reading
Why Companies Should Add Class to Their Diversity Discussions
This article makes the case for why class diversity should be a point of emphasis within efforts to make workplaces more diverse. The authors provide examples of how people from working class backgrounds face barriers in entering white-collar workplaces due to referral-based hiring practices, prioritizing “culture fit” in hiring and different relationships to work and family. For more read here.
Diversifying Boards Means Ceding Control—Are White Nonprofit Leaders Ready?
This article discusses the lack of diverse representation on the boards of nonprofits and how nonprofits do work “for” marginalized communities rather than “with” them. They suggest that those in leadership in nonprofits are not willing to genuinely engage in equity work because it would mean radically changing their structures. For more read here.
Beyond XX and XY: The Extraordinary Complexity of Sex Determination
We often talk about gender being complex, but rarely discuss how biological sex is equally complex. In this short article and great infographic, you can learn about the complexities of how biological sex gets determined. Access the article and infographic here.
Don’t Talk about Implicit Bias Without Talking about Structural Racism
This article describes how implicit bias functions within the unconscious brain, while also providing an important critique of implicit bias training that does not address systemic inequity. They draw on examples in the American education system to show how implicit bias and structural racism are interconnected and, therefore, how both must be addressed in order to create effective change. For more read here.
The Best Voices and Brands in Plus Size Outdoor Clothing
This article discusses the difficulty that many people with larger body sizes face in finding outdoor apparel and gear in their size. The article discusses voices who are leading efforts to create and market more inclusive outdoor gear and provides a list of the most inclusive outdoor clothing brands. For more read here.
On a Plate
This is a comic that illustrates the differences between growing up in a higher-income family and a lower-income family. It depicts well how socio-economic background can shape life opportunities and exposes the flaws in arguments about pulling oneself up by their bootstraps. For more read here.
A Cree Artist Redraws History
This article describes an installation in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Cree Artist Kent Monkman. His installation features two paintings that flip historical narratives about Indigenous victimhood on its head. For more read here.
relinquishing the patriarchy
This article is directed at people who identify as men and explores the impact that toxic masculinity can have on their relationships with people who identify as women. The author discusses reasons for toxic male relational approaches with women and offers a number of practices that can help “relinquish the patriarchy”. For more read here.
Relinquishing the patriarchy resource list
This is a terrific list of resources put together as tools for people who identify as men to learn how to “relinquish the patriarchy”. The list includes podcasts, articles, organizations, retreats and curriculum oriented around supporting people who identify as men to unlearn the internalized patriarchy. This resource list stemmed out of an article written by Adrienne Maree Brown on the subject. For more read here.
The pitfalls of symbolic decolonization
This articles discusses how decolonization efforts in the West fall short by engaging in decolonization in philosophical terms instead of through economic means. In the authors word’s, “Symbolic decolonization is useful, but it is also useless without material decolonization”. The author explores the harm of “symbolic decolonization” and also provides examples of efforts that are both symbolic and material. For more read here.
Two States. Eight Textbooks. Two American Stories.
This article shows how the differences between history textbooks produced for California and Texas present radically different narratives of American history. They present side by side examples from the textbooks to visually show the different history being taught in each state. They discuss the examples in thought provoking analysis that exposes how political ideology shapes historical narratives. For more read here.
The Intersectionality Wars
This article explores the history of the concept of intersectionality and its rise to prominence over the last 30 years. The article includes an interview with the term’s founder, Kimberlé Crenshaw. The author describes resistance to the word by the American political right, who fear a creation of a new racial hierarchy, and explains how Crenshaw is seeking to dismantle racial hierarchies through acknowledging intersection identities. For more read here.