The Community Psychologist

From the President

Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar

ysuarez@uic.edu

University of Illinois at Chicago

My Roadway to Becoming a Community Psychologist

My first exposure to social justice issues began as a young girl growing up in a family of 12 children in Bogota, Colombia. My parents, very mindful of the challenges of raising 12 healthy-minded kids, were chary about making every one of us feel valued and loved. My mother’s usual practice of running errands on Saturday mornings involved taking turns bringing two or three kids along for the trip, as we all thought it was a fun thing to do—we just had to wait for our turn to come along. From those regular errands, my mother would bring back with her two large Chilean green apples—deemed to be special, expensive, and best the in town at the time—and painstakingly cut 12 equal pieces from both. There was no way we could argue that one sibling got a piece larger than the other one. But more important lessons were common.

From the Editors
Daniel Cooper and Tiffany McDowell
Adler University, Chicago

Greetings!

As we transition out of our roles we want to thank everyone that has contributed to the growth and development of The Community Psychologist during the past two years. We are looking forward to continuing to serve SCRA in various ways, and wish Susan Wolfe and Dominique Thomas all the best in their roles as Editor and Associate Editor.

Dan and Tiffany

Committee on Cultural, Ethnic & Racial Affairs (CERA)

Written by Geri Palmer, Chair, gpalmer@adler.edu, Adler University and Jesica Siham Fernandez, jsfernandez@scu.edu,Santa Cruz University

Community Psychologists Engaging in Racial & Social Justice: Highlighting the Scholarship of CERA’s Mini-Grant Awardees

The Committee on Cultural, Ethnic & Racial Affairs (CERA) is committed to promoting the scholarship and contributions of community psychologists and allied professionals whose work centers on racial justice. Community psychology has long been committed to values of social justice, including addressing issues of cultural, ethnic and racial diversity. Within CERA, racial justice is a priority, and as a committee we seek to support the scholarship and projects of students, early career professionals, faculty, practitioners and allied professionals whose work engages with the issues of racial and social justice, specifically working toward equitable access to opportunities and institutional power, as well as, making visible the experiences, and voices heard, of ethnically, racially and culturally diverse communities.

Rural Interest Group

Edited by Cheryl Ramos & Suzanne Phillips

Written by Susana Helm, Rural.IG@scra27.org, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

The Rural IG column of The Community Psychologist highlights rural resources as well as the work of community psychologist, students, and colleagues in their rural environments. Please email Susana if you would like to submit a brief rural report or if you have resources we may list here.

In this issue, we highlight the work of Dr. Nate Mohatt, who also serves as the SCRA Indigenous Interest Group co-chair. In addition to his brief report on a community development approach for preventing suicide and promoting wellbeing with rural veterans, Nate has provided a list of potential resources for Colorado where he currently is based, other US states, and beyond.

Self-Help Interest Group

Written byTehseen Noorani, selfhelp.ig@scra27.org

Self-Help and Mutual Aid: Greetings from the New Chair and Looking Ahead

As the incoming Chair of the Self-Help interest group, I wanted to write to introduce myself, update those who could not make it to the 2017 Ottawa Biennial on the lunchtime interest group meeting, and offer some reflections intended to stimulate discussion over the coming term. Alicia Lucksted and Greg Townley have served as co-Chairs of the interest group for the past 4 years, and on behalf of the group I want to thank them for their leadership and the smooth running of the group. Under their stewardship the group ran quarterly phone meetings and a regular column in this periodical, which I plan to keep going.

Special Feature

Written by Christopher Corbett, chris_corbett1994@hotmail.com

Community Psychology and the Resist Movement: Do Community Psychologists Have A Moral Obligation to Resist?

Christopher Corbett, MA Community Psychology is a longstanding member of the Practice Council, Public Policy Committee and more recently, the Investment Committee. He can be reached at: chris_corbett1994@hotmail.com.

Introduction

Every day we read in the press, or fake press, about political chaos that seems to apply cross-nationally. It is, no doubt, that the United States (US) is responsible for more than its fair share, particularly given the surprising election of President Donald Trump.

TCP 50(4) Fall 2017