Occasionally I find posts that I would like to share and this one touched my heart from Michelle Obama regarding her 9-11 experience:
“I spent the morning of September 11, 2001, with my girls. It was Malia’s first day of nursery school—I remember taking her photo, dropping her off for the very first time, and feeling those pangs of separation from my baby. I’d just buckled newborn Sasha into her car seat when I heard the news on the radio—and the uncertainty and anxiety set in almost immediately. What was happening? Had the world just changed? What kind of future were our girls going to enter?
Twenty years later, we have some answers to those questions. We’ve seen the very best of humanity in those years—from those who rushed into the flames and the debris, to those who served our country in uniform and the families who support them, to all those who channeled the pain of this tragedy into music, art, and literature.
We have also seen the complexity that lies within our humanity—how trauma affects us, how war impacts us, how fear can turn us against one another, how we can stop seeing the good in those who don’t look like us or talk like us or worship like us.
So, as we mark this solemn milestone, I am committing myself not only to honoring the families who gave and lost so much, but to reaffirming the kindness, the thoughtfulness, and the openness that is at the very heart of America. They’re the same values that made us so resilient twenty years ago. And they’re what will continue to guide us forward—and guide our children forward—as we build a more inclusive and tolerant country for us all.” I SO respect Michelle’s timely message!
And further looking at inclusiveness and tolerance–here’s another post by Carlos Rodriquez regarding some religions and Christians in America that really rang true for me:
“For far too long, Christians in America used the Bible as a weapon and not as a mirror. The gospel for oppression instead of liberation. That church is used as a judgment gavel, not a table of inclusion. And Jesus as their mascot–not as their example. Time to turn them tables around!”
I feel it would be helpful to further define these two words to better understand our role.
Diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. Basically, it’s about empowering people by respecting and appreciating what makes them different, in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, and national origin.
Diversity allows for the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. It means understanding one another by surpassing simple tolerance to ensure people truly value their differences. This allows us both to embrace and also to celebrate the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual and place positive value on diversity in the community and in the workforce.
Each individual in an organization brings with them a diverse set of perspectives, work and life experiences, as well as religious and cultural differences. The power of diversity can only be unleashed and its benefits reaped when we recognize these differences and learn to respect and value each individual regardless of their background.
Inclusion is an effort or practice in which different groups or individuals have different backgrounds are culturally and socially accepted and welcomed, and equally treated. These differences could be self-evident, such a national origin, age, race and ethnicity, region/belief, gender, marital status and socioeconomic status and they could be more inherent, such as educational background, training sector experience, organizational tenure, even personality, such as introverts versus extroverts.
Inclusion is a sense of belonging. Inclusive cultures make people feel respected and valued for who they are as an individual or group. People feel a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so they can do their best at work.
The process of inclusion engages each individual and makes one feel valued as being part of their success. This culture shift creates higher performing organizations where motivation and morale soar.
How may each of us leave this world a better place by being an example of diversity and inclusion, Warriors?
Covid19 Humor: You never realized how anti-social you were until there was a pandemic and you discovered that your life really didn’t change that much.