Abdul Marin Nunez & Africancentric Social Work!
The term African Centered Social Work was coined by a black British social scientist, Dr. Makeda Graham, who visited Belize in 2000 and gave a series of lectures on the social work methodology at the University of Belize, School of Nursing and Social Work. The theory that children from communities that have experienced trauma through acts of violence and oppression whether it be past experiences like slavery and the new and present ones like gang violence, need to be administer to through approaches that take into consideration cultural and social backgrounds.
Belize, being a country that comes from out of that background has began to feel the pangs of dysfunctional family structures that comes from out of centuries of slavery, oppression, exploitation, and violence. It will therefore require answers to this social malady that take into consideration African centered approaches since at least more than quarter of its population is black, and ninety percent of its population is communities of color that is predominantly indigenous and people of color.
The video feature highlights the work of Abdul Marin Nunez who is a Belizean Social Worker whose work has taken into consideration African centered approaches to service black and communities of color where he lives and work. During a gang intervention project in Belize in 2013 that focused at looking at how the effects of Belize's gang culture has permeated in the Southern Districts of Stann Creek and Toledo, Marin Nunez's dynamic presentations to students and teachers at Ecumenical and Beleel High School in Dangriga, and Toledo Community College and St.Peters Claver in Punta Gorda, introduced relevant African-centered strategies and approaches of intervention. Though an unorthodox style in the field of social work, Marin Nunez's work that includes being a Special Education teacher, and a social justice poet in Belize, has presented new ways of addressing the crisis of dysfunctional families in Belize, and the violent gang culture that has permeated into every facet of Belizean life today.
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Bilal MorrisDirector
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Bilal MorrisWriter
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Kalifa ProductionsProducer
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Abdul Marin Nunez, Leonides Sanchez, Bilal Morris, Belizean High School Students, Belizean Primary School Students, Belizean Teachers, and Belizean PolicemenKey Cast
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Project Type:Documentary, Short
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Runtime:24 minutes 58 seconds
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Country of Origin:Belize
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Country of Filming:Belize
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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none as yet
Bilal Morris is a journalist that has written on a wide aspect of events that include politics, culture, history, world music and Islam. He is a Muslim from Belize in Central America, and has covered a lot of issues relating to Muslims in Central America and the Caribbean. He is an educator with the Los Angeles Unified School District and a documentary filmmaker.
The art of person begins when someone in the community feels the urge to create. (Dr. Colville Young, Belize's Governor General)
It is my hope that these documentary shorts get to the audiences they deserve through the Garifuna International Film Festival.