Inclusive Activism

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Our conversation continues with thoughts on Community. It was such a pleasure to talk with Doc, he was just so in sync with the thoughts and philosophy of the Inclusive Activism Podcast.  Personal Leadership though the means of Diversity and Inclusion. Why it is really NOT about you and it is about us!

We discuss the critical importance of being educated and your personal best, which is a demand of exceptionalism.

How selfishness is being a weak link in the communal change.

Why focusing on excellence vs the bottom line is crucial to organizational success. You cannot be first about making money it has to be about providing value.

How you can tell the excellence of an organization based on how well they focus on internal community – there has to be evidence of excellence outside of profitability.

We discuss that that the fact that Diversity and Inclusion works is why we have what exists – right now. How we have to remember that many people didn’t have a seat at the table, Italians, the Jewish, Irish, Eastern Europeans etc because of Inclusion efforts. Those fighting for seats at the table right now, Blacks, Indigenous, Latinx folks, are going to make us all better together once embraced.

How systemic equality makes us feel awkward for the unearned benefits we get: And how shedding that privilege for the equity of others makes YOU better. We discuss how privilege guilt doesn’t do anything to help anyone. Guilt must move people to be active agents of Change!

How just Whiteness isn’t working for the vast majority of non-wealthy white folks and shedding that for inclusion would create a new amazing we! We get into the notion of reverse-racism. We get into Affirmative Action and ask what is the job that is dominated by those in control of a system.

How upper class white people are messing up the system for all of us. Is your rent too high, have you lost your pension, do you feel like manufacturing jobs are leaving, do you feel like you don’t have opportunities – well odds are the person pushing that agenda is a rich, white guy.

We discuss the election and how historically marginalized groups KNEW what the outcome of the election was going to be. How liberal elitism helped lead to this outcome and how it is difficult to push an ally to be a better person. How numbers don’t equate to power and control.

MCUVO!CE Editor-in-Chief Dr. Matthew C. Whitaker discusses life, personal leadership, diversity, and inclusion, in this engaging interviewed (Part 1 of 3) with Rowdy Duncan (pictured to the left) on Inclusive Activism on Apple Podcasts.

INCLUSIVE ACTIVISM – This is Inclusive Activism Podcast – It comes from the idea love is an action word. We don’t just want to be enlightened to the reality of “ism” we want to DO something about it. To get active in the community and to learn about how to keep our learning ongoing. We never want to stop learning The purpose of the podcast is to l

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This is just an amazing Interview with Dr. Matthew C. Whitaker, Owner of Diamond Strategies LLC.

Dr. Matthew C. Whitaker is the Founder and CEO of the Diamond Strategies, LLC (DSC). He is also an award-winning educator, author, community engagement specialist, motivational speaker, and founder the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, winner of the 2014 Arizona Diversity Leadership Alliance (DLA) Inclusive Workplace Award, at Arizona State University, where was a professor of history for 15 years.  Most recently he was given DLA’s 2016 Diversity and Inclusion Leader Award.  He is also a co-founder of the Healing Racism Public Dialogue Series, winner of the 2008 National League of Cities Promoting Inclusive Award, and the recipient of ASU’s 2015 Pioneer Award for working to improve African-American life, community and culture, and the City of Phoenix 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. Living the Dream Award.  His expertise lies in U.S. history, African American history and life, race relations, social movements, cultural competency, equity and inclusion, teaching excellence, and community partnerships.  He has edited three books, including Hurricane Katrina: America’s Unnatural Disaster, and is the author of Race Work: The Rise of Civil Rights in the Urban West.  He is currently completing a memoir entitled The Undisputed Truth: A Revolutionary Journey to Black Manhood.  Dr. Whitaker has consulted, spoken, and lectured throughout the world, including Australia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, England, Ghana, and Ireland.  He has been featured on CNN, NPR, PBS, WVON, KEMET,  and is the co-founder of the newly formed Just Communities Arizona.  He can be followed on Twitter at @Dr_Whitaker and DSC can be followed on Twitter at @dstategiesllc.

We are very happy to get this podcast out RIGHT after he won his arbitration case with the City of Phoenix clearing him of unfounded allegations!

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/04/26/asu-professor-matthew-whitaker-wins-arbitration-case-against-phoenix/100951134/

He is THE black historian of our state of Arizona and his my personal friend, as well as my boss at Diamond Strategies, LLC. Where he is the leader in diversity, equity, inclusion!

Matthew is an award-winning educator, author, community engagement specialist, motivational speaker, and founder the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, winner of the 2014 Arizona Diversity Leadership Alliance (DLA) Inclusi

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Teaser: 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.

Today’s Podcast is the difference between Interactional Thinking Vs Relational thinking

Welcome to the podcast

This is Inclusive Activism Podcast – It comes from the idea love is an action word. And from Martin Luther King Jr. that if one is going to be an activist be an activist for love.

The purpose of the podcast is to learn and explore more with Diversity and Inclusion and how that relates to the concept of personal leadership

I’m your host Rowdy – for all things related to the idea of Inclusion as well as how you can make your team better through the opportunity of inclusive and transformational leadership.

This is a place and space for a deep dive into topics that are of concern to this community. Those of us who engage in the work and are staunchly Anti-“ist”

What I have been up to in the last week so you have proof of my Activsm:

Desperado Film Festival Saturday night

Facilitated small group Discussion on Real Boy at the Diversity Leadership Alliance

Kick off of Just Communities in Mesa AZ

Meet with folks about small biz

Self Care Last week:

Lift 5X week

Flag Football with Friends

Cardio 4X last week

Meditation 5X min 20 mins last week

Podcast of the Week Tara Brach

On to the topic of interactional vs. relational thinking

First off one is deeply preferable: Relational – if possible always be about and creating the or a relationship. Interactional in my opinion is the way we already sleepwalk through the world.

And I am no saint in this regard either – I get super interactional in my grocery line, at Costco, when someone new is asking me how I got my name and I get impatient…

Who am I to get impatient?? Think about this person reaching out to me? They want to connect? They want to know me a little more and bond with me in someway.  And in my interactional thinking I am rebuffing that that small attempt of intamcy and love in favor of a faster interaction.

Wow! That is sick and rude – and its not who I want to be.

Who and how do I want to be. I want to be more relational – I want to be in the moment and mindful. I need to be present to the opportunity of the world happening around me!

First off it starts with me – who am I if I make myself small? When I forgo the opportunity of those around me I choose to make myself small and I did this at Just Communities last week.

Tell story of Just Communities – in one way good, in another I also shrank from the opportunity of the world

―

Cant compartmentalize Social Change

Welcome to the podcast

This is Inclusive Activism Podcast – It comes from the idea love is an action word. And from Martin Luther King Jr. that if one is going to be an activist be an activist for love.

The purpose of the podcast is to learn and explore more with Diversity and Inclusion and how that relates to the concept of personal leadership

I’m your host Rowdy – for all things related to the idea of Inclusion as well as how you can make your team better through the opportunity of inclusive and transformational leadership.

This is a place and space for a deep dive into topics that are of concern to this community. Those of us who engage in the work and are staunchly Anti-“ist”

Going for a more conversational tone so hope that is working…

The idea we are going to explore is the idea that you cannot compartmentalize your positive change.

First off on a macro level let me frame my perspective for you. I come at the world from two major points of view. The first is that of a systems perspective.

Explain systems theory

Explain critical theory

Looking at both you see all things interconnect and an imbalance in one space disrupts the balance of the system.

FIRST concept: You have to see the system. Be real with it and know and understand your role in the system. For me I am firmly Anti-“ist” and am a lover of Inclusion. For me that means I must appreciate diversity and work to include everyone and appreciate their differences.

Loving diversity means I have to have wide scope of appreciation for many things. I a degree I must be open minded about almost all things. And I have to stay willing to consider things from many perspectives.

My main loves within D&I work are race and positive masculinity. (be on the lookout for a youtube series about Positive Masculinity in the near future!) But I have to understand the biggest threat to diversity is thinking differently. So when my students want to work on sustainability my first thought is that isn’t about inclusion. BUT I’m wrong. Sustainability is a very wide concept. Social sustainability is my whole deal in actuality!

Even other sustainability concepts must be considered like gardens and the Triple bottom line (or otherwise noted as TBL or 3BL) is an accounting framework with three parts: social, environmental (or ecological) and financial.

My goal is to help them not to just want to make students own spaces sustainability but also to explain the concept of environmental and socio-economic racism. And ask them to apply sustainable practices in places where we need it the most.

A good example of environmental racism is the DAPL pipeline. Where residents in Bismark ND didn’t want it and pushed it do the Reservation drinking waters.

To reiterate you have to think wide and systemically about what you care about and all repercussions. Give Pro-Life example

SECOND concept: How can you limit good? Or when is good work done? My friend Ryan and I used to concentrate our good on two things. If we had the time rescuing dogs and pushing people whose cars break down.

So taking that thinking to its next steps. Ok so we rescue THAT dog. Say it goes amazing. We find the owner. Ok great how many other dogs can we not get to due to schedules? Or what about all the other dogs rescued sleeping on cold floors at the shelter with no blankets?

In another vein. Say we push a woman’s car off the road for her late one night. Great right? Well sure a great first step but our young maleness shielded us from the c

Don’t miss a podcast make sure to subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss an episode!

Welcome to the podcast

This is Inclusive Activism Podcast – It comes from the idea love is an action word. And from Martin Luther King Jr. that if one is going to be an activist be an activist for love.

The purpose of the podcast is to learn and explore more with Diversity and Inclusion and how that relates to the concept of personal leadership

I’m your host Rowdy – for all things related to the idea of Inclusion as well as how you can make your team better through the opportunity of inclusive and transformational leadership.

This is a place and space for a deep dive into topics that are of concern to this community. Those of us who engage in the work and are staunchly Anti-“ist”

Today’s topic is familiar to those of us who engage in the work. It’s the notion of Liberal Elitism and False enlightenment.

First off we need to acknowledge that we are and can be our own worst enemy in regards to the work we do. And the concept that we know what we know can make us come off as jerks in all honesty.

This is where the concept of Liberal Elitism is grounded. We know what we know – but at times we can act as though we have always known it! How dare we?? Some kind soul took time to teach us what we know and helped us understand to get to where we are…

And our performance of perfection is dangerous as HELL! Us acting as though we have arrived is a major problem. For more on the dangers of the performance of perfection please subscribe to the podcast. Acting perfect I believe is a major ill throughout society and the concept of liberal eliteism is jammed packed perfection performance.

Plus we (I intentionally include myself) Can be real jerks when we act as though we always know and have know. We have been in spaces where we take great pleasure and joy in “calling someone out” and can sit back in smug satisfaction thinking as though we have done something. When all you do is correct someone without a long conversation that changes hearts – you harden them.

1.We blame others for everything point fingers and make boogeymen (boogey persons?) of every privileged identity

We need to point fingers at people doing their privilege correctly – but instead we endlessly critique them and their allyship

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So here is the good news, 2016 is finally over. But thinking just because 2017 is a different number and that everything is going to be rosy is dangerous thinking. To me that is the same thinking akin to simply being in a new place will change your life. Yeah the setting will be new, but unless YOU are different you will develop the same old patterns. In all honestly from this point of view 2017 looks like for those of the inclusive bent like MUCH more work, and fraught with much more danger!

The point of all this is we need to have a frank talk about Self-Care. If you don’t do it now, you need to start, like started in Nov. 2016 start. We are a bit behind in what it will take to be a happy healthy mentally stable person, so there is no time like the present to get going! My mother told me that is your situation is bad, that is good because that means there is plenty of work to do. And this is going to be the case for us, lovers of diversity. Never will our skillset for inclusive action, diversity appreciation, and civil dialog be me in more demand. But lest we get burnt out in the first month, we need to talk about, be frank about the need to rest/regroup, we will be spent by mid-February a mere few weeks post-inauguration.

To liken it to in 7 Habits language we need to take time to keep our saws sharp. The story goes that a person was killing themself trying to cut down a tree with a rusty dull saw blade. When asked by a passing stranger why doesn’t not 10-15 mins to sharpen the saw to make his task easier, the person exclaimed, “Can’t you see I’m already behind, I don’t have time to sharpen the saw”. All too often we fail to account for how much more effective a better version of us would be. How much better would we be if we took time to workout 5X a week, by taking a quiet walk in nature, or got centered with some mindfulness practice. We all wish for the reprieve of a “good day” – when what we should wish for is the strength to make a bad day easier – permanently! We need to take care of ourselves, first and foremost. For without an us, we can produce no work!

There are three areas I’d like to suggest Self-Care: Mental, Physical, and Spiritual. All three need to be included and accounted for in your Self-Care plan. To do otherwise is to craft a stool for rest with less than three legs of support.

Mental Self Care Suggestions:

Reading for education, Reading for escapism, Binge watch positive content, take a nap, Go for a walk in nature, Puzzles, Create a bed time ritual, Organize your living space, Listen to TED talks, Say “No” unless it’s a HELL YES, practice mindful self-compassion, Pet puppies/kitties, Just ponder some thoughts, Indulge in your favorite whatever, From time to time Treat yourself, Be kind with your inner self, Be kind to who you used to be, and be expectant and excited in who you are becoming.

Physical Self Care Suggestions:

Exercise, Lift Weights, Focus on better if not more sleep, Breathing exercise, Cardio, Give yourself a Mani-Pedi, Wash your face, Yoga Practice, Meditation, Clean house, Declutter and donate to causes, Aromatherapy, positive physical touch, Eat Clean (takes a few weeks), Get some sunlight, touch nature (negative ions are great for grounding), Take deep cleansing breaths, wake up

Don’t miss a podcast make sure to subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss an episode!

Welcome to the podcast

This is Inclusive Activism Podcast – It comes from the idea love is an action word. We don’t just want to be enlightened to the reality of “ism” we want to DO something about it. To get active in the community and to learn about how to keep our learning ongoing. We never want to stop learning

The purpose of the podcast is to learn and explore more with Diversity and Inclusion and how that relates to the concept of personal leadership. We want to learn more about how we can all be as inclusive as possible while also exploring personal leadership and how to be our best selves.

I’m your host Rowdy – for all things related to the idea of Inclusion as well as how you can make your team better through the opportunity of inclusive and transformational leadership.

This is a place and space for a deep dive into topics that are of concern to this community. Those of us who engage in the work and are staunchly Anti-“ist”

For lack of a better word this podcast today is the Inclusive Activist’s worldview. This is the take and the angle the podcast looks at the world with and are some of the core values which help inform the work of an inclusive activist.

The first idea we live by is the notion that We>me. This recognizes the fact that we as a people are better together than apart. Culturally in Western Thought (which annoys me as a Native person as though we are not part of the West) there is a high value placed on the individual. This emphasis on the individual has made us very self-centered and has rendered the benefits of being in relationship and being in community invisible to all but a handful of us. This thought is of primer value to the Inclusive Activist.

The second core principal is Communication creates Reality. The study of Semiotics is the study of meaning-making as well as the study of sign and what things signal and how that impacts meaningful communication. This is normally a done with signs and signals and how they point to words and how those words interconnect to create meaning. Words and symbols interconnect to create meaning. These meanings are understood and can create a hierarchy of value based on their interconnections to other language. Here is a small example – how to we refer to certain poor individuals. A quick google search of synonyms found these words:

Vagrant, Bankrupt, Dependant, Down and out, Guttersnipe, Mendicant, Pauper, Suppliant, Alms Person, Indigent, Poor Person, Poverty Stricken Person, Street Person.

Of these words the following I personally have heard or can connect to negative stigmas: Vagrant, Bankrupt, Dependant, Down and Out, Guttershipe, Pauper. These all have negative associations or connotations

Thug

Next is the idea we are in the process. And this process is unending. We claim imperfection. These days and especially given the emphasis on social media of performing perfection we go in the opposite direction, we embrace our vulnerability and imperfection. Perfect is at best fleeting, and is daily exhausting. Given this we are try to be willing to embrace our own vulnerability. We are honest

Don’t miss a podcast make sure to subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss an episode!

Welcome to the podcast

This is Inclusive Activism Podcast – It comes from the idea love is an action word. We don’t just want to be enlightened to the reality of “ism” we want to DO something about it. To get active in the community and to learn about how to keep our learning ongoing. We never want to stop learning

The purpose of the podcast is to learn and explore more with Diversity and Inclusion and how that relates to the concept of personal leadership. We want to learn more about how we can all be as inclusive as possible while also exploring personal leadership and how to be our best selves.

I’m your host Rowdy – for all things related to the idea of Inclusion as well as how you can make your team better through the opportunity of inclusive and transformational leadership.

This is a place and space for a deep dive into topics that are of concern to this community. Those of us who engage in the work and are staunchly Anti-“ist”

For lack of a better word this podcast today is the Inclusive Activist’s worldview. This is the take and the angle the podcast looks at the world with and are some of the core values which help inform the work of an inclusive activist.

The first idea we live by is the notion that We>me. This recognizes the fact that we as a people are better together than apart. Culturally in Western Thought (which annoys me as a Native person as though we are not part of the West) there is a high value placed on the individual. This emphasis on the individual has made us very self-centered and has rendered the benefits of being in relationship and being in community invisible to all but a handful of us. This thought is of primer value to the Inclusive Activist.

The second core principal is Communication creates Reality. The study of Semiotics is the study of meaning-making as well as the study of sign and what things signal and how that impacts meaningful communication. This is normally a done with signs and signals and how they point to words and how those words interconnect to create meaning. Words and symbols interconnect to create meaning. These meanings are understood and can create a hierarchy of value based on their interconnections to other language. Here is a small example – how to we refer to certain poor individuals. A quick google search of synonyms found these words:

Vagrant, Bankrupt, Dependant, Down and out, Guttersnipe, Mendicant, Pauper, Suppliant, Alms Person, Indigent, Poor Person, Poverty Stricken Person, Street Person.

Of these words the following I personally have heard or can connect to negative stigmas: Vagrant, Bankrupt, Dependant, Down and Out, Guttershipe, Pauper. These all have negative associations or connotations

Thug

Next is the idea we are in the process. And this process is unending. We claim imperfection. These days and especially given the emphasis on social media of performing perfection we go in the opposite direction, we embrace our vulnerability and imperfection. Perfect is at best fleeting, and is daily exhausting. Given this we are try to be willing to embrace our own vulnerability. We are honest

Don’t miss a podcast make sure to subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss an episode!

Today’s Podcast is all about the opportunity of receiving feedback. Having the value of being Anti-Perfection means Inclusive Activists must be able to find ways to incorporate all feedback as a means to make ourselves the best Me possible for the greater We.

This is one of the original first six podcasts so I know there are not callers yet. But 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 its really good it might be a future podcast!

Also as always if your 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/2017/02/Being-your-own-worst-critic.mp3

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