Dedication & Acknowledgments
Sunset, Victor Bloomberg, September 17, 2019
My book and this blog is based upon my dissertation which I completed when COVID-19 was ravaging societies worldwide. When I was done and ready to publish, I needed to say “Thank you.” Everyday I wake up with boundless gratitude and that coexists with my sadness for those who suffer from dehumanizing injustices.
Dedication
For S.M.B. and G.M.B.
“Sooner or later, though, no matter where in the world we live, we must join the diaspora, venturing beyond our biological family to find our logical one, the one that actually makes sense for us.”
― Armistead Maupin, Logical Family: A Memoir
Acknowledgments
My work is a reflection that has taken me a lifetime to form. Before I mention the people who supported me, the first call out goes to my parents. Yearly they served up a delicious Seder and we read aloud this passage, “Love the stranger as your neighbor.”
I chose to go for a doctorate because a dear friend urged me, for nearly a decade. Thank you Richard Lawrence for being my compadre making Good Trouble and all the while we play cards. I was able to get across the goal line with joy with the love and support of my spouse Diane Bloomberg.
WISR is a community with a vision and mission of alternative higher education for social justice. The community welcomed me and supported me. I am a better person and I learned a lot. In addition to the faculty on my Review Board – John Bilorusky, PhD, Sudia Paloma-McCaleb, PhD, and Brian Gerrard, PhD – I am grateful to faculty members Ronald May, PhD and Karen Wall, EdD as well as Professor Emeritus Cynthia Lawrence, EdD.
“Outside Expert” is the title given to my fourth Review Board member. “Outside” fits in relation to the college. “Inside Expert” is the truth in every other sense of the word for Lou Cannon, PsyD. My insides give thanks to Lou.
I needed to find expert psychotherapists for the interviews. I began by asking friends from decades of community work. Steve O’Kane and Barbara Mandel recommended people. I’ve known for 30 years Dominique Fragoso, LCSW and Susan Wingfield-Ritter, LMFT and each said, “Yes” to being interviewed. Aspacia Birmingham, LMFT, Cindy Ferguson, LCSW, Julia Rosengren, PsyD, Lydia Lewis, LCSW and Therese Adair, LCSW recommended people and/or participated. My village introduced me to people whom I never otherwise would have met. Support from my own home town was extra special for this online higher education experience. Next, I mention the people who treated me, a stranger, as their neighbor and gave me their time and their truth: Dan Keady, LMFT, Elva Hoxie, PhD, Gloria Saltzman, LMFT, Jeani Hebert-Brown, LCSW, Jeanne Strauss, LMFT, Karolyn Johnson, LMFT, Mar Ortmann, LCSW, Marcia Weisbrot LPCC, Margaret Bouher, LCSW, Mary Fox Squire, PhD, Na Limopasmanee, LMFT, Patricia Lindquist, PhD, Robert Brem, NCC, Suzanne Quijano, LMFT, Toni Nemia, LMFT, Wayne Hart, PhD.
I had imagined telling you more in Acknowledgments about each person who gave generously their time, stories and reflections. Now I imagine a webpage where I could do that. It would be another way to say “thank you” and to make it easy for you to find clinicians who say “yes” to artisanal mutual support.
