The American Social Epidemic Of Violence and Racism Part II: Transforming Anguish into Purpose Through the Pursuit of Freedom, Justice, and Equity
A continuation of last week’s episode, The American Social Epidemic of Violence and Racism: Economic and Health Inequities and the Weaponizing of Authority. This Part II further examines this topic to further advance our understanding of systemic maladies which include structural racism. We will continue to ponder: How did we get here and what is the way forward? What are specific health impacts on individual, family and communities from both physical and mental perspectives? What are effective pathways to breakthroughs in enforcement and judicial policies and civic engagement? How do we begin to transform our social contract to include those who have been dehumanized, commoditized and underrepresented?
Profound Conversationalist
Pastor Melvin Russell, Colonel/Chief & Acting Deputy Commissioner of The Strategic Service Bureau (Ret.)
Colonel Melvin T. Russell is formally Chief of the Community Partnership Division, Baltimore Police Department. Russell joined The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) in 1979 as a police cadet and graduated from the BPD academy in 1981 as the first and only African American class valedictorian.
Russell worked both as a uniform patrol and then an undercover officer for 20 years before re-emerging as an Eastern District Lieutenant in 2007. In this position, Russell turned the worse midnight patrol shift in the city to the best in 3 months and was promoted to Major of the Eastern District 11 months later. It was during this time as Major that Russell created the non-profit “Transformation Team” (TTT), a grassroots organization of community shareholders that are committed to working together to make a better Baltimore.
In January 2013, Russell was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and created the Community Partnership Division.
“Melvin Russell is bringing stakeholders together to work toward the common goal of peace and prosperity for Baltimore City.”
Major Neill Franklin, Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police Department(Ret.)
Major Neill Franklin is a 34-year law enforcement veteran of the Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police Department. After 23 years of dedicated service to the Maryland State Police, he was recruited in 2000 by the Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department to reconstruct and command Baltimore’s Education and Training Section. During his time on the force, he held the position of commander for the Education and Training Division and the Bureau of Drug and Criminal Enforcement. He also instituted and oversaw the very first Domestic Violence Investigative Units for the Maryland State Police. While serving as a Narcotics Agent with the Maryland State Police.
Major Franklin was persuaded by then-mayor of Baltimore, Kurt Schmoke, who declared that the War on Drugs was counterproductive and created excessive violence. This, followed by the tragic murder of his close friend, Corporal Ed Toatley, while making a drug buy as an undercover agent, cemented his resolve to reform failed drug war policies. He retired from policing in 2010 to lead the Law Enforcement Action Partnership as executive director.
When not working with LEAP, Major Franklin volunteers his time by serving on many boards, including Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, the Faith Based Community Council on Law Enforcement and Intelligence, the Place of Grace Church, Anne Arundel Community College Criminal Justice Advisory Board, and TurnAround Inc.
Deborah Ahmed, Executive Director Better Family Life Cultural, Educational and Business Center
DeBorah received her Master of Science in Policy Analysis from Southern Illinois University in 1989, and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Grinnell College in 1977. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Better Family LifeCultural, Educational and Business Center, a 60,000-square foot facility that is on the National Register of Historic Places. This institution is the national headquarters of Better Family Life, a 37-year old community development agency that focuses on cultural and social service issues that impact urban communities, with a focus on African Americans. She alsooversees Better Family Life’s Cultural Arts Department, which includes managing two annual events, ongoing programs, and supervising staff, volunteers and student interns working on advanced degrees.
She was selected by FOX 2 News, St. Louis, as a 2019 Black History Visionary (program was created and aired a two-minute segment on their network). https://fox2now.com/2019/02/28/black-history- visionaries-deborah-ahmed/. She was also selected by NeighborWorks America to be one of 15 members of their national Race, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) Committee for two years (2017-2019). Over the years she has received a host of awards including, the 2018 Dr. Martin Luther King Spirit Award presented by the School District of University City, MO, 2016 MLK Legacy Award for Outstanding Community Service from Beloved Streets of America, and the 2009 St. Louis Chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. award, One of 100 of the Most Inspiring St. Louisans.
One of her philosophies is “We must constantly seek ways to bring the power within without and grow in the knowledge of what we discover.”
Justin Hodge, Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Michigan
Justin Hodge is a clinical assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan. He works to promote socially just policies through his engagement in governmental and political organizations. He was appointed by the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners to serve on the Community Action Board and Board of Health. He also serves as chair of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Community Advisory Board for Law Enforcement where he brings a social justice perspective to advising on policing.
Hodge was elected to serve the Washtenaw County community on the executive board of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party where he provides leadership on state level advocacy issues. Nationally, Hodge serves on the board of directors of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy, which works to expand the participation of social workers in federal legislative and policy processes.
Hodge is dedicated to mental health services on both a policy and individual level. He has provided therapy to children and families, case management to individuals with developmental disabilities, and has coordinated clinics for children in crisis. By leveraging his experiences as both a clinical and macro social work practitioner, Hodge aims to bridge the gap between the two for students.
Dr. Charles Lewis, Director of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy
Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr. is the Director of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy. He served as deputy chief of staff and communications director for former Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns and was the staff coordinator for the Congressional Social Work Caucus. As staff coordinator for the Social Work Caucus, Dr. Lewis helped to plan and to coordinate numerous briefings and events on the Hill and in the 10th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York. He founded CRISP to encourage social workers to engage Congress and be actively involved in the political arena.
Dr. Lewis is an adjunct professor at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California where he teaches communications courses in the Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program. He is also a lecturer at Columbia University's School of Social Work and supervises students in the MSW policy concentration. He was on the faculty of Howard University School of Social Work prior to going to the Hill to work with Mr. Towns.
A professional social worker, Dr. Lewis received his M.S.W. degree in clinical counseling at the Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University. He earned his Ph.D. in social policy analysis at the Columbia University School of Social Work in 2002. He strongly believes that social workers have much to bring to the policy discussion because of their hands-on knowledge about the real-world experiences of people in all walks of life. Dr. Lewis has been a strong advocate for children’s mental health as president of the Mental Health Association of the District of Columbia and has published extensively about the need for early detection and treatment as a means to reduce the overrepresentation of African Americans and Latinos in the criminal justice system.
Adar Ayira, Senior Director, Strategy & Racial Equity at Associated Black Charities (ABC)
A. Adar Ayira is Senior Director, Strategy & Racial Equity at Associated Black Charities (ABC). ABC’s focus is to strengthen Maryland’s economy by broadening economic opportunities and access and reducing structural and institutional racialized barriers that impede the health and economic growth, inclusion, influence, and well-being of African Americans. Associated Black Charities is the region’s only African American philanthropic organization providing coordinated leadership on issues impacting Maryland’s communities.
Prior to her tenure with ABC, Adar was Founder -- and for 19 years Principal Consultant -- at Core Concepts, a nonprofit-specialist consulting firm that provided skills development; strategic planning; technical assistance; organizational, board, and program development; and project management for nonprofit organizations. Ms. Ayira is also an experienced IED (Interim Executive Director) in the field of Interim Executive Leadership, working with grassroots organizations to provide effective leadership during times of organizational transitions. At Associated Black Charities, her portfolio includes strategy development and implementation regarding educating and training in the policy and institutional realms regarding the impact of racialized structural barriers and the ways in which racializations and implicit biases operate in our workplaces --and on the economic and societal benefits of working to eliminate them.
For 20+ years, Adar has been a facilitator and trainer on racial equity and has provided presentations, facilitations, and trainings for nonprofit organizations, community groups, and individuals in the region, including Baltimore Integration Project, Community Foundation of Prince George’s County, Deutsch Foundation’s “Moving MD Forward Network”, DHR-SSW, Humanim, Jews United for Justice (Jeremiah Fellowship), Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, Primary Care Coalition, The Baltimore Grassroots Criminal Justice Network, Kennedy-Krieger, Women of the World Conference, University of MD School of Social Work, Towson University, and Patterson Park Public Charter School, among others.
A founding member and Advisory Board Member of Baltimore Racial Justice Action – a network of Maryland professionals committed to the transformation of systems to achieve social and economic equity, with an emphasis on racial equity -- Adar also continues her work with them as Senior Facilitator/Consultant and a Trainer of their trainers. Adar also analyzes trends/manifestations of racism, intersectionalities, and their impacts on society.
The 2011 recipient of the YWCA Baltimore's Racial Justice Award, Adar is a popular racial equity speaker, presenter, frequent radio guest, panel moderator, and facilitator/trainer in nonprofit, business, community, and other forums. A Poet/Spoken Word Artist in the Baltimore-Washington area, she has been a featured performer at Center Stage, the Spotlight Theatre, the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Meyers Maritime Museum, and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, among other venues. Adar has also created and guided programming using poetry as a healing and empowerment tool for Catherine’s Hearth and for women residing at Jessup Correctional Institution.
She was a contributing author to the national teaching text “Lessons from ‘The Color of Fear’: Field Reports” (Volume IV), Baltimore Open City, and various poetry publications, as well as being a contributing blogger for Rooflines, the National Housing Institute’s Shelterforce blog.A sociologist with a background in Communications/Radio, she has also worked in three major radiomarkets and was host of a popular public affairsshow called “Public Notice” in the Washington DC market.Adar is active on Twitter at @AdarAyiraViews.