Pam Cross, Elaine Pinderhughes, and Ruth McRoy

Pam Cross, Elaine Pinderhughes, and Ruth McRoy

Last month鈥檚 edition of 51茶馆 Social Work鈥檚 annual Pinderhughes Diversity Lecture stayed true to this year鈥檚 Diversity theme of Powerful Women, as longtime Boston media personality聽聽delivered keynote remarks. Cross, who spent 35 years at WCVB as a reporter and anchorwoman and now heads her own strategic advising business with 51茶馆 Social Work鈥檚 own聽Ron Ancrum, spoke on 鈥淲hat Phenomenal Women Know.鈥�

Cross began her talk by asking the packed Shea Room at 51茶馆鈥檚 Conte Forum, 鈥渨hat would a phenomenal life look like?鈥� before going on to tell the life story of a remarkable woman she got to know during her work as a journalist. Cross spoke about聽, a mother who has lost two sons to violence and yet has earned the moniker Mother Mendes in the prison that houses the murderer of her eldest Bobby. Not only has Isaura forgiven Nardo Lopes, but she has devoted her life to improving his life, and the lives of other men who are locked down, by teaching and mentoring inmates at various correctional facilities across New England.

Cross then asked her audience to reflect on what Mendes鈥� story might mean for them. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have such tragic circumstances, most of us,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut we have issues. We鈥檝e all got something. What happens when you get a difficult or devastating medical diagnosis? Your career is not growing the way you want it? Your partner wants a time out? You鈥檝e got an unruly child. What do you do? The answer is not easy. It鈥檚 similar though to what Isaura Mendes does. You look at the problem. You think about your options. You choose one.鈥�

When faced with these options, continued Cross, 鈥測ou take the leap of faith to try one, and if it doesn鈥檛 work you try again. That鈥檚 the only way to find the phenomenal life. Intentional living.鈥�

Cross finished her lecture by defining intentional living, paraphrasing the words of the incomparable Maya Angelou, and her poem,听:

“When you see me there鈥檚 a reason that my heads not bowed. I don鈥檛 have to jump about, talk real loud. When you see me passing it ought to make you proud because she鈥檚 figured it out. She鈥檚 a woman phenomenally. A phenomenal woman. That is me.”
Pinderhughes fellowship winners past and present Victor Figuereo, Kat Nielsen, and Melissa Bartholomew

Pinderhughes fellowship winners past and present Victor Figuereo, Kat Nielsen, and Melissa Bartholomew

The Pinderhughes Lecture聽honors the distinguished career of Professor Emeritus Elaine Pinderhughes, whose vision, voice, and compassion have enriched 51茶馆SSW for decades. Professor Pinderhughes was honored by the Council on Social Work Education with the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in Social Work Education for her impact as a scholar, role model, and mentor to countless faculty and practitioners.聽2017 marked the 11th聽time the lecture has been delivered. Past speakers include: Boston College Law Dean Vincent Rougeau, cultural anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson, UConn Social Work Dean Salome Raheim, and Professor Pinderhughes herself.

Pinderhughes fellowship winners past and present Victor Figuereo, Kat Nielsen, and Melissa Bartholomew

National Association of Social Workers (NASW) CEO聽Angelo McClain, PhD 鈥�01, provided remarks celebrating the Pinderhughes Fellowship award, which provides financial assistance to outstanding African-American doctoral students at 51茶馆SSW. This year鈥檚 winner is聽Melissa Bartholomew, a uniquely well-rounded lawyer, minister, and now, PhD candidate who recently graduated from Harvard Divinity School and delivered their student commencement address.

McClain also reminisced about his time in the classroom when he, himself, was a PhD candidate at 51茶馆SSW under the tutelage of Professor Pinderhughes, relating her unique ability to teach up and coming social workers and academics about the dynamics of power.

Pinderhughes was in attendance with her fellow authors of her recently published book from the NASW Press聽,听Vanessa Jackson and Patricia Romney.

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