A Corrido for Ann Weick

Abstract

If the life and works of Ann Weick could be put to music, the genre would be a border corridor. In Latin America, the corrido is a type of ballad that often extols the virtues, struggles, and accomplishments of a hero or heroine; border ballad tells the tales of bandits whose exploits are fuelled by the frustrations of class struggle and domination. These bandits through heroic deeds strike out against authority. As marginalized people sing them, they become tales of resistance, empowerment, and hope (Kanellos, 2008). Ann’s life embodies the corrido: She was a heroine who fought for justice. Her life was a model of how to create change. She bravely spoke truth to power, and her passing evokes a great lament. Ann was raised in Portland, Oregon, and was the daughter of a father who was a sign maker and a mother who was a homemaker. Her call to social work emerged from Catholic religious tradition. She graduated as high school valedictorian from an all girls’ Catholic school and later served on the board of directors of the National Catholic Reporter for many years. She was loyal to her Catholic spiritual traditions and yet critiqued the papal policies and politics. Her life was one of service and included Peace Corp work with Turkish children in orphanages and schools. While Ann was well known for her systemic thinking and contributions to theory development, her social work experience emphasized direct work with poor families in a variety of capacities. These aspects of Ann, her spiritual tradition, her international work, and exposure to U.S. poverty were the foundation for the contributions that earned her many awards including the Council on Social Work Education Lifetime Achievement Award. Ann Weick was known, with her husband Dennis Saleebey, for the development and promotion of the strengths perspective. However, when Ann Weick’s body of work is reviewed as a whole, the underlying theme is that the amelioration of troubles must include as a fundamental component the respect for and value of client systems. Ann’s writings indicate that her corridor struggle was with an oppressive system that continued to violate people who were marginalized based on race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. The cautionary tale that the corrido of Ann Weick would tell is that becoming completely aligned with the medical