Category Archives: About Us

About the American Diversity Report

Authors R-Z, Pandemic, Religious Diversity Kit

The Power of Om – by Sridhar Rangaswamy

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 I hail from the family of Priests and Pastors in India. My tryst with “Om” and its significance in my life is immense. From early childhood, I was taught how to chant it with correct diction and feel so that it would bring my mind, soul, and body in unison with the vibrations of the chant.

I used to be an over active child and would never sit in one place to study or do anything with concentration and single-minded focus. The chanting of Om made my mind calm, it helped me focus on my studies and made me aware of my surroundings.

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Authors R-Z, Religious Diversity Kit, Social Issues, Trends 2020

Will there be an Easter in 2020? – by Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

As a child, on Easter Sunday, my mother had my clothes neatly pressed laid on the bed. My wardrobe consisted of a light knee length dress, normally sky blue or ivory, with white socks, and white patten leather shoes. She’d tie a light blue ribbon in my hair and hand me rosary beads to place in my tiny white purse. Then my parents, brother and I went to church. I had been too young to understand the importance of the day. All I cared about was getting home to my basket of chocolate and toys. After mass we’d go to my grandmother’s house for pasta with simmering tomato sauce cooking on the stove and a rack of lamb with fresh garlic hot in the oven. It filled the room with a delectable aroma. Year after year we continue the same food tradition, not the wardrobe, and spend it with family. But this year may be different…

I’ve seen movies about it and even wondered if it could happen, but to live it, is surreal. Easter is April 12th. Will we be with family? Will anyone be able to spend it with their family or go to church? With Covid-19 aka Corona Virus across the world, who knows?

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Authors A-H, Trends 2020

Diversity and Speech Part 11: Dehumanizing Speech 2070 – by Carlos E. Cortés

This is my final (for now) of three columns offering fifty-year projections concerning the following question: as a nation, where will we stand in 2070 when it comes to the contested interplay of diversity and speech?  These three columns are based on a December, 2019, public presentation on diversity and speech that I gave at the Speculative Futures in Education Conference at the University of California, Riverside.  In my previous two columns I argued that, during the next fifty years, there are likely to be significant changes in the legal framework for dealing with Hate speech and Harmful speech.

First, Hate.  In the past decade the internet has dramatically altered the hate speech conversation.  As an easily-accessible mechanism for spreading hate and precipitating action, the internet has developed into a true weapon of terror.  First Amendment absolutists repeatedly proclaim that the best way to fight hate is simply through “more speech.”   However, “more speech” has proven to be decidedly ineffective in combating the internet hate speech avalanche, including troll storms and doxing.  For that reason, I predict that the necessity of curbing hate-speech-fueled violence, particularly against marginalized people, will ultimately drive government to restricting at least some forms of hate speech by 2070. 

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Authors A-H, Social Issues, Wellness

Coronavirus Magnifies Need for Obamacare on 10th Anniversary – By David B. Grinberg

As America wages a life and death battle against the skyrocketing spread of novel coronavirus, the critical importance of preserving Obamacare is more relevant today than ever. This is particularly true as more litigation to cripple the landmark law is pending at the Supreme Court.

In case you missed it, May 23 marked the 10-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly known as Obamacare. The ACA signifies one of the most groundbreaking and comprehensive healthcare laws in history, along with Medicare and Medicaid.

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Authors A-H, Social Issues

Domestic Violence: My Trouble Remembering Kim – by Terry Howard

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On the way to I forget where recently, I was listening to the radio during which the news was, not surprisingly, about the coronavirus pandemic that’s sweeping the world. Businesses are closing, schools are closed, and people are strongly encouraged to stay home.

However, I was suddenly stunned when one report cited surges in reports of domestic violence when an increasing number of “stay home” directives are being issued. For me, there are few things more troubling than the thought of anyone suffering from domestic violence. More disturbing is the unsettling image of victims forced by edict to remain home with her abuser.

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Authors R-Z, Race & Ethnicity, USA Culture

Understanding Asian American Communication — by Dr. Julia Wai-Yin So

Do you recall the first time you stepped into an international business reception at a major hotel and found yourself amidst a sea of Asian faces? If so, you may also have noticed a diversity of Asian cultures and conversations  in some incomprehensible languages: Cantonese Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and perhaps others.  If you have been put off when people in your presence have spoken a language other than English, you are not alone.

Authors A-H, Pandemic

Flattening the Curve: 
Flatten the Economy…What Next? – by Raj Asava

There is no question, flattening the curve is the need of the day. It is a critically important action on the part of every individual, inside and outside the medical system, to slowdown the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of flattening the curve is to ensure that we can deal with this outbreak within the current medical system capacity we have in place.

Flattening the curve, however, has flattened the economy by shutting down businesses, industries, mobility, education institutions and, extremely concerning, taken the ability from people to make a living. It is relatively easy for a small percentage of privileged folks to go in a lock down mode and work from home… but not for the first responders, the healthcare community, grocers and folks required for critical systems and industries. COVID-19 has created a crisis scenario for a vast majority of Americans who were already living paycheck to paycheck – many of whom would find themselves in a crisis mode should they run into an emergency requiring mere $400/-.

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Flatten the Economy…What Next? – by Raj Asava →

Authors A-H, Pandemic, Teams & Leaders

Leadership in Crisis – by Robyn Lebron

One of the hardest things you may have to do over the next few days, weeks and months  is to BE the Leader that holds the light and strength for everyone around you.

You have all learned by now that certain people have special spirits, and people are drawn to you for your leadership, your courage and your inner strength.  This will happen even more right now, when there are so many searching for answers. In order for you to do that, you need to understand that these experiences will cause you to blossom into the leaders you are meant to become!

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Authors I-Q, Pandemic

How to Lead Yourself Through a Crisis – by Mary A. Moore

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Real life, as we all know, is full of polarities: mountains and valleys; highs and lows; peace and war; happiness and loneliness; success and failure.

Though we, Earth’s human beings, are considered to be the wisest and the most powerful creatures on planet, there is a domain of control that we are incapable of. That domain is the control over the physical world. An Earthling like you and I can only control his or her inner self but not external dominions such as the direction to which the wind blows and where the current underneath the oceans flow. When the Earth sways and quakes rig off houses, when the sun blows its fire onto barren lands, we humans get physically hogtied and pushed to derangement IF WE ARE NOT WISE.

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Authors A-H, Pandemic

Relish the inconvenience – by Terry Howard

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I’m not the only soul who’s discombobulated by the coronavirus pandemic. Heck, it’s got me twisting, turning and loading up on toilet paper without the foggiest reason why. But on the upside, it’s made me reflect on the inconveniences the virus has heaped on us and, strangely enough, how we should perhaps “relish the inconvenience.” Case in point is a trip to Germany years ago.

You see, it took me 25+ hours to go from Dallas to Germany, double the time it took me on previous flights. But, inconvenience aside, that trip turned out to be one of my best ones ever. That’s why I suggested then and suggest now that we make “relishing the inconvenience” a health and wellness priority, a core competency in a global economy.

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