Resources
Session Four: July 8, 2008
Colliding Over Politics: Are We So Divided?
The following is a list of take away points that detail how you can carry forward and apply the information presented in Session Four.
Suggestions for your personal development:
- Attend a precinct meeting of a political party you do not traditionally support.
- At work test the questions we created today with colleagues
- Next time someone says that it is impolite to talk about politics in public, question that belief.
- Make a point of learning a bit about other political parties and other democratic systems, perhaps by reading articles when you see them in the newspaper, or seeing films, or reading novels.
- Explore Web resources on political diversity.
- Ask questions of people you know, perhaps about the values that drive their political choices.
- Ask yourself which party positions on issues you care about make you least comfortable, and your basis for this. Then formulate open-ended questions to explore your assumptions, and look for safe places to ask them.
- Collect personal anecdotes about encountering political difference.
- Join Civic Engagement groups such as the League of Women Voters or National Council of La Raza.
- Volunteer as a poll worker through your Secretary of State office.
- Volunteer to be a Lead Facilitator or Table Facilitator at a public meeting.
Encouraging others' development:
- Talk about what you've learned from this session.
- Seek out interested others and share questions, concerns, information, and resources.
- Invite others to join you in attending an political event or visiting a campaign center for the candidate that you least support.
- Look for opportunities for informal, informational conversation on political difference. Share personal anecdotes.
- Find out about neutral civic engagement groups and consider what parts of their work you could support.
- Attend local public meetings and encourage meaningful conversation among the attendees.
To Impact the organization's culture:
- Assess the organizational position in terms of supporting political candidates or activities.
- Find out about whether political diversity is included in corporate diversity statements.
- Consider allies, structural resources, and finding a champion as means of creating change.
- Consider suggesting small, concrete changes such as allowing time off off for working as an election judge, tolerance for tardiness on election day, or attaining corporate sponsorship for public deliberations on important issues.
- Consider the demographics of workers, customers, suppliers, and international branches and the likely political diversity. Consider what knowledge might improve understanding, and where to obtain it.
Session Four was the fourth session of the 2008 NW Diversity Learning Series, Leveraging the Tensions of Diversity: Igniting Sparks of Opportunity. The Series, held in Seattle, WA, is organized by The GilDeane Group, publishers of DiversityCentral.com.
Presenter was Carolyn Lukenmeyer, President and Founder of AmericaSpeaks: Engaging Citizens in Government, Washington, D.C.
Session Six: Thu, Nov 13, 2008
Confronting Global Diversity: Imagining a Wide Circle of Inclusion
Patricia Digh
David Robinson