Issue 250— January 15, 2024
Re-print: Originally Published January 21, 2019
“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
The two movements that have shaped my life converged this long weekend.
Read MoreIssue 218 — January 16, 2023
January 16, 2023: The nation celebrates the birthday of Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King today.
For many, the holiday acknowledging Dr. King’s transformational significance in American History has become primarily a welcome long weekend off from work. For others, it’s the opportunity to reflect on Dr. King’s legacy in secular and religious settings, as President Joe Biden did at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where King had been the pastor.
Read More“If you can’t make change with the person who lives next door to you, how can you make change across continents?”
Isabelle Leighton, executive director of Donors of Color Network, says, “Most change starts local.”
Read MoreIssue 196 — April 11, 2022
Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Her name is already embedded in the annals of history as the first Black woman confirmed to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.
After 232 years and 115 previous sitting justices, Judge Brown Jackson will become Justice Brown Jackson when she is sworn in at the end of the Court’s current term.
Read MoreIssue 189— January 17, 2022
I honestly can’t believe that my column on January 18, 2021, recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday barely struck the alarm it deserved.
How could I not have drawn brightly the profound contrast between Dr. King’s exhortations to Civil Rights movement activists to hold nonviolent protests and last year’s January 6 violent breech of the Capitol?
Read MoreA vibrant, virtual, free five-day summit is addressing where women are now and how women can move forward toward gender and racial equity begins August 10, thanks to The 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization launched earlier this year.
“The centennial of The 19th Amendment — which gave white women in this country the right to vote — falls at a really pivotal moment in American history, where we're grappling with a global pandemic and navigating a modern-day civil rights movement. There's never been a more important time to spur critical conversations about the role of women in this work,” says Emily Ramshaw, co-founder and CEO of The 19th.
Read MoreTwo months into a cultural reckoning that reached a tipping point with the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers and the global protests that followed, companies, organizations, non-profits, institutions, universities and celebrities have made public mission statements of intention to address racial inequities.
An intensifying renewal and resetting of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts is in the works across the country—and the world. And rightly so. But are these DEI efforts working?
Read MoreIn academics, economics, business, finance, law, and practically all other spheres, Black people are under-represented. It has started a revolution of sorts as protests take place across the U.S. for equality.
Black Lives Matter is affecting the world in a profound way, bringing the plight of African Americans into the limelight. Its effects are far-reaching, and it is occurring in tandem with the COVID-19 pandemic to make it even more difficult to run a successful business, but there are strategies to fill these gaps.
Read MoreYou can’t separate the need for race equity from the need for gender equity. Both movements need to work in tandem to change the world.
“Examining any institution through the lens of race and gender is essential; do not biforcate,” says Jyoti Sarda, producer of the two-part documentary, And She Could Be Next, a series that “follows a defiant movement led by women of color as they fight for a truly reflective democracy and transform politics from the ground up.”
Read MoreGender discrimination in the workplace has been affecting women and underrepresented minorities for decades, but has become even more critical today as racial disparities across multiple systems are at the heart of global protests.
About her 2016 book, Women Matter: The Why and How of Gender Diversity in Financial Services, Daralee Barbera, co-author, tells Forbes, “A persistent obstacle is that our profession is primarily white, male, and older.”
Read MoreWhere you live and who you are unfortunately makes a big difference on how you live and work in this country.
Take The Lead took a look at several new studies— on racial equality by state, opportunities for LGBTQIA persons by state, remote work access by state, post-COVID-19 jobs and women in tech opportunities—to clarify the geographic framing of equity and opportunity in America.
Read MoreIt’s better to do good than to just look good. Non-optical allyship is the goal.
The protests, violence and disruptions of the past weeks after the murder of George Lloyd --whose name is added to the perpetual roster of Black men and women killed in this country as a result of racism-- are symptomatic of the larger systems and infrastructures that must change in business and far beyond.
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