Warriors For Change

Episode 50 of The Critical Social Worker podcast lived up to the phrase “a storytelling podcast.” This episode featured G Ford, a social worker currently employed at a dialysis treatment center and Chris Flores, a forensic case manager. G and Chris share their experiences in their respective fields and how their work has impacted those that they serve.

G describes what life is like in a dialysis treatment facility and how he copes with the ever-present weight of death that comes with helping individuals who are terminally ill. He explains that part of his resiliency comes from growing up in a “rough” neighborhood, as well as his time in the United States Marine Corp. G expresses that he enjoys helping others and that that is his driving force.

G’s words about being driven by the feeling of helping others resonated in me, as well as his reference to the skills he honed in the armed forces. I feel that I am also driven by the desire to help others, though for most of my working life I have been directly enabling tools of great destructive capability, as an aircraft mechanic. I have disliked the military for a years; I often tell people how much the military likes to take from it’s members. G’s words made me realize that I have not been using my critical thinking skills when I think about my time as a servicemember. The aircraft that I worked on were twice my age and no two repairs are the same on a plane that old. This is not unlike humans, no two are the same. As much as I may not like it, much of my ability to think on my feet and adapt came from my time in the service. That adaptability has been indispensable to me as a peer support specialist; I have a knack for finding the resources that might help someone get their life on track again.

Chris also came with some hard hitting storytelling. He was also a servicemember, stating that he worked as a mechanic, presumably on ground vehicles. Now he works as a forensic case manager, guiding and aiding the recovery of mentally ill individuals as they navigate the criminal justice system. Chris spoke about the implementation of the 988 crisis line and how positive it was for individuals in crisis to be able to contact someone other than the police. He also noted that he too is driven by the desire to help others, explaining that he didn’t necessarily enjoy being a mechanic, but that he did enjoy the ability to connect to those around him while working.

This sent me right back into “deep” thinking mode. I didn’t dislike being a mechanic, but the culture of the military was not for me. One aspect that was “for me” was greeting and helping members of my unit. I liked getting to know them and hearing the diverse stories that were represented in the maintenance squadron (MXS). The MXS had a kind of “small town” feel, where everybody knew everybody, for better or for worse. I still see many of the people from the unit around town, they always wave and they always ask me how I’m doing. I didn’t appreciate that sense of community enough when I was part of it, but those values have followed me nevertheless.

Roughly halfway into the episode, Christian, Chris, and G were joined by a surprise guest: Maui Loa. Maui Loa is a Native Hawaiian elder and artist, who Christian had met earlier and invited to the podcast. I would describe Maui Loa as enigmatic, at the least. He had a kind of energy around him that was gentle, but demanded respect. He was able to quickly connect with the other guests, before discussing some of the struggles that Native people in America have experienced due to colonization and explaining the importance of lifting up the voices of Native people so that they can be heard. In one particularly interesting part of the episode, Maui Loa describes the similarities in tribal art across cultures of the world. He notes that this is because, as humans, the art “just comes through” us, creating these similarities. Maui Loa had far too much for me to write into a blog post and I strongly suggest that you listen to his words yourself.

Maui Loa was well spoken and had many quotable anecdotes, but to me the most profound statement that he made, was “we all come from a warrior society, we have to to survive. But we are still at peace with ourselves.” It seemed so simple at its face value, but after some deeper thought, I found it to be more complicated. He is right, historically warriors have always existed in society. They still exist in the literal sense today, but that “warrior ethos” exists in all of us to a degree; the battlefield just isn’t quite the same for everyone. For some of us, our battle is one for family, or autonomy, or even equality. We all have at least one thing that we are willing to fight for. I’m not an anthropologist, but it seems that that is a trait that has passed down for millennia in humans. I hope that Maui Loa would agree with that statement. I hope to see your thoughts on this episode in the comment section, thank you for reading.

References:
Unfortunately, I was unable to find any of Maui Loa’s art online, so I had to use stock photos.