From the Participant’s Perspective: SW Congress 2010

I am writing this article on the plane on my way home from one of the most exhausting NASW meetings that I have ever attended. Having been to numerous leadership meetings and delegate assemblies over the past 11 years, this distinction is not given lightly. We worked from morning to evening with hardly a moment to spare. One funny observation was the tendency for a certain group of people to migrate up from the basement meeting rooms at every break for a “breath of air” (or cell phone service). Certain providers didn’t work in the basement and it became obvious who was with a certain cell phone provider as they would rise to the surface for that elusive signal and download emails, check text messages and make phone calls before diving below again.

Despite the exhaustion and the hard work of this past week, it was truly a memorable experience. The welcome reception featured a sneak preview to a new video entitled “Finding Uncle Whitney”. This video is being produced by Bonnie Boswell, the niece of Whitney M. Young. The video will be available soon with a companion study guide curriculum that can be used in the classroom. Whitney M. Young worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dr. Dorothy I. Height during the civil rights movement. He also stood beside American presidents, Johnson, Kennedy and Nixon as a valued advisor on civil rights. He was also the first African American president of the National Association of Social Workers. For more information about the Whitney M. Young project, go to www.whitneyyoungproject.com.

The Congress began on an ambivalent note as we all celebrated the life of Dr. Dorothy I. Height with the Lifetime Achievement Award presentation. Sadly, Dr. Height passed away at the age of 98, two days before the award presentation. Dr. Height was a key figure in the civil rights movement standing beside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Whitney M. Young.

From one great woman to another, we were fortunate to hear a keynote address by Kirsten Downey, author of the book about Frances Perkins, “The Woman Behind the New Deal”. Listening to Kirsten Downey discuss the fabulous woman and the difference that she has made in the lives of all Americans was a powerful experience. Frances Perkins was the first woman cabinet member serving under FDR as the Secretary of Labor. We have her to thank for the 40 hour work week, child labor laws, social security, and the right for workers to organize. If you have not had a chance to, I urge you to read the book and learn more about this extraordinary woman and social worker who helped change a whole nation.

One of the highlights of my attendance from a personal standpoint was my role as content leader in one of the break-out sessions. I was chosen as a content expert in the area of technology and assisted the facilitator. Once the breakout session ended I joined all of the other facilitators in a room to pull together and synthesize the imperatives and to make sure that there were no overlapping imperatives. It was a joy to watch the process from the inside having been a participant of the process from the outside in 2005.

You can read about the process and results in an article in the NASW-AZ newsletter. In closing, I want to say that it was an honor to attend this important meeting and have a role in the shaping of these important imperatives that will lead us into the next decade.