Emancipatory engagement: An urban womanist social work pedagogy

Wringing Out the “Whitewash”

“…McLane-Davison teaches at a 153-year-old HBCU (Historically Black College & University) in the heart of a northeastern urban community which boasts an abundance of Black and Brown neighbors. The 45-year-old School of Social Work prioritizes the alleviation of human suffering through ethically proficient services grounded in the strengths of its urban residents both locally and throughout the African Diaspora (McLane-Davison, 2017;Wells-Wilbon et al, 2016). Graduates of the BSW, MSW, and PhD programs champion the intergenerational resilience, research, and strength-based strategies which promote social justice, and improve the quality of life for diverse urban populations.…”

“…This transformative pedagogy nestles itself in the human liberation of Black women's labor, struggle, leadership, and knowledge production at the intersection of multiple structures of inequity (Phillips & McCaskill, 1995). Honoring truth-telling through multimedia forms of communication, womanist pedagogy invites an interconnected and intergenerational way of capturing the rituals, values, tradition, and heritage of producing education (McLane-Davison, 2017).…”

“…We discuss examples of how we create transformative spaces for interrogating institutional reproduction of racism, provide solace for repair and healing, and re-center collective identity as strength to (re)locate power and knowledge production through a mutually-engaged space (Dillard, 2016;Huckaby, 2013;Jennings & Lynn, 2005;McGee & Stovall, 2015). We explore how students navigate and respond to the core content of social work education juxtaposed alongside their lived experiences of systemic violence, historical trauma, and anti-Black racism (McLane-Davison, 2017). In sharing how we honor truth-telling and intergenerational interdependence within the classroom, we explore how lived experiences become products of knowledge and power.…”

Of Common Bonds: Accounting for Intergenerational Culture Competency in Community Policing

“…Urban social work that focuses on the unique challenges of individuals is responsive to the absence and marginalization of indigenous best practices that replicate structural oppression (Gilbert, 1974; Wells-Wilborn, McPhatter, & Vakalahi, 2016, McLane-Davison, 2017). Cultural competence, a tenet of urban social work practice, is defined as “the ability to transform knowledge and cultural awareness into health and/or psychosocial interventions that support and sustain healthy client system functioning within the appropriate cultural context” (McPhatter, 2016, p. 7).…”

“…Implementation of the RBA as a sustainable model for utilization in an urban environment has four phases: (1) RBA capacity building of faculty and staff, (2) RBA capacity building of human service professionals and community partners including field instructors and liaisons, (3) RBA capacity building of MSW (infused courses) and PhD students (specialized trainings), and (4) the application of the RBA model through implementation of faculty–student projects (Amoa & McLane-Davison, 2018; McLane-Davison, Mixon, & Holmes, 2017). Utilizing the RBA approach with the urban social work curriculum helps to cultivate a workforce of urban social work leaders focused on improving performance and population-based outcomes for the marginalized, vulnerable, and underserved children, families, and communities in urban Baltimore.…”