Doin’ The Work: Frontline Stories of Social Change

Shimon Cohen

Podcast highlighting people working for social change. Started in 2018, Doin' The Work features interviews with social workers, educators, organizers, and advocates working for social change. We amplify folks doing anti-racist, anti-oppressive, liberatory work. Racial, social, economic justice. We aim to elevate and provide counter-narratives to the dominant system. Learn together to enhance our practice. Get the free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool: dointhework.com/aoptool

  1. 06/26/2023

    Operation Stop CPS – Amanda Wallace, BSW

    Episode 66 Guest: Amanda Wallace, BSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Amanda Wallace, Founder and Executive Director of Operation Stop CPS, discusses the surveillance and regulation of families—particularly Black families—within the child protection system. Having worked in child protective services for a decade, Amanda realized the harm being inflicted on children and families, leading her to advocate for change and ultimately lose her job in retaliation. She discusses how Operation Stop CPS intervenes to assist families affected by the system, the connection between family policing and anti-Black racism, and the movement to end family policing through education, advocacy, and support. In this episode: How the family policing system surveils and regulates families, especially Black families Amanda's decade in child protective services and why she left How Operation Stop CPS intervenes for families facing family separation The historical and present-day roots of anti-Black racism in the child protection system Building a movement to end family policing www.operationstopcps.com Invest in the work www.operationstopcps.com/donate Instagram operationstopcps Facebook OperationStopCPS Stay In The Know | Join the Email List + Get Our Free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool https://dointhework.com/listen Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  2. 05/29/2023

    Liberation Health Model – Dawn Belkin Martinez, PhD, LICSW

    Episode 65 Guest: Dawn Belkin Martinez, PhD, LICSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Dr. Dawn Belkin Martinez, Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion at Boston University School of Social Work, discusses the Liberation Health Model, which she co-created as a transformative, sociopolitical approach to assessment and intervention. Rooted in radical traditions including Black feminism, Brazilian mental health movements, and Marxist theory, the model originated in a hospital psych unit through collaboration with patients and families. Dr. Martinez explains how to use the Liberation Health Triangle for assessment and shares tools like deconstructing dominant messages and recovering historical memory. This powerful model offers a flexible, collective liberation framework that encourages authentic, action-oriented practice. In this episode: The origin story of the Liberation Health Model Using the Liberation Health Triangle for sociopolitical assessment Deconstructing dominant worldview messages with clients Activism as a therapeutic intervention How the model works alongside other approaches like ACT and CBT www.bostonliberationhealth.org Email dawnbm@bu.edu Stay In The Know | Join the Email List + Get Our Free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool https://dointhework.com/listen Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  3. 04/24/2023

    Liberatory Lawyering to End the School-to-Prison Pipeline – Ashleigh Washington, JD & Ruth Cusick, JD

    Episode 64 Guests: Ashleigh Washington, JD & Ruth Cusick, JD Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Ashleigh Washington and Ruth Cusick, co-founders of The Collective for Liberatory Lawyering (C4LL), discuss their work as movement lawyers fighting to end the school-to-prison pipeline. They explain how legal strategies must be rooted in community organizing to create lasting change, especially for Black, Brown, Indigenous, disabled, and other marginalized students and families. Drawing on their shift from direct legal services to movement lawyering, they highlight the need for shared power and collective governance beyond traditional civil rights frameworks. The episode also explores their Barefoot Lawyering model and efforts like LA Police Free Schools. In this episode: How legal strategies must be rooted in community organizing to create lasting change The shift from direct legal services to movement lawyering Education as a human right versus a civil rights framework The Barefoot Lawyering interdisciplinary practice model LA Police Free Schools and the fight to end school policing www.c4ll-ca.org Instagram liberatorylawyersca LinkedIn The Collective for Liberatory Lawyering Police Free LAUSD Coalition Report https://www.safeschoolslausd.com/ Stay In The Know | Join the Email List + Get Our Free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool https://dointhework.com/listen Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  4. 03/16/2023

    Constructing a White Nation: Social Work in the Americanization Movement – Yoosun Park, MSW, PhD

    Episode 63 Guest: Yoosun Park, MSW, PhD Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Dr. Yoosun Park, Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses her co-authored article on social work's role in the Americanization movement from 1880 to 1930—a national project rooted in whiteness and white supremacy. She explains how the profession helped define who was deemed American and how this process excluded Indigenous, Black, Asian, and Mexican communities. The conversation reveals how these racist ideologies shaped early social work and continue to influence the field today. Dr. Park's groundbreaking research is being expanded into a book that critically examines this legacy. In this episode: Social work's central role in the Americanization movement from 1880 to 1930 How whiteness defined who was considered Americanizable—and who was not The exclusion of Indigenous, Black, Asian, and Mexican communities from American citizenship How these white supremacist beliefs, policies, and practices persist in social work today Dr. Park's forthcoming book expanding on this research UPenn Faculty Profile Google Scholar Profile ResearchGate To "Elevate, Humanize, Christianize, Americanize": Social Work, White Supremacy, and the Americanization Movement, 1880–1930 Stay In The Know | Join the Email List + Get Our Free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool https://dointhework.com/listen Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  5. 02/20/2023

    Paid Social Work Internships Part 2 FED UP – Beth Wagner, Claire Mancuso, Natalia Norzagaray & Parham Daghighi

    Episode 62 Guests: Beth Wagner, Claire Mancuso, Natalia Norzagaray & Parham Daghighi Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Beth Wagner, Claire Mancuso, Natalia Norzagaray, and Parham Daghighi—MSW students at the University of Texas–Austin and members of FED UP—share their work organizing for paid social work internships. As part of a growing movement, they discuss how they formed FED UP, their strategies, and the resistance they've encountered from within the profession. The conversation highlights how unpaid internships harm students' well-being and reinforce systemic inequities in social work. Their organizing offers a powerful model for collective action and a challenge to the profession's status quo. In this episode: How FED UP formed and their organizing strategies Resistance from within the profession and how they've responded Guiding principles and organizational structure as a model for others How unpaid internships harm student well-being and reinforce inequity Connections between unpaid internships and the devaluation of social work Part 1 Paid Social Work Internships Part 1: Payment 4 Placements – Matt Dargay, MSW & Arie Davey, LLMSW FED UP Instagram utfedup FED UP Email utfedup@gmail.com Payment 4 Placements Instagram p4pnational Payment 4 Placements Email p4p.national@gmail.com Stay In The Know | Join the Email List + Get Our Free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool https://dointhework.com/listen Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  6. 01/30/2023

    Paid Social Work Internships Part 1 Payment 4 Placements – Matt Dargay, MSW & Arie Davey, LLMSW

    Episode 61 Guests: Matt Dargay, MSW & Arie Davey, LLMSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Matt Dargay and Arie Davey, co-founders of Payment 4 Placements, discuss their national campaign to secure paid internships for social work students. As former MSW students at the University of Michigan, they highlight the financial burdens of unpaid placements—including the cost of internship credits—and the inequities this system creates, especially for Black students. They share successful organizing efforts at the university and state levels, including legislation to fund paid internships in Michigan schools. This episode offers strategies and inspiration for challenging the status quo and building a more equitable path into the profession. In this episode: The financial burden of unpaid internships, including paying for internship credits How the unpaid internship system creates inequities in who gets to become a social worker CSWE research on the disproportionate cost of a social work degree for Black students Organizing strategies at the university and state levels, including graduate union work Legislation passed in Michigan to fund paid internships in school mental health settings Part 2 Paid Social Work Internships Part 2: FED UP – Beth Wagner, Claire Mancuso, Natalia Norzagaray & Parham Daghighi Instagram p4pumich Facebook Payment for Placements at the University of Michigan Email p4p.national@gmail.com   p4p.umich@gmail.com Stay In The Know | Join the Email List + Get Our Free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool https://dointhework.com/listen Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  7. 12/19/2022

    Understanding Antisemitism and Racism – Kohenet Shoshana A Brown, LMSW & Autumn Leonard

    Episode 60 Guests: Kohenet Shoshana A Brown, LMSW & Autumn Leonard Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Shoshana Brown and Autumn Leonard of the Black Jewish Liberation Collective and Jews for Economic & Racial Justice explore how antisemitism and racism operate as interconnected pillars of white supremacy. They discuss their organizing work to support Black Jews and disrupt systems of oppression through community building and education. The conversation highlights the need to deepen our understanding of antisemitism, even within progressive spaces, and to name it as part of our collective justice work. This episode calls us to confront difficult truths and build solidarity across movements. In this episode: How antisemitism and racism function as features of white supremacy The work of the Black Jewish Liberation Collective to create communal space for Black Jews Organizing to disrupt antisemitism and racism through community building Why progressive spaces must name and address antisemitism Building solidarity across movements to create lasting change Black Jewish Liberation Collective www.blackjewishliberation.org Instagram blackjewishliberation X @bjlcollective Facebook BlackJewishLiberation Kohenet Shoshana www.shoshanaakua.com Instagram illuminatorofx X @ShoB Autumn www.bodygetfree.com Instagram autumng0tstamina Facebook autumn.leonard.31 Stay In The Know | Join the Email List + Get Our Free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool https://dointhework.com/listen Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  8. 11/14/2022

    Creating Culturally Safe Spaces for Indigenous Populations – Turquoise Skye Devereaux, MSW

    Episode 59 Guest: Turquoise Skye Devereaux, MSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW Turquoise Skye Devereaux, a Salish and Blackfeet educator, consultant, and PhD student, discusses how colonial systems continue to harm Indigenous Peoples through education and social work. She breaks down the four stages of colonization, critiques the concept of cultural competency, and highlights the importance of creating culturally safe spaces. Drawing from her personal experience and interviews with Indigenous students, Turquoise offers concrete examples of what inclusion can—and should—look like. This episode calls on educators and practitioners to challenge colonial norms and commit to equity and Indigenous liberation. In this episode: Colonial systems and the four stages of colonization Why cultural competency is a myth rooted in a Westernized, colonial mentality Differences between Indigenous and Westernized worldviews and ways of living How education and social work have caused — and continue to cause — harm to Indigenous Peoples Concrete ways to create culturally safe spaces for Indigenous populations Instagram indigenous.cc & cahokiaphx LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/turquoisedevereaux Email t.s.devereaux@gmail.com Stay In The Know | Join the Email List + Get Our Free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool https://dointhework.com/listen Explore Continuing Education Courses https://dointhework.com/courses Podcast Episode Pages + Transcripts https://dointhework.com/podcast   Music credit "District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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4.8
out of 5
118 Ratings

About

Podcast highlighting people working for social change. Started in 2018, Doin' The Work features interviews with social workers, educators, organizers, and advocates working for social change. We amplify folks doing anti-racist, anti-oppressive, liberatory work. Racial, social, economic justice. We aim to elevate and provide counter-narratives to the dominant system. Learn together to enhance our practice. Get the free Anti-Oppressive Practice Reflection Tool: dointhework.com/aoptool

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