My three granddaughters are, respectively, age 12, 5 and 3. They are also Black and beautiful. I start with that as a link that to what I’m about to write about; something personal, very personal.
You see, I’m ticked off to report that we have still another addition to the umpteenth volume of our “You can’t make this stuff up folks” collection, our chronicles of the asinine. Our latest entry comes from Caldwell, New Jersey courtesy of some “racially nearsighted” dude by the name of Gordon Lawshe.
In 1926, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, an African-American historian, writer, and educator, created Negro History Week to honor the contributions of people of African descent in the U.S. He founded the Association for the Study of Negro (now African-American) Life and History in 1915 and the Journal of Negro History in 1916. Born in 1875 to former enslaved people in New Canton, Virginia, the Harvard-educated Woodson chose February for Negro History Week because the birthdays of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln fall then. He wrote, “What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race, hate, and religious prejudice.” Dr. Woodson contributed to our understanding that a better knowledge of history is critical for people in the African diaspora to achieve greater pride, self-determination and collective progress.Negro History Week itself changed. About fifty years later, near the close of the Black Power period (early 1970s), the celebration was renamed Black History Week and later expanded to Black History Month in 1976.
after Two Devils for Tea, Kelli Hoppmann, oil on panel, 2004
Leaves
You always made two cups of steaming tea, one for him
and one for you. Your tea was calming; you did not say
what his was intended to do. Even so, your muzzle
would sometimes wrinkle and twitch, your eyes glow
red. He could not tell when you were looking at him.
When he began discreetly pouring out his smoky tea into
the houseplants, they flourished as if you had spoken
to them every day for a year, given them pet names.
Hey readers, with African American history top of mind, does the name “Barbara Johns” ring a familiar bell with you? If not don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. You see, when African American history comes up there are two realities; first, it gets compressed into February (or recently Juneteenth) and, second, it typically cites the well-deserved names as its founder Carter G. Woodson, Dr. Charles Drew, Rosa Parks, George Washington Carver, W. E. B. DuBois Dr. King and others. So, I figured that perhaps the Barbara Johns’ story of profound unprecedented courage, the focus of this narrative, may pique your interest.
But first for context, consider the following imaginary scenario.
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?
Kicking off year 2023 by making New Year’s resolutions, although we may not keep them, is no different from what we’ve always done. However, looking back over what some would argue was a tumultuous 2022, it’s not inconceivable for many of us to regret not having said no in some situations and to some people. That may include, for example, a bad loan to someone, allowing inappropriate behaviors, making promises you couldn’t keep, ordering a few extra desserts, taking on unreasonable requests or holding onto personal grudges and toxic relationships. Thus, this being another year for fresh starts, you saying (without regret) “no” will save you some unnecessary headaches.
The current Supreme Court will continue to whittle away at civil and human rights. Advocates will continue to sign petitions, march, and hold demonstrations, as if these activities would cause the federal judiciary to change its mind. They won’t.
The US will continue to become more diverse, especially by Hispanics and Asian-Americans. More people will identify as multi-racial. The percent of African-Americans will continue to remain relatively constant. However, despite this, the diversity practitioner and CDO field will continue to be dominated by African-American women.
The Chief Diversity Officer function will continue not to be represented at the executive team table along with other mission critical functions.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
~Hosea 4:6
Throughout the years, the approach to dealing with “diversity problems” has included fundamental concepts, such as education, training, and communication. While the terms diversity training and diversity education are sometimes used interchangeably, others differentiate between the two terms. Diversity training involves providing people with skills and tactics to enable them to navigate a specific diverse environment while diversity education is more comprehensive and involves mindset shifts and frameworks that enable one to utilize broader knowledge to navigate various, complex environments. Communication also plays a key role in building awareness of similarities and differences as well as building respect and trust among people from diverse backgrounds. Together, diversity training, education, and communications have been regarded as essential in creating diversity, equity, and inclusion. Continue reading Diversity Trends 2023 – by Dr. Gail Dawson→
They’re wandering outside with the guns and urging us
to be in peace
they’re torching house after house and village after village
and claiming to have driven away the darkness
they’re killing people with no conflict and talking to remain
consoled after the enemy is slayed.
Letting us hold the chit of the suffrage of our voting right
they’re pulling us to be enslaved
stamping over the people under various parties by
disfiguring, splitting, slashing, kneading and decimating
only to say you’re complete.
They’re raping women and giving the sermon on
women empowerment
having opened the factory of unemployment, they’re
promising a thousand employments in thousand days
picking up the neighbor’s skullcap in trident they’re
talking of secularism.
Shooting the democracy, they’re hailing the victory
of Ram in the country
having opened the breweries, they’re talking of
liquor prevention.
Depriving the citizens of their rights and dismantling
the constitution and the judiciary
they’re talking about civil rights
selling the country out to the hands of the foreign land
they’re talking about patriotism.
Lost in a silent land
or swept up by a cloud of whispers.
Entire worlds left in deep space, abandoned
to their savage winters, their burning
stretches of ice over mountains
and empty valleys.
