A Detroit Family's Narrative
This roundtable is based on writing a family memoir. I came to Detroit because I wanted a challenging urban environment—and I got it! For thirteen years I lived downtown in a kind of semi-commune arrangement on 17th street in the Briggs Community area which was very poor and burnt out (and is even poorer and more burnt out now). There I met Carolyn Johnson, who would become my goddaughter, and Anthony Philips Martin, who would become my foster son and godson. The experience of living there and taking root has marked my thinking and my work, providing as it did first-hand experience of the devastation wrought by racism, sexism, classism, capitalism, and of the incredible courage of the survivors who prevail against oppression.
Cultural Humility:
Developmental Assets Perspectives from Classrooms, Congregations, and Colleagues
Inclusion of multiple cultural groups in educational programs, faith communities, and work settings can enrich discussion and effectiveness. This diversity also can present challenges, especially if representatives of the various racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural groups evaluate others from the limitations of their own cultural perspectives. Quantitative and qualitative data from several settings will be examined within a developmental assets framework. Discussion will be focused on strategies for moving from a stance of tolerating differences to a position of appreciating cultural diversity.
Culturally Competent Campus Communities:
A Discussion of Student Perspectives
The purpose of this roundtable is to discuss culturally competent climates (on and off campus) that ethnic minority students identify as being helpful to their academic success. Participants will learn about the range of variables that support and/or hinder ethnic minority students' active involvement in small, rural communities that are predominantly ethnocentric, white communities. Discussion will consider the issues of white privilege, pluralism, and ways to develop culturally competent villages (academic and community) for ethnic minority students.
Literacy as an Effective Tool for Speaking Out and Standing Up for Families
Advocating for families and communities requires that we know their needs and desires; understand the cultural and historical context of their lives; believe that they have the right to access to the best that the world has to offer; and are willing to speak out and stand up on their behalf for social, economic, and environmental justice. This is especially true for “marginalized” families defined by citizenship, economic, and race-ethnicity status, such as first and second generation immigrant families, transitory families, low income and poor families, African American and Hispanic families. Jonathan Kozol has documented how certain families without a history of consistent or elite education in the United States consistently have not experienced economic, social or environmental justice in our K-12 public educational system. That is one of the reasons literacy continues to be such a challenge for these families. This situation does not have to exist, for literacy can be an effective means of speaking out and standing up for marginalized families.
Mapping the No-Man's Land of Ethnically Diverse Fathers
This interactive roundtable will ask, explore, and discuss the following questions: Is there a definition of a Good Father that is meaningful across ethnic/cultural groups, and can a universal definition of successful fatherhood be arrived at? What are the direct and indirect influences that fathers in general, and minority fathers in particular, exert on childhood development and well-being? What factors account for the ways in which minority fathers are able to overcome the personal and societal barriers that typically stand in the way of their becoming positively involved with their children? In what ways do men who are not biological fathers complement, augment, or supplant other caregivers within ethnic family systems? What are some directions for new, bias-free research into the unique fatherhood processes of minority men? In what ways might we more effectively reach out to minority fathers, and mobilize and capitalize on their energy, love, and initiative?
Social Justice in Marriage and Family Therapy Education:
A Qualitative Study and Implications for Teaching and Practice
This roundtable will present data from a qualitative survey of students and faculty in COAMFT-Accredited Marriage and Family Therapy programs that asked the questions: “What does social justice mean to you? Please share a story from your experience about Social Justice. Take as much room as you need to tell your story. What happened? Who was involved? How did you change as a result? What was the emotional affect on you?” Roundtable participants will use results from this study serving as a jumping off point to explore the concept of social justice within the field of marriage and family therapy since there seems to be little consensus as to what the term actually means. I hope to be able to both clarify and expand on our definition of social justice in order to help educators and therapists better address social justice issues. Specifically, I would like to develop a conversation among diverse marriage and family professionals on the meaning of social justice within our field and how better to teach for a socially just practice in marriage and family therapy.
“White Privilege”:
Definitions and Implications for Educational Practitioners
Roundtable participants will define and recognize “white privilege” on a personal level. Participants who are educational practitioners will learn and practice anti-racist teaching and living skills in their own classrooms with the goal confronting the subtle manifestations of white privilege in their own classrooms. The roundtable will be facilitated by a white female teacher who sincerely desires to help others value the conscious exercise of initiative in promoting respect and social justice despite their being white. Roundtable participants will work together to construct practical strategies for extending respect to all classroom students.
