Category Archives: Authors R-Z

ADR authors listed by last name R-Z

Companies not backing down on DEI – by Nancy Levine Stearns

Last week, the New York Times published a story, headlined: “D.E.I. on the Ropes Ahead of the Next Trump Era: Corporate policies concerning diversity, equity and inclusion, already under pressure from conservatives, are facing greater threats from allies of the president-elect.” 

What the Times and other media outlets are largely neglecting to report is that far more corporations are standing strong on their DEI initiatives than the handful that are caving to pressure ahead of the next Trump era.

Continue reading Companies not backing down on DEI – by Nancy Levine Stearns

Why The Ultimate End of TikTok May Not Be On Our Horizon  – by Aron Solomon

The Supreme Court delivered what many believe will be a fatal blow to TikTok in the United States, paving the way for a nationwide ban of the app. But while this decision appears to spell doom for the platform, I strongly disagree with the notion that TikTok’s days in the U.S. are so finitely numbered.

The larger picture here is that TikTok has become an economic and cultural force in the United States. It supports millions of creators, influencers, and small businesses who depend on the platform for their livelihoods. Its ban would ripple across industries tied to digital marketing, e-commerce, and content creation, causing significant economic disruptions. This isn’t just about an app—it’s about the ecosystem it supports, the lives it impacts, and the broader implications for American competitiveness in technology.

Continue reading Why The Ultimate End of TikTok May Not Be On Our Horizon  – by Aron Solomon

TRENDS 2025: Inclusive Excellence – by Julia Wai-Yin So

My 1,2,3 ANALYSIS

) 1 or 2 issues that are personally most vital to me in 2025.

For decades at the end of the Fall semester, faculty, staff, and students from colleges and universities in the nation leave the campus to enjoy the winter holiday. This year, many of them left with a sense of uncertainty, unsure how lives would be when they return in the spring.  I live in New Mexico—an immigrant and woman friendly state. I work for a public state university that, for over a century, has proudly opened its campus to faculty, staff, and students of various backgrounds. Most meaningfully, I work for the Division for Equity and Inclusion that runs programs to ensure everyone is treated with respect and dignity. My personal motto–Inclusive Excellence—aims to understand, respect, appreciate, and value each individual’s background and what they bring to our community. Inclusive Excellence is not just vital to my wellbeing as well as my professional growth, it is vital to our nation’s strength and world leadership.

Continue reading TRENDS 2025: Inclusive Excellence – by Julia Wai-Yin So

Letting Go of Perfectionism: an Act of Antiracism – by Janelle Villiers

I’ve attended the Undoing Racism Workshop offered by The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, twice. I’ve gone on to facilitate several DEI workshops and I am also  the co-creator of an Intra-Professional Antiracism Dialogue and Discourse Series (IPADDS). While preparing for and facilitating all of these workshops and IPADDS events I was always reminded of a foundational tenant of the Undoing Racism Workshop and that is “Racism de-humanizes us all.” It doesn’t matter what race, Black, White and everything in between, we are all de-humanized by racism.

Continue reading Letting Go of Perfectionism: an Act of Antiracism – by Janelle Villiers

Glee, Anger and the Unprecedented State of National Affairs – Elwood Watson

For some people, November 5, 2024, was one of the greatest days in American history. Others may well remember it as a day that will live in political infamy. The 2024 presidential election is over, and Donald Trump has been reelected as the forty-seventh president of the United States of America. One can only imagine what Grover Cleveland would think of this chain of events. Cleveland was the only other president to serve nonconsecutive terms — he was the twenty-second and twenty-fourth US president from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897.

If most people are honest with themselves, they would probably admit that Tuesday’s results shocked but did not totally surprise them. Trump went on to win both the popular vote and the Electoral College. The latter ultimately determines who wins the presidency. In all fairness, despite what many pundits, critics, radio hosts and numerous other commentators assessments, the election was not a blowout as opposed to the democratic presidential elections of 1972 between presidential-election-of-1972 Richard Nixon and George McGovern and 1984 contest between presidential-election-of-1984 Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale. These elections were indeed BLOWOUTS!

Continue reading Glee, Anger and the Unprecedented State of National Affairs – Elwood Watson

A Survivor’s Story of Neo-Nazis: Part 2 – by Kathleen Sullivan

neo-NazisOur country’s government is again in danger. The white supremacists and neo-Nazis who conspired to meet Hitler’s long-term goal of Ordis Templar, Circa 2000 are mostly long-gone. But many of them have recruited, groomed and brainwashed next-generation children and other recruits to fulfill their insanely grandiose goal – specifically, of taking over the US government from the inside-out. And making it an Aryan-run government that would eventually lead the world. 

I have watched many of the brainwashing and so-called “mind control” techniques that were perfected on us as human Guinea pigs, being used regularly by White supremacist and neo-Nazi leaders and media representatives. Those techniques include Ericksonian hypnosis, Neuro-Linguistic programming, wearing down listeners’ mental resistance in a variety of ways, triggering their midbrains and knocking their frontal lobes offline via messages of fear and disgust, and much more. 

Continue reading A Survivor’s Story of Neo-Nazis: Part 2 – by Kathleen Sullivan

A Survivor’s Story of Neo-Nazis: Part 1 – by Kathleen Sullivan

neo-Nazis I have been very concerned about the increasing lack of awareness and basic knowledge and education about the Holocaust, here in the US. And about the events and actions and societal trends in Germany that led up to it. 

Starting at age 3, I was unfortunately raised by a very cruel man who was German/Welsh-American. He had very poor self-esteem and was often ridiculed and bullied by his peers. His family was very poor and his father was the town drunk. All of that changed in college when he was mentored by German professors and was introduced to an eventual cluster of Nazi war criminals who had been relocated to the US by our government and given new names, identities and plum positions in governmental agencies. Specifically, to continue doing various kinds of research here, that they had previously done in Germany. Continue reading A Survivor’s Story of Neo-Nazis: Part 1 – by Kathleen Sullivan

South Asheville Black Community – by Barbara Weitz

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the social, economic, and political development of the black community once  known as South Asheville in the city of  Asheville, North Carolina. It spans the period of slavery, the Civil War, emancipation, Reconstruction and Fusion politics.  From 1865 to 1900, Blacks in Asheville experienced much progress mostly because they felt far less  racial discrimination than what was experienced in  other parts of the South  The mixed racial attitudes of the Whites in Asheville allowed them access to more of the positive things happening in the city so the newly emancipated became a significant part of the boom Asheville experienced after the Civil War.  Since there were very few plantations , formerly enslaved people were not concentrated in small geographic areas of the city,  Some, like Mr. William McDowell, who did,  however, run a slave plantation, did much to help his former slaves and Blacks in general thrive by breaking up his former plantation into small pieces of land which he gave to them or allowed them to purchase at a small price. This created the suburb of Black South Asheville.

Continue reading South Asheville Black Community – by Barbara Weitz

Waymakers: Celebrating and Protecting Diversity in Appalachia – by Joe Tolbert Jr.

The Waymakers Collective is dedicated to supporting community arts and organizations in the heart of Appalachia that are historically underfunded: those led by BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color), youth, LGBTQIA+, and non-English speakers/immigrants. Earlier this month, we held our Annual Gathering to celebrate our community of Appalachian artists, culture workers, organizers, activists, doers, and creatives who are committed to building a just and equitable Appalachian future.

Continue reading Waymakers: Celebrating and Protecting Diversity in Appalachia – by Joe Tolbert Jr.

The Art of Resilience. From Pain to Promise: Book Review – by George Simons

Art of ResilienceFar from being abstract research on the dynamics of resilience, Deborah Levine has provided us with a life story, and highly relevant biography, an ethnography if you will, of the struggle for resilience lived out, day by day. It is filled with the challenges to resilience from health, work, environments, and relationships. Today we speak of the cost of intersectionality on oneself. The term is extremely relevant here, as Deborah herself is bundled into her white female identity, her Jewish ethnicity, the cultural marks of her places of upbringing, her immigrant status, her health vulnerability, and her religious belongings. Each of these shows up repeatedly both as a liability and an asset in her resilience narrative.

Continue reading The Art of Resilience. From Pain to Promise: Book Review – by George Simons