Category Archives: Social Issues

Social causes, activism, and projects

Levine articles, Social Issues, USA Culture

Can Immigrants and Minorities Work Together? – by Deborah Levine

Dr. Fiona Citkin urges minorities and immigrants to work together to bring meaningful, positive change in the U.S. in her Huffington Post article, “Immigrants and Minorities of America, Unite!” Yes, there are many benefits to bringing minorities and immigrants together, but there are also numerous pushes & pulls involved in uniting them, in establishing their local-global connection. I have long maintained that “Harmonize NOT Homogenize” is key to our working together, but today’s highly emotional environment makes even this approach difficult.

Continue reading Can Immigrants and Minorities Work Together? – by Deborah Levine →

Levine articles, Social Issues, Women in STEM

Je Suis in Cyberspace, Reluctantly- by Deborah Levine

1 Comment

The “Us vs. Them” mentality is universal. It’s embedded in how we define ourselves as individuals and as communities. For every “Us”, there’s a “Them”. Whether by nation, region, religion, language, or religion, it’s human nature to differentiate.  Fortunately, while the phenomenon is a given, the related actions are not. In a world where limited resources can whither away communities, cultural differences increasingly generate violence. Watching the news today is an exercise in confusion as to which war we’re seeing, which era, and which players are currently killing each other off with a seemingly endless supply of arms. It’s tempting to think that little has changed. Yet, the attack on the French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, compels us to re-examine the change that impacts us all: technology.

Continue reading Je Suis in Cyberspace, Reluctantly- by Deborah Levine →

Authors R-Z, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

Do you laugh at stereotypes? – By Julia Wai-Yin So, PhD

Do you recall the last time you heard a casual remark about the stereotype of one particular racial/ethnic group? These are not blatant racist jokes, but stereotypical comments such as:

“White men can’t jump.”
“Latinos are lazy.”
“Blacks are better runners.”
“Natives are drunks.”
“Asians can’t drive.”

Continue reading Do you laugh at stereotypes? – By Julia Wai-Yin So, PhD →

Authors A-H, Social Issues

New Year and the Gong Struck – by Pat Garcia

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.

Continue reading New Year and the Gong Struck – by Pat Garcia →

Authors I-Q, Religious Diversity, Social Issues

How My Mother and Bob Hope Taught Me the True Meaning of Christmas – by Joel L.A. Peterson

1 Comment

It has been fifteen Christmases since my mother passed. But, I can’t help remembering all the lessons she taught me – especially one regarding what Christmas is all about. It was Christmas Eve, 1987. I was a young naval officer and I had been at sea nearly 100 days straight escorting U.S.-flagged tankers through the Persian Gulf in the largest convoy operation since WWII. On this particular Christmas, my ship, the aircraft carrier, USS Midway, was just outside the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Iran, while Iran and Iraq were approaching their sixth year of war with each other.

Continue reading How My Mother and Bob Hope Taught Me the True Meaning of Christmas – by Joel L.A. Peterson →

Authors R-Z, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

Imagine All the People – By Yvor Stoakley

Close your eyes. Imagine that you are the average white American in the early 21st Century. You can visualize yourself as president of your country (or country club). You can see yourself as the object of widespread adulation for winning an Oscar or Olympic gold. You have no difficulty picturing yourself as a graduate of Stanford or Harvard or Duke, as an inventor, as a diplomat or a thousand and one other achievements. But when you focus your mind on your fellow Americans of African or Asian or Native or Latin heritage, what do you imagine then? What images spring to mind?

Continue reading Imagine All the People – By Yvor Stoakley →

Authors A-H, Generational, Social Issues

Family in Sepia — by Poonam Chawla

A black-and-white photograph curled at the edges pressed between the pages of Anna Karenina falls into my hands as I fumble about the bookshelf. Anna Karenina. It appears I was using the photograph as a bookmark and apparently gave up after page 662. Do not judge me, dear Reader – I was only fifteen at the time. No doubt, I found the drama of my own life infinitely more interesting.

Continue reading Family in Sepia — by Poonam Chawla →

Authors A-H, Of Women, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

The road less traveled –by Terry Howard

The three panelists were “women of color”; a Mexico-born Latina, a U.S. –born African-American and one reared in Africa, all highly regarded electrical engineers.  In skin color, they ranged from “very light” (the Latina) to “light/medium brown” (one black woman) to “very, very dark” (the other black woman), the former two with shoulder length flowing black hair.

The audience consisted of thirty managers and I was the facilitator.

Continue reading The road less traveled –by Terry Howard →

Authors A-H, Social Issues

World Trade 9/11 Memorial Site – by Poonam Chawla

1 Comment

There is nothing dignified about death. I am not sure why I went, that first time, to the place of implosion. I guess I had some idea of standing there amidst the debris, my hat in my hands, saying a silent prayer for those who had left us. In its stead, a quarter mile away from the actual site, a rank odor announced itself like a foreboding. As I got closer, the mélange of rotting potatoes, overheated engines reeking oil, charred eggplants the color of ash settled like a second skin making me heave. I grabbed a tissue, forcing down the bitter taste of vomit in my mouth and went back home.

Continue reading World Trade 9/11 Memorial Site – by Poonam Chawla →