Pipe Dream sat down with Casey Boston, a Master of Social Work (MSW) student at Binghamton University and graduate of Alfred University. Boston hopes to pursue a career in social work, aiming to disrupt community violence. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Pipe Dream: Tell me a little bit about your background. Where did you grow up?
Casey Boston: “I grew up in Canarsie, Brooklyn. Canarsie, Brooklyn, if you’re from Brooklyn, New York, it’s called the hood suburbs, because it’s a bunch of private homes but it’s not really like other neighborhoods. However, growing up in Canarsie, Brooklyn you still face a lot of the same violence and difficulties that other people grew up with living in other more high-risk communities. Growing up here, I felt like it was a blessing to have a home with both my parents here. My mom was probably predominantly everything to me.”
PD: What did it mean to get into Alfred University?
CB: “For me, I was very grateful, it was a blessing. I did see my other siblings go to school. Both of my sisters have master’s degrees, my older brother went to [SUNY] Brockport, graduated, so it wasn’t something out of norm for me to go to school. But when I got accepted into [Alfred University] it was a private school and it was kind of funny. I didn’t even know I got accepted into a private school, because I only went to play football, really, and just see what college was gonna bring. When I reached campus and I was looking into it more I was like wait, this is not a public school. And I was like, ‘Wow I made it.’ I’m in a private school from Canarsie, Brooklyn. And I didn’t pay a lot to go to school, my coach set up a great financial aid program for me.”
PD: You said you always wanted to pursue football, but when did you know you wanted to diverge from that and focus on psychology?
CB: “I thought it was a school counselor until I shadowed my high school guidance counselor and I asked her, I’m like, ‘Wait, you’re not providing any therapy for these students.’ And she was like, ‘No, that’s what the school social worker does.’ And I said, then honestly this is not what I want to do. I don’t just want to work on scheduling and getting people ready for college — that’s boring. I wanted to do real clinical work, help with mental health issues like PTSD, depression, all that. Especially when I saw how it affects, I would say, me differently, because I think the [temperament] that I had was different, but I also saw it affect a lot of my friends and family. Anger issues, violence, robbing, stealing, I always knew. I didn’t know exactly how but I felt it was something related to their mindset. And I figured if I would become a therapist I could help that.”
PD: Do you have any experience up until now doing therapy for anyone? If so, any notable experiences that impacted you?
CB: “My major was clinical psychology, which means your senior year you take a clinical procedure course, where you actually provide therapy for an underclassman, specifically a first-year student. So I provided therapy for about fourteen weeks for a first-year student. And that was the first time I ever practiced therapeutic techniques — like live, this is real. And actually at the end, when you get evaluated, I was actually blown away by my evaluation. It was a young lady, and she was like, her sessions with me really did impact her and change her life. And that was when I was like, you know what, I’m going to give all praises to the most high because I’m in the right field.”
PD: Where are you at right now, and what are your plans for the future?
CB: “I’m an intern at the Addiction Center of Broome County. I also work at the Children’s Home of Wyoming Conference — and I’m also a [graduate assistant (GA)] but that has nothing to do with social work. That’s where I’m at right now. I graduate in May, and I’m looking to actually go into the clinical field where I can provide therapy for ages — however young they can start to however old you can be. That’s my plan and then eventually I want to open up my own private practice of providing therapy for individuals, especially our young Black youth and adults, who are predominantly affected by the violence that we experience and PTSD and they’re not even aware of it. In addition to me doing that, I’m actually interested in becoming a public speaker, doing keynote events and talking to our youth, talking to our young adults. Once again, predominantly in our Black community, because I feel like they’re not really aware of what’s really going on and how what they’re living amongst — what we live amongst, because I live in Canarsie — is not normal. And it really impacts us individually and as a community and I think in order to shake the ground or to break the cycle it takes somebody to go in and speak, and that’s something that I’m looking to do in the next coming years.”
PD: You talked a lot about yourself and your background. How does that motivate you to be a better social worker — do you feel it helps you connect with people?
CB: “Absolutely, and also I study a lot, so it’s a combination of experience and studies. It’s funny to me, a lot of people say these books aren’t culturally competent. Sometimes I definitely do agree. But hey, when you’re from it you have the cultural competency already because this is where I’m from. I’m from the Caribbean, our parents are from the Caribbean and I grew up in America, and I live in the hood. So, I have the balance of the studies and the cultural competency. And I think with that two combined it gives me a great perspective to provide culturally humble therapy for my people, and for individuals in general, that’s not Black or from the Caribbean, or that’s not from the hood, because I study a lot.”
PD: You mentioned religion a few times. How long has that been an underlying theme in your life, and how does that motivate you in your career?
CB: “When I started to look at the Bible, it required me to follow a specific type of code, a specific type of law and when I was following that I realized this is the greatest thing on Earth. It gives me that inner peace to follow this code and I understand, through that, you’re not better than anybody else. And when you have that understanding you can actually help other people, because, OK somebody’s struggling with XYZ, OK you struggled with this too. What did Christ say — ‘He that is without sin cast the first stone.’ I was just highlighting, first of all they were hypocrites, but also highlighting that even though this person might be struggling with this — this was a woman caught in the act of adultery — even when she might be struggling with that, you guys aren’t no better. I think that’s almost the same thing with us today. At the addiction center, I won’t repeat the word recovering. Normally, these people are castaways, by their families, they call them addicts. Personally, I stay away from that term because of the negative stigma attached to it. I use the term ‘users,’ but they are castaways, and I feel like the Bible changed my mindset on the world. Even though [there is] degradation that is going on in the world, you can make a difference just by bringing out that inner light within you. Let your light shine so bright among men. And that’s why I feel my belief in the Bible is the core to everything that I do in my life.”
PD: What do you hope to get across to students today?
CB: “Community violence is a large issue, actually [in] some research it’s considered a public health issue, an epidemic. What I’m looking to do with my talk — it’s more than three things — the first is raise the awareness of what is going on. Number two, is to link how community violence impacts the mental health of our young Black individuals, because I mentioned earlier, they are not aware. I grew up, one of my friends got shot at, drive-by, I thought it was normal honestly. Me, I almost got pressed a few times myself, I evaded that. Both of my brothers were sticked up at gunpoint, I thought all of this was honestly regular. Witnessing people get jumped all the time, robbed all the time, I thought it was regular, and [stabbings]. I didn’t realize how that’s not regular until I left my neighborhood. When I went to college I realized that’s not regular. So I want to bring awareness to how what’s going on in the community is not regular and how it impacts your mental health by default, not everybody, but there’s a strong possibility it impacts a lot. Now, after that, I want to bring to the light, preventive factors and how we can start to overcome.”
PD: You talked about parent-child relationships, and a lot about your mother. What kind of figure was she for you in your life and did she motivate you in your career?
CB: “My mom was a role model for me, and a leader. She really endured through diversity, a lot. My mom had seven children. She lost her job in the twin towers, praise to the most high she didn’t lose her life. But me witnessing all of that really did impact how I grew up, and I’m like, adversity is just another obstacle to hop over. Me, also witnessing that, I think that developed my optimism. A lot of people might tell you, I really don’t see a negative in a lot of situations. Of course I see, but I don’t seek it. I seek opportunity and optimism out of every situation because there is one. There genuinely is one. Like I said, even though my mom lost her job she didn’t lose her life. I naturally do it because I’m an optimistic person, and I think I gained that witnessing her overcome all the adversity that we endured and all the adversity she’s still enduring. So that’s the base level of what I gleaned from her.”
Editor’s note (3/30/22): An earlier version of this article stated Boston was a Master of Public Administration student. Boston is pursuing a Master of Social Work. Pipe Dream regrets the error.