Mar 31How to Start Your JEDI Team: 5 Keys to SuccessYou know your organization needs a dedicated team to address oppression and build a justice-oriented culture. But how do you get started? After working with dozens of organizations that have attempted to institutionalize Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) leadership through committees, we, at Freedom Lifted, have witnessed varying degrees…Team Building4 min readTeam Building4 min read
Jan 17Doing DEI work in your organization? Start with Justice.For the past decade, especially in 2020, we saw companies, nonprofits, and other organizations make bold claims about their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Workplaces started book groups, hired consultants, and formed, re-imagined, or expanded committees. I work directly with people dedicated to transforming their organizations, schools, and…Diversity5 min readDiversity5 min read
Nov 17, 20228 Ways to Show Gratitude in Our Justice WorkAt my organization, we believe cultivating a culture of gratitude is critical to movement-building and a clear antidote to white supremacy culture. Since showing appreciation is inherently about recognizing each other’s value, and doing so requires time, practicing gratitude moves us away from individualism and urgency and toward creating…Gratitude7 min readGratitude7 min read
Sep 13, 20225 Questions to Ask that Go Beyond Diversity and InclusionWhen working with our clients to bring a social justice lens to their perspective and work, we use a set of questions that are based on Iris Marion Young’s Five Faces of Oppression framework. These questions are: 1. Whose labor is overused, undervalued, not compensated, under compensated? (This addresses exploitation.) …Diversity And Inclusion3 min readDiversity And Inclusion3 min read
May 29, 2022Giving New Meaning to Memorial DayIn recent years, I’ve started thinking about Memorial Day differently. Traditionally, it’s always been a time to acknowledge members of the military and civilians who have died in this nation’s declared wars. But lately, I’ve also been reflecting on those who have died in America’s undeclared wars — those who…Memorial Day6 min readMemorial Day6 min read
Feb 26, 2022Lessons in Collective Leadership from Black History: Brown v. Board of EducationWhen studying and celebrating Black history, we often focus on learning about individual people. Yet, in most cases, when history is made, the critical work is done by groups who are organized. — To illustrate this point, let’s take a close look at the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1954 for Oliver L. Brown, et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka (KS), et al. case, which ended legal racial segregation in public schools. …Black History Month7 min readBlack History Month7 min read
Jan 17, 2022MLK was in love: What a letter to Coretta reveals about how relationships shape our politicsThis weekend we celebrate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. (Thank goodness because, even though the year just started, I’m already ready for a holiday.) Of course I am deeply grateful for Dr. King’s contributions as a visionary, narrator, and leader of social change in this country. …MLK5 min readMLK5 min read
May 24, 2021Why Every 8th Grade Class Should Go to AlabamaArtifacts and symbols of our democracy may reside in D.C., but the struggle for America to live up to its ideals is found in the Heart of Dixie. Each year, thousands of American eighth grade students from across the nation take a class trip to Washington, D.C. The impact of those trips can be life changing, especially as young people bond with classmates and prepare to chart different paths toward high school and adulthood.Educational Travel7 min readEducational Travel7 min read
Jun 5, 2020Policing Doesn’t Protect Us: A Resource List for Diverse LearnersFrom slave patrols, to Selma, to Ferguson, to Minneapolis, policing has always been a tool to uphold white supremacy and exercise social control over poor and non-White people. It is time to invest in social infrastructure including public schools, libraries, trauma care, mental health service, and clinics while we #DefundPolice. …Police1 min readPolice1 min read
May 30, 2020How I Am Responding to Yet Another Murder by PoliceI am doing a lot of things this week as I process the murders of black people at the hands of police and the range of societal reactions to it. I am grieving. I am praying for continued strength for the families and communities of those murdered. And by strength…Police3 min readPolice3 min read
