Social workers stand up every day for human rights and social justice to help strengthen our communities. There are over 600,000 social workers in the United States, yet all too often their work goes unnoticed in society. March is the month of social work where we take time to acknowledge and honor the profession.
Florida A&M’s Department of Social Work is hosting a community action day on Thursday based around social work. The event will take place in Perry-Paige auditorium. There will be a panel of guest speakers who are active leaders within the community working on current social issues.
This will be an inclusive environment were students will come together and raise awareness of the contributions of social work in our communities, workplaces, governments, and the need for further action. Social workers promote social justice and social change on behalf of individuals in their community. Social work is a helping profession where a respected code of ethics is clear about its moral mission to empower people and address both private troubles and public issues, particularly for those who are the least advantaged.
The younger generation is highly involved in political action now more than ever. It is effectively directing its influential voices to government and institutions. The evidence is seen through millennials' belief in these longstanding institutions to make changes through the high occurrence of actions such as voting, contacting political representatives, creating and signing petitions, and marches.
This past Saturday, hundreds of thousands of students took to the streets of Washington D.C. and other cities across the country to participate in March for Our Lives to demand tougher gun-control laws. The march turned out to be one of the biggest student-led protests in D.C. since the Vietnam War era; with over 800 sister marches in participation across the world. The march was led by student survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, which left 17 people dead on Feb. 14.