The two of us first met in July, 2020, when we were asked to serve as inaugural co-directors of the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine’s new Health Equity, Social Justice, and Anti-Racism (HESJAR) curricular initiative. Health equity, social justice, and anti-racism are important concepts, but they can easily degenerate into little more than buzz words. Our challenge was to transform those six words into a focused, integrated, and transformative learning experience for our students.
Category Archives: About Us
About the American Diversity Report
The Polygraph Test: A Scientific and Moral Dilemma – by Koula Zambounis-Black
Introduction:
Throughout history, societies advanced in various methods of deception detection. In the earliest of times, it seems torture was the ideal method for identifying truthfulness. Confessions provided on the rack, by fire, water submersion, or even blood ritual, placated those seeking the truth during our early human history. The first noted scientific approach for lie detection arrived in 1885 when Cesare Lombroso invented a device that measured changes in blood pressure in individuals being questioned about truthfulness. In 1917, William M. Marstin, J.D., Ph.D. a student at Harvard University, alleged the discovery of a specific lie response that launched the means of distinguishing deception from truthfulness. This discovery birthed the creation of what we now know today as the polygraph test after considerable innovations and a patent by a police officer in California named Leonarde Keeler during the 1920s.
Continue reading The Polygraph Test: A Scientific and Moral Dilemma – by Koula Zambounis-Black
Embracing Diversity in the Workplace – by Calvin Hosey
A Pathway to Innovation and Empowerment
In our fast-paced world where innovation is the driving force, businesses must recognize the undeniable value of diversity in the workplace. As a tech executive with two decades of experience navigating the corporate ladder, I’ve come to understand that diversity isn’t just about representation—it’s about fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and empowerment. At Regpack, we’ve embraced this philosophy, and the results speak for themselves.
A Journey through Tech and Inspiration
My journey in the tech industry began with a single step, fueled by my passion for technology’s power to transform lives. Throughout my career, I’ve encountered numerous challenges, but what kept me motivated were the stories of those who broke barriers and thought outside the box. Leaders who had victories resulting from their diverse backgrounds and unique perspectives inspired me to pave the way for my own success.
Continue reading Embracing Diversity in the Workplace – by Calvin Hosey
The Value of Servant Leadership – by Lorne Steedley
As an executive, I am often asked about the best approaches for developing strong, values-based leaders in organizations. One model that I frequently recommend is servant leadership.
Servant leadership prioritizes the needs of colleagues, stewardship of resources, and service over personal power and control. The concept was first developed in the 1970s by Robert Greenleaf who believed leaders should focus first on serving others to bring out the best in their people and organizations.
On the road to what? – by Deborah Levine
Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
I was surprised to see the photos of Ron DeSantis’ motorcade multi-car pile up on I-75 near Brainerd Road. Frankly I’m skeptical about the rumors saying that a dog had caused the accident. In the more than 20 years I’ve traveled that road, I’ve never seen a dog cross that road. I wonder if his cars got entangled in some of the orange traffic cones along the way. Or maybe they got caught in heavy traffic on that section of the highway when folks careen across lanes.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if either had happened. Whatever the cause, we may never know. DeSantis was using state government vehicles and a new law was just passed shielding his travel records from public view. But we do know about our challenging roads and we’re learning more.
First lesson: Note this quote from Patrick Rothfuss, “Safe roads are the bones of civilization.” Key for keeping those bones safe is how people drive on them. Alas, what were once civilized and polite driving has given way to the equivalent of the pushing and shoving by kids in school hallways. I am forever grateful for those drivers who let you onto the highway in front of them. And for those who don’t speed up to cut you off as they cross lanes. They have a slightly saintly aura.
Second lesson: Construction is the new normal. I wonder if DeSantis’ team had driven around East Ridge and the Brainerd area. The drive can be mind-numbing. Ringgold road is continually under construction with orange traffic cones everywhere. Digging equipment have decorated various sides of the road for longer than I can remember. Main roads are blocked. Some ramps on and off to the highway are gone. My favorite mess is the circular path now made by metal shafts that lead cars on Terrace in a circle around closed I-24 ramps. A driver unused to the area had gotten on the circle by mistake and just sat there in his car, mystified at the traffic coming coming at him. Yeah, buddy…I feel your pain.
We all know that Chattanooga is growing by leaps and bounds. You only have to look at the number of grey and white apartment buildings going up all over town, transforming once distinctive areas into lookalikes. Water mains and sewer systems are being updated, often leaving raised planks and covers that click loudly driven over into the night.
As we grow and roads get more congested, the modernization process that widens and adds highway lanes can be confusing. For example, if you don’t know that the extra lanes on the highway will quickly merge and disappear, being mystified is the least of your worries.
Governor Bill Lee has responded with a statewide campaign to promote his $3 billion Transportation Modernization Act. He recently gave a speech at Alison Pike site that’s part of a larger project to widen Apison Pike from Interstate 75 to East Brainerd Road and more safely connect Ooltewah, Collegedale and Apison to Chattanooga’s urban core. An admirable goal…except for one thing. The Act explores public-private partnerships for “Choice Lanes”. That’s a divert-and-deflect euphemism for toll roads. Supposedly this will decrease congestion, save taxpayer dollars and make road projects more efficient.
The urban planner in me wants to know exactly how toll booths would be a plus for transportation. And who would own these Choice Lanes, and could sell them to whom. I hear echoes of that old saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. If you hear that, too, ask questions. Lots of pointed questions. And don’t settle for divert-and-deflect answers.
Change is Inevitable as is the Future: Get Creative! – by Deborah Levine
Working from home became the norm during the pandemic, but it isn’t a new concept. Computers have pointed us in that direction for almost 50 years. When my mother insisted that I take the first computer programming elective offered at my high school during the 1960s, I thought she was nuts. I was focused on learning Russian and preparing for a catastrophic moment in the Cold War. But Mom informed me in her soft sweet voice that computers were the change shaping the future and she was commanding, not suggesting. And if that weren’t weird enough, she insisted that I take a typing class to ramp up my keyboard speed.
Continue reading Change is Inevitable as is the Future: Get Creative! – by Deborah Levine
Time is well spent at the library – by Deborah Levine
Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
As I enter our downtown library I’m reminded of a famous quote by science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury, “Libraries raised me.” Growing up in Bermuda, the one small public library was a treasure and my grandmother donated the Encyclopedia Britannica to it. When we came to America as a kid, we lived in several different communities before settling in Long Island, New York. Lacking any sense of direction I often got ridiculously lost, but agree with Albert Einstein who said, “The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”
Continue reading Time is well spent at the library – by Deborah Levine
Perspective on Christian Nationalism – by A. James Rudin
Baptizing America Revisited
A specter is haunting America and it is not socialism and certainly not communism. It’s the obscene specter of Americans being forced to kneel in submission to an extremist “winner take all” religious ideology seeking to transform the United States into a “Christian nationalist” country where Christian supremacy in its many forms supersedes all human laws – including and especially the American Constitution.
In my book “The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right’s Plans For The Rest Of Us (Thunder’s Mouth Press 2006), I warned that a well-financed and highly organized group of religious and political leaders was seeking to impose their narrow radical beliefs and harsh public policies on the US, even as our nation’s population was increasingly multireligious, multiethnic, and multiracial.
Continue reading Perspective on Christian Nationalism – by A. James Rudin
End of Affirmative Action? A Tale of Two Stories – by Dr. Carlos Cortés
Keynote Address for Constitutional Law:
The End of Affirmative Action
Part of the Signature DIAlogue Webinar Series of the
Los Angeles County Department of Human Resources
Thank you for the opportunity of reflecting on Affirmative Action, particularly the two recent Supreme Court decisions that struck down the admissions policies of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. I’ll approach this topic as both an 89-year-old retired history professor and a half-century diversity consultant/public lecturer who actually witnessed the birth of affirmative action.
The six-decade affirmative action journey involves two intersecting stories: a vision story and a systems story. Both are rooted in the civil rights movement and were launched officially by President John F. Kennedy’s March 6, 1961, Executive Order 10925.
Continue reading End of Affirmative Action? A Tale of Two Stories – by Dr. Carlos Cortés
Bunny Bear Adventures – Teaching Guide
This guide for teachers and parents helps children connect to their own feelings and develop empathy for others. The Teaching Guide uses the science of storytelling to design engaging stories as a tool for social and personal competencies. Given the growing need to teach young students respect and empathy, the video stories of Bunny Bear Adventures provide a creative approach for teaching social and emotional awareness and laying the groundwork for positive and productive human interaction.
The stories can be read out loud to students and be accompanied by the Bunny Bear Adventures Coloring Book. Topics in the stories include: welcoming newcomers, understanding differences, dealing with bullying, awareness of language and valuing compassion and kindness.