Since March is National Women’s History Month, I decided to depart from tradition and offer the reader some other, perhaps different, food for thought, but with this warning: What follows isn’t for the feint-of-heart. It could be hazardous to your health since it may uncork a range of reactions – shock, anger and denial (plus a few choice four-letter words). But by the time you finish this, I will have been whisked off, under heavy guard, to one of my safe houses under a writer’s protection program. So don’t come gunning for my noggin, okay?
With that opener, I pry open an “undiscussable,”privilege, unearned privilege that is.
This is a story of results achieved over three decades with the invaluable help of the author’s science students at Southern Adventist University, the University of Denver, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Three of these students were African American, three were of Asian descent, and several were of European origin. The results achieved were also due to the intermittent but crucial collaborations of American, Belgian, Chinese, Colombian, Croatian, French, Indian, and especially Russian colleagues. Science—yes, even chemistry, mathematics, and physics—involves your intuitive, social, side.
“Biggest bang for the buck!”…..”Firing on all cylinders”….”Let’s bury the hatchet”. “Let’s raise the bar”.
“Think out of the box.” “They need to ramp up soon.” “Level the playing field!”
Ever notice how metaphors – figures of speech in which one concept is used in a place of another to suggest an analogy – have etched themselves into everyday conversations?
The gong struck, and the New Year ushered us into what? The answer to this question will appear as we move further into a year that promises to be a challenge for us all. It is my personal belief that this year will test our methods of communication by bringing us face to face with the double talk that we speak, which ignites chaotic confusion and hinders our ability to communicate with each other.
The holidays can be a wonderful and cozy time of year. We reconnect with those long forgotten warm sweaters that have waited patiently for us in the back of our closets. Everything we eat and drink is pumpkin flavored. We start to look longingly at our fireplaces, and even anticipate the first snowfall. But for many people, the shift out of daylight savings and other harbingers of fall and winter create feelings of anxiety, loneliness, anger, and depression. Many therapists report an upswing in referrals this time of year, and the focus is often on the difficult feelings that colder weather, less sunshine, and the approaching holiday season evokes.
8:47 am: I stole a glance at the clock on the wall and suddenly it dawned on me that I had less than 15 minutes to get to my next meeting in another part of the building. Barring interruptions, I figured that I could get there on time. I gulped down the remainder of my coffee, politely excused myself and left. On the way, I thought that I’d better stop off at the nearest men’s room given that I’d consumed two cups of coffee during the meeting I just left.
The vague feminism of our grandmothers was about their desire to be counted with – not only as wives and mothers but also as equal partners in life outside home and society salons. If we think of feminism as influence-seeking, it’s as old as humanity, transitioning from individual to mass feminism. Thus, strong women always strived to achieve individual influence—and some succeeded. Think La Malinche, lover/advisor of Juan Cortez, or Esther – wife/advisor of Persian King Anasuerus, or feminist-minded Eleanor Roosevelt who shaped the role of the First Lady, or countless others who became influencers because of their men. Women rulers, like Queen Victoria, Catherine the Great, Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and Margaret Thatcher, – impacted the world through their strategic thinking. History provides ample individual illustrations of what’s feasible for a “weaker sex.”
Young people in the inner city public school system face peer pressure daily, pressure just for speaking proper English, asking questions in class, turning in homework, carrying books to and from school, and studying for tests. When I heard African American students talk about these challenges, I knew right then and there that something had to change in our schools. That’s why I created the Be Brilliant project. A change in our children’s mindset was in order.
I often get requests to address particular topics in columns and workshops, some clearly diversity-related, others not. Here are examples: “What’s it like being black in corporate America?” “Why women don’t brag – and why they should,” “Dreadlocks, long braids, weaves and wigs in corporate America,” “How to talk to a transgender person,” “How to recover from rejection at work,” and “Strategies for promoting your professional brand.” And there are others.
