- by Emilee Dykeman -
A two-day conference I recently attended had brilliant speakers and workshops that explored the Rochester community’s trauma and how we can heal, educate, and rebuild. I learned so much from this conference however there is one moment that stood out to me. On the first day of the conference, there was a workshop on cultural competence. I opted to take this workshop because I am a social worker so I felt it was important to further my understanding of the topic. The presentation was wonderful. One of the first slides shown was of pictures with random objects, such as office supplies. We were asked to explain what was wrong with the pictures and no one could think of anything wrong. That’s when the presenter explained every object in that slide was only functional for those who are right-handed. I was surprised by that answer. It never occurred to me that things like scissors or desks could affect how a left-handed individual went about their day. The presenter followed that with a picture of a Dollar Tree. Again, he asked us to tell him what was wrong with that picture. We all guessed differently. “The signs aren’t inclusive,” or “there are no cart holders.” None of those answers were correct. That’s when the presenter told us that there were no automatic doors so a person in a wheelchair couldn’t get in. He told us a story about that Dollar Tree. He rode the bus every morning and would always see a person in a wheelchair waiting outside that Dollar Tree. It wasn’t until he stopped to talk to them that he found out that the person in the wheelchair was waiting for someone to open the doors so they could get through. Again, we were all shocked that we didn’t guess that answer. I was a little disappointed in myself for not noticing as well.
The part that made this workshop so memorable was the discussion portion. For some context, the presenter put a GIF of Kanye on a slide. During the discussion a woman, and it’s important to note that she was a white woman, raised her hand and asked the presenter to delete the Kanye slide before showing the presentation again because of everything that has been happening in the news with Kanye recently. The presenter loved that comment because he took it as an opportunity to show cultural competence in person. He pointed out that out of everything that was discussed about cultural competence and becoming self-aware about our own privileges, what she noticed was Kanye and that’s it. He started to ask others in the group if they felt the meaning of the presentation was getting lost due to the woman’s uncomfortableness towards a Kanye GIF. Every single person at the workshop felt that their issues were being ignored by that woman. The meaning behind the workshop was to increase our cultural competence so that we could go into the community more aware of issues and less biased than before. It was fascinating to see it being played out in front of me. Not only did I get to learn more about cultural competence, but I also got to see it in action.
If this conference happens again next year, I really hope more Nazareth students attend. I learned so much about how to be a better person and social worker. Most of what I learned I have implemented in my internship and at my place of work.
