East Meets West Social Worker - When an Asian American mom integrates her Eastern cultural background with Western education and experience, only the best philosophies, spirituality, and social work can help to make sense of her life, marriage, and parenting.

Starbucks Racial Profiling Incident: 7 Tips To Respond to Racial Controversies

April 18, 2018 By Kim Parker, LCSW

The last few days, I’ve been reading and hearing about two young, black men getting kicked out of a Starbucks in Philadelphia (see here and here). Apparently, a white, female store manager called the police because the two were sitting there and appeared to be not paying customers. The cops allegedly asked them to leave but after 12 minutes of them refusing to leave the store, arrested them overnight. Reportedly, the young men were waiting for a friend and were not… Read more

Christian Feminism: The Southern Christian Mom

April 11, 2018 By Kim Parker, LCSW

0 Comments

Have you ever wondered what an average day in the life of an American mom entails? Do you imagine what these Christians in the Bible Belt are really like? I’m a bit of a sociologist by hobby and social worker and clinician by profession, so I get to associate with and study a fairly large slice of the spectrum of Southerners. And having been a mom since fifteen years ago, I’ve been around a lot of mothers going through various… Read more

A Different Kind Of Intersectional Jesus: Christian feminism from an immigrant’s perspective

April 3, 2018 By Kim Parker, LCSW

0 Comments

Christians who climb on the progressive bandwagon often talk about a Jesus that is “intersectional” — one who confronts and overturns the systems and power structures that promote poverty and marginalization of certain groups of people—mainly women, children, the poor, outcast, the foreigner among us, etc… The more of these factors you have, the exponential your suffering, or so the progressive thinking goes. Armed with this socio-political framework, many social workers advocate for the empowerment of marginalized people groups, and… Read more

Good Friday or Bad Friday, You Decide

March 28, 2018 By Kim Parker, LCSW

0 Comments

Millions of Christians across the world will be celebrating this weekend starting on the somber holiday of Good Friday in various ways including fasting and church services. But why is it called good when it is about the death of Jesus, our Lord and Savior? In fact, I just learned that in Germany, Good Friday is also called Sorrowful Friday. And how appropriate since this day is commemorated as the day that Jesus, the unblemished lamb of God, died from… Read more

Learning Politics From My Refugee Parents: A Lesson into World History

March 20, 2018 By Kim Parker, LCSW

0 Comments

My parents came to visit me, my husband, and the grandkids for Spring Break and provided interesting lessons in world history as I quizzed them about their past. It started innocently when I was taking them to visit a relative my parents informed me that I had. The relative’s home was located in a Chinese Vietnamese part of Houston. We were driving on Bellaire Blvd when we crossed a street whose name my dad immediately recognized. At the intersection of… Read more

When Christians Get in the Way Of Christ

March 6, 2018 By Kim Parker, LCSW

5 Comments

Church unity or “unity in diversity” is a lofty goal. Most American Christians I know, including myself, mean well. We are trying to be followers of Christ, disciples of Christ, the body of believers. If you get to know each Christian individually, you would be able to relate. Catch a believer in his/her solitude, converse with anonymity, and you would find him/her quite lovable, even adorable. Connections and understanding are sweet like honey, refreshing like water. The problems seem to… Read more

The Black Panther Review: A Social Worker’s Dream Case Study

February 28, 2018 By Kim Parker, LCSW

4 Comments

You might have already read many reviews of the latest movie sensation, the Black Panther. But have you read one from a social worker’s analytical perspective? Neither black nor white, but holistic and systemic? There’s nothing typical about Ryan Coogler’s Marvel blockbuster movie. For one, it’s a predominantly Black cast full of good looking, powerful people with superpowers. It also has strong political messages but manages to please Americans of various political persuasions. I know conservatives and progressives of various… Read more

The Christian Resistance Movement

February 20, 2018 By Kim Parker, LCSW

0 Comments

Did you know that Christian parents have been in the resistance movement long before the popularity of hashtags? Many people know about a popular new trend called #resist or #theresistance. Three decades ago, Star Wars may have popularized the term, referring to a small but brave group of rebels fighting against an evil force that’s perceived to be overtaking the galaxy. Today, Americans who believe that President Trump and the Republican Party stand only for bad things have used these… Read more

Finding True Love in a False Love World

February 13, 2018 By Kim Parker, LCSW

0 Comments

Americans are getting ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Do you have a true love to celebrate with? In order to find true love, we’ve got to know what it is, what it looks like. Fortunately or unfortunately, our first examples of true love are our parents. They are supposed to be our first heroes–bigger, wiser grownups who teach us about sacrificial, unconditional love. The truth is that they don’t always get it right, although some come closer than others. They… Read more