Category Archives: Social Issues

Social causes, activism, and projects

Authors A-H, Education, Make a Difference, Social Issues

Intergroup Relations – by Debanjan Barthakur

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Lessons from Life and the Classroom

This year, I had the opportunity to teach Intergroup Relations at the University of Toronto as a part-time instructor. It was a new and enriching experience. While at the University of Rhode Island, I once took a course titled Non-Violence and Conflict Reconciliation—at the request of a friend. Since then, I’ve been deeply interested in issues of social harmony and justice. The question of how we can build peace in our society has often occupied my thoughts. Initially, the plan was to teach a different subject. But quite unexpectedly, I found myself teaching this course at a time when divisions between groups—across the world—are becoming sharper. Conflicts based on ideologies, religions, and identities continue to shape current political realities. The urgency of improving intergroup relations is not just felt in North America, but equally in India and elsewhere, I was born in India and I closely observe the socio-political issues pertaining to both societies. 

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ADR Advisors, Authors A-H, Social Issues

The Mysterious Woman in the Polka Dot Dress – by Terry Howard

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Dear readers:   Before you bid au revoir to this side of planet Earth, add Little Rock in Arkansas and, a few blocks away, the Little Rock Nine Museum, to your must-do bucket list. And if you get there, before leaving town take the walk down South Park Street – alone like I did years ago – in front of the imposing fortress of Little Rock Central High School. Hold that possibility until the end of this narrative and, with it, a recommendation.

But before the anti-DEI history erasing crowd comes gunning for my noggin, snatches me off a street corner and handcuffs me for a one way government expenses paid one way trip to a prison in El Salvador, I figured that I’d try to stay one step ahead of them with another little-known bit of history they’d prefer that you didn’t know about, namely that of one Grace Lorch. 

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Authors I-Q, Social Issues

Beyond Earth: Outer Space – by Papa Balla Ndong

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Bridging Cultures, Economies, and Ethics for Humanity’s Next Frontier in Space

As humanity sets its sights on space, we are not just pushing the boundaries of science and technology, we are testing our ability to build equitable and sustainable societies in uncharted territory. Space exploration presents both extraordinary opportunities and profound ethical dilemmas: Will our expansion beyond Earth mirror historical patterns of exploitation, or will we seize this moment to create a more inclusive and cooperative future?

The global space economy is projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2040 (Morgan Stanley, 2022), fueled by innovations in satellite technology, asteroid mining, and interplanetary travel. But who will benefit from this new frontier? Will space be dominated by the wealthiest nations and corporations, or can we establish frameworks that ensure shared prosperity?

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Authors R-Z, Holocaust, Social Issues

A chance meeting – by Regina Sën

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Are there ever such things?
Or threads in the universe strumming, at just the right moment, to begin a new song? These were the thoughts floating through my mind, after connecting in a circle of grandmothers last weekend.

Enter stage right
A few hours pass with nine blessed souls: lives connecting for but a moment on the timeline of our lives. Yet profound, they rang as music to my ears, struggling to help loved ones understand the danger of our day, and the need to prepare.   I heard about a World War II veteran, one woman’s Father, whose study by commission during and after World War II was to find out, among the Nazis, 

“How did it happen? How did so many steer so far awry? And what was the state of mind of the German population by and large, immediately after?” 

Coincidence? Perhaps? 

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ADR Advisors, Authors A-H, Social Issues

Renewing Diversity #5: Wrestling with History – by Carlos Cortés 

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In his new book, A Century of Tomorrows: How Imagining the Future Shapes the Present, historian Glenn Adamson muses, “every story about the future is also a demand to intervene in the present.”  I should also add that every story about the present has its roots in the past.

I was trained as a historian, receiving a Ph.D. in Latin American history way back in 1969.   I taught history for twenty-six years at the University of California, Riverside.  Different kinds of history.  Latin American history.  Chicano history.  Film and history.  History of the mass media.

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Authors I-Q, Social Issues

Catalyze Change and Empower Your Community – by Julie Morris

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Try These Purposeful Actions

Are you driven by the desire to create a positive impact in your community? Whether your focus is on social justice, environmental sustainability, or educational reform, there are countless avenues to make a meaningful difference. Engaging in community initiatives not only empowers you but also inspires those around you to contribute to lasting change. By taking deliberate steps, you can transform your passion into tangible outcomes that benefit your community and beyond.

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ADR Advisors, Authors A-H, Social Issues

Holiday Connections – by Dr. Gail Dawson

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There’s something special and perhaps a little magical about the Holiday Season. As the weather starts to cool and the leaves start to change, there seems to be excitement in the air in anticipation of the holidays. We tend to look for greater human connection as we plan gatherings from Thanksgiving feasts to New Year’s celebrations. While some see the holidays as the opportunity to connect with family and friends through festive celebrations of their faith, others may enjoy the more commercialized aspects of the season. 

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Authors A-H, PSK, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

Build a Stronger Economy: Focus on Minorities & Opportunity Zones – by Rachel Hooks

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Everyone is familiar with Wall Street in New York where stock trades are made, but are you familiar with Black Wall Street, an area in Tulsa, Oklahoma? It’s the place where African Americans built their own economy with grocery stores, schools, homes, churches, hospitals, hotels, and other businesses. By 1921, they owned 35 square blocks of property in this community where they flourished, until one day, there was the Tulsa race massacre where this entire community was burned to the ground.

Unfortunately, this community was never the same again and very few people were able to keep their family homes that were destroyed. In a time of segregation, this type of community was necessary to carry out the law, “separate by equal”. I can recall my grandmother, Jimmie Hooks, born in 1930, before her passing this year at age 93, stating that her grandfather had a business, but could not own a home. She would say, “Ain’t that crazy”. This is no longer the case today, every man is considered equal, or are they?

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Authors R-Z, PSK, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

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

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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.

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Authors A-H, PSK, Social Issues

The Hundred-Handed Purpose Connector – by Donley Ferguson

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Cultivating the Path of Purpose

If I were to tell my story—the story I’d share with the world—it would start with echoes of loss, shadows of hope, and a path carved through trials no one could have foreseen.

The only memory I carry of my father, whose name I bear, is of new Hush Puppies on his feet and the soulful loop of Friends of Distinction’s “Going in Circles” reverberating through the night. I watched his silhouette diminish into the darkness, an untouchable fragment of my life that unraveled into a tragic tale—the stories of his empty pockets, hollow eyes, and the lifeless repose on that frayed couch in a den of broken souls. The whisper of overdose. The finality of it.

In 2020 alone, nearly 70,000 lives were lost to overdoses, a reminder that the pain of addiction reverberates through countless families. My father’s story is one of many, yet it marks the beginning of my journey—a path paved with loss but leading to the discovery of purpose.

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