.” (Ahmed, 2007).

When Ahmed asks us to think what “diversity in action” should look like, keeping my college experience in mind, I remind myself the importance of emphasizing and educating our students to reflect on what they want to get out of college experience.  Also, having a conversation about how our students can make a big change in transforming the campus, is through engaging themselves in making their voices heard, so that they can not only feel welcomed, but feel a sense of belonging by holding the institution accountable to their commitment to embracing diversity. If we want to truly welcome and appreciate diversity, all institutions, whether it is elementary or high schools, universities, or work industries, leaders running them need to play a role in providing a safe space for an individual to voice their concerns and meet their needs.  If students are not given the ‘safe space’ to voice their concern and allowing the opportunity to make the change, then equality of power will never change and will always remain social inequalities amongst people of color.  Therefore, it is critical that administrators in higher education consider racially marginalized voices to be heard and transform their institutions by rethinking and committing to how diversity should really look like on their campus, without just providing ‘lip service’ (Ahmed, 2007).

By Juan M. Boungou 

The 1960s have been known as ‘‘the era of the turbulences’’ across the world, including in the United States of America. The social turbulence rose due to a strong desire of people to reframe the social and even political apparatus of American society. Many social movements such as LGBTQ rights movement, anti-Vietnam war protests, and the civil rights movements—which were led by the prominent figures like Revd. Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcom X—emerged during this time. All these movements shared a struggle against issues such as deprivation of human rights, inequality and systematic injustices or oppression. These movements advocated for what Albee (1999) calls “improving the social-environment experience” (p.10). The improvement of such an environment could not be possible or effective without what an ecological approach, which is a holistic and integrative step that avoids blaming the oppressed individual, but rather that understands the societal structures that maintains or perpetuates such an oppressive hold (Albee, 1999). More recently, U.S. society has witnessed the rise of a new civil rights movement: Black Lives Matter. Under what condition(s) has this movement emerged? What is its significance? In what ways is it a transformative force to solve social or community problems that U.S. society is confronted with? These questions are explored in this blogpost.  

Kelly (2006) observes that any society lives in conjunction with individual behaviors and attitudes. From this ecological perspective, Kelly (2006) argues that persons are affected by the social-environment as much as their social-environment affects their wellbeing (p.30). With reference to such an observation, it suggests or implies that Black Lives Matter was not created out of the blue. On August 9, 2014, an unarmed young African American man named Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The video of that shooting circulated on social media, which erupted into nationwide indignation, anger, frustration, and paved the way for the rise of Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter has the expressed purpose of campaigning against broader issues of racial discrimination, police brutality, and racial inequality against African American communities. In the midst of that ‘‘millennial’’ struggle, the movement has been organizing rallies and marches. During their rallies and marches, the movement has quoted the names of the victims killed, by the police officers. For most people, these victims have been viewed as the inspirational epicenter of such a movement. For example, last words uttered by Eric Garner before he was killed in 2014, ‘‘I can’t breathe’’ went on to become one of the important slogans during these rallies and marches. Years of dehumanizing experiences, were not amenable to a healthy social environment, give rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. 

As a movement, Black Lives Matter has been met with considerable resistance. This has taken several forms. For example, their tactics have been criticized. The movement has been accused of fomenting violence, such as burning cars or car tires and looting stores. Moreover, the movement has been accused of being ‘‘discriminatory’’ because “all lives matter.” The movement has also been considered as anti-police radicalism. People/groups who hold such a view also tend to criticize victims of police brutality, arguing that they did not comply with police interrogations or try to focus on “black on black crime.” These justifications of violence may be understood in terms of ‘‘culture-blaming action’’ Szalavitz (2018), whereby victims are not only held ‘‘responsible’’ but also called to justify their efforts to seek justice. Scholars such as Albee (1999) have observed that that evidence that bad or abusive experiences are hard to deny with respect to its long-term damaging consequences. In this context, the leaders of Black Lives Matter have framed their movement as a response to pervasive and systemic discrimination, which has denied the basic human rights and dignity to African American communities. These leaders have pinpointed abusive systems that violates human rights, which have persisted beyond desegregation. Specifically, systems such as criminal justice and law enforcement have never changed. To this day, African Americans, especially men, continue to be racially profiled as prone violence and confrontation.  

As the protests continued, one of the then-Democrat candidates, Bernie Sanders’ speeches was disrupted by some Black Lives Matter members in Seattle during the primary presidential elections in 2016, in an effort to get him to address the topic of racial inequality. This is an example of how the movement uses tactics such as putting pressure on politicians to drive change and gain a voice in the mainstream media. The question is how far the movement can go? How does the movement seek to achieve the social change that it has been fighting for? At what costs? Or at what benefits? These questions can just continue to spark our inquisitiveness about the movement and how it intends to accomplish social change. It is also important to remember that ‘‘social change is not an end product but rather a process’’ (Rappaport, 1981; p. 3). As such, it is important to understand factors that contribute towards a progressive change (Kelly, 2006).  As it appears, the movement has been able to exert pressures on politicians to tackle the issue of police brutality. Such an action or approach suggests that social change, as an end, cannot be achieved without involving the political elites. As a result of such a pressure, law enforcement has put in place a policy that requires police to wear body cameras since 2015 in some states, in order to improve police accountability (Shira, 2015).  Though this policy comes with its own drawbacks such as infringement on personal or community privacy, it would be premature to deny or undermine the effectiveness of its outcomes. In light of this, it also appears that Black Lives Matter as a social movement is still exploring different tactics, strategies, or approaches to raise awareness of abusive treatment for all marginalized groups regardless of their race. More importantly and interestingly, it suggests that the movement has taken an ecological approach, which examines the structures that undermine the dignity of the marginalized groups and provides some preventive measures to empower and improve the social environment.   

Given the current social context, which is also embedded in historical lens and has political implications, Black Lives Matter has surfaced as a new dynamism and social movement in the United States. As other prominent movements such as #MeToo movement or the LGBTQ movement, Black Lives Matter has been seeking to draw attention from the political class, particularly, to the respect of human rights and dignity for the African American community. In the middle of this new wave of social movements, it is important to remember what Rappaport (1981) observed: ‘‘social change is not an end product but rather a process (p. 3).’’  This new wave also suggests that the old apparatus of the American society is being challenged, and therefore changed insofar as Black Lives Matter movement remains engaged in its quest for the respect of human rights and equality.  

References 

Albee, G. W. (1999). Prevention, not treatment, is the only hope. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 12(2), 133-146 

Kelly, J.G. (2006). Toward an ecological conception of preventive interventions. In Becoming ecological: An expedition into community psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Rappaport, J. (1981). In praise of paradox: A social policy of empowerment over prevention. American Journal of Community Psychology, 9(1), 1-25 

Shira, S. (2015). Will the widespread use of body cameras improve police accountability? Yes. Americas Quarterly. Retrieved from: https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/yes-people-behave-differently-when-theyre-being-watched  

Szalavitz, M. (2018). Why we’re psychologically hardwired to blame the victim. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/27/victim-blaming-science-behind-psychology-research

Check out students of Community Social Psychology’s poems about their own communities.

By Anastasiya Tsoi

I am from a place smaller than a state of Texas… where snowy mountains and hot deserts exist, where hospitality means respect, where guest are always welcomed.

But I am also from a place where sustainability exists on the paper, where exit visa still remains (meaning you cannot leave a country without government permission), and where hosts may be punished by showing hospitality.

I am from a place where the literacy rate is 99%, where girls can study and go to universities, where women can have legal abortions.

But I am also from a place where tolerance for LGBTQ community does not exist, where yes, girls can study and go to universities but after marriage are not allowed to work and pursue their professional goals, where abortions are legal but sex is not.

I am from a place where culture, education, religion integrates but at the same time contradicts one another.

I did my first step to do a research, and be vocal about this place not because it needed it but because I love this place from the bottom of my heart.

By Nicole Cruz-Merced

I’m from Puerto Rico

I’m from Taíno and African culture,

I’m from warm weather and historic cities,

I’m from poverty and where people starve to death,

I’m from government corruption and no media attention.

I’m from an island I’m so proud to be from,

But I don’t understand why it can’t be the place I succeed.

Because of that reality,

I strive every day to save my home.

By Perla Ramirez

I’m from a small island where family is important and every Sunday we cook while making fun of each other

I’m from a community that loves to dance even when there a no lights to light up the dance floor

I’m from a country where sadly being depressed is still considered a choice

I’m from place that is afraid of the unknown so they paraphrase the bible to win their arguments even when they know is wrong

I’m also from a nation that swears that racism in has been long gone, yet they elect a president that instead of condemning neo-Nazis says there were “fine people on both sides”

Nonetheless we have a choice to change injustices and keep the love; by first changing ourselves and teaching the new generation how to be better than us.

By Raphael Marinho

I’m from the land where the sky is blue, the sea is green, and all the saints rest by the bay

I’m from the place where suffering screams, despite the samba and waves

I’m from Bahia, birth place of Brazil, where Africa still remains

I’m from the beautiful mess where we laugh, and we sing despite the sad state

I’m from promised new world that still reflects the horrors of yesterday.

I just don’t get why it turned out this way

I hope to be another one who carries the light of a possible new day

Like Prometheus, who took the risk for a brighter new way

by Diana Santana

Inclusion, as the act of taking in as part of a whole, was first coined with the goals of providing advocacy, awareness, and support for individuals with disabilities who have been socially excluded merely based on their impairments. Inclusion, however, does not stop with the social injustices within people with disabilities. According to community psychologists Nelson and Prilleltensky (2010), “Inclusion is becoming an organizing principle that applies broadly to people who have been discriminated against and oppressed by virtue of gender, sexual orientation, ethnoracial background, abilities, age, or some other characteristics” (p. 137). The authors of Community Psychology: In Pursuit of Liberation and Well-Being, claim that inclusion can be conceptualized in three levels, individual, relational, and societal level. At the individual level, Nelson and Prilleltensky (2010) state that inclusion demands regaining control of a positive personal and political identity; while, at the relational level, inclusion means welcoming and supporting communities and building relationships within the same. In the same way, at the societal level, inclusion is advocates for the promotion of equity and access to social resources that are known for being denied to minorities or oppressed people.

Why inclusion is important? When we do not promote inclusion, whether it is in our community, school or work setting, and at a personal level, we are allowing oppression to take place instead -especially, psychological oppression. Psychological oppression affects individuals’ self-esteem by creating this false idea that they are undeserving of social and community resources, and to have low expectations on themselves (Nelson and Prilleltensky, 2010). How can we implement inclusion? The authors claim that one way of building community and inclusion is emphasizing similarity rather than difference, but having in consideration that these differences can be constructed. Either way, Nelson and Prilleltensky (2010) encourage community psychologists to not only work with organizations that fight for inclusion but also to work with underprivileged and diverse groups to find some balance between the wide-ranging methods towards the goal of inclusion; in brief, to coexist.

Your values, Our values

At the University of Massachusetts Lowell, we embrace inclusion and equity. As UML mission statement states,

“Diversity makes us stronger, and a community that values equity and inclusion enhance the educational experience…We are committed to cultivating a just community and sustaining an inclusive campus culture. We embrace diversity in its broadest forms and believe academic excellence and diversity are inseparable.”

I’m a proud UML alumna, now working towards my goals of becoming a double River Hawk. I also work for the university as a Graduate Assistant at the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA). This was the first year that they took the initiative to hire graduate students from the Community Social Psychology Master Program instead of taking the same path of hiring someone from Higher Ed… and I can’t complain about it! At OMA, I have a variety of duties, from advising and advocating for cultural or spiritual clubs, helping them with event planning and implementation, to unifying and leading or hosting OMA’s annual series, “Invisible Identity Series,” focused on hidden identities that exist in the UMass Lowell community.

The first of this year’s series, “Coexist: Mutual respect and understanding across different ideologies,” was hosted in October. We invited students from all the different religious or spiritual communities within our student body. Students who consider themselves as Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, and Catholic, joined us to talk about their experiences about discrimination and oppression based on their identity. Hate had No Home there. The room was filled with respect, love and understanding and, most importantly, with empathy. I love this job because it allows me to employ what I have been learning through my personal and academic experiences, and it promotes and supports the principles that we value the most, our values.

University Resources:

Have you been the victim or witness to an incident? You can anonymously report here: https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?UMassLowell&layout_id=10

UML Diversity Portal: https://www.uml.edu/diversity/

#UML #CommPsych

References

Geoffrey Nelson, Isaac Prilleltensky. (2010). Community Pasychology: In Pursuit of Liberation and Well-Being (2nd ed.). New York: Palgrave MacMillian