According to the Public Religion Research Institute, 75% of white people have no friends of color, a statistic I find both startling and consistent with my experience. Typically, building interracial friendships means that both parties need to put in work. Both need to step outside their respective comfort zones to learn and embrace a culture with which they may…
Category: Human Rights
Achievement Unlocked: Black Males, Video Games & Academic Success
“Honestly, the truth is, this isn’t just for one group. All students benefit from learning environments where mistakes are treated as part of the process rather than the final judgment. See, games make that possible. A math game can encourage persistence. A history simulation can deepen empathy. And a collaborative quest can teach communication. Games…
The Practice of Trust, by David Kirkland
If you’ve ever stepped into a vulnerable school or a fractured community with a clipboard full of good intentions, you’ve likely seen it in eyes, before you heard it in voices, hesitation, guardedness, and quiet doubt. “We’ve seen people like you before.” And they’re right because, before it leads to a strategy, a policy, or…
How Much Does Our Language Shape Our Thinking
An estimated 1.5 billion people—roughly one in every five human beings—speak English, making it the most widely used language in the history of humanity. Like other colonial tongues, it spread first through “conquest, conversion, and commerce,” Rosemary Salomone writes in her book “The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language,” but its…
Children’s Home Society of Idaho Announces Adult Women’s Support Group
by Michael Strickland The Children’s Home Society of Idaho has long been a beacon of hope for children and families. They offer exceptional mental and behavioral health care guided by a team of compassionate professionals. Rooted in the belief that mental health is as vital as physical health, their mission to serve children includes supporting…
Having children? In THIS economy?
Are you destroying Western civilization if you don’t procreate? By Sarah Li-Cain There’s been much hand-wringing over birthrates in recent years. And, depending on where you grew up, you might even be told you’re selfish for not wanting to have children. Or mutliple chilren. In this episode, we’re going to look at the financial realities…
Illustrating Silence, Familia, Invisibility, and the Semiotics of Undocumented Fear
Sponsored by the Center for Minority Serving Institutions, this talk with Alberto Ledesma, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in the Arts and Humanities, University of California, Berkeley, presented images from the speaker’s graphic auto-ethnographic novel Diary of A Reluctant Dreamer to talk about the way that undocumented life impacts not just everyday acts, but the…
Cross-cultural communication: A success story
Ebuka Okoli, M.S. ’24, has always been fascinated by cross-cultural communication and how diverse groups of people communicate in an organizational context. It’s for this reason he moved over 6,000 miles from Nigeria to Normal to pursue a master’s in communication at Illinois State University. … Okoli’s professional work in Nigeria centered around helping the…
Black innkeepers own a thriving B&B. But they keep their identities hidden
“We knew when we opened our doors who our market would be – mostly white people,” said Marvin. Fearing their Black faces might deter potential guests, the Johnsons designed their website to promote the property’s serene surroundings and amenities. “That was on purpose,” said Anita. “We didn’t want to advertise that we were African Americans,…
Reggie Jackson Reveals the Harsh Racism During His Playing Career
“Coming back here is not easy. The racism…when I played here… The difficulty of going through different places where we traveled,” the Hall of Fame baseball player continued. “People said to me… ‘You think you’re a better person, you think you won when you played here and conquered?’ I said, you know, I would never…
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