Dani Mason: Reflections on Social Work Practice with Communities

  “I like to call people by the wrong name to remind them how unimportant they are''. A line uttered by the stone-faced and snarky character, Ron Swanson on the TV comedy Parks and Rec. Although comical in context to the show, this line, and Burghadt’s vignette of the chief of staff versus the moderator in their power struggle/ implicit bias over the simplicity of mispronouncing a name, reminds me of how much I see this happen to my cultural client’s almost weekly. What’s in a name? A lot. An identity to someone who has come to the USA with virtually nothing left that is theirs. For an already marginalized population, let's make them feel worse by not taking the time to pronounce a name or recognize someone as they are. The same can be said for individuals that are referred to as, “those people'' or “them”. It is painful to hear providers, regardless of how long they have worked with someone, continuously call clients/ patients by the wrong name, mistake them for so...

  I'm not going to lie economics is not my strong suit, numbers do not like me, and I am not an economist. Therefore, I will admit that the reading this week was a little more challenging for me to digest than it may have been for others. After slugging through the chapters, I wanted to ensure I understand the concepts and prime takeaways from what I have read. I turned to other MMT articles online and youtube videos to make sure something stuck and made basic sense. Within the first few pages of The Deficit Myth , it is stated that my belief of how the economy works and how money works will be challenged and turned upside down. It is safe to say that this is a true statement. I have spent my whole life hearing that debt is a bad thing and that my taxes go towards paying for everyone else's stuff.  Some common phrases I've heard include: "Why should my taxpayer dollars pay for those in prison," as well as, "My tax dollars are paying for those on welfare to be...

I wanted to take a second to kind of reflect on where my mind wandered after reading the assigned reading this week and after watching the assigned Ted Talks. I sometimes have hard time articulating my thoughts verbally which is why I’m more of an on observer and internal processor than talker or writer. Bear with me. Truth be told, before this class I have never really put much thought into community work or critical community practice. Ive always kept my case management or crisis work in a bubble and thought, “Yeah community work, Im in the community, working with people to connect to their community, helping them get what they rightfully need and deserve...boom community work”. I’m embarrassed to admit, sure I’ve been doing some sort of community work, but not the type of critical community practice we are tackling in class. I have failed to look at a much bigger picture and equate social work to more than just therapy, coping skill, lets meet your needs so you are somewhat grounded...

 "Clean water is not a constitutional right". This is a quote from a FEMA official. FEMA. Let that marinate. This quote from Ted Radio Hour: Our relationship with Water, stopped me dead in my tracks. It was such a powerful and uncomfortable quote that I found myself sitting on it all day. I've spent the afternoon exploring my visceral and emotional reaction wondering how to articulate how I feel without going on an incoherent spiel; I probably will but it is what it is. This quote was followed by, "FEMA regulations are not meant for the most vulnerable communities and disaster process is meant for the middle class". OK, so you are telling me that a basic need to survive is not a constitutional right, and the powers that be can dictate that? We look to FEMA for help in many crisis situations and not everyone can be or is meant to be helped with their system structure? As with most everything, the middle class and up to get all the advantages while the rest, the o...