11th Annual We Are Power: Community in Action Conference

When it comes to the promotion of social justice, CSUN MSW students are ready to work. The We Are Power: Community in Action Conference was an inspirational example of what that work can do. Held in February of 2020 and organized by students of the Department of Social Work at CSUN, this year’s annual conference marked the first to move away from the title “Diversity Day” and embrace the words coined by Native activist and poet, John Trudell: “We Are Power.” Efforts to honor the mission that Trudell’s words represent, to build community through action, are also meant to raise critical consciousness, learn strategies to disrupt and resist oppressive structures, and empower us to create change.

The student-led conference invites students, faculty, social workers, community leaders, activists, and more to continue the conversation. This year’s title "Carcerality, Rules, Everything, Around, Me (C.R.E.A.M): Understanding Forms of Carcerality and Rebuilding Relationships" spoke to the cultural and institutional ways of punishing and regulating freedom to preserve dominant hierarchies. Enjoy the following video to get a glimpse of the event’s impact.