Category Archives: Social Issues

Social causes, activism, and projects

Academic Articles, Authors A-H, Of Women, Social Issues

Where Are the Women’s Voices? – by Sheryl Axelrod

Aside

legal The Under-Representation of Women at the Highest Levels of the Legal Profession 

The extent of gender diversity at the highest levels of the legal profession, is dismal.  

I. BY THE NUMBERS: AT THE UPPER ECHELONS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION, WHITE WOMEN ARE OUTNUMBERED BY MEN BY A FACTOR OF ALMOST AT LEAST 2 TO 1, AND THERE ARE NEARLY NO WOMEN OF COLOR AND LGBT+ WOMEN
 Continue reading Where Are the Women’s Voices? – by Sheryl Axelrod →

Authors I-Q, Social Issues

African American History Month – by Eva Jo (Saddler) Johnson

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African American History (AAH) Celebrations for decades have been designated to the month of February, mostly. I remember when invited the very few African American Educators’ staff members and our high school’s English Department Chairperson this was two years after I was hired in the state of Connecticut and after my college graduation. 

We staff members were well aware that no knowledge or acknowledgement of African American History lessons were being incorporated or extra-curriculum programs into our school’s educational classroom goals and activities.

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Advisors, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

“What did I do wrong?” asked Tyre Nichols – by Terry Howard

“Mommy, when is daddy coming home?”

That’s the harrowing question that survivors of Tyre Nichols, a lanky 145 pound 29-year-old late – I repeat, late – father of a 4-year-old must answer. The other critical question is when will this senseless wiping out of Black people in America come to an end? Unfortunately, the answer to the latter question answers itself. You cannot erase history, can you?

So here we go again with another exhausting chapter in the convoluted history of race in the good ole USA. As the late civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer famously said, “we’re sick and tired of being sick and tired!” 

Continue reading “What did I do wrong?” asked Tyre Nichols – by Terry Howard →

Advisors, Authors A-H, Music, theater, TV, dance, Social Issues

Diversity and Speech No. 35: Rockin’ Diversity – by Carlos E. Cortés and Teri Gerent

Carlos:  Tell me, Teri.  How did you come up with the idea of teaching history through rock and roll music?

Teri: I’ve always loved music.  From the time I became a history teacher in 1998, I thought of music whenever we reached the twentieth century.  Then it hit me.  Why not help students reconsider U.S. history by structuring a course around music?  It worked.  

Carlos:  Well, if music works for teaching high school students, why not for diversity workshops, too?    

Continue reading Diversity and Speech No. 35: Rockin’ Diversity – by Carlos E. Cortés and Teri Gerent →

Advisors, Politics, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

Ron “The Banner” DeSantis! – by Terry Howard

Doggonit Ron DeSantis, so-called “governor” of the great state of Florida. You just can’t seem to let well enough alone, can you? Your obsessive thirst for power and a move to the White House knows no boundary. Here you go again with another asinine effort to “ban” something, this time the teaching of an AP African American History course to be taught in Florida public high schools. 

Now if memory serves me correct, it was not that long ago when you got your  jollies off by banning books and – the absurdity of all absurdities – banning the word “gay.” There’s something pathological sick about your weird penchant for banning stuff. 

Continue reading Ron “The Banner” DeSantis! – by Terry Howard →

Advisors, Authors A-H, Politics, Social Issues

Diversity and Speech Part 32: Language Tensions of Speech and Social Justice  – by Carlos E. Cortés

Most public surveys about free speech and the First Amendment go something like this.

  • “Do you believe in the idea of free speech?” Overwhelmingly yes.
  • “Should group slurs be allowed?” Overwhelmingly no..
  • “Do you support the First Amendment?” Overwhelmingly yes.
  • “Should hate speech be permitted?” Overwhelmingly no.

What gives? Aren’t these positions inconsistent? Yes, in the abstract or in the arcane world of constitutional interpretation. No, in the walk-around world where most people reside. Turns out most people like the idea of being protected from government interference with their use of speech. But they also like it when governments and private entities step in to mute certain categories of speech, categories that they might consider harmful, divisive, offensive, or misleading. The problem is that people do not agree on which speech categories should be banned. One person’s sense of truth telling is another person’s sense of disinformation.

Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 32: Language Tensions of Speech and Social Justice  – by Carlos E. Cortés →

Academic Articles, Authors I-Q, Social Issues

Antisemitic Rhetoric on Chattanooga Campus – by Rabbi Craig Lewis

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Of all the times to learn that about antisemitic literature circulating in my city, the news reached me during the intermission of “Fiddler on the Roof.” It is a great show that captures a moment in time, combining the folklore of Sholom Aleichem, the imagery of Marc Chagall, and great music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick to tell a story from the collective Jewish memory. As with true Jewish history, it includes the good and the bad parts of being Jewish. We love “Tradition,” but much of our tradition has been built under the weight of oppression. “Fiddler” does not ignore this as the Russian constable’s promise of a pogrom, a violent attack against Jewish communities, mostly in the Russian Empire. Like Chekov’s gun, the mention of a pogrom comes to fruition and disrupts the joyous wedding scene. Being that this is still musical comedy, the pogrom is sanitized: a few goose pillows are torn up, a table flipped over, and one wedding guest is beaten. There is just enough to suggest what really would have happened.

An informed viewer of the show knows it more likely looked like the description from Chayim Nachman Bialik’s poem, “The City of Slaughter,” written about the 1903 pogrom in Kishinev. Here are a few excerpts:

Continue reading Antisemitic Rhetoric on Chattanooga Campus – by Rabbi Craig Lewis →

Authors A-H, Of Women, Social Issues

The Heartbreak in Hanger Sales – by Samantha Belcher

In early May of 2022, I noticed a couple of protestors yelling at the downtown traffic on my drive home. Ironically, I believe I was on my way home from grabbing boba with some friends to commemorate the end of our junior year of college. I was unable to make out what their signs or chants depicted nor did I have much interest. It wasn’t until a few hours later when my father texted me a link to a news story covering what would be known as the beginning of worldwide heartbreak: the leaked draft of the Supreme Court majority decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) that would explicitly overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

Continue reading The Heartbreak in Hanger Sales – by Samantha Belcher →

Authors I-Q, Social Issues

Discrimination in America’s Healthcare Systems – by Rose Joneson

Where Can Change Start?

A considerable number of patients experience discrimination in the country’s healthcare system. Over 21% of adults report being discriminated against, and 72% of this group say they’ve experienced discrimination more than once. Racial and ethnic discrimination are the most commonly experienced by Americans seeking medical attention. These events affect the kind of care patients receive, putting their well-being at risk. For instance, a doctor’s refusal to treat a person of color (POC) in an emergency highly endangers the patient’s health.

On that note, let’s dive deeper into discrimination in America’s healthcare systems—and what’s being done to address it.

Continue reading Discrimination in America’s Healthcare Systems – by Rose Joneson →

Academic Articles, Authors A-H, Social Issues

The Ministry of Conversation – by Minister William H. Hicks

“For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My Name, there I AM in the midst of them.” [Matthew 18:20AMPC]
(Part of the Series of Practical Instruction for Disciples of Christ)

What is ministry? “A person or thing through which something is accomplished.” [Merriam-Webster Online dictionary]; to serve the needs of others, especially their spiritual needs.

What is conversation? Conversations are discourses, usually between two (2) individuals or, at most (in numbers) small groups of 6 to 9 persons. Conversations are characterized by: intimacy and proximity (although this latter has been redefined by modern communication technology); respect; good listening skills; patience; good intentions; positive energy/passion; no fear; trust/honesty and honest differences of opinion; integrity; hope for a strengthened relationship from having participated in the conversation.

Continue reading The Ministry of Conversation – by Minister William H. Hicks →