by Ashika Sethi
Welcome back to our monthly series of Things We’re Into, an update on everything CASA staff is buzzing about! We’re here as Certified Professional Enthusiasts to keep the series going with some ~super~ recommendations on movies, articles, and everything else in recent memory that pertains to our advocacy at CASA.
Spring hath sprung upon us, and we can’t think of any better way to celebrate the sunshine than staying indoors to binge Netflix shows and catch up on good reads! Without further ado, here are some recommendations we at CASA are raving about right now.
If your Netflix queue is running low, watch
'Queer Eye', S3, streaming on Netflix
“Queer Eye’s newest season has the boys connecting with men and women of all ages, racial and ethnic identities, and life experiences to help them reach their fullest potential. It’s amazing to watch people who have struggled with trauma or low self-esteem come into their own after they are given the tools they need to show themselves some love and attention. It’s an amazing spotlight on how healing self-care can be. I will forever be recommending this show!”
- Meredith Chambers, Child Advocacy Specialist
'Heroin(e)'; streaming on Netflix
“Heroin(e) is a great glimpse into the opioid crisis, from the perspective of female first responders.”
- Blair Adams, Volunteer Recruitment Specialist
'SHAZAM!'; in theaters April 5
“Superheroes, at their best, have an uncanny ability to deliver lessons about life in ways that teachers, parents, mentors, or religion can’t. Sometimes that’s about great power and responsibility (Spider-Man), hope (Superman and Wonder Woman), or discrimination (the X-Men). At its heart, Shazam is about who we call family and how family reflects who we are.
In Shazam’s case, it’s very literal for Billy, who doesn’t have an attachment to the foster families he’s running from. But even for those of us who aren’t street-smart foster kids, and who have lived lives full of love and support, there’s a very human yearning and hope that we’ll find more people like us. That humanity is what Shazam is fluent in. And if we’re lucky, Shazam assures us, we can share a little bit of that magic, our magic, with others.” via Vox
'Captain Marvel'; in theaters now
“We’ve been celebrating superhero movies for years as part of our CASA Superhero Run, and in the past 3 years have been really excited to see them up their game on diverse leads, including Wonder Woman and Black Panther. With Captain Marvel, the Marvel Universe finally has its female lead and it happens in a fantastic movie that I’ve already seen twice in theaters. It’s funny, it’s a humanitarian story, and it reminds us that people aren’t always what they seem and that we have to dig deeper to understand the full picture. That’s an important lesson we must take into our work as advocates for children, especially as an organization that values families healing and rebuilding when in a child’s best interest.”
- Callie Langford, Director of Communications
'Out of Many, One'; streaming on Netflix
“This documentary provides an interesting and multi-faceted view of what it’s like to immigrate to the United States in 2019.”
- Blair Adams, Volunteer Recruitment Specialist
If you’re on the hunt for a good read, check out
“Abused Wolves and Troubled Teens Find Solace in Each Other,” NPR
"Over the course of the eight-week program, the teens interact closely with the wolves and wolf-dogs, forming a strong bond, according to Beer. They begin to believe that if the wolves can heal, so can they. 'They start standing up straighter,' she says. 'They come in with a smile and maybe even a hug or they laugh and tell you a story. We watch them transition.'"
Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover
“Educated : A Memoir is the story of Tara Westover, who started her education formally at the age of 17. This is a tale of survival and struggle. The story takes several dramatic turns relating to Mormon survivalism, family dynamics, new horizons, abuse and several other defining moments. The most remarkable fact about the story is that after entering the classroom so late, Tara earned a PhD in history.”
- Wendy Morse, Training Specialist
April is National Volunteer Month!
Read why CASA staff appreciate our CASA volunteers on our blog from last April.
If your commute is dragging along, tune in to
'Broken Harts'
“I recommend the podcast Broken Harts. It’s about the adoptive family that was in the news a year or so ago for driving off a cliff in California with all six of their adopted kids. The children were adopted out of Houston and the podcast explores some of the Texas foster care system, same-sex domestic violence, and how prejudice lead to the children’s abuse being ignored. It was super heavy, but an important listen!”
- Grace Kelsoe, Child Advocacy Specialist
2019 CASA Recommends April
