Welcome to the Social Work Racial Justice Alliance!

We’re committed to moving racial justice forward in the field of social work. To do this, we believe in the importance of understanding the history of our field and its role in perpetuating racial harm and upholding systems of oppression. In response to the ongoing structural, institutional, and interpersonal racial harm that impacts so many, we intend to engage in advocacy, reparations, and relational repair. This work will take time, effort, and creativity but as we outline in our Open letter, there ARE steps we can all take immediately to move us closer toward achieving our mission!

To All Social Workers in Massachusetts:

• Postpone renewal or purchase of NASW-MA membership dues until the national organization agrees to provide free membership to all Black social workers;

• Engage your professional organizations and/or your own private practice policies in racial justice work and specifically, reparations.

To current Social Work students or those who work within a School of Social Work, talk to administration and advocate for the following:

• Hire faculty and staff committed to racial justice and include content focused on racial justice in all areas of the educational curriculum;

• Support Black social work students through the application process, scholarships, mentorship, and academic support programs;

• Develop a reparations fund to support Black social work students.

To the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE):

• Codify racial justice as a central component of social work education, specifically in relation to Competency #2 in the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards: to Advance Human Right and Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice

To those of you involved with NASW-MA and NASW National, the prioritization of the following is critical:

• Financial Reparations:

  • advocate for free NASW membership, student loan forgiveness and expanded scholarship funds for Black social workers;

  • Fund membership to social work associations representing Black social workers;

  • Increase public awareness of the need for reparations for Black social workers and provide concrete actionable tasks for individual social workers, Schools of Social Work, and Social Work Organizations to enact toward reparations.

• Engagement & Communication:

  • Prioritize and center Black social workers in each step toward racial justice;

  • Develop a strong public statement and action plan focused on NASW’s commitments to racial justice for Black social workers.

• Accountability & Advocacy:

  • Develop comprehensive history of social work’s role in the marginalization and oppression of Black people within Massachusetts by spearheading research and documentation of historical accounts;

  • Partner with social work schools in MA to educate rising social work students about state specific example of anti-Black violence and racism.

• Increased Transparency:

  • Annual collection and publication of racial and ethnic data of current NASW membership;

  • Budget transparency.

We all share in this responsibility and we’re so glad you’re here.

We look forward to getting in good trouble together!