Category Archives: Social Issues

Social causes, activism, and projects

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

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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Advisors, Politics, Social Issues

Debunking 4 Major Myths of Assault Weapons Ban – by David Grinberg

During the first week of September, the latest mass shooting tragedy occurred at a high school in Winder, Georgia. This has thrust the issue of gun safety reform squarely into the 2024 presidential campaign.

Thus far, there have been more mass shootings than days in the year (385 according to the Gun Violence Archive). Here are a few other shocking statistics to consider:

Advisors, Social Issues

One 9/11 Victim’s Positive Impact Posthumously  – by David B. Grinberg

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As another annual 9/11 observance has come and gone, I want to pay tribute to those lost, including a close childhood friend who was working in the Twin Towers as a financial trader on that tragic day.

President Roosevelt (FDR) called the bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II: “A date that will live in infamy.” The same can be said of 9/11. 

Even though it’s been 23 years, we must be mindful year-round of all the families, friends and relatives who lost loved ones. The memories and pain of loved ones lost never goes away.

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Authors R-Z, Social Issues

A Closer Look Inside India’s Cleanest City – by Yana Roy

If you can discern the presence of disproportionately more temples than public toilets; wide streets; tri-segregated waste bins lining the intersections of lanes and roads; the selling of meat concealed by humongous black cloths; mannequins, automobiles, absolutely any entity at all being adorned with orange flags depicting the Hindu God, Ram, you have successfully reached Indore. Welcome. Officially known as the cleanest city of India, this city boasts being free of open defecation, of possessing a minimal Air Quality Index (AQI) ranging from 50-80, source segregation of waste, and the list is interminable.

But, what does it mean to be the cleanest city of India? What are we cleaning? And for whom? Who gets to reap the benefits and who is burdened with the colossal task of cleaning? Let us find out.

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Levine articles, Social Issues, USA Culture

Tracking our Terrorist Destructors – by Deborah Levine

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I used to write about terrorist destructors in the U.S. every spring. My articles began with the domestic terrorism of the Oklahoma City bombing more than thirty years ago on April 19.  That’s when I became the community/media liaison for Oklahoma’s Tulsa Jewish Federation. It was shortly after the bombing destroyed the Murrah Building and so many lives were affected. I felt compelled to investigate what led to the deadliest bombing, prior to 9/11, on our native soil.  The violent hatred that I saw has not only continued, but has expanded globally, and now, it  encompasses the entire year.

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Academic Articles, Advisors, Around the world, Authors A-H, Social Issues

Catalyzing Inclusive Urban Economies- by Ainesh Dey

The Dynamics of Urban Economies in India 

 In the rapidly changing landscape of urban economies in India, nuanced civic engagement, enhanced transparency, accountability, and representation have come to the forefront as significant issues. This piece seeks to investigate the shift in the public administration’s discourse from a traditional solution to a more collaborative one  with the aim of creating  inclusive and sustainable policy frameworks.

The prospect of nuanced civic engagement in democratic processes plays an important role in spearheading transparency, accountability and representation. It also strengthens  the overall socio-political and economic character of contemporary administrative discourse. At a time when we are experiencing a paradigm shift from traditional redressal of grievances to instances of collaborative solution building, considerable emphasis has been laid on the effective streamlining of policy frameworks, thereby making them more inclusive and sustainable.

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Authors R-Z, Social Issues, Trends 2024: Divisive World

Overcoming Bias: A Guide to Skilled Skepticism – by Sondra Thiederman

Don’t you love being right? I sure do. I think that’s one reason most of us are afflicted with what’s called “confirmation bias” – the pesky habit of noticing only the evidence that proves our previously held beliefs correct. In other words, we see what we expect to see.

This is where our biases – our inflexible beliefs about categories of people – trick us into jumping to the wrong conclusions. Once we get it into our heads that members of particular groups “all” – because they are members of that group – share a particular characteristic, our brain just can’t resist proving that bias right.

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Authors R-Z, Healthcare, Social Issues

Economic and Social Justice Implications of Substance Abuse – by Lee Webster

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The Power of Employment

The pervasive use and abuse of both prescription and illicit drugs are becoming increasingly concerning, and when coupled with the burden of societal trauma and untreated mental illness, the nation’s economy bears a significant negative impact.  Addressing these complex issues demands a multifaceted approach, yet one approach that has proven notably effective but has faded from the forefront in recent years is the connection between successful treatment and the restoration of self-worth through meaningful employment.  

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Healthcare, Levine articles, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

Multicultural Healthcare and Disparities – by Deborah Levine

When Dr. Joseph Betancourt spoke on “Solutions for Disparities: Delivering Quality Care to Diverse Populations” in Chattanooga several years ago, he delivered both unusual expertise and a personal model for future healthcare. Dr. Betancourt’s family came from Puerto Rico to NYC and he talked about his childhood as interpreter for his grandparents to their doctors. Today, Joseph Betancourt, MD, MPH, is the Senior Vice President of Equity and Community Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, the founder, senior advisor and faculty of the Disparities Solutions Center (DSC) at Mass General, Faculty at the Mongan Institute, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a practicing Internal Medicine physician.

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