Everyone has an unique D&I journey. For me, I have identified certain areas where I need to step up as an ally, I also have to learn more about the glass ceilings in my professions so I can advocate more for my own identity group, and finally as a Diversity and Inclusion Trainer-Teacher-Blogger, I must continue to to stay abreast of the research.
We each have our own individual diversity attributes of race/ethnicity, gender, age, etc. and their various points of intersection. None of us has an identical life experience. On top of that, we each have own values, goals, and lists of priorities. We have different time constraints, work responsibilities, and areas of access and influence that shape what D&I mean to us and how we can and want to contribute. We are each unique. Therefore, although there is a wealth of 21 Day Diversity and Inclusion Challenges, we probably benefit more by creating our own. No one knows better than ourselves what makes our hearts sing.
The Crazy Passion Project
Hearts singing and songs remind me of the Crazy Passion Project. The Netflix movie “Skater Girl” introduces the Crazy Passion Project concept. The Crazy Passion Project is intended to positively impact ours lives and the lives of others in ways we never dreamed possible. The project also incorporates joy and fun into challenges. In the movie, Jessica introduces finds her Crazy Passion Project; she introduces skateboarding to the young villagers in Rajasthan, India as a way to breakdown the caste system and to promote gender equality for girls. Risk, fun, and satisfying. The movie focuses on Prerna who through skating boarding learns confidence, challenges the customs and expectations for girls, and learns to dream.
My Crazy Passion Project is that each person finds their part in promoting inclusion, that they can make their own and practice that part each and every day. Our individual customized practices ensure that what we do has meaning for us and in turn will have meaning for those around us. And it should be fun and satisfying like a 21 Day Challenge.
Grab your calendar and plot out over the next 21 days how you will learn and practice inclusion in ways that are meaning fulfill to you. We know we can’t just wait for inclusion to happen in our lives. We must create it, and we must create it in a way that is meaningful to us individually. We must start now with the tools and resources we have at hand. I challenge you create your own customized 21 Day Inclusion Challenge.
P.S.: Getting Started
Reading, writing, speaking, blogging, watching a movie, mentoring, sponsoring, attending an event, inviting a friend to attend an event, hosting an event, advocating, donating to cause or organization, volunteering time, or creating a project or opportunity are a sample of broad foundations to build specific D&I activities.
Building on the idea of hosting an event, Father’s Day is approaching. Perhaps next Saturday, June 18th you can host a mixed race, generation, gender, and/or gender orientation virtual or in-person gathering for dads. What’s it like being a Dad from another perspective? Some of us probably have enough diversity within our extended families to have this conversation. Talk about fatherhood and life in general. Shooting the breeze, barbershop talk, or passing on family history and tradition. Who knows you may be starting an annual tradition.
P.S.S.: For the first five people to post or share a link with a their 21 Day Inclusion Challenge on this blog, I will send them a complimentary copy of Coffee and Conversations: Inclusion and Belonging.
Resource: Coffee and Conversations: Inclusion and Belonging by Zenell Brown. Coffee and Conversations: Inclusion and Belonging: Brown, Esq Zenell B, Ambrose-Gunn, Francene: 9781734086546: Amazon.com: Books
Inspiring Minds 