VCU to celebrate Social Justice Week

By Mary Beth Alford

RICHMOND, Va. – Creating a society that provides all residents with economic and social justice will be the focus of a weeklong program sponsored Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Social Work.

The program’s highlight will be the fifth annual Social Justice Day, to be held on March 29. It will explore "Paths to Social Change: Understanding Our Past and Navigating Our Future." The daylong program will probe past challenges and celebrate cultural differences as tools for developing effective strategies for delivering equal rights and services to everyone. 

King Davis, Ph.D., will open the discussion with his keynote address on "The Perception, Interpretation and Response to Human Differences: Implications for Understanding Oppression and Planning Change" at 9 a.m. During his presentation, Davis will discuss why oppression exists and what the nation can do about it.

As a former VCU professor, Davis helped to craft the School of Social Work’s social-justice statement, which is reflected throughout the school’s curriculum and operation. Davis currently is the Robert Lee Sutherland Chair of Mental Health and Social Policy at the University of Texas. His earlier appointments include serving as Virginia’s commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.

Other Social Justice Day events, to be held in the Student Commons’ Ballrooms A and B, 907 Floyd Ave., will include:

• Lauranett L. Lee, curator of African-American history at the Virginia Historical Society, will recite Maya Angelou’s poem "And Still I Rise" at 10:55 a.m.

• Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow, Ph.D., oral historian and member of the Mattaponi American Indian Tribe, will speak at 1:15 p.m. That session also will feature an interactive presentation on "Multiculturalism at VCU and in the World" by Bridget Robertson, assistant director of multicultural affairs.

• Participating social-work students will reflect on lessons learned and services offered during a recent trip to the Dominican Republic at 12:45 p.m.

• Jorge Benitez, an artist and VCU graduate, and Laura Chessin, VCU art professor, will lead discussions on art and social justice at 2:35 p.m.

The program also will feature musical, theater and dance selections throughout the day by social-work students, as well as the VCU Black Awakening Choir. The program will close with an art show and reception at 4:30 p.m. on the first floor of James Branch Cabell Library, 901 Park Ave.

Social Justice Week will kick off March 24 with a 5K Race for Justice and One Mile Fun Run/Walk. The 5K will start at 9 a.m. from VCU’s Cary Street Gym, Cary and Linden streets. The Fun Run/Walk will start at 8:30 a.m. Proceeds from the $15 entry fee will benefit local charities. The race is co-sponsored by the Richmond Roadrunners.

For more information on Social Justice Week events, call (804) 828-1030.

VCU’s School of Social Work, which offers courses both in Richmond and Northern Virginia, is the oldest program of its type in the South. In its 2001 rankings, U.S. News & World Report cited the school’s graduate program as 13th best in the nation.