The Postmodern Social Justice Symposium

The Post-Modern Social Justice Symposium

            In February, San Diego State University’s Counseling and Social Change Club hosted an event in the Aztec Student Union called The Post-Modern Social Justice Symposium. The symposium featured a lineup of speakers with various ties to SDSU, including Dr. Tanis Starck, Liz Roccoforte, Elisa Barnett, and Patricia Ruiz. The symposium comprised a motivational speech, and presentations on LGBTQIA life, bi-racial identity, and intersectionality in feminism. I chose to attend this event because social justice is an important cause to me, and because I am interested in how to implement it within counseling, my favorite aspect of school psychology.

            Ms. Barnett’s presentation gave an engaging, anecdote-rich view into life as someone growing up with parents of two different races. As someone who has never experienced the complexity of being multiracial, it never occurred to me how trying it could be for someone to be forced to identify themselves in a way that does not fully encompass all that they are, especially if they are young and still developing that identity. This presentation gave me a valuable perspective that will doubtlessly be of use to me as I go on to work with children of diverse backgrounds, some of whom may struggle greatly with defining who they are in a world that leaves them such limited options.

            Much like Ms. Barnett, Ms. Ruiz gave a presentation that broadened my perspective on walks of life I have not personally experienced. Her presentation on intersectionality in feminism showed that the experience of being female does not exist in a vacuum; race and other factors of one’s identity are inextricably linked to it, creating strengths and struggles that must be understood and tended to uniquely. Having a better awareness of this phenomenon, supported by the historical examples Ms. Ruiz provided (e.g. Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?”) has granted me a new lens through which to begin understanding the experiences that my future female clients face.

            Most striking to me, however, was Ms. Roccoforte’s presentation on the complexity of LGBTQ+ identities. The presentation began as a basic overview of the various traits included under the LGBTQ umbrella, but went on to discuss how we can make the world – particularly schools – a more hospitable place for those who are LGBTQ. The idea is to normalize LGBTQ individuals by repositioning the spotlight away from cisgender, heterosexual people, most notably by asking new acquaintances what their preferred gender pronouns are as casually as one would otherwise greet them. Admittedly, this seemed a bit awkward to me at first, but it really does make sense, and has the potential to be a very useful practice. The more I learn about various backgrounds, the more I see how little we can afford to assume about people. It then follows that asking a new acquaintance what their preferred gender pronouns are really is a reasonable thing to do, and I expect it would be especially useful in a counseling setting. I believe that by asking new clients for their preferred gender pronouns by default, I can show that I am interested in centering the conversation around them, and am open to however they wish to express themselves.

            In truth, the symposium did not entirely meet my expectations. It did not have a very strong focus on counseling, and as far as I can recall did not make any references to evidence-based practices or measuring the effectiveness of the practices given. If the anecdotes are any indication, though, there is a lot to be said for welcoming diverse people with not just open arms, but an open mind; the best practice is to be humble in just how little we know about walks of life we ourselves have not walked, and simply doing all that we can to support people as they specifically need it.

- Michael K.