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Africentric Social Work

Africentric Social Work

edited by Delores V. Mullings, Jennifer Clarke, Wanda Thomas Bernard, David Este and Sulaimon Giwa

The first of its kind in Canada, this book provides an invaluable resource for students and practitioners alike by presenting a dynamic approach to African-centred service provision that is ethical and culturally relevant.

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About the book

This edited collection focuses on Africentric social work practice, providing invaluable assistance to undergraduate students in developing foundational skills and knowledge to further their understanding of how to initiate and maintain best practices with African Canadians. In social work education and field practice, students will benefit from the depth and breadth of this book’s discussions of social, health and educational concerns related to Black people across Canada. The book’s contributors present a broad spectrum of personal and professional experiences as African Canadian social work practitioners, students and educators. They address issues that African Canadians confront daily, which social work educators and potential practitioners need to understand to provide racially and culturally relevant services. The book presents students with an invaluable opportunity to develop their practical skills through case studies and critical thinking exercises, with recommendations for how to ethically and culturally engage in African-centred service provision.

African Heritage & Black Diaspora Race & Anti-Racism Social Work

Authors

Delores V. Mullings

Dr. Mullings is an Associate Professor and Interim Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs at Memorial University, School of Social Work. She is also an independent anti-racist consultant and trainer. Her scholarly interests fall under the umbrella of Anti-Black racism and Critical Race theoretical orientation through which she explores topics including decolonizing post-secondary education, anti-Black racism, Black mothering and Black parenting, health and social needs of older Black Caribbean Canadian elders, racialized LGBTQ people, older immigrants, settlement and integration in small urban centres, rural and remote areas, and racist human rights policy.

Jennifer Clarke

Jennifer Clarke is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Ryerson University. She is also a registered social worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, consultant, and clinical anti-racism trainer whose practice is centred in Africentric, trauma-informed, and anti-Black racism perspectives. Her teaching and research are grounded in anti-oppression, anti-racism, and anti-Black racism perspectives through which she explores and deconstructs the colonial, racial, and gender power relations in social work education and practice. She is the recipient of several research grants and awards, and a Co-Editor of the recently published book Todays Youth and Mental Health: Hope, Power and Resilience (2018). She has also published numerous journal articles and book chapters on Black families and child welfare, gun violence loss and trauma, newcomer youth, and social work education and practice.

Wanda Thomas Bernard

Dr. Thomas Bernard is a Canadian senator. She was formerly a social worker and educator from East Preston, Nova Scotia. Dr. Thomas Bernard is the first Black Canadian to have an academic tenure position and become a full professor at Dalhousie University, where her research focuses on anti-oppression and diversity. She Bernard was one of the founding members of the Association of Black Social Workers. In 2005, she was appointed to the Order of Canada for her work addressing racism and diversity in the field of social work, and in 2014, she was awarded the Order of Nova Scotia. On October 27, 2016, Dr. Thomas Bernard was named to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sit as an independent. At the time of her appointment, she was the chair of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women. She is the first African Nova Scotian woman to serve in the Senate Chamber

David Este

Dr. David Este is a Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary. He has published in the areas of immigration; historical and contemporary experiences of people of African descent in Canada and mental health. In 2019, David was part of a team that received the Governor General’s Award in History for Community Programming for the documentary entitled, We Are the Roots: Black Settlers and Their Experiences of Discrimination on the Canadian Prairies. He also received from the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ Lee Lorch Award for excellence in teaching, research and service to the University of Calgary to the profession of social work, and to the community.

Sulaimon Giwa

Dr. Sulaimon Giwa is an Assistant Professor in the School Social Work with a cross appointment to the Department of Sociology (Police Studies) at Memorial University. He is the Endowed Chair in Criminology and Criminal Justice at St. Thomas University. His applied research program and professional activities centralize critical race transformative pedagogies and theories as frameworks and analytic tools for social justice and equity. His research interests are in the areas of race and sexuality, critical social work pedagogy, anti-Black racism/oppression and the criminal justice system.

Foreword Still Fighting for Change - Rajean N. Willis, Rachelle Sweeting, Veronica Marsman, Vivian Dixon, Yvette Jarvis and Wanda Thomas Bernard
A Foundation for the Social Work Profession - Delores V. Mullings, Jennifer Clarke, Sulaimon Giwa, Wanda Thomas Bernard and David Este
Context and Foundation In Our Own Words: This Is the Beginning - Jennifer Clarke, Delores V. Mullings, Wanda Thomas Bernard, Sulaimon Giwa and David Este
Social Work Pioneers - Christopher Walmsley, Wanda Thomas Bernard and David Este
Decolonizing Social Work Research - Lori A. Chambers
Institutionalization of Black Bodies The Colour of Child Welfare: Overrepresentation of Black Children in Ontario Child Welfare - Jennifer Clarke, Gordon Pon and Doret Phillips
The Cultural Production of Problem Baby Mamas - Anita Rachel Ewan, Delores V. Mullings and Jennifer Clarke
Black Caribbean Canadian Elders - Delores V. Mullings, Sulaimon Giwa and Anda Adam
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Access to Mental Health Services - Wesley Crichlow, Ellen Faulkner and Kirk Leach
Out of the Shadows: Race and (Dis)Ability among Black African Nova Scotians - Rajean N. Willis, Kimberly M. Berry and Wanda Thomas Bernard
Practice Modalities in Health Care with Black Canadians - Notisha Massaquoi and Delores V. Mullings
Black Women’s Resilience: Therapy and Support for Refugee Women - Joelleann Forbes, Deone Curling and Simone Donaldson
Black Lives under Lockdown: COVID-19 and Racial Injustice Converge - Jennifer Clarke, Delores V. Mullings and Sulaimon Giwa
Epilogue In Conversation: This Is Not the End - Delores V. Mullings, Jennifer Clarke,Sulaimon Giwa, Wanda Thomas Bernard, Dave Este, Heather Kere Quelleng, Amma Gyamfowa and Anne-Marie Hay
Index