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Resources:

 

Download our Diversity Scorecard (Excel format)

 

Courageous Conversations Fall Schedule (Word Format)

 

 

Download Office of Equity and Pluralism Books and Resources (Excel Format)

 

 

Download Glossary of EEO Terms (Word Format)

 

I’m excited to announce the launch of the beta version of our website: www.sapasianamerican.org (Suicide Awareness and Prevention Among Asian Americans). This website was created by my research team and me as a resource for professionals (e.g., researchers, educators, social workers, counselors, and policymakers) who are interested in suicide prevention among Asian Americans. Note that this is NOT a resource for individuals who are in crisis.

 

 

 

LGBTQ Resource Center on BC's Campus

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Administrators,

I would like to be the first to send out an exciting announcement about the approval of a LGBTQ Resource Center on BC's campus!  Throughout this past year, students have taken the lead on petitioning, advocating, organizing, and presenting a need for a LGBTQ Resource Center on campus and the Gay-Straight Alliance received word yesterday from members of President's Staff that this was approved.  The future Resource Center will be attached to Student Programs in C225 and movement on this will begin this Summer.  I would like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to Tom Pritchard, Jim Bennett, Tom Neilsen President's Staff members, all petition signers, and every faculty, staff, employee, and administrator who helped to push this forward and make it a success - thank you for seeing the needs of students and putting their safety, health, and education first.  The timeframe through which this Center was approved is certainly unprecedented and students are already anxiously discussing the growth of support groups, including a Queer of Color and HIV/AIDS awareness groups.  We have also received backing from Planned Parenthood, who will be providing a peer counselor weekly to discuss sexual health and education to any students who have a need, Equal Rights Washington, and many other local and community groups who are seeing this Center as a pivotal educational tool for the Bellevue and greater Eastside area.  Clearly, this Center is going to benefit, support, and enrich the entire BC student body.  Applause and congratulations to our LGBTQ students and Allies!

In Solidarity,

Lori Saffin

 

LGBTQ Resource Center and/or Gay Straight Alliance club contact information:

 

Download the Out/Ally list (Word format)

 

Download the LGBTQ Web Resources List (Word format)

 

 

Suggested Reading:     

 

SHELFARI - PEGs Bookshelf

So many books and so little time...

PEG has begun to compile a "bookshelf" of books that bring depth to the topics of race, equity, and leadership. On this site you can see the books we are reading and recommending, you can also share your reading list with us and begin to build community around the literature.

The site is free and easy to use so I encourage you to take a moment to visit "our bookshelf " at http://www.shelfari.com/pacificeducationalgroup/shelf

No time like summertime to relax and sit down with a book that will provoke thought and reflection. Enjoy!

 

• The New Pluralism  —  David Campbell &  Morton Schoolman
• The Morality of Pluralism — John Kekes
• Pluralism — William Connolly
• Cultural Diversity in the United States —  Larry L. Naylor
• Coping with Cultural and Racial Diversity in Corporate America —  Wallace E. Lambert & Donald M. Taylor
• Human Diversity and Pluralism in Educational Psychologist — Edmund W. Gordon.

 

The Library Media Center now subscribes to Azizah: the Voice for Muslim Women.  It is a beautiful glossy magazine, published quarterly.  The latest issues are kept on display near the Reference Desk.  Magazines and journals may be borrowed for one week.  

Check out your options in the LMC catalog: http://bellevuecollege.edu/lmc/  

 

Finding Dawn

You can now watch all of Finding Dawn online via the NFB's virtual screening room at  http://www.nfb.ca/film/finding_dawn/!

 

Diversity Poem

 

Submitted by Sara Mae

THEME FOR ENGLISH B
By Langston Hughes
The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you---
Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas, Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y, the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It's not easy to know what is true for you or me at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me---we two---you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York too.) Me---who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white---
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me---
although you're older---and white---
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.

1951

 

 

Diversity & Pluralism Articles:

 

Phil Lucas (Choctaw)

Lucas on Vis a Vis: Native Tongues: "It was really wonderful to bring together an Aboriginal artist and an American Indian performance artist. You begin to see, even though they are from clear across the world apart from one another, the similarities: the way they approach their work and the fact that because of the colonization process that happened to both peoples that they react in similar ways. This is a tremendous amount of creativity and I like the idea of the challenge to the human spirit and the ability to overcome that through their work."
Phil has worked in film and television for thirty years, and received the Taos Mountain Award for lifetime achievement from the Taos Talking Picture Festival in 1999. Among the subjects he has covered are health and well-being in Native communities, Native rights, and Native arts. His film Restoring the Sacred Circle won the Best Public Service Award at the 2002 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. Lucas was a participant in the 1999 Sundance Screenwriter's Lab. He has taught filmmaking workshops for young Native people and media communications and technology at Bellevue Community College, where he coordinated an American Indian film festival in 2004. Phil Lucas died February 4, 2007, living a legacy of good works behind.

 

 

 

 

They Will Come: Recruitment of Black and Latinos to Rural, Traditionally, White Colleges

by Dr. Ibram Rogers, February 22, 2010

 

There is an absurdly low number of African-American and Latino faculty and students at my college, a situation that exists at thousands of colleges across the nation in overwhelming White, rural or semirural communities.

That is not necessarily a problem, as it would be statistically impossible for African-American and Latino students to substantially diversify all of these schools. The crucial problem is what seems to be the widespread justification among my colleagues for these low figures. 

The reason: Latinos and Blacks do not want to come. 

When I first heard this reason, I did not think much of it. Neither did I the second, or third time. Yet, as one of the few African-American professors, many of my peers choose to discuss diversity with me and this idea about non-Whites not wanting to come continued to come up. Still, I did not give the reason serious thought until a colleague whom I respect asked me whether that was the primary reason for the lack of diversity. I knew if someone as knowledgeable as him on racial issues considered this, then many people likely were rationalizing the low figures with this idea.

And why wouldn’t they?

It appears that we are moving past the age of affirmative action and its concomitant primary justification — there are not enough qualified students. This new excuse is the perfect 21st century diversionary liberal justification for the lack of diversity at a college. 

As I thought more about it, I realized hundreds of colleges probably use or will begin to use it to defend their official concern for diversity despite their low figures. In our sociopolitical environment, it is not correct to say you do not want them there. College officials can’t say they do not have the recruiting networks for students or the support for African-American and Latino faculty. They do not want to say the colleges do not have, nor are they willing to erect, the programs and environment necessary for their success.

Instead, this reason indirectly posits that these colleges are recruiting these students and have the environment in place that will nurture their progress, but the students just will not come. They have the furniture so African-Americans and Latinos would feel comfortable, their doors are open, their inhabitants are scouring for these students, but they just will not come. It is a sophisticated and pleasant way of placing the blame of the lack of diversity at schools on people who are not there — the prospective African-American and Latino students.

Now, some African-American and Latino students refuse to go to a college in an overwhelming White, semirural, small town in Upstate New York and other similar places across the country. But that is not the primary reason some colleges in these areas are not diverse. It is more likely the result of them burning precious bridges of recruitment — their few African-American and Latino students, some of whom do not have delightful experiences and consequently tell their peers not to come. It is more likely the result of the colleges not dedicating resources to diversifying their campuses based on this belief that if we build it — the recruiting networks, campus programs and studies — they will not come. 

When we build comfortable and enriching spaces, even if they are in unfamiliar locations, they will come. We have to believe.

Dr. Ibram H. Rogers is an assistant professor of African-American history at SUNY College at Oneonta.

 

 

Don't confuse them with facts

 by Leonard Pitts Jr.
 I got an e-mail the other day that depressed me.
It concerned a piece I recently did that mentioned Henry Johnson, who was awarded the French Croix de Guerre in World War I for single-handedly fighting off a company of Germans (some accounts say there were 14, some say almost 30, the ones I find most authoritative say there were about two dozen) who threatened to overrun his post.
Johnson managed this despite the fact that he was only 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds, despite the fact that his gun had jammed, despite the fact that he was wounded 21 times.
My mention of Johnson's heroics drew a rebuke from a fellow named Ken Thompson, which I quote verbatim and in its entirety:
"Hate to tell you that blacks were not allowed into combat intell (sic) 1947, that fact. World War II ended in 1945. So all that feel good, one black man killing two dozen Nazi, is just that, PC bull."
In response, my assistant, Judi Smith, sent Mr. Thompson proof of Johnson's heroics: a link to his page on the Web site of Arlington National Cemetery. She thought this settled the matter.
Thompson's reply? "There is no race on headstones and they didn't come up with the story in tell (sic) 2002."
Judi: "I guess you can choose to believe Arlington National Cemetery or not."
Thompson: "It is what it is, you don't believe either ... "
At this point, Judi forwarded me their correspondence, along with a despairing note. She is probably somewhere drinking right now.
You see, like me, she can remember a time when facts settled arguments. This is back before everything became a partisan shouting match, back before it was permissible to ignore or deride as "biased" anything that didn't support your worldview.
If you and I had an argument and I produced facts from an authoritative source to back me up, you couldn't just blow that off. You might try to undermine my facts, might counter with facts of your own, but you couldn't just pretend my facts had no weight or meaning.
But that's the intellectual state of the union these days, as evidenced by all the people who still don't believe the president was born in Hawaii or that the planet is warming. And by Mr. Thompson, who doesn't believe Henry Johnson did what he did.
I could send him more proof, I suppose. Johnson is lauded in history books ("Before the Mayflower" by Lerone Bennett Jr., "The Dictionary of American Negro Biography" by Rayford Logan and Michael Winston) and in contemporaneous accounts (The Saturday Evening Post, The New York Times). I could also point out that blacks have fought in every war in American history, though before Harry Truman desegregated the military in 1948, they did so in Jim Crow units. Also, there were no Nazis in World War I.
But those are "facts," and the whole point here is that facts no longer mean what they once did. I suppose I could also ignore him. But you see, Ken Thompson is not just some isolated eccentric. No, he is the Zeitgeist personified.
To listen to talk radio, to watch TV pundits, to read a newspaper's online message board, is to realize that increasingly, we are a people estranged from critical thinking, divorced from logic, alienated from even objective truth. We admit no ideas that do not confirm us, hear no voices that do not echo us, sift out all information that does not validate what we wish to believe.
I submit that any people thus handicapped sow the seeds of their own decline; they respond to the world as they wish it were rather to the world as it is. That's the story of the Iraq war.
But objective reality does not change because you refuse to accept it. The fact that you refuse to acknowledge a wall does not change the fact that it's a wall.
And you shouldn't have to hit it to find that out.
Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr.'s column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is: lpitts@miamiherald.com

 

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION  

January 31, 2010
A Community College Climbs Back Slowly After Katrina

Ron Wright (left) by Jackson Hill for The Chronicle; damaged stairwell (right) by Jackson Hill
Ron D. Wright, chancellor of Delgado Community College, visits a recently renovated campus building. A photo of the same space (right) two weeks after Hurricane Katrina shows standing water, which in some places was left for so long that buildings' interiors simply rotted away.
By Katherine Mangan
New Orleans
As a new semester got under way, wrecking crews were hard at work on Delgado Community College's main campus here, bulldozing hurricane-ravaged buildings to make way for new ones.
Long lines of students snaked past makeshift admissions and financial-aid stations separated by curtains in a converted ballroom. The temporary offices hadve been in place since flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina knocked the student-services building out of commission.
It's a scene one might have expected months—even a year—after the 2005 hurricane, whichthat devastated New Orleans and forced most local colleges to close for the fall semester. But this August will mark the storm's fifth anniversary, and only now is the state's oldest and largest community college able to move ahead with reconstruction.
Enlarge Photo
Eliot Kamentz, New Orleans Times-Picayune
Delgado's campus child-care center, which is a student-training location and a benefit for parents, is being rebuilt.

Eliot Kamentz, New Orleans Times-Picayune
Delgado's campus child-care center, which is a student-training location and a benefit for parents, is being rebuilt.
Enlarge Photo
Jackson Hill for The Chronicle
"Last fall we had to turn away around 1,500 people. That was the most distressing thing I had to do."

Jackson Hill for The Chronicle
"Last fall we had to turn away around 1,500 people. That was the most distressing thing I had to do."
Enlarge Photo
Jackson Hill for The Chronicle
Enrollment at Delgado is growing fast. "We've been overwhelmed by people who have come to the conclusion that knowledge is the way out."

Jackson Hill for The Chronicle
Enrollment at Delgado is growing fast. "We've been overwhelmed by people who have come to the conclusion that knowledge is the way out."
Seventy percent of the buildings on Delgado's campus were damaged by floods and wind, and as the spring 2010 semester begins, 30 percent of the building space is still unusable. Still, students are coming in droves, looking for affordable ways to retool their skills and find work in a city that, like the college, is still in recovery mode.
"Last fall we had to turn away around 1,500 people because we couldn't turn another closet into a classroom," says the chancellor, Ron D. Wright. "That was the most distressing thing I had to do. I've never told anyone they couldn't come."
Delgado is being pulled in two directions by swelling enrollments and shrinking resources. And while those problems are increasingly common among community colleges across the country, Delgado faces the additional challenge of a depleted infrastructure, with ruined buildings untouched since the storm.
A major reason for the construction delays was the gulf between the college's estimate of the repair bill (about $39-million) and what the Federal Emergency Management Agency was willing to pay after an initial assessment (around $19-million). FEMA's offer was based on the cost of equipment at the time it was bought rather than the cost to replace it now, Delgado officials say. The federal estimate also did not take into consideration post-Katrina building codes that require structures in low-lying areas to be elevated when they are rebuilt. After lengthy negotiations, the federal agency finally agreed to increase the reimbursement amount, although no firm figures are available yet.
Some of the delays were also caused by a federal requirement that 51 percent of a building be deemed ruined before it can be torn down rather than repaired. Delgado officials did not learn until this past fall that their library met that criterion.
Exacerbating Delgado's problems was an 8-percent budget reduction by the state this year, followed by a 2.8-percent midyear cut.
"It's a double-edged sword," says Carol Gniady, a spokeswoman for the college. "Our classes are in great demand, but we're hindered by a lack of funding and classroom space. We're challenged to provide the same level of service with less."
'Overwhelmed by People'
The situation isn't likely to improve anytime soon. Like many states, Louisiana was able to use its portion of thea $787-billion federal stimulus package to plug some of its budget holes and avert widespread layoffs and program cuts in higher education. The stimulus money will dry up after next year, however, and state tax revenues that help pay for education are likely to remain lower than in previous years.
Meanwhile, enrollment at Delgado—which plummeted from 17,398 before the storm to just 2,500 when the college reopened a semester later—has been steadily rising. This year it climbed 16 percent, to 16,715, which puts it just 4 percent below its pre-storm level. "We've been overwhelmed by people who have come to the conclusion that knowledge is the way out," says Mr. Wright.
Among them is Crystal Strate, a 25-year-old senior who entered Delgado with hopes of switching her career to nursing. When Katrina struck, she was managing a clothing store, The Limited, on New Orleans's Riverwalk Marketplace. The store was badly damaged and forced to close. Ms. Strate moved across Lake Pontchartrain to manage a branch of the store in Slidell, La. After struggling to balance work with raising a toddler, she enrolled in a nursing program at Delgado in 2007.
"I wanted a sense of security of having a degree" in a marketable field, she says.
Her heart wasn't in it, though, so she switched to public relations, a field she found far more interesting. Now, though, as her May graduation date approaches and national unemployment figures top 10 percent, she worries about her future. Although she has nothing but praise for Delgado, the decision to take out loans and prepare for a new career unsettles her. "I have some questions about whether it's all worth it," she says with a sigh.
Enrollment trends at Delgado mirror the needs of the local economy, officials say. In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, enrollment increases were mostly in noncredit courses, including short-term vocational classes in fields like environmental cleanup and construction, aimed at rebuilding the local economy. "We are the hub of the economic engine of New Orleans," says Mr. Wright.
The college's enrollment boom is especially evident on itsthe college's Northshore campuses, in Slidell and Covington, where enrollment jumped 31 percent last fall, to 2,315. The growth results largely from a post-Katrina population shift toward the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, where St. Tammany Parish is one of the state's fastest-growing areas. Another important shift since Katrina is in the number of students taking one or more courses online—at least one-quarter of the college population now, compared with just 3 percent during the semester before Katrina struck.
'It's Going to Implode'
Chancellor Wright is relaxed and jovial in a pinstripe suit and salt-and-pepper hair. He leans back in his chair and jokes frequently, but the frustration of waiting for federal rebuilding money and coping with budget cuts is evident in his description of the challenges facing Delgado.
Faculty members are having to teach more and larger classes and to make do with facilities that are long overdue for repair, he says. "At some point it's going to implode. There are only so many times you can tell people just to be thankful that they have a job. We're on a train track heading for a wreck."
Asked why the recovery has taken so long to reach his campus, he responds immediately: "It's purely about power and prestige." When money is tight and the backlog of buildings needing repair is long, he says, it is hard to compete with institutions like Louisiana State University, with its powerful backers in state and local government.
"LSU can graduate all the surgeons it wants," he says, "but if we don't graduate the technicians they rely on, they're going to move to Texas." Delgado also graduates a large percentage of New Orleans's nurses and other health-care workers, he notes.
Although the city's population was back to 76 percent of the pre-Katrina level last year, many of its hospitals are still closed or are operating below capacity. As a result, finding enough clinical-training slots for Delgado's health-care students has been difficult, and some graduates have had trouble finding jobs locally.
"We can educate them, but there aren't enough positions available" for them to practice their skills, says Ms. Gniady, the Delgado spokeswoman. "The work force is not there yet." Radiology technicians, for instance, used to be able to get jobs right away. "Now it takes a little longer, and you might have to drive a little farther," she says.
Meanwhile, student records are stored in stacks of cardboard boxes in the converted ballroom, which has been is cordoned off into sections for admissions, financial aid, and advising. Even with the building scheduled to reopen this spring, about a third of the square footage on the campus is still out of commission, including faculty offices and computer labs, college officials say.
The child-care center, which serves as both a student-training location and a benefit for parents, is also being rebuilt. About three-quarters of the college's students are women, many of whom have young children.
Delgado officials say it's particularly frustrating that the main administration building had only 18 inches of water in it during the hurricane, but sat for so long without air conditioning under the hot New Orleans sun that mold spread until the building became uninhabitable. The same problem plagued campuses throughout the humid city, where officials waited weeks or months for inspections as their buildings' interiors slowly rotted.
Even more frustrating is Delgado's library, a vacant shell with wires dangling from the ceiling and ripped tiles strewn on the floor. About $12-million worth of books were ruined. Those that were salvaged were moved into storage, from which they can be retrieved at a computer lab that was converted into a temporary library.
"Students have to tell us two days ahead of time that they want a book, and we put on a mask and go get it," the chancellor says. "OK, I'm exaggerating about the masks, but it's sad, especially since the library is the center of learning."

Enrollment Changes After Hurricane Katrina
Four years after Hurricane Katrina, universities in New Orleans are still struggling to gain back their pre-storm enrollment numbers. Three of the colleges listed below have recovered better than the others, experiencing significant increases in their undergraduate enrollments since 2006, the year after the hurricane. But not one of the six has matched its pre-Katrina level.

	2006	2009	% change
Southern University at New Orleans	1,709	2,740	+60.3%
Xavier University of Louisiana	2,272	2,666	+17.3%
Tulane University	6,533	7,210	+10.4%
Loyola University New Orleans	3,034	2,913	–4.0%
University of New Orleans	9,156	8,746	–4.5%
Dillard University	1,124	1,011	–10.1%
SOURCE: Brookings Institution; Chronicle reporting

 

 

Do You Need Diversity Training?

 

 

President Obama, Professor Gates and the Cambridge Police

 

 

October 18, 2009

Colleges Help Veterans Advance From Combat to Classroom

 

Article by Judith A. Starkey

Women in Business:  A Cultural Change

Recent data reflect the growing impact of women in U.S. business, yet women continue to make relatively slow progress in the overall management ranks of U.S. organizations.  Reasons for this slow growth rate are often rooted in deep-seated cultural values, which traditionally have defined men as directors and women as supporters.  As long as these values rule organizations, women will continue to have difficulty breaking the so-called "glass ceiling" to upper management levels.

Culture change is required for our economic survival.  In a survey published by The Wall Street Journal Rose Jonas, former personnel manager at Monsanto Company, said, "If culture doesn't change, nothing will change for women."  Jack Hall, vice president of employee relations at Ford Motor Company, agreed:  "If we don't change the culture, we're not going to survive."

By focusing on successful models where change is occurring, however gradually, we can gain insight toward development of a new culture with a more balanced view of genders in the workplace.  Let's start with two more companies cited in the above study.

Sara Lee Corporation was unwilling to wait for women's progress through the ranks.  Beginning in the 1980's they began hiring women into high-level jobs and watched the cultural changes trickle down.  "The more women in top management jobs, the more women are attracted to them," says Gary Grom, senior vice president of human resources.  These changes required a firm commitment from then Chairman John Bryan, former civil rights activist.  He noted, "We are the largest company in the world named for a woman, a distinction we are proud of.  It gives us responsibility to be ahead of the curve on women's issues."  He added, "Besides, since one of our product lines is Hanes pantyhose, it didn't make sense to have a bunch of old men sitting around trying to figure out the business."

Wells Fargo & Co. was also found to have a high percentage of women in management, reflecting a trend in the financial industry.  Wells Fargo had many mergers and acquisitions, and women had an opportunity to show they could handle large projects; they seemed to thrive in the company's decentralized, nonhierarchical structure.

This latter example supports findings of other organizations such as the Society of Human Resource Management, where leadership styles of successful male and female small business owners were examined.  They found that male and female employers did not differ significantly in personal characteristics and personnel practices.  On the other hand, female managers had better track records for hiring women, and their employees in general were happier with their jobs than were employees who worked for male owners.  Also, contrary to popular opinion, women enjoyed working for other women.  Both male and female employees reported similar positive levels of job satisfaction.  Younger, better-educated males in particular, appeared to enjoy working for female employers.

Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade:  Our History, Out Future, identified two basic kinds of corporate structures.  The first, which she defines as the "dominator" model, is patterned after the military system and is largely hierarchical.  The second, the "partnership" model, stresses cooperation and collaboration.  She suggests that this second model, which is gradually replacing the first, is ideal for women managers whose skills traditionally have flourished in this type of setting.

Sally Helgesen, in her book, The Female Advantage, compares the two models to games learned as children.  Men have historically used football as a business model, with its organizational structure, tenacious focus on objective, concentration on blocking the competition, emphasis on deployment of efficient units, and requirement that team players do what they are told and not question the coach.  Girls, on the other hand, have preferred more interpersonal games, such as hopscotch, house, dolls, jump rope, all emphasizing cooperation and role-playing. The more flexible games prepared women to improvise, concentrating more on the process than the goal.  The ability to respond quickly to changing business conditions is becoming an increasingly valuable trait in today's world.

It is interesting to compare these studies with anecdotal data derived from one of our own  workshops.  A group of women participants defined:

"Women (as a cultural group)" as "sensitive, adaptable, determined, having fortitude and emotional strength, doers with a high work ethic, nurturing and caring, open, communicative, confrontive in a positive sense, and having integrity."

Conversely, a group of men defined:

"Men (as a cultural group)" as "confident, aggressive, head of the family (including finances), open to change, involved in sports, a hero, we 'fix' things, run the company and the country, are leaders, decision makers, successful, and bond with other males."

So, one could conclude that the successful cultural model we seek of bringing male and female perspectives into balance would create an organization:

• Whose structure is fluid and can adapt quickly to change;

• Where directiveness is tempered with strong interpersonal skills;

• Where process is defined through consensus-building collaboration; and

• Growth opportunities are provided equally to women and men.

Key to achieving this goal is understanding communication between genders.  Deborah Tannen, in her book, You Just Don't Understand, asserts that men value independence over intimacy, while women value connection over status.  These values were learned as children, according to her studies of Americans raised before the 1970's.  (Since then, boy and girls have been taught more similar values in the U.S., although recent studies indicate that the old messages are still being learned subliminally.)  In addition, since men often associate intimacy with sex, they can misinterpret the efforts of women to establish an "intimate" or genuine relationship with a coworker.  This difference in interpretation can lead to mixed signals and sexual harassment complications.  Other gender-based communication differences can occur through the use of language, boundaries and power, all of which experts agree are very similar to the gaps occurring among different ethnic cultures.  Periodic training in cultural (including gender) communication can ease strains due to these differences, but ongoing organizational policy changes need to reinforce the culture change.

Judith Tingley, author of Genderflex:  Ending the Workplace War Between the Sexes, points out that an effective interpersonal strategy is "to temporarily use communication behaviors typical of the other gender in order to increase potential for influence."  Beth Milwid interviewed successful businesswomen for their strategies in Working With Men: one manager said that she acts like a man in the boardroom, where male traditions of military leadership still rule, but with staff she uses participatory management.

At the current rate women will not achieve parity with male managers for at least another 20 years−if then.  Can we afford to wait?  The opportunities open for U.S. business could multiply rapidly through more effective utilization of its female workforce.  The sooner cultural change produces a workplace environment where women can fully realize their potential, the sooner greater prosperity will ensue.

 

“What happened? It better be a good story!”

By Rick “Maggott” Mangan

Well you may have seen me on campus in my clunky, rented wheelchair and it seems that everyone I see wants to ask me why I’m on wheels with my left leg in a big old, Darth Vader-looking boot. I feel bad because I don’t always have time to explain, and when I tell the quick version: “It was a skydiving mishap” some people shake their head (well that’s what you get for jumping on the bed!) or worse-- they think I’m joking. So I decided to write it down so you can get the gory details if you wish to read on. It’s a modern tragedy, really.

Well, it all begins with “Couch Freaks- dollar daze,” a world renowned annual skydiving convention in Iowa. Actually in skydiving nomenclature such a “convention” is called a “boogie” which is a huge skydiving festival/party/get-together—like Woodstock with airplanes instead of guitars and beer instead of LSD (after sunset of course!).

I started skydiving in 1977 just months after my voice changed. My friends mangled my last name, and soon I was better known as “Maggot” than by my real name. When my own mother began using that moniker to refer to me, I knew I was stuck with it. I added another T to differentiate myself from other larvae, and the skydiving world has been (lovingly?) referring to me as Maggott ever since. Well, in all of my years as a skydiver, a national champion, FAA licensed parachute rigger, skydiving instructor, and pilot, I have never been able to attend the Couch Freaks’ boogie no matter how much I wanted to. I could just never get there for the week-long bash. Well, 2009 was my year! (Or so I thought).

Summer quarter was over. My grades were in. I decided I was going to COUCH FREAKS! Finally! And with all this free time lying in front of me, I decided to fly there in my own plane. This would be the longest cross-country trip I’ve ever flown! Skydive Oregon was having their own Boogie the weekend before Couch Freaks, so I planned my trip to begin with a stop at Skydive Oregon. Early Friday morning I took off on my grand adventure.

It was raining as I flew into Skydive Oregon. No problem. That gave me time to unload my plane and set up my camp site. I had just finished setting up my tent when the sky cleared and the jumping began.

I made two fun jumps and decided to sit out the last load. It was the last load of the day; the sun was going down. The Canadians showed up and begged me to jump with them.

“Come on! It’s gonna be a sunset load, ay!” (Yes, they actually said “ay!”). Well, never being one to disappoint a Canadian, I went along for “one more jump.” After all, it was going to be a sunset jump ay? and those are spectacular, ay!
The jump went as planned, and nothing eventful happened, until I landed. I came in hot. That means I was moving fast horizontally, across the ground. Normally I just drag a foot until my speed drops off and I just run it out. Most often it’s just a step or two. This time I was coming in faster than I expected, faster than I can run. This was no cause for concern. I decided to slide in on my bottom. I rarely do that because it’s pretty hard on the seat of a jumpsuit and my suit was brand new! Nevertheless, I decided a butt-slide was the most prudent option, considering my excessive speed. Just as I decided to push both feet out in front of me, initiating the rump-slide, POP! Something grabbed my left foot, and I felt my ankle turn. I also heard it. I am hard of hearing and wearing a full-faced helmet and yet I HEARD it! my ankle felt tight, as if being squeezed in a vice and a feeling of heat was climbing up my left leg. I let myself fall and rolled onto my left side.

I checked to assess the extent of my injury (I was sure it was broken; after all, I’d heard it)! EWWW! My foot was on laid over flat on the ground, my toes pointed left but my knee was pointed up! The heat turned to pain, Intense pain. I didn’t even try to stand and began calling for help. Nobody could hear me. My landing was a typical looking landing and there was no reason to suspect an injury. Everyone looked away. I waved. Nobody responded. One of the Canadians landed nearby, and I remembered his name as John. “John!” I called. He turned. “I need help! I’ve broken my leg!” John came running, and soon I had all the help I could ask for. They called for an ambulance and took me out of my parachute harness. I began shaking violently. I was in shock, and I remember being very embarrassed that I was shaking so violently and couldn’t stop.

The ambulance came and cut my new jumpsuit to shreds (and I was worried about grass stains!). They cut right up the front of the leg and then cut the left leg off of my new suit. Oh well. The loaded me into the ambulance and then and began poking me with needles. They gave me morphine and the rest is a hazy, pain-filled, dream. At the hospital, they reset my ankle which was dislocated and released me. I spent the weekend in my tent with my foot in a temporary cast, and made plans for getting myself and my airplane home.

I ended up taking the train home and left my plane in Oregon. I got home on Monday and Wednesday morning I underwent surgery for my broken fibula, and dislocated ankle. The screws will stay in for 3 months, and I still don’t know how long I’ll be in my Darth Vader boot.

I still don’t know what it was that I snagged my foot on, and I’ve still never been to Couch Freaks!

 

 

 

For Latinos and blacks, a call for unity, not hate - (Intra-racism)

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tobar16-2009jun16,0,4761216,full.column

 

October 2, 2009 - Chronicle of Higher Education

University That Objected to Epileptic Student's Service Dog Is Bitten by Bias Lawsuit

By Libby Nelson
Millikin University faces a federal discrimination lawsuit accusing the college in Decatur, Ill., of forcing a legally blind student with epilepsy to move out of her dormitory in 2006 after she obtained a service dog.
The lawsuit, announced on Thursday, was filed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on behalf of Catherine Nielsen, a student at Millikin during the 2005-6 academic year. She had been living in the university's largest dorm, which was fully accessible to people with handicaps, when she was approved for a service dog. Such dogs are specially trained to detect early signs of epileptic seizures and alert their owners, as well as protect them from injury if a seizure occurs.

According to the lawsuit, Ms. Nielsen had previously asked the university's director of residential life about the dog and had been told that getting such an animal would not be a problem.
When the dog was delivered, however, university officials asked Ms. Nielsen to move to another dormitory because the college was concerned about other students' allergies, according to legal documents in the case, and she was told she could not enter her former residence at all if the dog were with her. (The suit alleges that no students in the dormitory had allergies and that it had sophisticated air filters that could have prevented any problems.) After living at her mother's house with the dog, she moved to another dormitory, which was less accessible than the original one.

The suit alleges that Ms. Nielsen suffered "inconvenience, discomfort, stress, and increased incidents of epileptic episodes" after the move. It is unclear if she graduated from the university.
In a written statement, a Millikin spokeswoman, Amy Hodges, said the university had acted appropriately. Ms. Nielsen's original dormitory had been designed for students with respiratory problems, she said.

"The university has gone out of its way to make reasonable accommodations for the needs of both the students and their service animals in the past, and will continue to do so in the future," she said.
If Millikin loses the suit, it could be forced to pay damages, including Ms. Nielsen's medical expenses and compensation for "emotional and physical distress," and a $16,000 penalty, according to the case documents.

 

‘You Shouldn’t Have Any Children’ and Other Forms of Blindness

By Susan L. Gjolmesi

“Why aren’t I having any more contractions?”

There was no response from the busy nurses in the delivery room. The lights were creating a painful glare and I blurted out in a panic, “Why aren’t I having any more contractions?!”

Then he was brought close to my face so I could see him, all seven pounds of him, fair and blonde, sleeping.  He was 19.5 inches long. Thankfully, neither the severe toxemia with which I struggled nor my AB negative blood had caused any problems for this little man. I named him Bryan Leigh.

I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, RP for short, when I was 10 years old. It is the leading cause of genetic blindness. Back in the day, as I am now 60, it was not diagnosed much. My brother and I were diagnosed at the same time, after 3 days of tests at the Minot, North Dakota Eye, Ear and Throat Clinic. The good Dr. Ayash from Cairo, Egypt was able to diagnose us when all other doctors had failed.

At the time we were “legally blind,” a term that, as children, we found confusing. I remember listening to the doctor telling our parents while we were in the room “They are legally blind and will be totally blind by the time they are adults.” Our parents cried.

My brother and I looked at each other, perplexed. “What is he saying? I can see,” I thought. “Don’t other people see like I see?”

That was the beginning of the end of life as I had known it. Next came the first pair of “Coke bottle glasses.” That was when the wicked peer group stigma began and the pain of being picked on and being isolated kicked in. That’s when I became overprotected and was told “No” more than was necessary. Or, “No, you might get hurt.” Or, “No, you can’t do things like other kids can - you are different.” Those tapes played in my head for years…sometimes they still do.

All my parents did for me and my one brother who had RP they did out of love; this I know. They supported us, they shielded us from stigma, they helped us to be socially appropriate and even popular, they founded in us determined spirits and a huge work ethic, and I think they bestowed upon us courage.

I disliked doctors from an early age. First, it was the ophthalmologists who would peer into my eyes, exclaim about the rare things they saw, then tell me not to have any children. Every single one felt it was their ethical duty to prevent me from birthing a baby who might experience what I was going through. They might as well have said - “We don’t need any more blind people in the world!”

Then some of my general doctors asked if I planned to have children. At the time I wasn’t, but wasn’t it my business after all?

In the end, the decision was made for me. Bryan came in his own way. My then-husband and I were not paying attention to the calendar and surprise, surprise…

As I brought him home I marveled at the odds of it. I was curious as to whether he might have RP, but we wouldn’t know for quite some time. Meanwhile, there were other hurdles. My in-laws didn’t feel comfortable with me caring for a newborn. They underestimated me; after all, I didn’t have to turn on any lights to change his diapers.

Bryan was clean, loved, happy and I could take him anywhere. He loved to go and observe everything, smiling and interacting with people from as young as two months old.

My pregnancy had been very tough; during my labor my heart was acting up and I was on an EKG machine. They put me under during the delivery, as my blood pressure spiked and things got serious.  My specialist advised me not to become pregnant again, citing health concerns, saying it would be too risky, and not because of the RP. I had my tubes tied.

Raising Bryan has been the single most rewarding event of my life. There were heartbreaking realities for me. I felt oftentimes as if I was the one who did all the ordinary stuff…the home stuff: “Bryan, clean your room.” “Bryan, have you done your homework yet?”

It was his Dad who got to take him places and do the “fun” stuff, as I could not drive and take him shopping or to the movies. At times I resented that.

That did change when Bryan and I grew up, and we have “seen” remarkable things together. I never missed a theatre production in which he starred while in high school. When he was in radio, he sent me several of his audition tapes and tapes of his radio shows.

Today, Bryan resides in Orlando, Florida, where he is Chief of Staff for the Florida Advocacy Council. I was delighted to be a guest last December to see my “baby” at work as he conducted a meeting of one of the advocate councils in his office suite. He was brilliant and many of the advocates stopped to tell me how impressive my son is.

Not surprisingly, Bryan Leigh has been an advocate, in one way or another, for most of his life in one way or another.  When he was just a little guy and his friends would come to play with his Fisher/Price toys they would have a blast. When it was time for them to go home, I would hear his little voice say, “You got to help me pick up all the toys so my Mommy doesn’t trip and hurt herself.” And they would.

I remember the day he came out to me, on my birthday. I looked at him and said, “It’s okay. I’m blind, you’re gay. It’s really all the same.” We laughed and hugged each other really hard. He had told his father first, as he knew that his father would have issues with it, which he did. It was a surprise to Bryan that I already knew, but not that I would be supportive and love him for who he is, for his entire identity.

Today, Bryan is an activist for the LGBTQ community much the same as I am for the disability community. We also share a commitment to the humane treatment of animals. I am a dog guide user and my retired dog, Nellie, and my current dog, Inez, are part of our family. They love their “boy” Bryan. Without Inez it would be impossible to travel to Florida to see Bryan, his partner Greg and their rescued dog, Zander.

My life is full. My husband, Bjorn, the two dogs, and my beautiful son have blessed me. My job at Bellevue College is challenging and rewarding. The RP does not define who I am. In a way, it has blessed me and contributed to my life in ways that others will never understand.

And Bryan Leigh?  He does not have RP. The baby I “should not have had” is changing the world, perfecting his identity and helping children of all races, elders who have no voices, gays who just want to be in love and committed to their partners for life.  He is a change agent for social and governmental transformation ion. All of which I am sure he would still be doing even if he had RP.

Susan L. Gjolmesli, Director of Disability Resource Center (DRC).

 

 

Do black people count?

From a blog (Political Animal) commenting on a column in the conservative Washington Examiner, pointing out the kind of thing that won’t make headlines but is just part of the white supremacist background. I’m pretty sure that York is entirely unaware of his underlying assumption.
___________________________________
'ACTUALLY'....

I've read quite a few columns from Byron York over the years, first during his tenure at the National Review, and more recently as the chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner. I've seen plenty of commentary I strongly disagree with, but none has offended me quite as much as his latest column.

   “On his 100th day in office, Barack Obama enjoys high job approval ratings, no matter what poll you consult. But if a new survey by the New York Times is accurate, the president and some of his policies are significantly less popular with white Americans than with black Americans, and his sky-high ratings among African-Americans make some of his positions appear a bit more popular overall than they actually are. “

For crying out loud, what the hell does that mean, exactly? I read the rest of the piece, hoping to see York explain why the president's seemingly popular positions are exaggerated or inflated. Why, in other words, these positions "appear" more popular "than they actually are."

But all the piece tells me is that African Americans tend to support Obama in greater numbers than white Americans.

The problem, of course, is that damn phrase "than they actually are." York argues that we can see polls gauging public opinion, but if we want to really understand the popularity of the president's positions, and not be fooled by "appearances," then we have to exclude black people.

There's really no other credible way to read this. York effectively argues that black people shouldn't count. We can look at polls measuring the attitudes of Americans, but if we want to see the truth -- appreciate the numbers as "they actually are" -- then it's best if we focus our attention on white people, and only white people.

This is unacceptable.

By Steve Benen, Washington Monthly

 

 

 

Diversity in the workplace used to hinge upon the level of responsibility, pay, and respect that one could receive based upon the color of skin and ethnicity. But, these days, diversity in the workplace has become much more than that. Most CEO’s and executives alike have come to discover that diversity is what often makes for better business.

THE MORE THE MERRIER

Every one of us comes from a different background with different experiences that led to different results. Because of this, each one of us brings something different to the table. We each bring a different set of skills, knowledge, and experience that makes up the diversity of us all. It’s in this diversity that we can flourish as a company.

Instead of everyone in an organization offering the same, general aspect, diversity gives us more to work with. People with different backgrounds have different sets of skills or knowledge that can be lent to the workplace. This gives a company more variety to choose from when it comes to employee results. Understandably, any company can flourish when it has more resources. The more it has, the better.

With diversity on its side, a company stands a better chance at finding working solutions and in less time. Not only does a variety of experience and background provide a vast array of knowledge and skills, but it also sparks creativity among those involved. The creativity is sparked by those taking part in the setting of diversity itself, not only supplying their own unique slice of diversity but discovering inspiration from others around them. This creates a brand new diversity in itself and adds to that which is already diverse.

WHAT’S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE…MARKETPLACE?

As it turns out, a diverse population in a company’s workforce is not only good for the company but the market in which the company provides for. To be precise, a company that is capable of managing a diverse population of employees most often attracts a diverse range of customers. It doesn’t take a strategic planner to know that the more diverse a company’s customer base is, the better it prospers in popularity and sales.

DIVERSITY HAPPENS IN AND OUT OF A COMPANY

And, because diversity is always taking place outside of company walls, this fact addresses another variable that cannot be overlooked. The general public, a company’s market, is forever changing and re-changing in its diversity. As an example, one such change grabbed the attention of most customer service companies in 2000 when census results showed that African Americans were no longer the largest minority. Hispanics had officially moved into this position and now companies had to plan how to appeal their services to and attract this new group that would dominate in a new way, verse the previous minority majority that marketing strategies had been crafted around in the past.

With diversity in the workplace, it is easy to make these kinds of transitions. With a diverse number of employees and executives at the ready, a company can be covered on many more fronts than opposed to a less diverse company.

USED MORE THAN YOU THINK

Diversity works. And, it’s not a new idea. Diversity is a concept that has been used often, even for plans as large as the creation of countries. This strategy was formed by the founding fathers of the United States and gave meaning to the nickname of the “melting pot” that the U.S. became known for.

If it can work for the tangibility of an entire country, its results on something as small as a company can be profound

 

Can Racism Lead to Depression in Black, Latino Kids?

By Daryl C. Hannah

May 11, 2009

Black and Latino students may be more likely to develop mental-health problems as a result of experiencing racism, a new Rand Institute/Harvard University study suggests. While there's some evidence that racial discrimination increases the likelihood that adolescents and adults will develop mental illnesses, this is the first to examine a possible link between racism and mental disorders among elementary-aged students.

 

The results of the study, however, do not prove that discrimination caused emotional problems. That's because, unlike studies of adults, these fifth-grade participants weren't followed over a period of time. But it is possible that at-risk Black and Latino kids prompt more discriminatory remarks from peers or that children with emotional problems perceive more bias, says the study's lead researcher, Mark Schuster, a Harvard pediatrician and pediatrics chief at Children's Hospital Boston.

Researchers for the study, published in the May issue of "American Journal of Public Health," interviewed more than 5,000 Black, Latino and white fifth-grade students in Birmingham, Ala., Houston and Los Angeles. 

 

What this study found:

 

• Twenty percent of the Black students and 15 percent of the Latino students said they had experienced racism, compared to only 7 percent of white students
• Latino youth who reported experiencing racism were more than three times as likely to have symptoms of depression. Blacks were more than twice as likely
• Rates of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional-defiant disorder and conduct disorder were also higher among the Black and Latino students studied

 

Although some experts are lauding the research for its findings, other child psychologists disagree and point to the inherent bias that comes with asking students whether they "ever experienced," or perceived, racism.

 

"We don't know if it was a rare occurrence with these kids," says Rebecca Bigler, a University of Texas psychologist. "Maybe it only has to happen once to be devastating if you're young."

 

Mirakles Do Happen!

By Indira Gartenberg

A courier service entirely run and staffed by the hearing-impaired? Is it a workable idea? Here’s the remarkable story of just such a service surviving against all odds. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens, can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has - Margaret Mead, anthropologist.

I walked into Dhruv Lakra’s office in Churchgate, Mumbai, on the morning of March 20, 2009, but was not expecting to witness an unusually quiet courier agency room. Seconds later, I saw a rapid -- almost electric -- exchange of messages in sign language between Dhruv and his team. Yes, all the employees in Mirakle Couriers are deaf or have only partial hearing and are in the age-group of 20-30 years. Questions race in my head, and so does curiosity. The imagined boundaries of core qualifications or ‘essentials’ for a job suddenly start dissolving in front of my eyes.

Dhruv Lakra flagged off Mirakle Couriers with its tagline ‘Delivering possibilities’ with a single employee in November 2008. In just five months, he has a team of 19 employees — four women and 15 men— all of them hearing-impaired.

What prompted this Oxford MBA to pursue this unusual initiative? After his undergraduate studies in Mumbai, Dhruv worked in an international investment bank for some time, but says he did not enjoy the experience. A general interest in philanthropy and an introduction to social entrepreneurship while studying, he says, were the key to his new thinking. Dhruv came up with the idea of starting a courier agency with deaf persons.

He recruited his employees after visiting various ‘deaf clubs’ in Mumbai. Word was soon out that someone in town was hiring deaf people for a courier agency, and Dhruv found many aspirants. After careful scrutiny and background checks of those he found eligible, Dhruv hired 14 people, and now that number has gone up to 19. From his own savings, and from ‘angel capital’, he managed to get going.

 Mirakle Couriers is run like any professional outfit – there is no scope or space for mediocrity out of pity or sympathy. Dhruv is very particular about whom he hires. Once they are in, they have to follow the rules of the company, from being punctual, wearing the right walking shoes and clean uniforms and reporting back in the office with their delivery receipts. Dhruv pays them well and is also big on incentives.

For every task done well, there is a bonus. The objective is clear: if you work hard and perform well, you will be rewarded; if not, you quit. Currently two big business houses are clients. Mirakle delivers only in Mumbai for now. Interestingly, the courier company sends a copy of some common greetings (Hello, Thank you, Sorry etc) in sign language along with each of their deliveries.

Women employees are not sent out as delivery agents but sort the mail according to pin-codes. It’s an important job in the courier business. “How you sort is how you deliver,” says Dhruv. Training the delivery men, Dhruv says, was challenging. They had to be shown their way around town, and most importantly had to be taught the skills of interpersonal communication, like the right body language, presentation and some do’s and don’ts. For example, they must make sure that when they exit a lift, they close the door properly because they cannot hear the chime that alerts one to an open door. Dhruv says that training one delivery agent takes him roughly 15 days. The entire team uses the SMS facility on their mobile phones to communicate their whereabouts.

The challenges that this young social entrepreneur faces today are diverse. For one, there is an issue of space. When Mirakle Couriers began operations in November 2008, they worked out of the office of a big company, which encouraged the idea. They had to move out after two months and now work from another company’s office, but they need a permanent office. Training, hiring and taking orders, finding clients and publicising the company is all done by Dhruv. He needs volunteers to help out as well as resources that would allow him to increase his clientele and spread to other cities.

Larger question

Mirakle Couriers spotlights important issues for debate. Any debate on disability must start by asking some key questions. What is disability? What shapes public opinion about disability? What is the inner world of the disabled? What are the implications of our culturally shaped opinions for deaf people in particular and disability in general? Is there scope for the disabled to live a life of dignity? The issues are particularly important in India, home to the largest deaf population in the world.

Cultures all over the world have gone through exclusivist attitudes and policies towards the disabled. In the Western pre-industrialised era of the agrarian economy, myth and superstition dominated. Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) were believed to be ‘cursed’ or possessed by ‘evil spirits’. Later, with its focus on manual/physical labour, industrialisation in the 18th-19th century took this idea one step further, by stressing that only the able-bodied could perform productive roles in society and the economy. Obviously, the disabled were pushed out once again. Further, drawing on Darwin’s theory of evolution, Francis Galton in the 1880s was developing the ‘Eugenics’ school of thought which involved segregation of all those people who were perceived to be ‘abnormal’ and their subsequent elimination from society.

American functionalism and deviance theory was grounded in economics. Its foremost proponent, Talcott Parsons, argued in the late-1940s that “the normal state of being in Western developed societies is ‘good health’; consequently, sickness, and by implication impairments, are deviations from ‘normality’”. Those that are unfit to perform a function, implying those that cannot be productive, constitute deviant behaviour that needs to be corrected.

One can therefore infer that disability is a social construction. In a stratified society like India, social factors like poverty (read class), religion, region, caste and gender form the basis of this social construct—and can serve both as a reason and consequence of it. Therefore, one’s position in society, based on these social factors, determines to a large extent, the deprivation levels of the disabled.

Deafness, like any other disability in India, is often a matter of shame for families. The deaf who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds experience even more trying times throughout their lives. For one, they have one of the most clandestine and ‘invisible’ disabilities, in that no one can see a person and tell if s/he is deaf. As if the struggles at home were not enough, challenges begin at the level of schooling too— there is no sign language, only spoken medium of instruction. Further ahead, there are no deaf colleges in India (but for the plans of one that might be underway). As such, most deaf students manage to only complete their basic level of schooling in India.

There is very little access to information for most deaf persons despite computers and internet, which are out of the reach of many. This is a shameful irony given that India boasts of being a major IT hub. A large population of people with the capabilities to use these communication systems is excluded from them.

Dhruv Lakra says, “The attitude of the past 50 years or so has been closely linked to our insensitivity: for instance, it is common practice in many Indian families to go to a disability school on a child’s birthday and distribute sweets to the less fortunate.”

It is important to situate Dhruv’s entrepreneurial venture against this background. If disability is a social construct with strong economic undercurrents as illustrated above, Dhruv has set out to challenge this very foundation to build a new one based on the inherent capabilities of the disabled. The employees of Mirakle Couriers have, in their own words, “come a long way”. Ravindra, who engaged in intensive manual labour, carrying hundreds of kilos of foodgrain on his back, finds that the new job is like a new life. Vinod worked as a domestic help earlier, sweeping and cleaning to earn a livelihood. Reshma and Geeta both worked as jewellery designers for several years. They worked long hours, never saw an increase in salary, and frequently got yelled at by their employers.

Curiously, if we decide to measure the ‘Decent Work’ (1) conditions of the working deaf population in India (mostly engaged in home-based work, physical labour and domestic work), it would not be surprising to find a high level of ‘Decent Work deficit’. All of the employees of Mirakle felt that while their earlier jobs gave them money, there were high levels of discrimination, lower wages for a lot more work (as compared to not-disabled persons) and no dignity. According to them, this job makes them self-sufficient and independent, lets them use their critical faculties, gives them a sense of fulfilment and most importantly, gives them a life of dignity.

In step with the modern world

Globalisation has been truly emancipatory for persons with disability in India. Neha Trivedi of Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) in Mumbai, says that the coming of MNCs to India after 1991 has been a welcome change for the Indian disabled population. For one, Western countries have stringent policies on inclusion of PWDs. Second, the new buzzword in human resources (HR) departments of many of these companies is ‘diversity’. So ‘diversity managers’ consciously encourage, promote and hire PWDs (in addition to persons with varied diverse associations based on sexuality, gender, race, religion, ethnicity and so on). A reputed German MNC has also reported that the attrition rates in their service/support centres in Chennai were lowest among PWDs. Diversity therefore, also makes business sense.

Disabled rights movements all over the West, starting with those in the US in the 1960s, have done much to bring positive change in the lives of disabled persons all over the world. Following numerous discussions, social movements and pressure from organisations working for the disabled and change in government policies over the years, the focus has shifted from rehabilitation to integration to inclusion/mainstreaming in most countries of the Western world. The question of rights of the disabled occupies a significant place in the public sphere today. There are discussions, public fora, university courses, conferences, media coverage on the one hand and mushrooming of multiple organisations working to bridge the gap on the other.

In India, however, we have only just begun. Not only is there need to expand the resource-base for the disabled and improve their access to these resources, but their issues need to be in the public sphere. For instance, sign language could be introduced in school syllabi as part of formal education, and it could help both those that need it given their disability and those able that are interested in learning it. Mass media has a major role to play. Sensitisation is required at all levels. The challenges are many and we have a long way to go. An organisation like Mirakle Couriers has shown the way.

(For any further information on Mirakle Couriers, or to place orders, please contact Dhruv Lakra on his mobile: +91 98209 75600. You could also email him at the \n dhruv.lakra@miraklecouriers.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and/or \n dhruv.lakra@oxfordbusinessalumni.org This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

(Indira Gartenberg is a research officer at the School of Management & Labour Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India)

Endnotes

1.Decent Work refers to opportunities for women and men to obtain work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Decent Work involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organise and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men.

Reprinted from http://www.yess.co.in

 

Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration

May 3, two Bellevue College student groups performed at Seattle Center at the Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration - the Indonesian Fellowship Club and the Apna Bhangra Crew (ABC). A number of Peer 2 Peer mentors from Bellevue College volunteered at the Center. 

The website below contains a slideshow of the events:.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eijgDon53fU

 

The College of San Mateo becomes the first community college in California to award honorary degrees to Japanese-American students, 67 years after they and their families were abruptly packed off to internment camps across the West during World War II.
 View Full Story

 

 

Government of Canada to amend Indian Act in wake of landmark BC ruling
2-3210
http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/mr/nr/m-a2009/nr000000339-eng.asp

OTTAWA, Ontario (June 1, 2009) - The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians today announced that the Government of Canada will not appeal the British Columbia Court of Appeal's ruling on the Sharon McIvor case and that it will proceed with amendments to the Indian Act as ordered by the Court.
"After careful consideration and review of the decision, we will proceed with the necessary legislative amendments," said Minister Strahl. "This Government has taken many actions over the years to ensure Aboriginal people enjoy the same rights, protections, and equality as other Canadians. Proceeding with those amendments as ordered by the Court is another step in that direction."
On April 6, 2009, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that certain registration provisions of the Indian Act are unconstitutional as they violate the equality provision of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court suspended its declaration for 12 months - to April 6, 2010 - to give the Government time to amend the Indian Act.
The ruling stems from a civil law suit that Sharon McIvor launched in October 1989, in her bid to acquire Indian status for herself and her son. She claimed that section 6 of the Indian Act was discriminatory in that it treated the descendents of Indian women who married non-Indian men differently from the descendents of Indian men who married non-Indian women. Section 6 of the Indian Act contains the provisions which determine the eligibility of individuals for Indian status. These provisions are at the centre of the McIvor case.
"We will move quickly in the coming weeks to begin the legislative process. The Government is ready to work collaboratively with willing Aboriginal organizations and Parliamentarians to facilitate the necessary bill." continued Mr. Strahl. "We are working-out the details of the process and will soon be able to provide information on the plan forward."
Backgrounder - McIvor: an Overview at http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/mr/nr/m-a2009/bk000000338-eng.asp
For more information, please contact:
Media Relations
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
819-953-1160
Office of the Honourable Chuck Strahl
Nina Chiarelli
Press Secretary

819-997-0002

 

Jolanta Irena Sendlerowa (Sendler)

Irena Sendler - who recently died at 98 years of age, was a 2008 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. During WWII, Irena was given permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a plumbing/sewer specialist.  She had an ulterior motive.

Being German, Irena knew what the Nazi plan was for Jews.

Irena smuggled out infants in the bottom of a tool box she carried in the back of her truck.  She used a burlap sack for bigger children.

She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto.  The soldiers wanted nothing to do with her dog..  The barking covered noises of the infants and children.

Irena managed to smuggle out and save 2500 infants and children, before she was caught!  The Nazi's broke both her legs and arms, and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record in a jar buried under a tree in her back yard of all the children she smuggled out.

After the war, she tried to locate all parents that may have survived to reunite families, but most had been gassed.

The children she could not reunite were placed with foster families or adopted.

Irena was nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.  She was not selected.  Al Gore won for a slide show on Global Warming.

 

September 27

Hiram R. (Rhodes) Revels was born on this date in 1822. He was a Black educator, minister, and politician, and the first African American to serve in the United States Senate.

He was born in Fayetteville, N.C. he was born free, but even though he was born free, all Blacks in the South, free or slaves, were forbidden to learn to read and write. Revels was secretly taught these basics by a free Black woman. When he was 15, his family moved to Lincointon, N.C., where Revels worked as a barber. In 1844, he moved to Indiana (a free state) and began studying at Beech Grove Seminary, a Quaker school.

At this time Revels became involved with the teachings of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, a significant religious and educational force in the Black community. In 1845, Revels began studying for the ministry in Drake County, Ohio. Later that year, he was ordained as a minister of the AME Church, and made an elder in 1849.

Revels, an itinerant preacher, was imprisoned in Missouri in 1854, for preaching the gospel to Negroes. In the early 1850s, Revels married Phoeba A. Bass, and together they raised six daughters. He attended Knox College in Galesburg, IL, and in 1857, he became a minister became principal of an African American high school in Baltimore, Maryland.

When the Civil War started, Revels helped organize Union regiments and recruit soldiers of the first colored regiment in Maryland. He established a school for freedmen in St. Louis, in 1863, and worked with the U.S. Provost Marshall to handle the affairs of ex-slaves.

In 1865, Revels joined the Methodist Episcopal (ME) Church, which offered more opportunities for his work in the South. After the Civil War, the Reconstruction Act of 1867 required the Southern states to write new constitutions permitting African Americans to vote and hold public office. This was the Fourteenth Amendment, and on July 28, 1868, African Americans were officially recognized as citizens of the United States.

Later that year, Revels was appointed for a term on the Natchez city board of aldermen. During the first session of the Mississippi legislature in January 1868, Revels was asked to open the session with a prayer. According to John R. Lynch, "That prayer-—one of the most impressive and eloquent prayers that had ever been delivered in the [Mississippi] Senate Chamber-made Revels a United States Senator. He made a profound impression upon all who heard him. It impressed those who heard it that Revels was not only a man of great natural ability but that he was also a man of superior attainments."

In 1869, Lynch, a Black political figure from Natchez, encouraged him to enter as a candidate for state senator, representing Adams County. Revels accepted the nomination at the Republican caucus in December 1869.

In January 1870, Mississippi elected Hiram Revels as a U.S. senator. Mississippi was readmitted to the Union, but the New York Herald predicted that Revels would never be allowed to take his Senate seat. But finally he was seated on February 25, 1870, and held the office until March 3, 1871, becoming the first African American member of Congress. During Revels' short tenure, he introduced several bills, presented a number of petitions, and served on the Committee on the District of Columbia and the Committee on Education. After his term in the senate, Revels became president of Alcorn College from 1871 to 1873.

He then reentered the ministry as the pastor of the Holly Springs, Mississippi, ME church. In 1876, he came back to Alcorn College until 1882, then taught theology at Rust University in Holly Springs. On January 16, 1901, Revels died of a stroke.

Reference:
Black Americans In Congress, 1870-1989.
Bruce A. Ragsdale & Joel D. Treese
U.S. Government Printing Office

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This page was last revised on November 4, 2011