Righteous Self Determination: The Black Social Work Movement in America
Patricia Reid-Merritt has written an authoritative, comprehensive, and coherent account of the black social work movement. Written by a leading Social Work and Africana Studies scholar, this book is the most compelling read you will find on the turbulent and ideologically active era of the development of the most centered movement of black professionals in the 20th century. --Molefi Kete Asante, author, An Afrocentric ManifestoThis is an excellent work, well-conceived, well-presented and much-needed. It is a seminal contribution to our understanding the work and history of NABSW in the context and various currents of that trans-formative period we call the Sixties. An insightful and compelling narrative, it enriches and expands the discourse and lays an important basis for future studies. --Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor Department of Africana Studies California State University, Long BeachThis outstanding work fills an important void in this nation s knowledge of the unheralded accomplishments of the Black Social Work Movement inside America and abroad. Dr. Reid-Merritt deftly documents the historical evolution and activism of the BSWM over the past four decades. The author underscores the phenomenal impact of the BSWM in increasing the number of African American social workers in leadership positions, while enhancing the cultural competence of social work practice in working with African American children and families. This book also strongly refutes the common stereotypes of the BSWM and should go a long way toward giving this Movement the accolades it so richly deserves. --Dr. Robert B. Hill, Sociologist Author, The Strengths of Black Families: Twenty-Five Years Later