In the wake of the Orlando shooting (we will use #PulseOrlando as our hashtag for this chat), we feel heartache, sadness and anger. We may be left wondering why this happened and how we can prevent future tragedies. The details of the shooting and the stories of survival and loss after #PulseOrlando reveal some of the most complex social problems of our era: homophobia, racism, hate crimes and gun violence.
(Read the edited archive of this chat here)
Join us on Thursday, June 23 at 9 pm EST / 8 pm CT / 6 pm PT for an open mic chat to share thoughts, further our understanding and explore solutions for building a safer and more tolerant body politic.
The Orlando shooting shows once again how LGBTQ people are more likely to be a target of a hate crime; the intersections of race, gender and sexuality; the consequences of easy access to guns; internet influence on domestic terrorism; and the vilification of Islam in the US. Trauma-informed care will be of utmost importance and advocacy in this election year, spearheaded by macro practitioners and many others, will shape our national response to these issues. Our coordinated approach as a profession is crucial.
Some questions to guide the discussion:
- How has this event affected you and your community?
- How has being trained as a social worker prepared you to address the aftermath of Orlando?
- How do we best support those affected by trauma and violence in the aftermath of #PulseOrlando?
- How can we ensure we don’t spread secondary trauma?
- What is the role of social media in coping with events such as the Orlando shooting?
- How are you / your community practicing self-care?
Resources: (another resource list – an Orlando Syllabus for Social Workers – is posted below )
#PulseOrlandoSyllabus – Extensive resources crowdsourced and collected by librarians
Park, H. and Mykhyalyshyn, I. 2016 (June 16). L.G.B.T. People Are More Likely to Be Targets of Hate Crimes Than Any Other Minority Group. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/16/us/hate-crimes-against-lgbt.html?_r=1
Note: Many tweets about #PulseOrlando use “Latinx” instead of Latina/o. Why?
“The ‘x’ makes Latino, a masculine identifier, gender-neutral. It also moves beyond Latin@ – which has been used in the past to include both masculine and feminine identities – to encompass genders outside of that limiting man-woman binary.
Latinx, pronounced ‘La-teen-ex,’ includes the numerous people of Latin American descent whose gender identities fluctuate along different points of the spectrum, from agender or nonbinary to gender non-conforming, genderqueer and genderfluid.”
http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/our-issues/why-we-say-latinx-trans-gender-non-conforming-people-explain
AN ORLANDO SYLLABUS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS
This post was created by Karen Zgoda, Pat Shelly, and Sheri LaBree, MSW – one of Karen’s former students. It is cross-posted to reach as many people as possible.
Here is a Macro Social Work version of an #OrlandoSyllbus. It can help us understand the facts and the complex layers of meaning of the June 12, 2016 massacre at the Pulse nightclub. It includes some implications for social work practice.
Please note the #PulseOrlandoSyllabus, listed below, is extensive. It includes current articles, in addition to less recent publications.
Intro by Sheri LaBree:
Much has been written in the media regarding the massacre that took place in Orlando on June 11th. Politicians, pundits and other talking heads have discussed the motives of the attacker, the morals of those that were injured or killed, and of course, they have talked about gun control.
What do we know, nearly two weeks later? Very little. We know that 49 individuals were murdered, and dozens were injured.
The attack occurred at a “gay nightclub.” To me, this label is misleading. Pulse, the nightclub where this occurred, was a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community. It was a safe place. Or at least it was supposed to be.
These people were more than “just” gay. They were sisters, brothers, cousins, coworkers, friends. Like all of us, their lives cannot be neatly divided into labels. The murdered include a social worker, an accountant, a dancer, and an aspiring nurse, among others.
Was this massacre a hate crime against the LGBTQ community? Was it the work of an Islamic terrorist? We may never know. Here’s the question: does it matter? These are people who faced discrimination and obstacles that most of us will never encounter, based solely on their sexual identity. Their lives should be celebrated. They should not be labeled, because they deserve so much more.
The importance of LGBTQ identity is a subject far too big to discuss here. My message is that we should remember the people who were murdered as whole people, with full lives that are multi-faceted and complex.
ORLANDO SYLLABUS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS Compiled by Karen Zgoda and Pat Shelly
Victims:
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The Lives Lost in Orlando: 06-15-16 Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/orlando-shooting/victims/
Syllabi:
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#PulseOrlandoSyllabus 58 pp. Crowdsourced by librarians and teachers: bit.ly/orlandosyllabus
General
- On Orlando and Beyond. (2016). Danna Bodenheimer. http://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/real-world-clinical-sw/on-orlando-and-beyond/
Excerpt: There isn’t much for me to say about Orlando that hasn’t already been said. Most of the debates about the underlying causes of this massacre have happened somewhere in the media or on Facebook. That said, it seems irresponsible and avoidant to write about anything else this week – because, the fact is, even with everything that has already been articulated, we need to keep talking. And talking and talking and talking. And while I have no overarching goal in talking about what happened in Orlando, there are a few points that I would like to make that feel particularly relevant to us as clinical social workers.
Hate Crimes
- L.G.B.T. People Are More Likely to Be Targets of Hate Crimes Than Any Other Minority Group
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/16/us/hate-crimes-against-lgbt.html - Hate crimes against LGBT people are sadly common 06-14-16 FiveThirtyEight
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/hate-crimes-against-lgbt-people-are-sadly-common/?ex_cid=538twitter - 7 things straight people aren’t understanding about Orlando http://globalcomment.com/7-things-straight-people-arent-understanding-about-orlando/
Latinx
- Why We Say Latinx: Trans & Gender Non-Conforming People Explain
http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/our-issues/why-we-say-latinx-trans-gender-non-conforming-people-explain
- Activist: Latinx LGBTQ Community & Its Stories of Survival Should Be at Center of Orlando Response
http://www.democracynow.org/2016/6/14/activist_latinx_lgbtq_community_its_stories
( *6 Articles from #PulseOrlandoSyllabus with focus on LGBTQ, Trans, and people of color:)
- *Aponte, Jack. “American Ugliness: Queer and Trans People of Color Say “Not in Our Names.” Truthout, 14 June 2016.
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/36430-american-ugliness-queer-and-trans-people-of-color-say-not-in-our-names
Excerpt: “My community must “say ‘not in our names” to prevent our tragedy from being co-opted for others’ violent, imperialistic agendas…we’re not gathering because we’re more afraid of homophobic or transphobic violence than we were before Saturday night’s atrocity.” - *Deken, Sebastian. “What I want you to talk about when you talk about the Orlando shooting.” Upworthy, 13 June 2016. Upworthy.
http://www.upworthy.com/what-i-want-you-to-talk-about-when-you-talk-about-the-orlando-shooting
Excerpt: “Calls for reforming gun policy, and calls for love instead of terror are valid. But this attack did not occur randomly; it was not aimed at the general public. It was aimed at queer people. And addressing it as though the identities of the victims are of tertiary importance — identities for which real people bled to death — is more than dishonest. It’s a new kind of erasure, a quieter kind of violence. “ - *Dias, Elizabeth. “The Upstairs Lounge Fire: The Little Known Story of the Largest Killing of Gays in US History.” Time, 21 June 2013.
http://time.com/4365476/orlando-shooting-upstairs-lounge-fire/ - *Dowd, Elle. “Biphobia and the Pulse Massacre.” Medium. 13 June 2016.
https://medium.com/@elledowd/biphobia-and-the-pulse-massacre-add1dd9b27be#.kv1z4evqz
Excerpt: “That’s where the guilt enters in. The deep, deep isolating guilt that comes from internalized bi-phobia.
–Am I allowed to feel this devastated, this full of rage?
–Am I gay enough to be this upset?
–Am I appropriating the grief of real gay people?” - *Flores, Veronica Bayettl. “The Pulse Nightclub Shooting Robbed The Queer Latinx Community Of A Sanctuary.” Remezcla, 13 June 2016.
http://remezcla.com/features/music/pulse-nightclub-sanctuary/
Excerpt “Islamophobic headlines that completely miss the mark on the ways LGBTQ Latinxs experience violence in this country, and distract from true solutions…yet few mainstream media sources turned their attention toward an escalating climate of violence in the United States against LGBTQ people – and transgender women of color in particular – that has nothing to do with Islamic extremism. “ - *Kim, Richard. “Please Don’t Stop the Music.” The Nation, 12 June 2016.
http://www.thenation.com/article/please-dont-stop-the-music/
Excerpt “Gay bars are therapy for people who can’t afford therapy; temples for people who lost their religion, or whose religion lost them; vacations for people who can’t go on vacation; homes for folk without families; sanctuaries against aggression.”
Misogyny:
- Control and Fear: What Mass Killings and Domestic Violence Have in Common 06-15-16 NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/world/americas/control-and-fear-what-mass-killings-and-domestic-violence-have-in-common.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
“…research reveals striking parallels between what drives the two phenomena” - Terror Begins at Home 06-16-16 The New Yorker by Margaret Talbot
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/terror-begins-at-home?mbid=nl_TNY%20Template%20-%20With%20Photo%20(53)&CNDID=15820355&spMailingID=9069422&spUserID=MTIwNDQ2Mjk2ODU0S0&spJobID=941591983&spReportId=OTQxNTkxOTgzS0
Queer Muslims
- Afghan gay rights activist: ‘Minority within a minority’: “I feel like I’m reliving 9/11 again, Afghan-American Gay Rights Activist Nemat Sadat tells Christiane Amanpour. 06-30-16 CNN Video 4:27 min.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/06/13/orlando-intv-afghanistan-amanpour-nemat-sadat.cnn/video/playlists/amanpour/
- The Muslim Silence on Gay Rights http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/opinion/the-muslim-silence-on-gay-rights.html?_r=0
Social Work
- Brooklyn Social Worker Among Dead in Orlando Shooting, Family Says 06-13-16 dnaInfo (news)
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160613/williamsburg/brooklyn-social-worker-among-dead-orlando-shooting-family-says His name is Enrique Rios. - Enrique Rios, Brooklyn Social Worker, Among Dead in Orlando Gay Club Massacre 06-14-16 Bed-Stuy Patch
http://patch.com/new-york/williamsburg/williamsburg-man-among-dead-orlando-shooting-report-0 - NASW Statements on Orlando Mass Shooting (Florida, Wisconsin, Arizona chapters) n.d.
http://www.socialworkblog.org/naswfoundation/2016/06/nasw-florida/
Motivation
- Time and again: This time, Orlando 06-14-16 Aces Too High https://acestoohigh.com/2016/06/14/time-and-again-this-time-orlando/
Quote: “He either had a brain tumor/stroke/dementia/physical injury that induced him to violence, which is unlikely because it’s so rare, or he had many adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that he never resolved.”
Impact on Children
- 7 Ways to Talk to Children and Youth about the Shootings in Orlando 06-13-16 APA blog
https://psychologybenefits.org/2016/06/13/7-ways-to-talk-to-children-and-youth-about-the-shootings-in-orlando/
Gun Control Policy & Actions
- US gun death rates
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-death-rates-the-us-is-in-a-different-world.html?login=email - * from #PulseOrlandoSyllabus : Onion, Rebecca. “What Gun Control Advocates Can Learn From Abolitionists.” Slate. 15 June 2016. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2016/06/what_gun_control_advocates_can_learn_from_the_abolitionists_who_helped_end.html
- Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA 01-06-15 Frontline PBS 54 min. Documentary video
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/gunned-down/ - Preventing and Responding to Gun Violence – Where Do Social Workers Go From Here?
Opinion piece by Karen Zgoda 01-23-13 (post-Sandy Hook) Social Work/Social Care & Media blog
https://swscmedia.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/preventing-and-responding-to-gun-violence-where-do-social-workers-go-from-here-opinion-piece-by-karen-zgoda/
About #MacroSW:
#MacroSW is a collaboration of social workers, organizations, social work schools, and individuals working to promote macro social work practice. Macro social work practice focuses on changing larger systems, such as communities and organizations. It encompasses a broad spectrum of actions and ideas, ranging from community organizing and education to legislative advocacy and policy analysis. The chats are held weekly on Twitter every Thursday at 9 p.m. EST (6 p.m. PST). Click here for a list of chat partners. For information about how to participate in the #MacroSW chat, view our FAQs. For chat schedule and chat archives check out: http://macrosw.com
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