Aloha Everyone:

We woke up a week ago to the news that George Bush was re-elected President. It will be 4 and three quarters months or 207 weeks until the next presidential election. Although working to get a progressive person elected president is one of the objectives of social justice- minded counselors and psychologists, it is not our ultimate goal. As Derald Sue alluded to in his important e-mail to this group, there is a central goal and question to keep in mind for those of who are committed to promoting transformational changes in the mental health professions and our society at-large. As Derald puts it: The question we should ask, therefore, is "How do we reshape or redefine the sociopolitical reality of "America"? There are many ways to do it, but we must do it in a united and concerted effort.

At the meeting we had in Hawaii in July, it was acknowledged that many of us are working hard within APA and ACA to promote multiculturalism, feminism, and social justice perspectives and actions. While it is important to continue to work within these organizations, many of us noted the importance of being organized as a group who can implement interventions and make statements that are not encumbered by the culture of these professional organizations - we need voices and actions from people who operate outside of these established organizations to move them farther and faster than typically occurs when gradualistic reform efforts from within are implemented.

Both strategies and persons are important and neither need be viewed in conflicting or antagonistic ways. From my perspective we need to heed the challenge from Dr. King and bell hooks who call upon persons of conscience to build beloved communities within and outside ACA and APA that represent more assertive and militant voices for change.

One of the ways that the progressive movement in this country continues to fail in its efforts to realize its goals is by reacting with hostility to those of us working within status quo systems or those of us who are working more on the outside of the existing status quo. If our goals are the same, to promote multiculturalism and social justice, we need to find ways not just to work together but to honor one another as we build a believed community among us.

Another way to fail is to operate in unfocused and undisciplined ways in our efforts to transform the mental health professions in general and ACA and APA in particular. Another is to continue to operate from a top down perspective - trying to influence the policy-makers and power holders - without directing equal time and energy to build a mass movement within ACA and APA from the bottom up to promote more democratic policy-making processes.

Both strategies - top down and bottom up - are important in our efforts, however, more and more attention is being directed to ways to strategies that are aimed at influencing and promoting change from the top down. If we are not careful, this approach can easily lead to unintended forms of elitism that negate and disempower the large numbers of persons at the grassroots level of ACA and APA whose input and energy is vital to include in our efforts to transform the mental health professions and society at-large.

We are all doing many, many things in our work. We all come up with and offer many, many more suggestions as to more things we could be doing. Within the context of the postmodern world consciousness we live in... this can lead to fragmentation and failure to achieve our goals. The right wing force in the US understands this.. and works in a more united and focused way than we often do... and it does lead to a different outcome.

The expanded NIMC has four committees that are planning and implementing several action strategies that are intentionally designed to achieve the above stated goals. Counselors for Social Justice in ACA have an excellent strategic plan to achieve similar ends. It would be useful to keep focused on the action strategies that these groups are working on and to join in these efforts by being committed to not trying to doing 100% more on 12 new things but as Thomas Parhan often says.. doing 5% more on one of these action strategies.

I think it also important to call upon the leaders in APA's women's division, Counseling psychology, the Gay/Lesbian Division, the Community Action and Research Division the Men's Division and other groups in ACA to see how we can work together on joint projects. It is so important to build a united front at this time in our nation's history and to avoid the fragmentation and duplication of efforts that continues to exist in our professional community.

Only 207 more weeks... or 47 and three quarters months... let us work together now... united.. to build a better world.

In the continuing struggle for justice and peace,

Michael D'Andrea