Bit by Bit, Putting it Together: Doing Social Justice
Hello everyone. Last week, I was invited to give a keynote speech at a social justice conference at Bridgewater State University. It focused on the practical aspects of doing social justice work. Below is a copy of the speech, which encourages the small changes that we can make in our social justice work. I hope you enjoy:
Bit by Bit, Putting it Together:
You will not change the world. Very few people do, and statistically speaking, you will probably not be one of them. And that is fine. Making change, real change, happens every day in small ways. The question is what can we do, and how can we do it. And for this, I look to one of the greats of musical theater, Stephen Sondheim (yes, I am that kind of gay), from his Pulitzer Prize winning show, Sunday in the Park with George. In the song Putting it Together, the lead character sings (and donāt worry, I wonāt):
Bit by bit
Putting it together
Piece by pieceā
Only way to make a work of art
Every momentā makesā a contribution
Every littleā detail plays a part
Having just theā vision's no solution
Everything depends on execution
Putting it together
That's what counts!
When we look at social equity and racial justice, a lot of what we do it bit by bit. Creating small pieces to change the world for the better for our clients and our communities. We may not even see the change, but we can make it happen.
Bit by bit, putting it together
When I was younger, I was at an event and the speaker asked us all who we looked up to. Many people said people like Martin Luther King Jr or Ghandi. I said Bayard Rustin. While not as well known, he was an important part of the Civil Rights Movement. Rustin helped set up the March on Washington, doing a lot of background work. Due to being gay, he was unable to be more central to the movement. But his work was still important; without Rustin, Martin Luther King Jr would not have learned about antivolence. And while it took a long time for Rustin to get his due, just because he wasnāt at the forefront doesnāt mean he didnāt do important things.
Piece by piece, only way to make a work of art
Social movements are made by diverse groups adding their own piece. The AIDS quilt is a great metaphore for this. First displayed in 1987, the AIDS quilt was created to honor those who died of AIDS. Each piece was individualized to honor the people who have died. It is not one person creating a quilt, but many people providing their own experiences. A movement isnāt based around one person, but instead around many different groups and individuals. A movement has conflict as different subgroups have multiple perspectives and opinions. Thatās normal. Understanding the diversity within the community is an important part of social justice.
Every moment makes a contribution, every little detail plays a part
One big area of social justice is allyship. You do not need to be a part of a minority group to make a difference, but allyship is difficult. It means listening to the communities. It means talking and learning about communities. Allyship is about knowing when you can be part of the movement, and when you need to step away. Mistakes as an ally happens, but it is important to not only learn from them but also move forward. Sometimes, when allies are told they are making mistakes, it is taken personally. This leads to a toxic cycle, where minoritized groups canāt talk to allies about their own reality for fear of upsetting people who are trying to help. Being an ally means you have to throw your ego to the door and remember why you are doing this: for social justice. It means understanding where you are welcome and where you are not. Which conversations you belong in and which conversations you donāt are a good skill to know.
Having just a visionās no solution, everything depends on execution
Itās great to want to make changes, but itās not enough. Working in social justice doesnāt just take the want or the drive to make change, it also includes the practical steps toward change. I have been working in queer rights for over 20 years, a fact I do not admit lightly because it means acknowledging my age. Over that time, I have seen some groups do amazing things, and some fail. Great ideas just go off because there was no thought into how to create good programming.
Story time: Once, I was asked to join a board to explore ways to create programming to fight hate crimes. During this time, I was part of the board to discuss the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community. Everyone wanted to support the queer community, and many people had interesting ideas. But no one was listening to what I was saying and pointing out the holes in their understanding of the realities of queer culture and the dangers that LGBTQ+ people face. The group was unable to create anything for the community that was successful because instead of understanding the queer community in the way that this community actually acts, they wanted to impose their own heteronormative views on how queer people should act. I left the group because I was tired of being ignored, and it eventually dissolved. Because they were so focused on what the queer community should be instead of what the queer community is, they were unable to create real and meaningful change.
Putting it together, thatās what counts.
There are so many ways you can get involved in social justice, even in our field of social work. As you have learned in your time here, social work has a long history of racism, often talking over racial minorities and acting quote āin the best interest in minority groupsā without actually asking what minority groups need. Instead, social work talks over minority groups. Today, we as social workers are at a crossroads. For a long time, African-American groups have been pushing for data from the ASWB regarding passing rates by race for licensure exams. In 2022, they finally released them, showing that Black social workers are failing at higher rates than their white counterparts. This is because the test doesnāt take into account cultural nuances in situations. Indeed, according to the NASW MA, in Massachusetts alone, the pass rate for white test-takers is 93%, Hispanic test-takers is 73%, and Black test-takers is 59%.
Many states have gotten rid of the exam, and Massachusetts is talking about it with the SUPER Act (S.160/H.4451). This bill will provide stipends for some Masterās level social workers during their internships and removes the ASWB exam for LCSW accreditation. We should work to make social work more diverse and lower the barriers to entry. This is an important way for us to create change within our field and have social work look like the clients we serve. Calling your representatives and working with the NASW to get this bill passed is a real way that you can create social change within social work.
Social justice is hard. And, as social workers, we often do work towards social justice without seeing the end result. Indeed, we are often in our clients lives only a short period of time; we come, we help our clients do what needs to be done, help our clients build up their strengths, and then leave. We are sometimes able to make changes to a small group of people, and sometimes we are not. There is no one magical road that makes social justice work, it can be frustrating work, but we continue at it. When we are unable to help create change, it is frustrating. We may, at times, feel helpless, like the work we are doing is going nowhere and is not making any progress. I will tell you a little secret of what I did: I kept a catalogue of my wins. Back when I was practicing, I had a drawer filled with thank you cards, notes from clients, drawings, and post it notes that I had written out to remind me of my wins. One thing I had was a US Marines sticker. I helped a man find support for his daughter who had a rare illness. It didnāt take me very long to get him what he needed, but he sent me a letter a month later. He said he didnāt have much money to donate to the organization, but wanted to send me this sticker so that he can feel like he gave me something because he so appreciated the time and work I put in to helping him and his family. When we fight for social justice, we have so many losses. We will put hours and days into something that will not work out for our clients and communities. So remember the small wins; the successes you have along the way. Those will help you keep on going.
Social work is about making things better for vulnerable and minoritized populations and communities. Social justice is in our core, itās in everything we do. For me, itās in my research, my teaching, and in my weekly newsletter, the Queer Friendly Nonprofit, where I attempt to provide guidance in how nonprofits can be more supportive for queer individuals and communities. You will each find your own path just as I found mine. But I recommend you do not lose track of the social justice core, and the fact that even if you are only doing something small, you are doing a small bit of putting together a better world for everyone.