trueblueinclusion

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Viral Video: Stephen Fry Somehow Makes Sense Of Racism "It takes a clear head to drill into the bedrock of history, especially when that history contains some pretty atrocious acts. Lucky for us, Stephen Fry is up to the task."

Engage: Watch The Attached Video + Share Your Thoughts Below.

Source: http://www.upworthy.com/stephen-fry-somehow-makes-sense-of-racism

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Around the World, One Conversation at a Time

#FairGround: Q+A with Kathy Roth-Douquet, Chief Executive Officer Blue Star Families

In honor of Veterans Day we are featuring Kathy Roth-Douquet, Founder and Chair of the military family organization Blue Star Families.

ABOUT KATHY

Kathy is an award-winning author, attorney, military family advocate, commentator, and a former Clinton White House and Pentagon appointee. In four years, Blue Star Families has grown to over 40 chapters, with 50,000 members, and programming reaching nearly a million military families.

Kathy Roth-Douquet received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College, her MPA in International Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University where she held a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and a JD from the University of San Diego School of Law, Magna Cum Laude and the Order of the Coif. While serving at the Pentagon as Principal Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acting) she received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service for her work on defense reform. Kathy is a Marine Corps spouse and mother of two school-aged children.

Engage: Now That You're Familiar With Kathy, Click Here To Read Her Entire Q+A With Us. 

Source: http://trueblueinclusion.com/features/fairground/6/

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VIRAL VIDEO: Kids React To Same-Sex Marriage Proposals

"In a new episode of the series 'Kids React,' children between the ages of 5 and 13 were shown viral videos of same-sex marriage proposals and had their reactions recorded.

More than a dozen young people between the ages of 5 and 13 were shown two videos of same-sex marriage proposals and had their reactions recorded for a new episode of the YouTube series Kids React.

“The opinions of the children about these issues can give incredibly valuable insight into where our society currently stands and where we are headed as people,” filmmakers Benny and Rafi Fine state at the beginning of the episode. “It’s important to discuss these topics openly in hopes of a better tomorrow through dialogue and conversation.”

From shock and confusion to applause for the proposals and irritation over the lack of equal marriage rights, the on-camera reactions of the 13 kids offer a revealing look at attitudes toward LGBT equality among youth and a glimpse at the changing attitudes towards same-sex marriage."

Watch The Eye-Opening Segment Here

Engage: Thoughts?

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/11/04/watch-kids-react-same-sex-marriage-proposals

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VIRAL VIDEO: Watch A Teenager Bring His Class To Tears Just By Saying A Few Words

"Ideas come from the strangest places sometimes — like from four-time Academy Award-winning movies from 2010. We all should grow up knowing that some people like Musharaf "Mushy" Asghar need to learn in a different way from the norm, and that's OK. They shouldn't be bullied for it. Wait till 2:49, when his hard work is put into action in front of his classmates. Thank goodness for inspiration, right?"

Watch The Touching Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CFXl27z5sIE

Engage: Thoughts? 

Source: http://www.upworthy.com/watch-a-teenager-bring-his-class-to-tears-just-by-saying-a-few-words-2?c=fea

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VIRAL VIDEO: Watch An Entire Team Of Teenage Football Players Do Something Very Unexpected! "We've heard a lot of negative news about teenage football players recently. And while some have engaged in awful behavior, the truth is that there are a lot of amazing people in the world. These guys blew me away. They're full of kindness, empathy, compassion, and love — and they're only in junior high. As a parent, I hope to raise my kids to care about others like these boys do. The future is a brighter place with them in it." Watch The Touching Video Here: http://youtu.be/0Ejh_hb15Fc Engage: Thoughts? Source: http://www.upworthy.com/watch-an-entire-team-of-teenage-football-players-do-something-very-unexpected

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In Case You Missed It: The Legendary Esther Silver-Parker, President of The SilverParker Group, Setting The Stage On Fire At The German Marshall Fund's Atlantic Dialogues In Morocco!  Editor's Note: Check Out Our Q+A With Diversity + Inclusion Icon, Esther Silver-Parker, Here! 

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#FairGround: Q+A with Esther Silver-Parker, President and CEO of The SilverParker Group

"Around The World... One Conversation At A Time."

ABOUT ESTHER:

Esther Silver-Parker is President and CEO of The SilverParker Group, a consultancy specializing in diversity, corporate social responsibility, reputation, strategic philanthropy, stakeholder relationships and leadership development. Esther is a True Blue Inclusion trusted friend and ally. She is the perfect example of how we connect our members to people of influence.

Before opening her firm in 2010, Silver-Parker served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., where she was charged with the strategic planning and execution of the company’s corporate responsibility, reputation, and relationships among key national and international stakeholders. Prior to joining Wal-Mart, Silver-Parker served 28 years in various public relations functions for AT&T, including Vice President of Corporate Affairs and President of the AT&T Foundation.

A corporate leader of noted impact, she has served in leadership and volunteer positions for over 50 national and international nonprofit organizations. She developed a next generation women’s leadership organization in South Africa and has directly support programs to assist women of color in completing their college education.

Esther was invited by True Blue Inclusion to attend the German Marshall Fund’s Atlantic Dialogue in Morocco, and stepped in at the last moment to help present during the Plenary Session. We spoke to Esther during the Atlantic Dialogue.

Engage: Read Our Full Interview With Diversity + Inclusion Icon, Esther Silver-Parker, Here: http://trueblueinclusion.com/features/fairground/5/

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Weekend Edition: A Celebrity Translates The 1 Question Reporters Won't Stop Asking Her. She Nails It — They're Rude.

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#FAIRGROUND: Q+A with Gustavo Viano, Director of Global Inclusion & Diversity Outreach for McDonald’s Corporation

ABOUT GUSTAVO:

Based at the company’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, IL, Gustavo Viano is the Director of Global Inclusion and Diversity Outreach for McDonald’s Corporation. As a member of the Global Inclusion and Intercultural Management team, He is a catalyst for promoting an inclusive environment for all employees, operators and suppliers within the McDonald’s system.

Gustavo was recently elected Chairman of the Advisory Board of the League of United Latin American Citizens - LULAC, the oldest civic right organization for Latinos. He also serves on the corporate advisory boards of several prominent diversity organizations including HACR, MFHA, NCLR and OCA.

Read What Happened When We Caught Up With Gustavo In Washington, DC At LULAC’s 40th Anniversary Here: http://trueblueinclusion.com/features/fairground/4/

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TBI Exclusive: Watch Pegine Echevarria Share Her Insights About Our Visa-Hosted Deep Dive In Miami Three Weeks Ago!

Build: We Challenge You To Share This Video With Your Respective Circles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UEreHDXF4g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[trueblueinclusion]

#VisualizingTheFuture: Dr. Randy Bradley + Dr. Terry Esper Gives A Breakthrough Presentation On Predictive Analytics.

[trueblueinclusion]

Diversity Report: 96-Year-Old Fred Stobaugh Makes iTunes Top 10 With A Song Written For His Late Wife Of 73 Years!

"Move over, Lady Gaga. Our favorite 96-year-old is looking to dominate the music charts.

Last week, Fred Stobaugh melted hearts across the world when a song he wrote for his late wife went viral.

His lyrics to 'Oh Sweet Lorraine,' were originally entered into a singer-songwriter contest at Green Shoes Studios in Illinois. An employee, Jacob Colgan, surprised Stobaugh by putting the words to music. And now, the song is topping the charts.

By Friday, 'Oh Sweet Lorraine' was number seven on U.S. iTunes, alongside names like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Miley Cyrus, BBC News reported.

The song also entered Billboard's Rock Digital Songs sales chart at No. 49 with 6,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Today, 'Oh Sweet Lorraine' is holding steady at number 31 on iTunes. The original YouTube clip, however, that introduced Stobaugh to the world, has jumped to nearly 3 million views.

Connect: In case you missed it, attached is Fred Stobaugh listening to his song for the first time!

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/03/oh-sweet-lorraine-itunes-top-10_n_3860545.html

[trueblueinclusion]

McCain Blasts Fox’s Islamophobia: Would You Have A Problem With An American Saying ‘Thank God?’

"Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) blasted Fox News host Brian Kilmeade for linking a commonly-used Arabic phrase to terrorism, during an appearance to bolster his case for a strong military response to Syria President Bashar Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons. The Arizona senator has long called on the Obama administration to arm the rebels fighting the Assad regime and is pressing Congress to adopt an broad-based use of force resolution.

On Tuesday, Kilmeade pushed back against McCain’s requests by arguing that American weapons could flow to extremists or terrorists in the region linked to Al Qaeda. He then played video of rockets slamming into government-held districts in the central Syrian city of Homs and pointed to opposition group members chanting “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar” as the rockets hit, implying that a reference to the Arab word, which is mainly used by Muslims to refer to God in Islam, betrayed ties to terrorism. “I have a problem helping those people screaming that after a hit,” he proclaimed.

“Would you have a problem with an American person saying ‘thank God? Thank God?’” McCain asked, clearly irritated. “That’s what they’re saying. Come on! Of course they’re Muslims, but they’re moderates and I guarantee you they are moderates.” Kilmeade didn’t respond to McCain and quickly moved on with the interview." Engage: Watch Sen. McCain School Fox News Anchor Brian Kilmeade In The Attached Video + Let Us Know Your Thoughts Below!

Source: http://thinkprogress.org/media/2013/09/03/2561901/john-mccain-blasts-fox-news-islamophobia-problem-american-person-saying-thank-god/

[trueblueinclusion]

50 Years Later... And King's Dream Has Yet To Be Fully Realized.

However, The Progressive Work That We, Our Clients + Each Of You Includers Do Everyday Inches All Of Humanity Closer To The Ideal World Of Racial Harmony That Arguably Makes The "I Have A Dream" Speech The Most Iconic Moment In The History Of Diversity + Inclusion.

Honoring His Dream, We Shall Move Forward; However We Cannot Walk Alone. And As We Walk, We Must Make The Pledge That We Shall March Ahead. We Cannot Turn Back.... Until Everyone Regardless Of Gender, Race, Religion, Nationality, Sexual Orientation, Physical Ability, Identity + Construction Will Be Able & Welcomed To Join Hands And Sing In The Words Of The Old Negro Spiritual: "Free At Last! Free At Last! Thank God Almighty, We Are Free At Last!"

Realizing The Dream,

-True Blue Inclusion

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Oped: A Conversation About The Cultural Appropriation + Misogyny Laced In Miley Cyrus + Robin Thicke's 2013 VMA Performance + Music Videos!

"Editor’s Note: After a friend posted a well-articulated response to this shocking photo of Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke from last night’s VMAs, I asked that she expound on the misogynistic and discriminatory undertones of the performance. This is her response.

Facebook post: ”I haven’t heard anyone yet criticize Robin Thicke’s referee-style suit. It’s fitting that he and Miley Cyrus are on stage together, mysogynizing it up, as their music videos with him in a referee’s uniform (making the rules) surrounded by scantily clad black women and Cyrus’ video featuring black women as props but not real friends are cut from the same cloth.”

But, in reality, nothing I’m saying here is new. Pop culture representations of the relationships between men and women, dominant culture and minority culture, are routinely and grossly stereotypical and oppressive. An NPR article recently attributed Cyrus’ video for “We Can’t Stop” and Thicke’s video for “Blurred Lines” to “bad taste,” which indicates to me about how deeply we really talk about oppression in this country. I don’t want to talk about the lackluster styling and unoriginal storyline of the video. The same goes for Thicke’s most recent video, “Give it 2 U”: I don’t want to talk about the played out premise of the song and video, or even the misogynistic lyrics, because at this point, I feel we’re all pretty used to rolling our eyes at this drivel. What I do want to talk about are the visual representations of minorities in both of these videos. I want to talk about Cyrus’ attitude, her wardrobe choices, who she considers her ‘friends’ in the video, who is there as a prop, and most importantly, the position of privilege that she approaches all of these choices from.

One thing that is interesting to me about both of these videos is that neither of them are artistic, captivating, or compelling visually. They both use themes, settings and cues that are pretty stock in their genre. Put plainly, both of these videos don’t look any different from anything else. The effect for me is that the racist and misogynistic tone of both videos is blaring, impossible to ignore in the interest of a catchy beat.

Yet, while Cyrus has gotten a lot of blogosphere heat for “We Can’t Stop,” and the choices that led up to it, I haven’t (yet) heard any meaningful criticism for Thicke’s “Give it 2 U.” So, I’d like to point out that Thicke’s most recent video is entirely composed of something that Cyrus was criticized for having as a fraction of the “We Can’t Stop,” video: the use of black people as props. This is not to defend Cyrus’ video in the slightest, but rather takes me to my next criticism of Thicke’s most recent video: the referee suit.

Referees, by definition, judge or determine when rules apply, when a rule has been broken. A referee is someone who arbitrates, assesses, judges and ensures rule adherence. In the video for “Give it 2 U,” Robin Thicke, a middle aged, white man stands in the center of the frame, dressed as one who assesses while a group of entirely black, young, women dances around him. Is it really necessary to point out that this is problematic?

Problematic is an understatement. Its oblivious, offensive, racist, misogynistic. It perpetuates oppressive stereotypes, the cycle of vulnerability and shame. The video’s dynamic is that a white man is in charge, judging, assessing young black women. Both Cyrus and Thicke’s videos represent the worst of an ignorant and privileged dominant, white culture. And the worst of both of these was put on stage at the VMAs last night, while audience members looked on in horror. Pictures quickly surfaced of Rihanna’s side-eye, the entire Smith family’s expression of appall.

Is this really happening? Its 2013, and this kind of cultural appropriation is still celebrated, put on stage for its merit. In 2013, a white man stands on stage dressed, quite literally, as the assessor of minority women. Ann Powers’ article on NPR ends on a high note at least, pointing out that pop blurs lines and creates spaces where rules are relaxed. It seems to me that both Cyrus and Thicke think relaxed rules means appropriating, stereotyping and oppressing are legitimate forms of expression. They couldn’t be more wrong: acting as sensitive, aware human beings is not a rule to be broken, its a choice to be made."

Watch As Miley Cyrus + Robin Thicke Scars America With Their 2013 MTV Video Music Awards Performance.

Engage: Were You Offended By Cyrus + Thicke's Shameless + Culturally Offensive Showing At Last Night's VMA's? If Not, Tuck Into The Video Footage From The Performance + Share Your Thoughts Below!

Source: http://swaggernewyork.com/2013/08/26/heres-why-miley-cyrus-and-robin-thickes-vma-performance-is-concerning/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=heres-why-miley-cyrus-and-robin-thickes-vma-performance-is-concerning

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VIRAL VIDEO!!!: Westboro Baptists Owned By Ke$ha's Dancers As They Attempt To Protest One Of The Pop Star's Concerts!

"Ke$ha and her backup dancers may have put on their best performance yet as the pop star sent her crew to respond to the Westboro Baptist Church protest that was taking place outside her concert in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Three tank-top clad men showed off their moves as WBC members shouted the lyrics to "God Hates Who U R," an anti-gay parody of Ke$ha's anthem of acceptance "We R Who We R."

The Westboro Baptist protestors didn't seem to quite know how to react, holding up their anti-gay and anti-Obama signs while awkwardly swaying to the auto-tuned beat (lady in the floppy hat, we're looking at you) as the dancers did their thing. Most ineffective protest ever?

Well played, Ke$ha, well played. You've made the world a more accepting, as well as a more glitter-filled, place.

Here's a sample of the sickening lyrics to 'God Hates Who U R." To feel worse about humanity:

  You think you're superstars

GOD HATES WHO U R

Dear Lord, burn it up!

It's about that time to finish up.

We're so sick of their filthiness.

They makin' it all lascivious.

We're just talkin' truth.

We're tellin' you bout the sins you do.

  You're selling your souls, warring on God,

He's slapping you down, smacking you dudes. HARD!

  Stops your ears and blinds your eyes,

God takes all your faceless pride,

Looking sick and terrified

You reap what you sow oh oh

DUMB HO!

  Your hearts are turning hard, hard hard hard hard hard

God meant this world as ours ours ours ours ours

He'll tear it all apart

You think you're superstars

GOD HATES WHO U R!"

  Engage: What Do You Make Of Popstar Ke$ha's Response To The Westboro Baptists Protesting Her Concert?

  Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/westboro-baptists-kesha-dancers_n_3782051.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

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GRAPHIC VIDEO: Russian Transgender Woman Beaten In Public Park Caught On Tape

(WARNING: Contains Graphic Imagery)

"A horrifying new video hit the web this weekend, documenting what appears to be a brutal attack on a Russian transgender woman by five men after she had allegedly been ambushed in a public park.

In the video, the victim is repeatedly beaten and kicked over the entirety of her head and body while being dragged around the park by the men for several minutes, at one point by her underwear. The title of the video reportedly translates roughly to a reference of the transgender woman as a "homosexual" and then continues by saying "view from 16 years old." It is unclear whose age the number 16 refers to.

The woman appears to escape towards the end of the video and the viewer can then see one of the men rifling through the contents of her purse. At least one bystander is present throughout the attack, though no attempt is made to stop the men.

This terrifying video is unfortunately not the first of its kind to emerge following Russia's passage of anti-gay "propaganda" legislation. As previously reported, a disturbing trend among Russian social media involves anti-gay and anti-trans Russian hate groups luring young gay and trans individuals through the Internet into a real life meeting. The self-proclaimed "vigilantes" then beat, torture and humiliate the young victims while filming the attack, and then post the video on popular Russian social media sites.

Russia's violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals and state-sanctioned discrimination through anti-gay "propaganda laws" have come under international scrutiny over the past several months. This cross-cultural backlash against the country has gained even more attention due to the imminent approach of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and claims that LGBT athletes, attendees and coaches will be held accountable to the country's anti-LGBT legislation during the games."

Engage: How Can The Russian Government Ensure That The World's LGBT Olympic Athlete Population & International LGBT Fans Will Be Safe From Persecution If They Attend The 2014 Winter Games When Their Very Own Citizens, As Seen In The Graphic Attached Video, Are Not?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/russian-transgender-woman-beaten_n_3779723.html