Social Justice means no kids going to bed hungry, no one without shelter or healthcare and a free and lively discussion and participation by all people in the political direction and organization of our communities and nation.
- Kirsten Moller, executive director and co-founder, Global Exchange
The 1st Annual Social Justice Retreat was held on Friday, Oct. 6th here in Chattanooga. This interactive day-long experience brought social work students together from Oakwood College in Huntsville, AL, Southern Adventist University, and UTC. Several community professionals also joined the students in this experience.
The goal of this experience was to create an opportunity for students to learn from one another and to create a working conceptualization and definition of "social justice" in terms of social work practice.
Students came together at the beginning of the and were divided into groups made up of students from all the schools and community professionals.
One of the primary activities included the Priviledge Walk where participants experienced first-hand the consequences of living in a society where gender, race, class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation impact both positively and negatively on one's status.
The final "product" of this experience was a poster created collaboratively in the various groups. This poster attempted to define what social justice feels, sounds, and looks like. Each group was also asked to develop and "essential question" related to social justice that then motivated them to take action. The completed posters are pictured here.
