With the social and political climate that the country is in, it is important for everybody to be heard–but what about those whose voices go unheard?
UTRGV Associate Professor Noe Ramirez and social work masterโs students in his Social Work Practice with Latinos course are learning how to take a stand on an important issue and organize the community to peacefully protest in order to raise awareness of different causes directly affecting the oppressed.
On Nov. 28, students in Ramirezโs course demonstrated peacefully outside the Social Work Occupational Therapy Building, carrying posters they made with phrases and slogans in support of a cause or injustice they strongly believe in.
Graduate student Arlene Laboy said this method of advocating and raising awareness is important in helping the culture and the oppressed.
โWe believe this approach is extremely important within our campus and community members because it raises awareness on different strategies used to overcome oppression by bringing social injustices to light,โ Laboy said. โThis assignment is not only important to our profession but to our culture as a whole. As aspiring social workers, we aim to advocate for those facing social injustices, as well as empowering them to overcome them.โ
Laboy, a veteran whose poster read, โListen to the silence of our veterans,โ said her poster was aimed at raising awareness about the struggle those who sacrifice for their country endure when they return home.
โThere are so many things affecting veterans that nobody even speaks up for,โ Laboy said. โIโm a veteran myself. To start with, the suicide rate has continued to go up. We donโt get timely care and then we wonder why these rates go up of self-medicating and substance abuse.โ
Ramirez said the peaceful protest assignment was designed to show his social work students how to relay the important message behind their chosen cause to help those in need.
โTheir utilization in practice is aimed at directing attention to conditions affecting the Latinosโ lives and to legitimize conditions as problems that decision-makers can formally address in the distribution of resources in the area in order to meet unmet need,โ he said.
Some of the posters made by the social work masterโs students said, โLatinos 4 Liberty,โย โEqual Pay, Equal Workโ and โSay Yes to Gender Equality.โ
Graduate student Steve Guerrero held a sign saying, โImmigration is legal. Illegal immigration is not.โ
โI took this stance due to all the controversy of sanctuary cities, illegal immigration and deportation. Basically, weโre a nation of laws; being legal here is a law,โ Guerrero said. โIโm all for peaceful protest if you have something to say. Being in the masterโs program here, itโs given us the tools to basically organize successfully, going through the correct channels and peacefully organize. I found being in this masterโs program for two years, itโs given us the tools in order to be successful in taking a stance.โ
Ramirez said the profession of social work is focused on improving the community and this experience will benefit his graduate students in their respective careers.
โWithin the social work profession, we have an obligation to society and our community,โ he said. โStudents have learned what that expectation consists of, engaging in civic-minded responsibility, giving back to the community to improve local conditions and the larger part of society.โ