Inclusive Activism

The Native Nation project will be an immersive play experience written by playwright Larissa Fasthorse to represent several voices of the Indigenous community of Phoenix. On the podcast today is our Inclusive Activist Version of a community talking circle to learn more about the project and share stories about indigenous identity. Larissa Fasthorse will incorporate stories into a fictitious play that will maintain anonymity. Join Larissa, Michael John Garces, and Micheal Garces for this roundtable interview about the project and its potential intersections with community building..

The project is being commissioned by ASU Gammage and will talk about the Indigenous Experience here in Phoenix, AZ.

Teaser: Did you know that many white people think that reverse racism is a bigger problem than regular racism?   While technically parts of actual reverse racism could have better equity no equity exists with oppression present.

Today’s podcast understanding and learning how to talk about Reverse Racism?

Today we will talk about:

What is the notion of Reverse Racism?

What are key definitions we need to know to understand Reverse Racism?

How can we help people to understand the concept of Reverse Racism?

Welcome back to the podcast! We are going to attempt a different ordering of material for the podcast so we are going to start right into the content you came here for and then talk activism, self-care and community stuff more towards the end!

First thing: What is the notion of reverse racism?

Reverse Racism is a concept that portrays affirmative action in the United States and similar color-conscious programs as a form of anti-white racism on the part of black people and government agencies; it is commonly associated with conservative opposition to such programs.[1]:135–6 The concept has also been used to characterize various expressions of hostility or indifference toward white people by members of minority groups.[2]

Empirical studies have found little evidence for the existence of reverse racism.[1]:137 Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States generally lack the power to damage the interests of whites, who remain the dominant group.[3] Claims of reverse racism tend to ignore such disparities in the exercise of power and authority, which scholars argue constitute an essential component of racism.[2][4]

While the debate over reverse racism tends to focus on the United States, the concept has been used internationally to some extent wherever white supremacy has been diminished, such as in post-apartheid South Africa. Allegations of reverse racism therefore form part of a racial backlash against gains by non-whites

In laypersons term it is the idea that the dominant group can be sublimated by groups who are subverted in power in a society situationally. Most often the excuse is that affirmative action programs have gotten to the point where a more qualified white person will lose a job or access to a college university or program to a member of a disempowered minority group.

Also it can be ascribed to comparing times of old to times of now and who and what is considered “in vogue” This notion is alluded to in the movie Get Out when white party goers talk about that is must be so much more cool to be black than white in today’s society.

Second: What are key definitions we need to understand to explain our expound on Reverse Racism?

Discrimination: the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.

This can happen to anyone!

Racism: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. The favoring over one race over other races.

Systemic Racism: Developed by sociologist Joe Feagin, systemic racism is a popular way of explaining, within the social sciences and humanities, the significance of race and racism both historically and in today’s world. Feagin describes the concept and the realities attached to it in his well-researched and readable book, Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, & Future Reparations. In it, Feagin uses historical evidence and demographic statistics to create a theory that asserts that the United States was founded in racism since the Constitution classified black people as the property of whites. Feagin illustrates that the legal recognition of racialized slavery is a cornerstone of a racist social system in which resources and rights were and are unjustly given to white people and unjustly denied to people of color.

The theory of systemic racism accounts for individual, institutional, and structural forms of racism.

The development of this theory was influenced by other scholars of race, including Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Oliver Cox, Anna Julia Cooper, Kwame Ture, Frantz Fanon, and Patricia Hill Collins, among others.

Feagin defines systemic racism in the introduction to the book:

Systemic racism includes the complex array of antiblack practices, the unjustly gained political-economic power of whites, the continuing economic and other resource inequalities along racial lines, and the white racist ideologies and attitudes created to maintain and rationalize white privilege and power. Systemic here means that the core racist realities are manifested in each of society’s major parts […] each major part of U.S. society–the economy, politics, education, religion, the family–reflects the fundamental reality of systemic racism.

When systemic are taken into account – there can be no reverse racism

There can be white discrimination for certain. This would be the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. This does happen to white people for certain.

Tell about times Michelle and when she has experienced White Discrimination.

According to the way words and language work there is no evidence of Reverse Racism. And when you look at the global effect of colonization I am not certain it would be possible to have a space that doesn’t favor white people aside from perhaps Japan or places in China.

Lastly – Can you Reverse Racism? I don’t think so but lets play it out to get a sense of what that might look like.

Since racism favors one race over another what would Reverse Racism look like in America. Well it would have to be the favoring for all races over White and the intentional prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone who is white over anyone non-white. Can you imagine what an anti-white world would look like. Could you imagine white people getting the police called on them because they used the bathroom before buying a Starbucks Drink? Or a white person being arrested for loitering in a Starbucks?

Also it can be helpful to understand the concept of Reverse Racism in using other language of ism to help people see how hard it would be to really reverse ism in particular. Try to imagine Reverse Sexism, Reverse Ageism, or Reverse Classism. It doesn’t make sense! Think of what it would take to have Reverse Sexual Orientationism to be in place. Those concepts show how impossible it would be to upset and entire system!

According to Paolo Freire with Pedagogy of the Oppressed this is not a favorable system either. One cannot just flip oppressors. That will not do. And honestly I think that is the great fear inherent in concerns over reverse racism.

Equity would and will cost something. People will have to give up their unearned privileges that give them unfair advantages over others. That wont be an easy process. We get really comfortable with our privilege. And like I have stated many times before the loss of privilege can feel like oppression to those losing that unearned privilege. But it also comes with people no longer being oppressed too!

And there is great pain and cost baked into the systemic racism we accept! Poverty, Mass incarceration and the great cost of imprisoning so many people, creating a systemic need for welfare caused by systemic ism. We have no idea the liberation would could create with the elimination of oppression. No poverty – No hunger – No need for crime – No need for imprisonment, Little to no unemployment – PEACE!

This is a possibility but we have to learn how to unravel the thinking of others who only know this way. So the next time someone wants to tell you about Reverse Racism. You can speak about this subject with greater authority!

As far as the podcast goes we have been up to some interesting new things! We have a social media liason now! You may also have noticed that the podcast has now a Facebook Page, a Instagram Page AND a new Twitter Account! With all these things we are getting more and more ways to reach out and connect with you our listeners. Please remember you can email me at [email protected] or leave me a voicemail at 860-576-9393. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Also remember to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher, or if you could please share the podcast on social media, All these things go a long way to making a significant difference for us here at the inclusive activism podcast. Also please subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, Player FM, Pocket Casts or Google Play as these are great ways for me to show “proof of work to potential sponsors”. It would also go a long way in getting my producer Sara paid for her work someday too!

So checking in on my Activism:

Doing COM101 the DI&E program at Pvcc currently

Spoke at a city budget hearing on trying to get dollars from policing to peaceing

Did Healing Racism Series on Free Speech and Hate Speech.

Met with my Anytown Curriculum Board – Finally for the first time this year!

Self Care:

Lift X3 a week which has been a source of serious frustration

Cardio has failed pretty hard – one once this week

And Meditated for 3X for at least 10-15 mins and will need to get another day in

I’ve been getting my supplements in pretty regularly thank goodness

Training Tank has been going well but the fact that it is so warm has been hard too

Need more and better rest though

Lastly for the Recommendation of the Podcast:

Own the day Own your Life

The founder and CEO of Onnit, the mega lifestyle brand and one of the fastest growing companies in the country, teaches us how one single day of positive choices leads to a lifetime of concrete strategies for better living, optimal performance, and a stronger mind, body, and spirit.

Human optimization thought leader Aubrey Marcus’s personal and professional mission rests on a single question: How can we get the most out of our body and mind on a daily basis?

Marcus answers that question in Own the Day, Own Your Life an empowering handbook that guides readers to optimize every moment of the day, from waking in the morning, through work and play, until bedtime each night. With small, actionable changes implemented throughout the course of one day, we can feel better, perform more efficiently, and live happier. And these daily habits turn into weekly routines, ultimately becoming part of lifelong healthy choices.

From workouts and diet to inbox triage, mindfulness, shower temperature, and sex, this ground-breaking manual provides simple strategies for each element of your day. Drawing from the latest studies and traditional practices from around the world, Own the Day, Own Your Life delivers an optimization philosophy, including cutting-edge life-hacking tips, nutritional expertise, brain upgrades, and fitness regiments.

Own the Day, Own Your Life is a must-have “choose-your-own-adventure” guide for the everyman and everywoman—packed with pragmatic and effective strategies that empower you to enjoy your life, take charge of your health, and own the day.

So in review major points of this podcast were:

SO if this made you think something, if you have a question or even more shocking a critique let me know. You can call me at 860-576-9393

This space is a place to talk back ask me questions, hit me with scenarios of how to react to situations real time. Depending on how good your stuff is I will give it my “first take response” or if it’s good it might be a future podcast!

Also as always if you’re interested in booking me to bring the power of inclusive activism to your organization you can always do so at [email protected] or you can learn more about this organization at www.inclusiveactivism.com

Just at taste of what to expect for next week’s podcast on Reverse Racism

Teaser: Have you ever just met a couple and you just immediately get the sense someone settled. Like one never lets the other talk or feels the need to explain everything they say, or clarify it. Or have you ever met someone that sees everyone as a threat – or worse as less than them

Today’s podcast

Today we will talk about:

How do the ideas of greater than or less than work in relationships

Who and how does the need for control manifest in relationships

What do we do with this understanding?

Welcome back to the podcast! This is just a Rowdy only podcast but I have been thinking about this idea for a few years now, normally within the confines of relationships – but my friend Dr. Rubin showed me how this also is a large form of internal violence which I had to explore with you all.

As far as the podcast it as been very strong and very steady! First the downloads in the past week have been amazing!  Last week we had a very strong 245 downloads which is one of our best weeks ever, and this week has still been a strong 147. This is also before I was able to interview Dr. Puff from the Happiness Podcast – so if I have any new listeners from that space welcome. So you can also send a text OR voicemail along to the podcast as well to ask questions, or leave some feedback! Please remember you can email me at [email protected] or leave me a voicemail OR TEXT at 860-576-9393. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Also remember to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or if you could please share the podcast on social media, All these things go a long way to making a significant difference for us here at the inclusive activism podcast. Also please subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, Player FM, Pocket Casts or Google Play as these are great ways for me to show “proof of work to potential sponsors”. It would also go a long way in getting my producer Sara paid for her work someday too! It was super cool to have her added voice last podcast

So checking in on my Activism:

Next Week I will be a small group discussion leader for a forum in Late Feb as a small group discussion leader for Chandler Unified School District

Will be spending the next few weekends on Emerging Leaders Retreats starting in March

Was a small group leader Diversity Leadership Alliance on Defamations an Interactive Play!

And soon will be assisting on a Civil Conversation Series on REALationships talking about abuse and violence in all relationships

Also will be starting up some work with Healing Racism in the near future

Maybe speaking at a church in the near future so stay tuned for that too!

Self Care:

Lift X5 a week which has been excellent!

Cardio is at 2X per week This week was a bit off, hoping to get back on track this week tomorrow!

Flag Football once a week but that might wrap up tomorrow unless we find a way to win again

And Meditated for 3X last week which was great!

And have read at night at least 1 times last week

Tank training which is how to train yourself good corrections

Recommendation for Self-Growth – Living Buddha Living Christ by Thich Nat Hahn. Nominated by Martin Luther King, Jr. for a Nobel Peace Prize, Thich Nhat Hanh is one of today’s leading sources of wisdom, peace, compassion and comfort.

Buddha and Christ, perhaps the two most pivotal figures in the history of humankind, each left behind a legacy of teachings and practices that have shaped the lives of billions of people over two millennia. If they were to meet on the road today, what would each think of the other’s spiritual views and practices?

Thich Nhat Hanh has been part of a decades-long dialogue between two great contemplative  traditions, and brings to Christianity an appreciation of its beauty that could be conveyed only by an outsider. IN lucid, meditative prose, he explores the crossroads of compassion and holiness at which the two traditions meet, and he reawakens our understanding of both. “On the altar in my hermitage,” he says, “are images of Buddha and Jesus, and I touch both of them as my spiritual ancestors.”

So on to the podcast for today! The Greater than Less than Theory of Relationships.

First thing: What the hell am I even talking about. What is your greater than less than theory on relationships?

So fair warning I am going to start out really hetero-normative but I promise I will pan out from this start.

First off we have seen this with men forever with the idea of the trophy wife. She is there to look good NOT to talk and to help the man look like the object of other men’s envy. The guy never lets her speak – yet in about 10 years is stunned when she leaves him after she finds herself.

Now this is the again hetero-normative flip side of things. The wife sees herself as greater than the husband. This is happening more and more often. Women are controlling men, but don’t trust them to make decisions of substance. Additional since the men see themselves as less than they become dependent on their wives for the smallest things like knowing the flight schedules, or needing a rundown of their daily responsibilities.

Again this paradigm can exist outside of heteronormative relationships. It happens one someone settles for someone else rather than holdout for what they deserve. It also happens when someone thinks they can “improve” or “save” the other person in the relationship. This is supposed to be your partner your equal – no one in life can afford a project when the chips are down and it is time to rally forward.

Take a moment look at your friends, especially if you are younger than 30 who is the greater than and who is the less than in the relationship? How many people can you find that are true equals in their relationships?

Second: The greater than less than theory of relationships level two perceived need of level of control.  

This additional measure is about how much say or control a person needs in a relationship. This is the amount of say a person needs in a relationship to feel good or comfortable. For example I have a friend that really needs almost 80% say in a relationship. Now I do think he can be with someone who is an equal – but its going to be really rough for that to work as what equal person is going to be ok for only a 10% stake on what will happen in the relationship?

Some folks think 50% – 50% is the goal is both folks are equal. But that isn’t really necessarily the case. Some folks feel more comfortable in control, while other prefer to assess and make suggestions along the way. In my prior marriage I tried for 50/50 but with that I believe I got a bit lazy and only took on 40% at times. For example I didn’t bother to KNOW when my plane arrived and when my plane left – I left that up to my ex-wife. But I think in retrospect I might have been better in a 60% – 40% relationship. Her father was more 75% – 25% in my estimation, and I think she might have been missing some comfort in not needing to be in charge of so many things – especially when my moods would get dark and I would be more irritable.

In my current relationship I see my partner as an equal. But I am still working on getting to a true space of 50-50 with control. A lot of if is I never want to get to lazy again. The other parts of it that I am aware of is that I have some ageism happening within me that I also really need to address. There is a large gap in our ages and I worry about her having too much on her plate, but then again I might not be giving her enough from time to time.

But as you can see there is another layer to this cake of the Greater than Less than Theory of relationships.

Ok so this was interesting but again I listen to this podcast to explore personal leadership through the lens of advocacy for the equity of others – what does this have to do with D, E, and I?

I bring this up here because when I was teaching nonviolence with Dr. Jim Rubin in our Emerging Leaders 2 class he said something that shook me. He said the root of much our internal violence comes from the fact that we see people as better than or lesser than ourselves.

I had always really known of this greater than less than theory I had talked about with my friends, but when this got flattened out to everyone else I immediately saw the brilliance of this. Working Class whites have always been some what played by those in power in that their whiteness is somehow held up as better than other people and other races. This has been used as a wedge to keep people who are held down by and with socio-economic class down.

But looking at the root of internal violence as we either see the people in our lives as better than or worse than ourselves that was very interesting! If we see ourselves as less than the people we love and spend time with it means we don’t believe we are deserving of love or the attention they give us.  We will beat ourselves up if we fail to measure up and constantly think and believe we are not worth their love and attention. When I am at my worst I believe this about my partner.

Now when we see others as less than ourselves we get stuck in harmful ideas like should, and worse have a sense of expectation or gratitude which these lesser people should show to us. When we see people as not being on our level, we dehumanize them you make them fundamentally less that us, which means they can “deserve” less then us. We can be mean or rude to them we can want to create systems and circumstances where they can be allowed to suffer. This hurts us because it makes us a purveyor of violence it gives us the freedom of thinking which allows us to hurt others and rain down violence on others.

See violence begets more violence. When we allow ourselves to hurt others, to treat others as less than OR when we think other deserve more or are better than us we fall into patterns of violence. The most abusive people are people who have experience abuse. They learned that abuse and pass it on to others. Nonviolence can be also learned within as well – when we come to understand each person has a right to exist and deserves love we have the opportunity to connect with that person. They may not choose to reach back – but we have to end oppression period, not flip oppressors. I think nonviolent thinking is the only way to meet these ends.

So both for our own sense of peace as well as creating the possibility of peace in others we have to make certain we see and know every other person is a child of God and is worthy of love.

So in review major points of this podcast were:

SO if this made you think something, if you have a question or even more shocking a critique let me know. You can call me at 860-576-9393

This space is a place to talk back ask me questions, hit me with scenarios of how to react to situations real time. Depending on how good your stuff is I will give it my “first take response” or if it’s good it might be a future podcast!

Also as always if you’re interested in booking me to bring the power of inclusive activism to your organization you can always do so at [email protected] or you can learn more about this organization at www.inclusiveactivism.com

Emotional Intelligence is considered a key factor in connecting with other people. Join Rowdy and his Partner Michelle Dew as they examine key factors which make up emotional intelligence.

Factors such as

Will be examined as well as we will take a look into why would an inclusive activism need to know these things!

SO if this made you think something, if you have a question or even more shocking a critique let me know. You can call me at 860-576-9393

This space is a place to talk back ask me questions, hit me with scenarios of how to react to situations real time. Depending on how good your stuff is I will give it my “first take response” or if it’s good it might be a future podcast!

Also as always if you’re interested in booking me to bring the power of inclusive activism to your organization you can always do so at [email protected] or you can learn more about this organization at www.inclusiveactivism.com

This material comes from a keynote speech given about how it is our differences which will organizationally will be the transformational synergistic difference which will make all the difference ultimately.

Example:

You are in a room. There are two strings dangling from the ceiling on opposite sides of the room. You need to tie the strings together but there isn’t enough string to walk over holding one and grab the other. However the two strings will meet in the middle. Your tools are a ladder, a pair of plyers, and a box of matches. How will you tie them together?

This puzzle has claims to be the best of the genre. It is simple in its statement, absolutely baffling and yet with a completely satisfying solution. Most people struggle very hard to solve this one yet they like the answer when they hear it or have the satisfaction of figuring it out. After the question and answer session I will tell you the typical “answer” and the most creative answer I have heard.

Pre-Speech About Me who I am and why I am qualified to talk to you today

It’s Not about me Story of Beth Thul and how I came to be here. It was her as well as the goodwill love that I have with those in my work relationships which allows me to be here

Show the video Streets Vs Roads Derek Sivers.

Some examples of these patterns are and happen in:

In hiring more and more HR folks are looking into hiring folks are realizing they need to do so without looking at them. The subtle in-and-out grouping that happens in these spaces over and over again favors one person over another. The pattern here is favoring those identities with which we are most familiar. We are hard wired to favor folks who we can identify with our own in-group – the problem is – those folks think just like we do and we cannot innovate with those we agree with.

Answers like why do you do it this way – Because we have always done it this way. The pattern here is “the” current way is the only way. Its change resistant – it fails to recognize things can get better when change occurs. Continuous Improvement is our goal – leadership is a process not a position.

Managing to the rare exception rather than the common rule. The pattern here is wasting a lot of time on what “could” be rather than what most likely is.

The sad us vs them mentality which can exist on all job sites if we are willing to be real, there can be a distrust of those who don’t get their hands dirty, AND a perception that micro-management vs empowerment is the way to lead. We all work better under empowerment vs. rigid control. The pattern here is not believing in your team and thinking you can do someone else’s job better.

Those subtle messages which women hear on a day to day basis about who leads, and who have always lead verses being welcomed and appreciated into what had been primarily male spaces. Men too have benefited from women in the work place with the addition of more holistic and system thinking. Just because a job was turned around quickly efficiently and under budget means nothing if you burn through your crew and you churn through people faster than what had been traditional capital items. The pattern here is some “spaces are thought to be more suited for one gender over another – where the truth is we have found over time that all spaces are improved with different points of view.

Women are still interrupted more than men – I fact I still struggle with. Still with two ears I need to learn to shut my mouth and listen. BTW there is an app for that now GenderTimer promotes gender awareness in social groups and workplaces. GenderTimes show you clearly who is talking the most, and helps you see and discuss these patterns. Seeing that reality helps people change and improve. But I will come back to this to talk about how these patterns have harmed me in my relationship even being an expert on issues related to Diversity and Inclusion – we are all still learning. The pattern here is when certain people’s voices are valued over others the subordinated voices learn to stop trying OR even worse go elsewhere!

People avoiding conflict because no one ever told them things really do not fundamentally improve unless there is disagreement. Cooperative Conflict is the very spark of innovation. The pattern here is we don’t know how to do conflict well with one another.

Management thinking which is top down only verses Leadership thinking where all stake holders have the ability to make the project better. There pattern here is folks with high salary or greater management responsibility mean they have a greater capacity for leadership – which stifles creative synergistic leadership.

Show the photos of the diamond and the coal. As what is the difference between the two things? One is valued more than the other. BUT in reality we can only spot “finished” diamonds. We only see diamonds and recognize them when presented in the pattern we expect to see them in.

Real diamonds look like this:

When I see this photo of a real diamond I think about how people see people who are lower class. Dirty, rough, unrefined. They don’t see them for what they are, resilient – tough – hard – able to overcome pressure. After all I diamond is coal who learned to suffer stress well.

Meritocracy is the holding of power by people selected on the basis of their perceived ability – rather they fit a narrative of having “earned it”.

But I think we truly fail to see who started when, where, and with what. We can say people who started with huge beneficial advantages “earned it” – over people who due to a lack of wealth, mentors, resources, have had to overcome time and time again situations and circumstances which would frankly bring me to my knees. People in a lower socio-economic class are seen as dirty, unrefined, unpolished – when in truth they are strong and resilient in ways others cannot understand.

But we tend to favor certain abilities over others and don’t see the benefit of atypical experiences or how if you don’t immediately “fit” the notion of how someone should perform in a specific way that there isn’t another way around that issue.

Truth is I would rather take a grinder every day of the week over someone with “talent”. Talent people learn they can turn it on or turn it off. Where as less talented people, folks who have overcome some things, rough folks, unrefined folks learned you have to show up – and show out every single day. Because they don’t see you, they don’t know your story, they don’t know you have been through some things, they don’t know you are an overcomer, and that when it comes to dealing with change or finding creative answers it was what they have always done because that is how they survived.

My example of this are the DACA kids. I can’t imagine going to school without the benefit of loans, paying upwards of $500 – not counting legal fees on my minimum wage job every two years. Paying taxes for benefits they may never receive. Just for the opportunity to be here and survive. Just for a SSN or for those with that entrepreneur spirits with an Employer Identification Number. I am telling you these people will be some of the most successful people we will have ever seen. Because though lower class – they are resilient and strong in ways I never want to have to be tested.

You see those folks are different. And too often diversity – different – many have learned over time that to them that means not me. That means threat, that means outsider. But also I have not met anyone when they are allowed to be their true selves isn’t different a little bit. They have just learned over time to hide it. To put it under a rock to play act just get by.

Let us face it in our work we are in relationship with one another. But we get so interactional with these people that we spend 35% of our lives with.

Take a second: Think of the people in the world that matter most to you. Think of your best friends. Think of a funny story of the two of you together, or one of your best days. If you have a partner think of how much you love them. If you have a pet think of the first time you met them and all of the memories you have made since.

Now think what would have happened if you had only considered a one-time interaction. Think if in those moments you thought – I am not trying to add the demands of a new friend right now.

At work too often we choose an interactional thinking with our co-workers. We don’t make the choice to have a sense of being in relationship with those people we spend so much of our lives with.

It reminds me of Clark Kent and Superman. At work I think we Clark Kent life. See in order to be accepted at work Clark Kent has to play down who he is. He cant be his full self. He has to be the small bit of who he thinks he needs to be to get acceptance at work.

And folks get worried about me talking about love at work. But how many super people are there who cut pieces of themselves away just to fit in? How many of us shrink into expected ways of being because we don’t feel the belonging of others to be our best selves. It is simple we need to feel belonging and to give the gift of belonging means we have to be in relationship with those we work with. We must practice a sense of radical acceptance with them.

We all have had the experience of being on amazing teams where the energy and productivity just hums with synergy. Those dynamic teams of selflessness where we see needs and just move to fill them without asking. Where no one keeps track of who did what when, where we do what is best and right for the benefit of the team.

That difference isn’t free it costs something. It costs being difference to allow people to be their whole and true selves.

But my friends it is that DIFFERENCE is what we need so badly. Because the world seems to be changing faster and more than ever. And it will be those who learn how to embrace that Difference – which will make the largest difference.

Because it is that Difference – which will prove to make all the Difference…

Post speech – it is that difference which is the difference. Just like Beth here was different, just like my work collages and our relationship is different.

Here at Inclusive Activism we are all about understanding the intersections between Being Inclusive and Advocating for others and Personal Leadership.

Personal Leadership is all about self care and the right attitude toward others. Dr. Puff from the Happiness Podcast is here to help us with our Happiness towards ourselves and toward others. You can’t act right if you don’t think right and Dr. Puff is here for just that.

Please remember to get a hold of us at 860.576.9393 with any questions or comments to help the community learn and grow! Or email us at [email protected]

For more about us go to www.inclusiveactivism.com

For more on the Happiness Podcast go to www.happinesspodcast.org

http://smarturl.it/HappinessPodcast

Teaser: You know what sucks? When people get something for nothing! When people get ahead of you but they didn’t earn it they didn’t go their fair share. Or when people are just unjustly favored just because they are part of the club which you are not. There needs to be standards, and unless you do it and get  your spot from your hard work you DON’T BELONG. Affirmative Action Sucks.

Today’s podcast the History of Affirmative Action for White people

Today we will talk about:

What is the notion of Affirmative Action?

What is the history of Affirmative Action? Was there any examples of Affirmative   Action for white people?

Does Affirmative Action even work now?

Welcome back to the podcast! This podcast is written while I am on winter break over the holidays so I might not have as much to talk about when going into depth about my personal live or the podcast .

As far as the podcast goes I am toying with the idea of having Sara on the podcast as well as Michelle to do a year in review just to hear some different voices. These folks I see as the most invested people with the Inclusive Activism Podcast and I think that hearing from them about how the podcast started, if we are seeing progress with the podcast or not might be interesting. If you would like to be a part of that conversation – Please remember you can email me at [email protected] or leave me a voicemail at 860-576-9393. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Also remember to rate and review us on iTunes, or Stitcher, or if you could please share the podcast on social media, All these things go a long way to making a significant difference for us here at the inclusive activism podcast. Also please subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, Player FM, Pocket Casts or Google Play as these are great ways for me to show “proof of work to potential sponsors”. It would also go a long way in getting my producer Sara paid for her work someday too!

So checking in on my Activism:

My current activism is podcasting and rest honestly

Checking on my classes for Spring

Learning how to promote podcast

Self Care:

Lift X2 a week which is all I can get in due to my gym being closed until next week

But I have also gotten cardio done for 2 days already which is fantastic – my skin looks better? Maybe I am just tan

And Meditated for 2X for at least 10-15 mins and will need to get another day in

Meeting up with people I care about

So on to the podcast for today! How the white working class just got sacrifed at the altar of the rich.

First thing: What even is affirmative action?

Affirmative action policies are those in which an institution or organization actively engages in efforts to improve opportunities for historically excluded groups in American society. Affirmative action policies often focus on employment and education. In institutions of higher education, affirmative action refers to admission policies that provide equal access to education for those groups that have been historically excluded or underrepresented, such as women and minorities. Controversy surrounding the constitutionality of affirmative action programs has made the topic one of heated debate.

Affirmative action is an outcome of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement, intended to provide equal opportunities for members of minority groups and women in education and employment. In 1961, President Kennedy was the first to use the term “affirmative action” in an Executive Order that directed government contractors to take “affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” The Executive Order also established the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, now known as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Affirmative action policies initially focused on improving opportunities for African Americans in employment and education. The Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 outlawing school segregation and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 improved life prospects for African Americans. In 1965, however, only five percent of undergraduate students, one percent of law students, and two percent of medical students in the country were African American. President Lyndon Johnson, an advocate for affirmative action, signed an Executive Order in 1965 that required government contractors to use affirmative action policies in their hiring to increase the number of minority employees.

In the following years, colleges and universities began adopting similar recruitment policies, and over time the enrollment rates for African American and Latino students increased steadily. Despite the efforts that have been made to establish equal opportunity, gaps in college enrollment between minority and white students remain. According to data from the National Center on Education Statistics (NCES), in 2007, 70 percent of white high school graduates immediately enrolled in college, compared to 56 percent of African American graduates and 61 percent of Hispanic graduates.  More recent data from NCES reports some changes in this gap, most notably for African American students.  The updated report finds that in 2011, 69 percent of white high school graduates immediately enrolled in college, compared to 65 percent of African American graduates and 63 percent of Hispanic graduates.

The use of race as a factor in the college admissions process has been, and continues to be, a hotly debated topic.

Supporters of affirmative action make the following arguments:

http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/affirmative-action-overview.aspx

Second: Has there ever been Affrimative Action for white people?

White affirmative action examples

40 acres and a mule – promise made to spaces post civil war

Overturned and many given back to white people

Reverse racism biggest people is racism against white – people feel its worse than blacks and Latinos

Racism is seen as small acts of meanness and not institutional racism

List of white handouts

1614 tobacco land and labor intensive

50-100 acres of land to populate the Americas – for white Europeans – white affirmative action

1705 Virginia required white indentured servants 20 bushels of corn 10 shillings a musket and 50 acres and a mule

Not overturned – this was the same year that also made it illegal for whites to employ blacks

This act drove poor whites against poor blacks and created a wedge of separation because before this they would join forces to create change

This was the idea to give some to a chosen few rather than to everyone divide and conquer

Post revolution white benefits 1785 land ordinance act 640 acres of native land given to whites at a $1 an acre to whites only led by Thomas Jefferson

Since 1785 also These funds were set aside for public education – of white people only

Homestead act 1863 excluded blacks because it was for citizens only. 10% of all land when to white people men because you had to be a citizen. Even if blacks and brown people were citizens racist practices made the distribution unfair.

The few blacks that get get land had most of that removed by racist practices by the us agriculture dept

1929 stock market crash – new deal. Build massive middle class wealth. Red lining. Home ownership was for people that could raise 50% down and pay the rest off jn 2-4 years. New deal makes 15-30 year mortgages available for most middle class – except red linking limiting the wealth of the home. Homeownership went from 30% to 70% most homes built in suburbs- redlined. And they didn’t loan to predominately no white neighborhoods – blacks and brown folks left out no access. Also where new work was newer and better infrastructure was added furthering the value of suburban white homes and lowering the values of black and brown inner city homes – until now with gentrification

1933-1952 33 billion was made available in business loans. adjusted for inflation that would be $2 trillion 98% of those loans given to white people. Excluded agricultural workers who were primarily black and brown people

Social Security when first created in 1935 it excluded domestic and agricultural workers who were primarily black and brown people.

2/3rd of all black workers until the program was expanded in the 1950s.

Service man’s readjustment act GI bill of rights sent vets of WWII and Korean and Vietnam wars to college. On paper no racial distinctions. BUT the college climate in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s was segregated! Where did men of color go to school HBCU’s who got less money. Not many were available most were teachers or agricultural schools for blacks and brown people. White schools didn’t let POC in. White people had access to government sponsored education in ways POC didn’t have. Less options less access.

Many white people allowed people to become doctors, engineers, scientists or businessmen. Or it allowed folks to get into trade schools BUT here again men of color were at a disadvantage due to the militaries racist practices in the military when it came to assigning jobs. White men had the chance to learn building, mechanical skills, and construction skills where men of color became dish washers and cooks. This was a multi-generational problem as well.

When we talk about why are people poor we too often hear about “choices” and “mindsets”. While failing to look over time at people who have been systematically left out of the economy.

in 1944 until 1971 the GI bill spend 95 billion on Vets to buy homes get vocational training and start businesses. Ira Katz Nelson southern white law makers made sure that these benefits would be overseen and marshaled out locally instead of federally making these benefits subject to Jim Crow practices. Private mortgage lenders, trade schools, and bankers turned away black and brown applications. A few POC did benefit but the overall effect of the law was to widen the wealth and opportunity gaps between black and white Americans.

The transfer of wealth in white families goes in the form of a social safety net or as a down payment on a home or help with higher education. Or as buying a car or with a home you can live in. Or with social security you don’t have to take care of your parents. In POC money travels from Adult child up the the parent and doesn’t move forward it moves backward to care for the parent instead of making it so the child does better than the parent.

The median white household has 13X the wealth of the average black household. The average white family lead by someone who hasn’t completed high school still has more generational wealth than the average black household with someone with a college degree.

If affirmative action is race based access to colleges and universities when was it legislated?  1618 was the year it was instituted. When whites got 30 schillings 50 acres of land a mule a musket and 10 bushels of corn it was race based affirmative action for white people specifically. Or the Naturalization Act of 1790 when it stated if you are white you can become a citizen – this was about race. Not merit Not Hard work, not meeting the criteria – just being white the color of your skin gave you access to loans, to neighborhoods to live in, IF YOU ARE WHITE.

So this country was built on affirmative action for white people. Affirmative action is a white phenomena.

Lastly – Does Affirmative Actions even work? Honestly it is hard to say with any honesty. It is based on opinion. I do think it has helped with equity in colleges and universities.

But also I think white people – not all white people but many – poke and prod at it and are actively trying to kill it.

I have heard it said when you have been on top for so long that equity can feel like oppression.

“When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”

And things started making a little more sense to me. All this anger we see from people screaming “All Lives Matter” in response to black protesters at rallies. All this anger we see from people insisting that their “religious freedom” is being infringed because a gay couple wants to get married. All these people angry about immigrants, angry about Muslims, angry about “Happy Holidays,” angry about not being able to say bigoted things without being called a bigot…

They all basically boil down to people who have grown accustomed to walking straight at other folks, and expecting them to move. So when “those people” in their path don’t move — when those people start wondering, “Why am I always moving out of this guy’s way?”; when those people start asking themselves, “What if I didn’t move? What if I just kept walking too?”; when those people start believing that they have every bit as much right to that aisle as anyone else — it can seem like their rights are being taken away.

Equality can feel like oppression. But it’s not. What you’re feeling is just the discomfort of losing a little bit of your privilege — the same discomfort that an only child feels when she goes to preschool and discovers that there are other kids who want to play with the same toys as she does.

It’s like an old man being used to having a community pool all to himself, having that pool actually opened up to everyone in the community, and then that old man yelling, “But what about MY right to swim in a pool all by myself?!”

And what we’re seeing politically right now is a bit of anger from both sides. On one side, we see people who are angry about “those people” being let into “our” pool. They’re angry about sharing their toys with the other kids in the classroom.

They’re angry about being labeled a “racist,” just because they say racist things and have racist beliefs. They’re angry about having to consider others who might be walking toward them, strangely exerting their right to exist.

On the other side, we see people who believe that pool is for everyone. We see people who realize that when our kids throw a fit in preschool, we teach them about how sharing is the right thing to do. We see people who understand being careful with their language as a way of being respectful to others. We see people who are attempting to stand in solidarity with the ones who are claiming their right to exist — the ones who are rightfully angry about having to always move out of the way, people who are asking themselves the question, “What if I just keep walking?”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-boeskool/when-youre-accustomed-to-privilege_b_9460662.html

So in review major points of this podcast were:

SO if this made you think something, if you have a question or even more shocking a critique let me know. You can call me at 860-576-9393

This space is a place to talk back ask me questions, hit me with scenarios of how to react to situations real time. Depending on how good your stuff is I will give it my “first take response” or if it’s good it might be a future podcast!

Also as always if you’re interested in booking me to bring the power of inclusive activism to your organization you can always do so at [email protected] or you can learn more about this organization at www.inclusiveactivism.com

Teaser: So just for you my audience I have one of the best investment tips I can think of. It’s a really hot tip and in all honesty it has the chance of really deeply changing your life! We don’t have that much time left on this world and how and what we invest in is literally the seeds we sow for our future.

Today’s podcast rethinking investments with Time and Money

Today we will talk about:

How are Investments normally seen?

How can we rethink investments?

What are the deepest investments we can make?

Welcome back to the podcast! Is the second one I will be doing with my partner Michelle! I wanted to bring her on the podcast today because she thinks about investments in a better way than I usually do and I wanted her to share her perspective!

As far as the podcast there have been two quantum leaps forward recently! First the downloads in the past week have been amazing!  In the past week we have had 245 downloads. Some really great days too back to back 30+ days, a day of 81 and another of 46 and today there has been 55 so if you are new welcome to the podcast. Love to have you along! The next thing leap was we found out the voicemail line is ALSO a text line. So you can also send a text along to the podcast as well to ask questions, or leave some feedback! Please remember you can email me at [email protected] or leave me a voicemail OR TEXT at 860-576-9393. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Also remember to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or if you could please share the podcast on social media, All these things go a long way to making a significant difference for us here at the inclusive activism podcast. Also please subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, Player FM, Pocket Casts or Google Play as these are great ways for me to show “proof of work to potential sponsors”. It would also go a long way in getting my producer Sara paid for her work someday too! It was super cool to have her added voice last podcast

So checking in on my Activism:

Getting ready for a few things – a forum in Late Feb as a small group discussion leader for Chandler Unified School District

Have a few plans for some service coming up

Will be another small group facilitator Tuesday for the Diversity Leadership Alliance on Defamations an Interactive Play!

And soon will be assisting on a Civil Conversation Series on REALationships talking about abuse and violence in all relationships

Self Care:

Lift X5 a week which has been excellent!

Cardio is at 3X per week early am with Chelle which has been good

Flag Football once a week which helps me a lot too

And Meditated for 4X last week which was great!

And have read at night at least 2 times last week

Tank training which is how to train yourself good corrections

Recommendation for Self-Growth – Meet with someone and have a deep conversation about the state of a relationship. There are state of the states and state of the unions. Why not state of the relationship? These are the things thought of most important things in life.

So on to the podcast for today! Looking forward into 2018.

First thing: What do most people think of with investments.

Stocks and Bonds for sure

Bank Accounts

Capital items Houses – cars etc

Time spent at work to get money

401K Stock Market – shaky investment these days

Second: What are some atypical investments not thought of

Money is just traded time

Time spend with religion

School

Relationships

Time with pets

Meditation

Working out

Self Care

Vacations

Friends

Reading

Work connections

What are the most powerful investments and what in the hell does this have to do with Diversity and Inclusion?  

I think the best investments are TimeXMoney investments.

Time is the most finite resource we have. Once spent we can never recoup that resource.

Dinner out with your partner is a money by time investment

Vacations are time by money investments

Experiences are time by money investments

Service and donations can be a time by money investment

When thinking of going for equity we must use the double barreled approach to investment in the solutions to these problems. You might need to invest time in service as well as money which was traded time.

So in review major points of this podcast were:

SO if this made you think something, if you have a question or even more shocking a critique let me know. You can call me at 860-576-9393

This space is a place to talk back ask me questions, hit me with scenarios of how to react to situations real time. Depending on how good your stuff is I will give it my “first take response” or if it’s good it might be a future podcast!

Also as always if you’re interested in booking me to bring the power of inclusive activism to your organization you can always do so at [email protected] or you can learn more about this organization at www.inclusiveactivism.com

Teaser: So this is the new year 2018. What do I expect to see in 2018. Well it was certain that 2017 was a doozy. But I don’t see much room for improvement unless a few things come together –

Today’s podcast looking forward into 2018

Today we will talk about:

Did self care help in 2017?

What things am I expecting to see in 2018?

How can we best prepare as Inclusive Activists in 2018?

Welcome back to the podcast! This podcast is going to be a bit of a departure, as these things are just my thoughts and opinions about what might happen in the coming year. We will look at 2018 through the lens of an Inclusive Activist.

As far as the podcast goes this is something a bit new. I am looking at some themes and ideas that came together in 2017 and last year I felt I was ahead of the curve in talking about the need for self care in 2017. This time I am not saying to abandon self care at all I am more looking at themes which may crystallize in the future or things I think we need to keep an eye on for 2018 – Please remember you can email me at [email protected] or leave me a voicemail at 860-576-9393. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Also remember to rate and review us on iTunes, or Stitcher, or if you could please share the podcast on social media, All these things go a long way to making a significant difference for us here at the inclusive activism podcast. Also please subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, Player FM, Pocket Casts or Google Play as these are great ways for me to show “proof of work to potential sponsors”. It would also go a long way in getting my producer Sara paid for her work someday too!

So checking in on my Activism:

My current activism is podcasting and rest honestly

Checking on my classes for Spring

Learning how to promote podcast

Self Care:

Lift X4 a week which has been excellent!

Have hit a form of cardio each day since dec 26th and I know its silly but dang I already feel a bit better!

And Meditated for 3X for at least 5 mins and will need to get another 15 to 20 min session in but I also wanted to get this posted for 2018 right in time!

Recommendation for Self Growth – Book by Tara Brach Radical Self Acceptance – this book is about really coming to terms with you. It is about how would your life change if you really truly were nonviolent with yourself – what would your life look like if you really accepted you just the way you are? According to Dr. Brach feeling of shame and unworthiness are the source of many problems we experience with our relationships, careers, creative endeavors, and most fundamentally our spiritual unfolding.

So on to the podcast for today! Looking forward into 2018.

First thing: How did this work in 2017?

This is my take on how 2017 and self-care affected me – how am I different and what difference did it make?

News intake – I decided to be careful with my news intake and I think it helped. I listened to PBS news hour because I felt it was fair and impartial – and its low budget couldn’t afford sensationalism and it would be decidedly more fact based.

I listened to NPR’s Up First – really great 7 min update on the world first thing!

And I watched Vice News on HBO – good stuff but it may be a bit more slanted to my world view.

Weight Lifting – was spectacular with a new lifting partner I gained more strength and pushed myself much better. The effort is this area has been worth the time and push, and though I did reinjure my shoulder I am much much better here!

Cardio – it was up and down honestly. I did do better than I ever had over the course of a full year. But I am only just getting back on track. Flag Football is by far my best cardio work – unexpectedly I also had to teach night classes which effected this a bit in an unexpected way. But for 2018 cardio is something we need to get back on top of

Meditation – this was transformative but its not something where I can say I honestly feel much different. But some of the reported differences are – a greater sense of calm and space between stimulus and response. I am calmer, my general disposition is more calm and laid back. I don’t get set off so easily. I handle stress better, I am more resilient in the face of trouble or stress. I am quicker to laugh. I am more loving, kind, and sweeter to those around me. I used to be prone to anger and would scare the dogs with yelling and now that really doesn’t happen.

Listening to Buddhist teaching as well as Podcast sermons from First Corinthian Baptist Church and Sojourn Grace Collective. This listening to Buddhist podcasts from Tara Brach is making me have a better sense of self-acceptance, is improving my sense of self-worth. I am not so dualistic in my thinking. It will be interesting to see how I teach nonviolence differently with a year of this under my belt. I am less controlling and look for the middle ground.

2017 while it was a very trying year – was also an opportunity to get better and it would appear

In 2018 I will read more and get on a set plan for cardio for me and for my partner.

Second: What are somethings I think will happen in 2018.

Wages wont really rise too much – I think the stock market will do well – but only if the bitcoin thing isn’t a bubble – if that is a bubble them all best are off or if we do get into a nuclear war with Korea. But the average American will still not see any major wage growth for the umpteenth million year in a row.

Democrats will still just be Anti-Trump rather than doing the hard work to figure out who they are and what they truly stand for. They also will read too much into the Roy Moore/Doug Jones in the wrong way. They will not see the importance – exactly how critical the black vote was in Alabama. They will sadly see this win as a reform against Trump will rather than really embrace the strong need to look into the needs of historically marginalized groups and will attempt to look into how to recourt the working class white vote.

Tech will continue to lead in diversity and inclusion issues. They have a hard sense of group think and there will still be very many missteps in this industry in that the value isn’t put on trying to understand many different problems in different ways – it is more on thinking the same way and worrying only about the efficiency of finishing the project with the singular vision – rather than try to troubleshoot along the way and think of something truly innovative.

There will be a scare of a recession. Things have been going too well for too long. Interest rates are still inordinately low. And there are some signs that the housing market is overvalued given who is buying the homes. Very if any millennials are making into the housing market which means everyone who is buying homes is looking to rent to millennials. This is a bubble too folks. Unless millennials have the support they need to really take the reins as the next big earning class we will suffer from some real systemic issues in that they are over burdened with higher education loans, and cannot afford to save up to enter the housing market. They are over burdened and no one is really speaking to this group outside of Bernie Sanders – and he need to groom an heir apparent – he is not the shot in the arm needed for young folks. I like his ideas, but if this is a movement he needs to groom a successor.

This will get difficult in the higher education sector but we won’t know it. 2018 represents a population spike for people leaving high school going to higher ed. So this year things will look great – which we will interpret as a sign of things to come rather than a nice year – with a need to tighten the belt again for the years to come.

Bitcoin will start to be taken seriously by large financial institutions – which is a huge threat to them. Look for a coordinated effort both policy wise as well as through their influence with republican legislators to curb the possibility of bitcoin.

There will be a major accident involving self-driving cars. This will hinder their movement into the economy but will not stop their eventual momentum.

More and more big companies will be sued for people feeling like diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a thing of the past due to its devaluation by the Trump presidency. This will happen throughout 2018 and it might not be until 2019 or 2020 until companies start to feel the effects systemically of not valuing the difference of their employees and will over focus on homogeneity and its sort term production bumps.

We will become more divided which leads me to my final prediction

Lastly – Our dividedness is our largest concern as the US.  

Currently there has been reports of twitter accounts run by foreign operatives whose main goal is to push us deeper into our divides. If you are left leaning like me – the largest threat is I will be pulled further into my point of view by these folks whose main goal is to keep us at each others throat.

And it is easier than ever to never consider another point of view and why people think that way. For example I had heard that the biggest disconnect between those who have been outraged and disgusted by the President’s use of the terms “shitholes” to describe countries like Haiti and other African countries, as well as his use of words “grab them by the pussy”, can’t understand how those words are defensible.

But those who are defending them instead when they are talking tend to focus on the specific word “shithole” as a off hand term meaning less than desirable. They see the use of the word “pussy” as something men just talk about in the comfort of their own company. They defend the use of the words – but not their context in the sentence or the meaning contextually contained therein.

So while people on my side are stunned that anyone can defend the messages sent by the president are talking with people who are essentially saying its ok to use those words situationally. WHICH ISNT THE POINT! But the problem is folks on my side are not hearing defenders enough to say we understand the use of foul language from time to time. We don’t understand what they might be trying to tell us, and we argue about two very different things while never getting to the crux of either of our major issues. Those on the right don’t mind someone saying things in certain spaces to certain people. Those on the left can’t believe a President thinks people from entire countires are people from shitholes, or that someone thinks it is ok to grab women’s vagina’s.

See my issue isn’t with the words “shithole” or the use of the P word. Well I do have issues with those thoughts but that isn’t my major concern.

But moreso in a larger sense we are unwilling to really come to an understanding with those unlike ourselves.

Tell story of Sara Silverman:

https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/sarah-silvermans-compassionate-response-to-hateful-tweet-is-a-master-class-in-emotional-intelligence.html

Why was Silverman’s response so powerful?

Think about people you truly respect. Think about people you truly admire. Think about people you love to be around. They may not be rich. They may not be highly accomplished. They may not be household names.

Yet you love to be around them — and you would love to be more like them. What sets them apart from everyone else?

They give: generously, selflessly, and without expectation of return. They give because their happiness — and their success — comes, at least in part, from someone else’s happiness, and someone else’s success.

And they do so even when being generous is hard. Silverman didn’t have to respond kindly. Silverman didn’t have to respond compassionately. But she did, because she had the emotional intelligence to know there was a lot going on under the surface of the stranger’s anger.

Sometimes anger is a front for pain. Sometimes rudeness is a front for insecurity.

But kindness, genuine kindness, is never a front for anything.

Except caring.

See that is what the world need from us. And the only thing I can tell you for sure. Is 2018 is going to suck if we can’t get better at this.

And honestly it hasn’t started off great for me: We had to put Titties my dog down after she kept attacking our other dog without reason, and then bit me up so badly I was worried I couldn’t protect my family.

So not only was I injured, not only could both dogs not be together for the rest of their short shared time on this world, not only did my partner have to live basically at her parents with all this hurt in my family. But I also had to make arrangments to put down my little girl Titties, who I have had since 2010. Who saw me through a divorce, who lived with me in a 4 bedroom house all alone and was afraid I would be evicted. I lost her, I had to put her down here in my house. I had to take a dog that looked healthy that loved without limits and take her out of this world over the rainbow bridge and I will not get to see her again until I die.

STILL I refuse to cede 2018 to the worst year ever. My family is hurt, we are sad, and we are unbalanced but we are also at last calm and without anxiety.

And though I am also hurt, scarred physically, spiritually, and emotionally, – Though I am experiencing some PTSD feelings when I hear dogs growl I am not ready to cede the fact that we will never be a 4 legged stool again with two dogs in our home.

Because I am going to train the bad habits out of Tank, I am doing to socialize him around other dogs. And I can feel in my heart and in my soul another dog will come into our lives. It is going to take work and hope in who I know me, Tank and Michelle to be.

And that same hope I know I need to take into the world to help heal this divided nation. 2018 isn’t going to be a piece of cake without problems. But without our effort it isn’t going to get better – I need to get involved, uncomfortable and engaged or the world like my family will stay the same.

And I choose believe we are capable of so much more!

So in review major points of this podcast were:

SO if this made you think something, if you have a question or even more shocking a critique let me know. You can call me OR Text me at 860-576-9393

This space is a place to talk back ask me questions, hit me with scenarios of how to react to situations real time. Depending on how good your stuff is I will give it my “first take response” or if it’s good it might be a future podcast!

Also as always if you’re interested in booking me to bring the power of inclusive activism to your organization you can always do so at [email protected] or you can learn more about this organization at www.inclusiveactivism.com

https://inclusiveactivism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Forecasting-20181.mp3