The UConn School of Social Work stands together in staunch opposition to all forms of systemic racism and violence and is committed to the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion for all. We are especially called at this time to redouble our efforts as a school community to commit ourselves to the analysis of structural inequities and to the promotion of teaching, scholarship, and community and professional action that reflects this commitment to change. We support the principles of the Black Lives Matter movement and will work to ensure a sense of belonging among our students, faculty and staff of color.
Diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism (DEI-AR) is a core component of our Five-Year Strategic Plan. At our School, we have engaged in meaningful dialogue about these issues, and pledge to hold ourselves accountable to action toward social justice. Please review our definition of anti-racism as well as key resources below.
Please join us in a spirit of listening, learning, and influencing for change.
Anti-Racism
At the UConn School of Social Work, we define anti-racism to be collective and individual actions designed to ensure that all members of our community experience, in equal measure over time and place, belonging, power, esteem, success and wellness. Therefore, anti-racism means redressing historic and current harms perpetrated by systems, policies, practices and individuals that target racialized Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) in our community and connected to our community.
Our anti-racism work is important and ongoing, or as Angela Davis says, “a constant struggle.” We recognize that race is a social construction designed to create and perpetuate social, economic and political hierarchies. Yet, racism continues to impart material and psychological consequences on BIPOC people and communities.
We take responsibility for our School’s historic and current alignment with structures and ideas of white supremacy that pathologize, minimize, undermine, or attempt to extinguish BIPOC power in our priorities, scholarship, and classrooms, while recognizing the indelible impact that BIPOC administrators, faculty, staff and students have had inside and outside of our School. We hold ourselves accountable for building this anti-racist community we envision using ongoing education, assessment, evaluation and other modalities of feedback.
The SSW is committed to:
1: Engage all faculty and staff in regular meaningful dialogue about diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism in our community and our work.
2: Foster modes of accountability and action toward racial justice.
UConn SSW Faculty Scholarship
Racism in the United States by Joshua Miller and Ann Marie Garran. Springer Publishing Co. 2nd edition 2017.
Kang, H.K. and Garran, A.M. (in press). Microaggressions in social work classrooms: Strategies for pedagogical intervention. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work.
Garran, A.M. & Rasmussen, B.M. (2016). In the line of duty: Racism in health care. Commentary. Social Work.
Garran, A.M., Aymer, S., Gelman, C., & Miller, J. (2015). Team teaching anti-oppression with diverse faculty: Challenges and opportunities. Social Work Education: The International Journal.
Garran, A.M., Kang, H., & Fraser, E. (2014). Pedagogy and diversity: Enrichment and support for social work instructors engaged in social justice education. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 34(5): 564-574.
Garran, A.M., & Rasmussen, B. (2014). Safety in the classroom: Reconsidered. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 34(4): 401-412.
Garran, A.M. (2013). Lessons learned: Racial enactments in the treatment process. Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community, 27(3): 305-317.
Garran, A.M. & Werkmeister Rozas, L. (2013). Cultural competence revisited. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 22(2): 97-111.
Mogro-Wilson, C., Drake, A., Coman, E., Sanghavi, T., Martin-Peele, M. & Fifield, J.A. (2020). Increasing condom usage for African American and Hispanic young fathers in a community based intervention. Ethnicity and Health, 25(3), 408-419.
Mogro-Wilson, C., Loomis, A.M., Hayes, C., & Rojas, R. (2019). Emerging bicultural views of fatherhood: Perspectives of Puerto Rican fathers. Advances in Social Work, 19(1), 311-328.
Mogro-Wilson, C., Loomis, A.M, Coman, E., & Fifield, J.A. (2019). African American, Puerto Rican & Non-Puerto Rican Hispanic fathers' differential responses to a parenting intervention. Social Work in Public Health, 34(7), 583-595.
Loomis, A.M. & Mogro-Wilson, C. (2019). Effects of cumulative adversity on preschool self-regulation and student-teacher relationships in a highly dense Hispanic community. Infants and Young Children, 32(2), 107-122.
Mogro-Wilson, C., Loomis, A.M , Hayes, C., Drake, A., Martin-Peele, M., & Fifield, J. (2018). Supporting recruitment and retention of young African-American and Hispanic fathers in community-based parenting interventions research. Advances in Social Work, 18(4), 1068-1084.
Mogro-Wilson, C., & Fifield, J.A. (2018). Engaging young minority fathers in research: Basic needs, psychological needs, culture, and therapeutic alliance. American Journal of Public Health, 108(S1), S15-16.
Bazzi, A.R., Mogro-Wilson, C., Negi, N., Reingle Gonzalez, J.M., Cano, M.A., Castro, Y., & Cepeda, A. (2017). Developing scientists in Hispanic substance use and health disparities research through the creation of a national mentoring network, Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 25(2), 151-165.
Mogro-Wilson, C., Rojas, R., & Haynes, J. (2016). A Cultural Understanding of the Parenting Practices of Puerto Rican Fathers, Social Work Research, 40(4), 237-248.
Mogro-Wilson, C. (2016). School predictors of alcohol use in high school Hispanic and non-Hispanic youths. Child and Youth Services, 37(3), 214-230.
Medina, C., Pellegrini, L.+ & Mogro-Wilson, C. (2014). Political power and health inequalities in Vieques Puerto Rico. Social Work in Public Health, 29, 401-416.
Mogro-Wilson, C. (2013). Parenting in Puerto Rican Families. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 94(4), 235-241.
Mogro-Wilson, C., Negroni, L.K., & Hesselbrock, M.N. (2013). Puerto Rican parenting and acculturation in families experiencing substance use and intimate partner violence. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 13, 50-69.
Mogro-Wilson, C. (2011). Resilience in vulnerable and at-risk Latino families. Infants and Young Children, 24(3), 267-279.
Mogro-Wilson, C., Strolin, J., & Matto, H. (2009). Methodological issues for university collaboration with a rural Latino community and substance abusing population. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 9(2), 204-214.
Mogro-Wilson, C. (2008). The influence of parental warmth and control on Latino adolescent alcohol use. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30(1), 89-105.
Mogro-Wilson, C. (2017). Latino Fathers and Parenting: Lessons learned from Puerto Rican fathers. Invited blog for OUPblog: Oxford University Press’s Academic Insights for the Thinking World, Retrieved June 22, 2017 https://blog.oup.com/2017/06/latino-puerto-rican-fathers-parenting-lessons/
Goggin, E., Werkmeister Rozas, L. & Garran, A.M. (2015). A case of mistaken identity. Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community.
Werkmeister Rozas, L. & Garran, A.M. (2015). Towards a human rights culture in social work. British Journal of Social Work.
UConn SSW Just Community
Just Community is a Major Committee within the School of Social Work comprised of faculty, staff, Graduate Student Organization MSW and PhD student representatives, and a BSW student representative. Its role is to facilitate and support social justice-focused initiatives and to enhance inclusion of more anti-oppressive practices in our classrooms, programming, and daily interactions with one another at the school and our many communities. Through the power of education and advocacy we work for social change within the ideological, intrapersonal, and institutional levels. The ultimate goal is justice and inclusion for all.
Abigail Jackson and Margaret Lloyd Sieger
Co-Chairs
UConn SSW Black History 365
Created by students, BH365 exists to promote Black history and current affairs that influence the varied experiences of the Black community and to give a voice to the student experience at the UConn School of Social Work. For upcoming events and more information, visit the BH365 event page.
UConn Alumni #ThisisAmerica
UConn School of Social Work is part of UConn Alumni's #ThisIsAmerica series, which brings together UConn faculty, alumni, and students to discuss and unpack systematic racism, social justice, and human rights issues. It spotlights the individuals, organizations and movements fighting for justice and equity, and against oppression and white supremacy.
View upcoming #ThisIsAmerica programs and resources.
UConn Courses
Special Topics: U.S. Anti-Black Racism
UNIV 3088; Section 003 Class# 16596
1-Credit Course
Free to all UConn students, faculty and staff
This class will be offered to undergraduate and graduate students
Websites
UConn Neag School of Education Resources
SW Coalition for Anti-Racist Educators
Katal Center for Health, Equity and Justice
HRE USA (Human Rights Educators)
Chicago Public Library (Anti-Racist Reading List)
Books
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author)
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
Racism Without Racists: Colorblind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States by Educardo Bonilla-Silva
Two Faced Racism Whites in the Backstage and Frontstage by Leslie Picca and Joe Feagin
How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy and the Racial Divide by Crystal Fleming
The Ethnic Project: Transforming Racial Fiction into Ethnic Factions by Vilna Bashi Treitler
Race and Racisms: A Critical Approach by Tanya Golash Boza
Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations by Joe Feagin
White Rage; the Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
Black Americans by Alphonso Pinkney
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet Washington
The Hollywood Jim Crow: The Racial Politics of the Movie Industry by Maryann Erigha
Code of the Street by Elijah Anderson
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter Woodson
Black Wealth/White Wealth by Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro
Black Skin White Masks by Frantz Fanon
Killing Rage: Ending Racisim by bell hooks
Race in the College Classroom: Pedagogy and Politics by Maureen T. Reddy & Bonnie TuSmith
Intersectionality in Higher Education: Identity and Inequality on College Campuses by W. Carson Byrd, Rachelle J. Brunn-Bevel & Sarah M. Ovink
The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter
Ferguson is America by Jamala Rogers
Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald
Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People by Ben Crump
Hartford Public Library collection of books, websites and articles about anti-racism and the Black Lives Matter movement
Scholarship & Blogs
The Faculty - A community of academics and storytellers writing and sharing thoughts about teaching, learning, research, and life.
When Feminism is White Supremacy in Heels by Rachel Cargle
The White Feminist Savior Complex (blog) by Anne Theirault
The White Savior Industrial Complex by Teju Cole
A Historical Perspective on Social Work & Race
Defunding the Police Will Actually Make Us Safer (ACLU)
McMahon, A., & Allen-Meares, P. (1992). Is Social Work Racist? A Content Analysis of Recent Literature. Social Work, 37(6), 533-539. June 12, 2020.
Corley, N. A., & Young, M. P. (2018). Is Social Work Still Racist? A Content Analysis of Recent Literature.
Social Work, Volume 63, Issue 4, October 2018, Pages 317–326.
Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus (JSTOR Daily)
A brief from the Urban Institute on eliminating structural racism
Briefs, reports, research, etc., from the Urban Institute
"The American Nightmare," a recent essay by Ibram Kendi on anti-black racism.
UConn Africana Studies Statement on Anti-Racism
Bullock, Karen. (2020). Racism Fatigue. Racism and its concomitant circumstances have created atmospheric pressure that leave individuals feeling exhausted. This racism fatigue has become more apparent to me over the past few months, than ever before; and there was no “Aha” moment. It has been a long, slow evolution.
Statistics and Data
The Bureau of Justice Statistics' maintains more than a dozen national data collections, covering federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and special topics in law enforcement.
Graphics showing the spread of police violence throughout America.
How do you measure justice?
Data outlining incarceration trends in America, racial disparities in incarceration, drug sentencing disparities, and the effects of incarceration.
An analysis of #BlackLivesMatter and other Twitter hashtags related to political or social issues.
Finding from a 2019 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences
Black Lives Matter: Claiming a Space for Evidence-Based Outrage in Obstetrics and Gynecology
New York Times | June 2020
Research on law enforcement and racial conflict in the wake of Ferguson
UConn SSW Faculty Research
Effect of a nurse case management intervention for hypertension self-management in low-income African Americans
Bev Zabler, Pei-Yun Tsai, Michael Fendrich, Young Cho, Murad H. Taani, Rachel Schiffman in Contemporary Clinical Trials. Published: June 14, 2018
Factors Related to Medication Self-Management in African American Older Women
Julie L. Ellis, PhD, RN, GCNS-BC; Christine R. Kovach, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA; Michael Fendrich, PhD; Oluwatoyin Olukotun, PhD, RN; Vanessa K. Baldwin, BSN, RN; Weiming Ke, PhD; Barbara Nichols, MSN, RN, FAAN, DS-HC. Research in Gerontological Nursing. 2019;12(2):71-79. Posted: March 20, 2019.
Funding Resources: Racial Justice, Social Justice, Health Disparities
Russel Sage Foundation: Race, Identity, & Immigration
Ford Foundation: Challenge Inequality - Anyone can submit a grant idea to the Ford Foundation here so long as it relates back to their main goal (Challenge Inequality) and the seven focus areas thereunder.
Fah’s Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation
Macarthur Foundation: Safety and Justice Challenge - The Macarthur Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. However, anyone may contact foundation staff to discuss a proposal.
NIH: Health Services Research on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional)
NIH: Long-Term Effects of Disasters on Health Care Systems Serving Health Disparity Populations
National Organizations & Movements
National Museum of African American History and Culture’s new web portal: Talking About Race
10 Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide (Southern Poverty Law Center)
Supporting Undocumented Students and Mixed Status Families
Academics for Black Survival - There is a free online training via Zoom (6/19- 6/25), which is described as a: "weeklong personal and professional development initiative for academics to honor the toll of racial trauma on Black people, resist anti-Blackness and white supremacy, and facilitate accountability and collective action."
People’s Institute – Undoing Racism training
Justice for Jayson (Facebook)
List of Black Trans Organizations
Local Organizations & Movements
Black Lives Matter
New Haven Chapter (Facebook)
Movies
Do the Right Thing
Netflix - (Black Lives Matter - films, series and documentaries)
13th (2016 Netflix)
American Son (2019 Neflix)
I am Not Your Negro (2017 Amazon Prime)
Get Out (2017 Amazon Prime)
Fruitvale Station (2013 Amazon Prime)
Selma (2014 Amazon Prime)
Whose Streets? (2017 Amazon Prime)
When They See Us (2019 Netflix)
Just Mercy (2019 Amazon Prime)
DSS Videos
The Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) Statewide Affirmative Action Advisory Committee collaborated with the Office of Organizational and Skill Development, which is a partnership between the UConn School of Social Work and DSS, to create a series of videos on various communities to increase awareness and understanding. The development and representation of the communities was led by people in these communities.
Radio & Podcasts
Mogro-Wilson, C. (2019). Episode 274 – Dr. Cristina Wilson: Latino Parenting and the Latino Father. Invited PodCast for inSocialWork ® a Podcast series of the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. Available at: https://www.insocialwork.org/
Code Switch (NPR)
Uncivil (podcast)
1A (NPR)
Economic Policy Institute (Podcast with Valerie Wilson)