Let’s Get Free: Social Work and the Movement for Black Lives

Abstract

Throughout its history, social work has shaped and been shaped by social movements. What might #BlackLivesMatter mean for 21st century social work and what might social work mean for the Movement? This paper describes the Movement and applies insights from Young’s 1965 essay ‘‘Civil Rights and a Militant Profession’’to identify a set of questions for social workers to explore. These include questions about making alliances and contributing competencies, overcoming apathy, misconceptions and exploitation, and fulfilling the obligations of clinical practice for social justice.

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“…Finally, it is important to recognize that the landscape of the social work profession is invariably impacted by contemporary movements toward social justice (Powell & Kelly, 2017). Just as Civil Rights-era reform shaped the development of the professional Code of Ethics, Black Lives Matter has drawn widespread attention to contemporary issues of systemic anti-Black violence including mass incarceration and police brutality (Copeland, 2015). The impact of Black Lives Matter, and other social movements, provide both opportunity and challenge to the social work educator.…”