Abolition and Social Work: An Abolitionist’s Handbook

All Michigan social workers are invited to a virtual CE event on Wednesday, July 16 from 12-1:00pm.

FREE | 1 Implicit Bias CE

Overview:

Join us as we discuss Patrisse Khan-Cullors’ Abolitionist’s Handbook.

A revolutionary guide to modern-day abolition from the #BlackLivesMatter co-founder

In An Abolitionist's Handbook, New York Times bestselling author, artist, and activist Patrisse Cullors presents a bold and humanistic approach to being an effective activist in today's world. Drawing from her extensive experience, Cullors offers a framework for everyday people to fight for an abolitionist present and future.

Filled with relatable lessons on the history of abolition, a fresh perspective on reparations for Black lives, and personal anecdotes, An Abolitionist's Handbook encourages readers to lead with love, fierce compassion, and precision. Discover the 12 steps to transform yourself and the world around you.

This groundbreaking work is a must-read for anyone seeking to reimagine a society where communities are treated with dignity, care, and respect. It grants us permission to move beyond cancel culture and instead envision a path of change and healing. If you're ready to be part of the solution, An Abolitionist's Handbook is your essential guide.

Abolitionist’s Handbook is available through your favorite booksellers.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe impacts of white supremacy on social work education, practice, and scholarship
• Describe and contextualize decolonization within the context of the social work profession
• Identify strategies for disrupting white supremacist norms within social practice
  

Presented by Chris Fike, Region 5 Representative on the NASW-MI Board of Directors.

About the Author(s) --

Patrisse Khan-Cullors. Patrisse Khan-Cullors is an American activist, artists, and author who co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement, creating the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag in 2013. She has written and spoken widely about the movement.

More about the Decolonizing Social Work Book Club:

Decolonization in social work is the undoing of hegemony, the latter being the process whereby white supremacist values impregnated foundational social work theories, research, and practices. In recognizing that white supremacy is a mechanism of social control, that our current social structure is grounded in liberal-patriarchal capitalism, and that social work confirms to prevailing social norms, we, as social workers, must acknowledge our complicity in perpetuating a white supremacist ideology (Crudup, Fike, & McLoone, 2021; Pewewardy & Almeida, 2014). One strategy for disrupting white supremacy in social work is to develop a counter-narrative (Crudup, et al., 2021; Pewewardy & Almeida, 2014), a history that details the experiences of perspectives of those who have been oppressed, excluded, and silenced. The Decolonizing Social Work Book Club will meet on the 3rd Wednesday of each month starting in September 2024 and concluding in December 2025.

The voices highlighted in this book club offer counter-narrative perspectives across a range of issues and topics immediately relevant to social work.