Council for Cultural, Ethnic, and Racial Affairs

ABOLITIONIST RESEARCH: DEVELOPING REFLECTIONS, ACTIONS & EMBODIMENTS TOWARD A PRAXIS OF DECOLONIAL EPISTEMIC JUSTICE-LIBERATION 

Written by Jesica Siham Fernández, jsfernandez@scu.edu, Santa Clara University

Transformative justice, liberation and decolonization are not synonymous, nor are they to be metaphorically associated with utopia. Yet there are key fundamental similarities among these words that resonate with/within me and why I use them. And when and how I use them, I strive to be intentional and purposeful about their meaning. These words, to me, have one common denominator; they all strive toward what I describe as an abolitionist praxis. To be more precise, and what I am currently thinking-writing-working through: abolitionist research. In this humble reflection and contribution to the Council on Cultural, Ethnic & Racial Affairs (CERA) column for The Community Psychologist, I reflect on this developing praxis of abolitionist research. Abolitionist research as more than just a framework, but an actual praxis, has been permeating my reflections on the goals, values, orientations and paradigms toward research. That is, my actions as a community-engaged researcher/educator/organizer, and my body -- the what, how and where it feels to be human. 

Edited by Vernita Perkins, Omnigi Research

THE EARLY CAREER INTEREST GROUP QUARTERLY COLUMN

Edited by Vernita Perkins, Omnigi Research and Shereé Bielecki, Pacific Oaks College

Meet the Early Career Members 

Each quarter, we will continue to introduce members of the ECIG, so readers can learn more about our members and explore opportunities for research and practice collaborations.

Tatiana Elisa Bustos, PhD 

I graduated with my PhD in Community Psychology from Michigan State University this past summer. I have been a SCRA member since 2015, and read Sarason’s Psychological Sense of Community before applying to graduate school in 2014, where I was introduced to the field’s values for social justice.

THE RJIDA INITIATIVE: REFLECTIONS ON EMBODIED PRACTICE 

Written by Rama Agung-Igusti, Victoria University | Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar

MILITARISM IS A FORM OF SLAVERY: COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGISTS TAKE NOTICE

Written by Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu

Stockholm syndrome refers to a strange response observed in some captive persons. The captive person might begin to identify closely with his/her captors, as well as with their agenda and demands. Militarism involves a very similar process but at a much larger scale: Masses identify closely with the agenda and demands of a very small but very powerful interest group (or a regime) despite the fact that this is totally against their interest to do so. Unlike Stockholm syndrome, which emerges in the absence of deliberate external factors, militarism requires constant political promotion and marketing starting in preschool (Değirmencioğlu, 2013).

Edited by Douglas Perkins, Vanderbilt University and Olga Oliveira Chuna, NOVA University

THE FIRST INDIGENOUS TEXTBOOK IN COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY PUBLISHED IN CHINA

Written by Liping Yang, Jiamin Chen, and Mengge Tan, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China; and Houchao Lyu, Southwest University and the China Community Psychology Service and Research Center, Chongqing, China

In June 2021, People's Education Press (a large-scale professional publishing house affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China) published a textbook entitled Introduction to Community Psychology (ICP), edited by Professor Xiting Huang, a senior professor at Southwest University in Chongqing, China. Prof. Huang was vice-chair of the Chinese Psychological Association and a pioneer of the construction of community psychology in China. Twenty community psychologists from 16 universities, including Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Southwest University and Nanjing Normal University, participated in the compilation. This team is now the backbone force in community psychology in the Chinese mainland. Previously, Chinese community psychologists have translated and compiled several  community psychology textbooks, such as Community Psychology Linking Individuals and Communities (Dalton, Elias & Wandersman) translated by Guangxin Wang (2010), Community Psychology compiled by Shixiang Liu (2013) of Beijing Union University but based on Western community psychology conceptions, and Principles of Community Psychology: Perspectives and Applications (Levine, Perkins & Perkins) translated by Liping Yang (2018). Nevertheless, there has been a lack of original textbooks in community psychology with Chinese cultural characteristics. The publication of ICP is considered to fill this gap, which is a milestone in the developmental history of community psychology in China.

Reading Circle

Edited by Dominique Thomas, Morehouse College and Allana Zuckerman, Mesa Community College

To encourage an ongoing dialogue with each other about what we are reading and how those readings are influencing our work, we are starting a reading circle and recommended reading list. Each issue we will share resources that have influenced our work and provide a space for additional submissions. This is a space for people to share what they are reading so we can get an idea of the different knowledge bases people are exposed to and what is influencing their research and practice. This is also a way for us to share information and knowledge across a variety of topics to showcase and enhance richness of thought within the field.

Read more...

Real Talk

Edited by Dominique Thomas, Morehouse College and Allana Zuckerman, Mesa Community College

Where were you on September 11, 2001? I was in my 7th grade science class. It was early 2nd period when we watched the towers collapse live on television. I was 11 years old and the memory sticks with me 20 years later. I think back to that time when the nationalistic fervor picked up and suddenly, we were all Americans who needed to strike back against our terrorist enemies. The thing about a War on Terror is that it is not a war against a specific group, but a presumed ideology. The rhetoric quickly took on xenophobic and jingoistic characteristics; we quickly saw that the “War on Terror” would have no clear end or target in mind. Now as I write this, the undeclared war in Afghanistan (Congress has not actually authorized a war in decades) is presumably over now that troops were removed, but the nation-building attempt was a clear failure. I’m an adjunct at Morehouse and I recently taught a community psychology class. Given the timeliness of the troop withdrawal, imperialism has been a topic in our class. We’ve discussed the different forms it has taken throughout history and some of the philosophical justifications that are often given. Unfortunately, imperialism also resides within higher education, especially here within the nation Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to as the “greatest purveyor of violence.” As political and economic control, imperialism turns into a war for mind, body, and soul.

Written by Moshood Olanrewaju and Ieisha Taylor-Norris, Taylor EQ Institute

Student Issues