NASW-Illinois Chapter President Latesha Newson, MSW, LCSW

Greetings NASW-IL Social Work Community,
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that this month has been met with difficult challenges, tragedies, and uncertainty in our country. As I am write this message to you, I, like many of us around the country, are grieving the tragedies of lives lost in the airplane crash in our nation’s capital as well as the tragedy of the California wildfires. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those who are grieving the loss of precious lives and are faced with the challenge of rebuilding after the devastation.
At the same time, I also must acknowledge that I am grieving the challenges and uncertainty of our country in the hands of this new administration. What we are witnessing is a blatant disregard for humanity and respect for all people. This administration's attempts to defy the US Constitution by desecrating our democracy, taking away the power and voice of the American people, and dismantling the social advancement that our country has made over the past 60 years are extremely implausible. The agenda and approaches of this administration go against every social work value, principle, and ethic we uphold. To willfully inflict trauma and oppression upon historically oppressed groups is malicious and inhumane.
The NASW-Illinois Chapter vehemently denounces the Trump administration's agenda against the dismantling of DEI departments and policies as well as destroying immigrant families through mass deportation. This country was built off the back of immigrants and is sustained by the value that they bring. These actions and future proposed actions by this administration will destabilize our country and its infrastructure. At the NASW-Illinois Chapter we are working to educate and inform social workers on navigating these challenges with the people we serve. At the start of January, as chair of the NASW Steering Committee of the Council of Chapter Presidents, we gathered several NASW presidents and president-elects from around the country for a special session to learn and discuss how to navigate the mass deportation order in our respective states. We were joined by our chapter’s legislative director, Kyle Hillman, and other leading experts in policy, civil rights, and government affairs to be armed with strategies on how to protect the rights of others and be informed of our rights as social workers. We advise our social work community to build with coalitions and community organizations that are carrying out this work and to engage with your legislators and members of Congress on these important issues. Please be sure to follow our MyNASW community for resources and organizations to connect with.
As we are entering the month of February, which is acknowledged as Black History Month, I lean on the wisdom of those civil rights leaders who have paved the way before us. I am reminded that in the face of injustice, we cannot afford to be discouraged, and we cannot afford to lose our hope. We must be steadfast and committed now more than ever to protect and challenge all threats to our democracy and human rights.
As social workers, policy advocates, community organizers, etc., this is a clarion call for us to take a stand and pick up the baton that was entrusted to us by our civil rights leaders who laid the foundation for social justice. We must be unified in lending our collective voice—speaking truth to power against ALL injustice through our advocacy and coalition building. We have an obligation as guardians of humanity to safeguard the future by engaging and urging our Congress leaders to do what is in the best interest of the American people, the people who they vowed to serve. I am reminded that whenever our country was in chaos and in ruin, it was the work of social workers that brought healing and restoration to our world. This time is no different.
I find myself charged and empowered by the last published words of civil rights giant John Lewis who charged us as the next generation with the powerful words in his essay, “Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation.”
“Though I am gone, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe.
Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice. He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.
Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble.
You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.
Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.
When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So, I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.”
May we embody and live up to this charge and have an absolute resolve for justice!
In peace and solidarity,
Latesha Newson, MSW, LCSW
NASW-Illinois Chapter President
Latesha Newson, MSW, LCSW (she/her), serves as university lecturer and BSW field coordinator at Governors State University in the Department of Social Work. She is a strong advocate for social justice and works to influence policies that create equitable and transformative change in our society. She has served on the NASW-Illinois Chapter Board of Directors since 2019, previously as Calumet District Chair, chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee (DEIAC), and as member of the national NASW Delegate Assembly. In 2020 she served as co-chair of the NASW-Illinois Chapter Task Force on Racial Justice where the chapter’s final recommendations on police reform were reflected in the Criminal Justice Omnibus bill. Latesha believes that it is our social responsibility to create and effect change through advocacy, policy, and the advancement of social work.
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