This piece explores another African American bit of history. It is about John Lewis and James Zwerg.
Like many, I would love to have been a proverbial “fly on the wall,” listening intently to candid conversations between those two men. Of course, we –well, most of us anyway – know about the late congressman John Lewis. But James Zwerg?
There is much discussion in the United States of what race is, how it can be and is used for good and ill, and how it can be used permissibly from a legal perspective of “environmental justice” and “race neutrality” as a political initiative. These discussions can become quite heated. This article is an attempt to “disambiguate” the discussion, as the post-modern literary critics say.
Continue reading A Primer on Race Identification in America – by Marc Brenman
Believe me, it wasn’t easy but I took a deep breath and returned to an eerie intersection, the scene of a nearby church and scene of my auto accident four years ago.
Like back then, a motor cyclist pulled out in front of me, this time from a nearby gas station and thankfully with an entirely different result. He sped off and I, shaken by the coincidence, pulled into that church parking lot to catch my breath and reflect on what just happened, what could have happened and what happened back then.
Continue reading Hey, I’m Alive! – by Terry Howard
A Co-Authored Interview
Carlos: Marjorie, as a historian, I was blown away by the richness of your class syllabus. How did you come up with the idea of using history to ground a clinical psychology course?
Marjorie: I was a history major in college, so I have always loved it. I remember when I first discovered that history is not just facts about wars and dead people, but was an interpretation of past events. Then I began to learn that most history was controlled by those with power and privilege, which meant there were those whose voices were silenced or never heard from. I knew it would be important for therapists. Once I began teaching at Azusa Pacific University, I found that students were often overwhelmed when working with older adults and clients from a different historical era. They did not know their history, which became a barrier to providing effective treatment. We decided to add a class to close this gap.
“Hold up! Did Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell say what I thought he said?” rhetorically asked columnist Jonathan Capehart.
Well, yes, Jonathan, your ears didn’t lie. You heard what you heard. And if you are any person of color, neither did it come as a surprise.
Now as much as I’d like to cut McConnell some slack because of his “caught with his pants down” moment, I couldn’t resist the opportunity. In case you missed it, here is what he said when asked about concerns about voter participation by African Americans:
On Monday the nation will pause to observe the annual holiday honoring the life and legacy of iconic civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet too many Millennials and members of their younger cohort, Generation Z, consider civil rights history as ancient history at the dawn of a new millennium.
However, there are profound and poignant lessons which today’s young people need to learn. The most important lesson is how to make major changes in society through the type of peaceful means championed by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his fellow civil rights leaders of the time.
A term of significance for young people to comprehend is: “civil disobedience.” Continue reading MLK Day: Civil Rights Lessons for Millennials and Gen Z – by David Grinberg
Following the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests, the number of diversity-related jobs increased significantly as organizations worked to address issues that could no longer be ignored. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) became more important as organizations launched initiatives focusing on making meaningful change. While some organizations simply increased their diversity efforts, others created new positions focused on diversity. These positions ranged from entry-level jobs to executive-level positions and spanned all types of organizations including academia. Indeed.com reported that diversity, inclusion, and belonging (DI&B) job postings increased by 123% between May and September of 2020.
Continue reading Trends in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging – by Gail Dawson
In December, 2021, millions of secondary school students in India appeared for their Class X (Grade 10) exams conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Since its inception in the 1920s, the Board has gone through several changes and emerged as one of the largest such organisations in the world, with more than 25,000 school — based in India and other countries — affiliated to it. Each year, about 2 million students take the secondary board exams.
Continue reading The exam paper that stumped all – by Mona Bopanna
A Co-Authored Interview
Carlos: Steve, now that you’ve retired as Associate Director of Residence Life at the University of Maryland, College Park, I would love to get your thoughts about the changing nature of student speech. In the twenty-five years that I worked with your department, I saw many changes.
Steve: You’re right. The two of us certainly had fun designing our Common Ground program back in the 1990s. That program would bring together diverse groups of students – sometimes more than a dozen – to discuss current equity dilemmas. A series of four, 90-minute dialogue sessions, all framed around a single provocative question. Should laws governing abortion be changed? Should universities use intentional methods to diversify their student populations? Rousing and illuminating conversations.
My name is Ken Granderson. I was born in New York City in 1963, and grew up in a blue-collar household. Like most Black Americans, I grew up in a religious background surrounded by both very religious and very sincere adults.
I have no negative experiences to speak of from my days growing up in the church. The church I attended tended was very moderate and the biggest thing that we kids had to worry about was strict older church ladies.
And it is safe to say that I’ve been a Humanist my entire life – long before I ever learned the word.
Continue reading Entrepreneurship as a Black Humanist – by Ken Granderson