How did you decide to pursue the social work profession?

I always knew I would be in one of the social sciences. Initially, I began my studies in psychology. With psychology the practitioner is looking only at the individual and with sociology the practitioner is looking only at group of people. In social work, we look at the reciprocal nature of the person in and with their environment — this enables us to get a much better picture of what’s happening with or to the person. In turn, we can better tailor interventions to empower the person and give them tools to cope with society or curtail behaviors that limit their full potential.

Why did you choose the Kent School?

Not only did they offer me a fellowship, I also saw myself in the faculty. A lot of them are young, passionate and actually believe they change the world. Sometimes, when you do social justice work for a long time, you can get a bit down wondering if things will ever change. At Kent, I’ve learned so many strategies for change work that I know society will keep getting better. Their hope has rubbed off on me a bit.

What area of social work are you pursuing?

I am a macro practitioner. I primarily focus on policy drafting and analysis, needs and community assessments, and positively shifting mezzo level cultures (e.g. communities and corporations). In doing all of that, I am a social justice warrior through and through. I want to make sure the structural barriers to receiving the best services are eliminated or limited as much as possible. I focus on eradicating barriers to education, health and opportunity rooted in racism, sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, xenophobia and intersections of such. In my research, I focus on understanding the complexities of systems of hegemony –the dominance of one group over another. I also look at the best ways to engage oppressed populations into striving for their own liberation.

Where did you complete your practicum?

In undergrad, I did my first practicum at the Neighborhood Place and my second at Volunteers of America Mid-States. My master’s practicum was as a research assistant looking into ways to increase the diversity of faculty in and outside of the social work department. I was very blessed to receive a fellowship for my PhD so there was no practicum or assistantship of sorts. I also work closely with Dr. Shawnise Miller with the MSSW program and I serve on the Diversity Committee with Dr. Emma Sterrett-Hong.

Can you tell us briefly about your research and dissertation?

In short, I study systems of hegemony. I do this via a critical educational theory called conscientization. This theory helps me to investigate the needs of a community relative to their oppression and then ally with community members to fight for equality and justice. My dissertation is focused within the hegemonic system of racism. I’m looking into the cognitive, emotive, and social processes Black Americans progress through when learning of racism. More importantly, I’m interested in their process of deciding to resist the internalization of racist rhetoric and fight against implicit and explicit racism on a micro, mezzo and macro level.

What professional interests would you like to pursue after graduation?

I’d like to obtain my LCSW and eventually become a professor.

Do you have any advice for students considering a doctoral education in social work?

Intellectually, if you aren’t prepared to work independently to fill in the blanks, go get knowledge on your own, decide what’s important to research, etc. Then maybe take a summer to read in your area. It’s better for you to come into the program knowing what some might consider ‘too much’ than not knowing enough and having to catch up.

There is nothing that can prepare you emotionally for a doctorate. One minute you’ll be up emotionally and the next you’ll be down. It’s all worth it in the end. I look back at my time at Kent with fondness. I’ve learned so much and grown so much. I feel truly ready to enter academia. Kent didn’t try to change me into a stuffy professor, they helped me make professorship fit my style, values and goals.

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UofL News: You are a first-generation immigrant from Jordan. Tell us about your heritage and how you came to the United States, and ultimately the University of Louisville.

I was eager to participate in a lot of national speaking contests. I’d only arrived in America from my native Jordan three years prior, after being well-known for that kind of talent, but of course, in Arabic.��When my family left, I was just on the verge of becoming a television star. I have been on the radio, and I went to��‘Arabs Got Talent,’ as my��Mother would tell people she meets.

After moving to Louisville, I first attended the Newcomer Academy, a school for students who speak English as a second language. After one year, I was ready to move on to Fern Creek High School.

Jordan is a safe place, however, college education there is expensive. Here it’s expensive, too, but there are more opportunities to go to college because of scholarships. Jordan is a beautiful country, with a mix of the ancient Roman world, and the beauty of the modern world all in one place.��

UofL News: Explain your passion for activism and social justice. What type of activism, specifically, are you involved in?

As a Muslim woman, I promote an understanding of Islam primarily through education and outreach. I have spoken at numerous events in school, my local community, in competitions and in festivals.

My biggest accomplishment was winning the 2018 and being featured on the online section, and New York Times Print, where teachers around the nation use my statement and picture to make lesson plans for their students.

My statement reads:�� “In this terrible moment, all I want is to be a plain old American teenager. Who can simply mourn without fear. Who doesn’t share last names with a suicide bomber. Who goes to dances and can talk to her parents about anything and can walk around without always being anxious. And who isn’t a presumed terrorist first and an American second.”

Just last year, I also have seen the same statement and my picture featured on 11 other national websites, as well as in discussions around the 2020 elections.��

UofL News: You have given speeches at both the national and international levels, correct? Talk about your message and who you hope to influence through your words.

My message is simple: it is to end explicit racism toward minorities, especially Arabs and Muslims.

Every day, I receive emails from students and teachers around the nation who implemented my statement and picture in their school lessons, and they tell me about the impact I made changing their perspective.

When I won the New York Times Generation Z competition, everyone at my school knew of my story, especially my principal, who encouraged students to talk about these types of issues and changed things around in our school. We have a diversity festival at our school where we celebrate and talk about diversity. I also was invited to speak at the Louisville festival of faith, local events, including my mosque, KUNA, and numerous events at my school, where people support me and tell me that I inspire them.

UofL News: You were selected as a top 20 under 20 from the Arab American Foundation. Tell us about this honor.

is a celebration of accomplished young Arab Americans. The program spotlights students (16–20 years old) who achieved spectacular success in academics, work/internships, community service, extracurricular activities (such as clubs, sports, music, arts and writing). Also, the award acknowledges achievements demonstrating, but not limited to, outstanding leadership, dedication to a career path, new initiatives, and commitment to Arab American heritage and culture.

UofL News: Anything else you’d like to share with us?

I have published my own children’s book, From Lina to the World: Inspired by true events. It’s a form of activism for health minorities and what they face during the Covid-19 pandemic.��I also give free English conversational lessons to more than eight-thousand students around the globe for Arabic speakers.

researcher Billie Castle, PhD, a post-doctoral associate in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, along with faculty Monica Wendel, Dr.PH., and Jelani Kerr, Ph.D., conducted a literature review on the terms racism and systemic racism and found 85 published articles on the topic.

In a paper published in the , Castle analyzes themes from the 85 articles and provides discussion on what is needed to move toward equitable solutions.

The themes include: approaches to address systemic racism; the impact of residential and racial segregation on health outcomes; policy implications for reducing health inequities; and system racism’s impact on health outcomes.������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

In the discussion section, Castle points out the absence of research surrounding social determinants of health. Although the literature examined many determinants such as education, neighborhoods, environment and health care, Castle said there was no examination of systemic racism across the connection of all social determinants.

“Public health researchers and practitioners need to look beyond only changing behaviors to include changing the systems and structures that influence the environments in which certain behaviors are necessary to survive,” Castle said.

As an example, she said community-based programming is often seen as a hopeful means to prevent youth violence. The problem, Castle said, is that perpetual violent behavior is often in reaction to environmental factors created through historic systemic racist policies and practices.

“It is challenging to change your behavior, but still have to survive in an environment that does not provide the support to sustain that changed behavior,” she said. “Changes to inequitable systemic policy and practice that intentionally create healthy economic and socially thriving communities are needed to reduce youth violence and change behaviors.”

In the article, Castle also underscores the role of public health practitioners to “actively call out racist practices and move toward utilizing practices that are more racially and socially equitable.”

Including more minorities in public health decision-making also is key, Castle said.

“We need to make sure we are equitable in the decisions of who we include in our work. We should immediately think about how our research and practice impacts multiple social identities including race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, etc. — and how to improve health outcomes for the most marginalized social identities,” she said.

Castle’s next publication will expand on this topic by examining the historic practice of redlining and its impact on youth participating in violent behaviors.

“Baltimore,” a new play about the complexities of race on college campuses, runs Feb. 2-6 and Feb. 9-12 in Thrust Theatre. ����

Written by Kirsten Greenidge, “Baltimore”��is part of the��, which is dedicated��to��commissioning works��by��female playwrights to be��produced at universities��across the country.

It��tells the story of Shelby Wilson, an African-American resident adviser for a diverse group of freshmen at a New England college. When a racist caricature is drawn on a black��student’s dorm door, Wilson is forced to confront her belief that she lives in a post-racial society as she finds the courage to facilitate honest conversations about difference.

“I thought the show would be perfect for UofL’s campus because it’s similar to what happened in resident halls last year,” said Danielle Smart, theatre arts grad student who is playing the lead role of Shelby. “Hopefully, for students especially, this show will help begin to open conversations about issues surrounding race that can be hard to talk about.”

The play references national events, such as the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, the Black Lives Matter movement and the deaths of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray and Sandra Bland.

Nefertiti Burton, theatre department chair, is directing. The themes couldn’t be more relevant given current events and the socio-political climate, she said.

“With the conversations that are taking place in the public sphere, I fear things aren’t going to get better easily. We’re going to have to really work together to build a society that benefits us all,” Burton said. “This play has lessons we can all benefit from, about how to talk to each other and value and respect each other.”

The audience will have a chance to respond to the play in writing in the lobby.

“We’ll bring the play out to the lobby space, in a sense, because it’s very much about hearing, seeing and speaking to people in an authentic way, so we want to create that opportunity for the audience,” Burton said.

The cast represents a diversity of ethnicities – as the play calls for – and acting backgrounds. Undergraduates, graduate students and those who’ve never acted all have roles, as does Kristi Papailler, Theatre teacher at Central High School and an alumnus of the theatre program. ��

“It’s a great effort from undergrads and individuals in the show just beginning to act,” Smart said. “They felt so moved and passionate about the show, they were able to successfully become those characters. It’s not just a theatre project, but a community project.”

Thrust Theatre is on UofL’s Belknap Campus, 2314 S. Floyd St. All plays start at 8 p.m. with 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for faculty, alumni and seniors and $8 for UofL students. Season tickets are $50. To order tickets or for more information, call the box office at (502) 852-6814 or click .

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For years, Davis has been involved in movements for social justice around the world and is a leading advocate for prison reform and gender and racial equality. She is also featured in the 2016 Netflix documentary “13th” about mass incarceration in the United States. Davis has authored 10 books, the most recent of which was published in February 2016.

Her talk, titled “Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement,” brought out thousands of people from UofL and the Louisville community,��far more attendees than expected. In fact, hundreds of people had to be turned away after the venue reached capacity.��

“We hoped for and believed we would get a full house,” said Cate Fosl, director of the Anne Braden Institute.�� “But when as many people have to be turned away from such an event as those who get in, it bespeaks an incredible outpouring of enthusiasm, a desire for supportive community whereby people are not marginalized.”

The program included various poems by spoken word artist, Hannah Drake, and an introduction from Antron Mahoney, a graduate student in UofL’s department of Pan African studies.

Davis touched on a variety of controversial topics in her lecture including the recent presidential election and how we can continue to move toward equity in the United States. Among her thoughts:

2016 Presidential Election

Davis said Hillary Clinton’s historic campaign was��about more than just shattering the glass ceiling, “it’s about reaching down to the very bottom and lifting to the top.”

“I am sad to say that if Hillary Clinton had been elected President we may not recognize that we are in a state of emergency.”

Electoral College

Davis believes��the electoral college is obsolete and that it was designed to “give slave states with smaller populations the power to emerge as the governing forces at a national level.”

“The electoral college is a reminder that we have not extricated ourselves from slavery,” she said.

Black Lives Matter

Davis had several thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement including:

• “Black Lives Matter is the most inclusive statement.”
• “If we ever reach a point in time when black lives actually matter, it would mean that all lives matter.”
• “We need a new political party. An independent party inspired by the black radical movement.”

Davis’ history with Louisville

Davis is very familiar with Louisville. She was a visiting professor at UofL in 2002, teaching women’s and gender studies.

Because of her work, and its controversial nature, she has also been given three keys to the city, the first of which was confiscated before being handed back. In the 1970s, Davis was denied to speak at Central High School, but was invited to speak at Reverend Gilbert Schroerlucke’s church (West Broadway UM)) instead.

Davis’ relationship with Braden

Davis also discussed her friendship with Anne Braden, the Louisvillian activist after which the social justice institution is named:

“I often ask myself what would Anne Braden do? I reflect on her theories,” Davis said.��“Anne Braden was always aware of the way history pulls us back into the past.”

A Q&A followed the lecture, and younger members of the audience were encouraged to participate.

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