On Feb. 21, the Office of Multicultural Affairs will host a Social Justice Workshop in the Core Classroom of the Brown Library in room 212. It is for Black History Month, and the topic is Building Multiethnic Allies to make King’s Dreams a reality.

This event is open to all ACU students, faculty and staff.

“One of the things I like to explore and aim to explore is bridging and leveraging relationships in terms of fulfilling King’s dream,” said Malcolm Scott, head speaker of the workshop and recent president of the local chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People. “Engaging with community, the social, economic and political uplifting, particularly of Black and African American bodies, is really important in that we would certainly be counted, recognized and affirmed as equals.”

Part of the workshop is to explore what bridge building, partnering, collaboration and ultimately unity could look like. If racial healing doesn’t take place, and people are not honest and authentic about the hurts of the past, it is simply just a dream and will never be a reality. One of the things that Scott wants people to take away from the workshop is to have something in their head, their hearts and their hands.

“Understanding diversity, power, and oppression will give me better insight on how to treat clients and understand their culture because cultural competence is so important in social work,” said Aubrey Allison, a sophomore social work major from Haslet. “I need to include that since it helps with the process of healing and implement that into their plan, and taking more social justice classes will help me to better understand that.”

Ryan Bowman, the new director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, reached out to Scott, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, about having this event, which got him excited to host this event.

“I think my wife and I both have a heart for community and community as diverse as it means that we get to engage with people from various walks of life,” said Scott. “We try to do that in a loving, caring, affirming way. And that’s what I think is at the heart of King’s dream.”