The Wayne State School of Social Work is inviting the public to attend a discussion on racism in the Bernath Auditorium of the David Adamany Undergraduate Library on Thursday, Oct. 22 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The event will feature a taped interview with former Congressman Ron Dellums, followed by breakout discussion group sessions.

The event, "Developing a Social Work Response to Racism, Hate Crimes, and Police Use of Force," is the first in a series of three organized by the School of Social Work and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW)-Michigan Chapter as a call to action for social workers to examine personal biases and eliminate racism and institutional barriers. The three-part initiative (http://www.nasw-michigan.org/?page=Racism), "Social Justice: Advocacy, Action, Activism," is a response to recent events in cities such as Ferguson, Mo., Charleston, S.C., and New York City.

Social workers are trained to be skillful and knowledgeable about creating coalitions, empowering people and communities, advocating on policy issues, and communicating with different audiences. The School of Social Work and NASW-MI are calling on social workers to "work even harder to end the blatant racism and hate crimes that are occurring all too often within our neighborhoods and across the United States." They hope to foster discussion and action across the state by using schools of social work as the initial meeting point.

The initiative's second event will be the 2015 Legislative Education and Advocacy Day on Wednesday, Nov. 11 in Lansing, and the third will be the School of Social Work's Annual Diversity Lecture in Spring 2016.

Organizers are requesting that attendees RSVP for the Oct. 22 event on the WSU Main Events Calendar (http://events.wayne.edu/2015/10/22/social-justice-advocacy-action-activism-developing-a-social-work-response-t-61795/). It qualifies for two free Continuing Education contract hours with no pre-registration required. For additional information on this event, contact Lauree Emery, director of the School of Social Work's Office of Continuing Education and Professional Development, at ab7097@wayne.edu or 313-577-8806.