Students in the Black Leadership Initiative pose for a photo during one of the program鈥檚 annual retreats.
The Black Leadership Initiative at the AV诊所 College School of Social Work, now in its fourth year, prepares students to address complex issues facing the Black community.聽
The program follows a cohort-based model in which students navigate the challenges of social work together, supporting each other in and out of the classroom. It includes specialized monthly meetings in which fellows are introduced to key public officials, researchers, scholars, practitioners, and executives. And it requires students to complete internships that support the integration of anti-oppressive, anti-racist, person-centered, and strength-based values.
We asked Louise McMahon Ahearn Endowed Professor Karen Bullock, the new chair of the BLI, to share her vision for the future of the program.聽
What makes the BLI unique?
The BLI is unique in that it enriches the standard MSW curriculum with content that centers African principles and practices in the teaching and learning that students will experience. In addition, it is a cohort-based program emphasizing community, collective action, health and well-being in socio-cultural contexts.聽
What鈥檚 your vision for the BLI in 2025?
My vision is one of collective identity and shared decision-making that builds upon the leadership of Drs. Samuel Bradley and Tyrone Parchment, who are the co-founders of the BLI. I am fortunate to transition into my role as chair of the BLI after four years of a successful track record of preparing and graduating clinical and macro practitioners who are working through the Greater AV诊所 Area and beyond, nationally and globally. My vision is to continue that success with the support of an advisory team. We, the BLI faculty members, have formed a BLI Advisory Team to support the curricular innovations and community using best practices for equipping learners with tools to critically evaluate, intervene, advocate, support, and lead with African-centered principles.聽
Karen Bullock. Photo by Caitlin Cunningham for BC Photography.
Full-time students must declare a field of practice at the end of their first semester, selecting one of six pathways that include specialized coursework and field placements. Many students in the BLI choose the BLI Social Work field of practice, which has previously been called the Afrocentric Social Work field of practice. When and why did you decide to change the name?
Thank you for this clarifying question. Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic with a renewed commitment to engaging and preparing MSW students to address social determinants of health and well-being on various levels, using guiding principles that center culturally responsive, anti-oppressive practices led us, the BLI Advisory Team, to explore strategies for maintaining inclusivity of students taking the clinical pathway to earning their MSW degree, as well as the macro concentration students. The BLI has always been inclusive of both clinical and macro students. Thus, we decided to tailor our messaging to the masses about the field of practice and in doing so, made a very minor name change with no adjustments to the curriculum. Research scholars affirm the terms, 鈥淎frican-Centered鈥� and 鈥淎frocentric鈥� as aiming to center African principles, with one having particular emphasis on challenging and undoing the legacy of colonialism in education, which aligns with BCSSW's mission-driven curricular innovation of specialized professional education.聽 聽
The BLI follows a cohort-based model in which students navigate the challenges of social work together, supporting each other in and out of the classroom. What are some of the other benefits of the program?
Some other benefits of the program include specialized monthly meetings for the BLI fellows that are designed to create opportunities for enrichment learning and engagement with experts in the field. The monthly meetings also provide training related to coursework and community building and are an extension of our signature pedagogy, which is the field practicum.
The BLI takes an African-centered approach to social work practice. What does that approach look like in courses and internships?聽
That approach looks like having an awareness of Black scholars and researchers that have created and innovated in our field of social work and other related fields for centuries and teaching through a lens or perspective that incorporates this knowledge. Doing so can close gaps in the understanding of what works and what doesn鈥檛 work with specific populations. It creates learning opportunities for our students to engage in critical thinking, which allows them to deconstruct antiquated models and frameworks, so that they can hold space for constructing whole-person, culturally responsive paradigms that advance the field of social work and humanize the individuals, families, and communities that we aim to serve effectively.聽
Is there anything else you would like to add about the BLI?
I would like to add that I am honored to serve as chair of the BLI. There is no better time than now to prepare the next generation of social workers to be highly effective practitioners and to lead with compassion whether at the micro, mezzo or macro level of practice. I thank Drs. Bradley and Parchment for having the vision to develop, implement, and facilitate the learning and preparation of BLI graduates in the field who are now our colleagues. I look forward to continuing their legacy with the assembled BLI Advisory Team of expert faculty members including Drs. Whitney Irie, Robert Motley, William Byansi, Ed-Dee Williams, Samuel Bradley, and Professor Lujuana Milton. Thank you, all!