Episode 56

Charla Yearwood, Cassandra Walker, and Dr. Alan Dettlaff discuss the ASWB's long-awaited release of social work licensing exam pass rates by race and age. The data reveals significant racial disparities, confirming what many have long known—that the exam is racially biased and discriminatory toward Black, Latinx, and Indigenous social workers. The conversation unpacks how ASWB has avoided accountability and why this exam must be challenged. This episode is part of the growing movement to end the use of this racist exam and calls listeners to take action.

In this episode:

Charla Yearwood, LCSW

Cassandra Walker, LCSW, CCTP

Alan Dettlaff, PhD, MSW

#StopASWB Petition https://www.change.org/p/aswb-end-discriminatory-social-work-licensing-exams

#StopASWB Press Conference Recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE_p6b6x06U

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Episode 55

Dr. Maxine Davis, Assistant Professor at Rutgers School of Social Work, shares her powerful and deeply personal experience navigating anti-Black racism, sexism, and institutional betrayal in academia. She speaks candidly about the toll this took on her mental health, including a suicide attempt, and the lack of accountability within her former institution. Dr. Davis calls attention to the broader issues within social work and higher education and introduces her plan to develop a Green Book and Red Book to guide Black faculty and scholars navigating the job market. This episode is a courageous call for systemic change and collective care.

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https://drmaxinedavis.com/

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Episode 54

Daye Pope, Director of Civic Engagement at T.A.K.E. (Trans Advocates Knowledgeable Empowering), discusses the organization's work supporting trans women of color and resisting the wave of anti-trans legislation across the U.S. She explains how these laws—rooted in racism, classism, and cisnormativity—harm trans youth, deny essential health care, and criminalize affirming providers and families. Daye also highlights T.A.K.E.'s civic engagement efforts, including voting rights advocacy for trans people of color. Grounded in love, resilience, and community leadership, this conversation offers a powerful look at organizing for safety, dignity, and justice.

In this episode:

www.takebhm.org

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Episode 53

Dr. Jessica Isom, a board-certified community psychiatrist and clinical instructor at Yale University, shares her work advancing racial equity in medicine and mental health through clinical care, education, and consulting. She discusses how racism—not race—is the true risk factor for poor health outcomes, and how pathologizing Blackness in medical and psychiatric frameworks causes real harm. Dr. Isom explores how whiteness and Eurocentric standards shape mental health systems, including the DSM, and offers insight into practicing with a lens grounded in equity, Black healing, and joy. This conversation challenges deficit-based approaches and calls for systemic transformation in health care.

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www.vision4equity.com

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Episode 52

Dr. Monica Cox, Distinguished Professor of Engineering at The Ohio State University, shares her experiences navigating higher education and DEI as a Black woman and unapologetic truth-teller. She discusses the harm of performative diversity, the persistence of systemic racism in academic and organizational spaces, and the cost of authenticity in these environments. Drawing from her personal and professional journey, Dr. Cox offers a bold critique grounded in lived experience, clarity, and purpose. This conversation challenges the status quo and calls listeners to reflect, reckon, and choose transformation.

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www.drmonicacox.com

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Episode 51

Joyce McMillan, Founder and Executive Director of JMac for Families and Parent Legislative Action Network, and Victoria, a PhD candidate at UCLA and community organizer, discuss the family policing system—commonly known as the child welfare system—and their abolitionist work. They explain how the system targets families in poverty, disproportionately harms Black, Brown, and Indigenous families, and functions as a carceral system of surveillance and control. Drawing on their personal experiences, they highlight the lack of rights for parents, the misuse of mandatory reporting, and the need to shift from separation to true family support. Together, they call for a complete transformation rooted in justice and care.

In this episode:

Joyce

Victoria

https://upendmovement.org/

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Episode 50

Jasmine Banks, Executive Director of UnKoch My Campus, exposes how the Koch network influences education and policy through massive financial contributions and targeted campaigns. She explains how this network promotes agendas that suppress voting rights, deny climate change, attack workers' rights, and censor discussions of systemic racism, all while threatening multiracial democracy. Jasmine details how UnKoch My Campus works with students to organize against corporate influence in education and breaks down the consequences of unchecked political spending enabled by rulings like Citizens United. This conversation is a powerful call to follow the money, confront hidden systems of power, and take action for democratic accountability.

In this episode:

www.unkochmycampus.org

Generation Common Good www.generationcommongood.org

Article https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/charles-koch-crt-backlash/

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Episode 49

Kelechi Wright, a doctoral student in the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas, and Kortney Carr, a Professor of Practice and doctoral student at the same institution, discuss their article The Whitewashing of Social Work History, which calls for an honest, equitable retelling of the profession's past. They highlight how traditional narratives erase Black social welfare leaders, uphold white saviorism, and perpetuate white supremacy in social work education and practice. The conversation emphasizes the need to honor Black social work movements rooted in community traditions and to build a just foundation for the field's future. Kelechi and Kortney also explore the responsibilities of educators and practitioners in advancing racial justice within the profession.

In this episode:

The Whitewashing of Social Work History: How Dismantling Racism in Social Work Education Begins With an Equitable History of the Profession

Kelechi

Kortney

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Episode 48

Tyra Wanatee-Flores, a descendant of the Sac and Fox Nation of the Mississippi in Iowa and an MSW student at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses her work addressing youth suicide, substance abuse, and gender-based violence in Indigenous communities. She shares how she integrates culturally grounded, community-driven approaches to mental health and social work, informed by her experience as a Buder Scholar and her commitment to decolonizing practice. Tyra also talks about her advocacy with Meskwaki RISE, supporting Indigenous survivors of domestic and sexual violence. She highlights her activism in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement and why it is critical for all of us to take action to end this violence.

In this episode:

Instagram tyywanatee

Meskwaki RISE

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Episode 47

Dr. Armen Henderson, Director of Health Programs at Dream Defenders and Founder of Dade County Street Response, shares his work bringing medical care directly to poor and working-class communities in Miami. He discusses how social determinants of health are deeply rooted in racism, classism, and systemic inequity—highlighting examples such as climate injustice, lack of housing, and barriers to healthcare access. Armen reflects on how the murder of Trayvon Martin led him to organize for racial justice through an abolitionist, anti-capitalist lens within medicine. This conversation underscores the need to reimagine public health as a tool for liberation and community care.

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www.dreamdefenders.org

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