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  • Globally, 75% of workers have felt excluded, HBO’s integrity is questioned over “Savior Complex” doc, and Blackface is alive and well in Poland

Globally, 75% of workers have felt excluded, HBO’s integrity is questioned over “Savior Complex” doc, and Blackface is alive and well in Poland

DEI in 5: Biweekly DEI News

“HBO announced a documentary premiering on its Max app September 26 and Black Twitter had plenty to say about the matter.

Savior Complex centers around Renee Bach, a white American missionary who went to Uganda on a missionary trip, and started a charity for malnourished children. She then started treating the sick children herself. There was just one problem: Bach had no medical qualifications to do so.

According to HBO, “the three-part docuseries examines the thorny complexities of foreign aid work done in the name of humanitarian and religious ideals.

Multiple users questioned the integrity of HBO making a documentary on this particular subject while others pointed to the Ugandan investigative documentary titled The Messiahs That Were Not by Munjuni Raymond and Next Media Uganda as an alternative.” Whew! Continue reading more about this story from Black Enterprise.

Oh! And spoiler alert: In 2020, Bach settled the suit by paying each of the mothers ~$9,500, with “no admission of liability,” reports NPR.

The Latest Episode of DEI in 5

In case you were wondering: yes. Yes, blackface is still very much alive and well in 2023.

According to The Hollywood Reporter: “Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo, the Polish iteration of the international reality competition Your Face Sounds Familiar, will undergo an internal investigation following the use of blackface in a recent episode.

Banjiay Group, the French parent company of Endemol Shine Poland — the impersonation series’ local producer — condemned the appearance of the historically racist practice originating in the U.S. of darkening one’s skin on the show, alongside the use of the N-word in one contestant’s performance.”

Fun fact: The show has been on air since 2014 🫠.

Check out the latest episode of DEI in 5 for more 👇🏾

Oh, and this Thursday, at 12 PM EST, DEI in 5 is live again on both LinkedIn and Youtube. I’ll be joined again by two of my fellow DEI consultants, Clarissa “Clo” Fuselier of Inclusion.Logic and Caren Young of The Professional Adult. We will be asking ourselves: are we REALLY DEI 'experts?' What does it even mean to be an 'expert?' Can you be an 'expert' when it comes to DEI? If you tuned into our last discussion, you know that we all had strong feels about this topic.

Leadersh*t: A Podcast Exploring the Social Responsibility of Leaders

“When you deal with discrimination because of race or religion or national origin, you get that you're a part of a smaller community fighting against the larger other. But with age, we're all going to get there, right? Nobody is escaping this.”

Karen Walrond

ICYMI, last week we were joined by leadership coach, activist and attorney, Karen Walrond, whose new book, Radiant Rebellion: Reclaim Aging, Practice Joy, and Raise a Little Hell, is an investigation in how we can reclaim aging and live a light-filled life along the way. We discussed navigating ageism in the workplace, how marketing has damaged our ability to approach aging thoughtfully, and how to avoid bias against our future selves. Check it out, and if you’re into, don’t hesitate to subscribe, rate, and share the pod.

The Latest DEI News

Workplace & Employee Wellbeing

DEI Research

Recruiting & Hiring

  • How tech’s outdated reliance on college degrees hinders workplace DEI [Fast Company]: “Job postings for STEM roles frequently call for four years of college, regardless of whether workers have the demonstrated skills to do those jobs—and despite the fact that many of the fastest-growing industries in the field (e.g., artificial intelligence) are evolving too quickly for college curricula to keep up. Although there’s evidence that suggests degree requirements are being relaxed across multiple middle- and higher-wage jobs, research from Opportunity@Work has found that between December 2022 and March 2023, more than half of the 1.7 million jobs posted for STEM roles required at least a bachelor’s degree.”

Politics & Law

  • New York police agree to reform protest tactics in settlement over 2020 response [AP News]: “New York City’s police department has agreed to adopt new policies intended to safeguard the rights of protesters as part of a legal settlement stemming from its response to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020. The 44-page agreement, filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, requires the nation’s largest police department to deploy fewer officers to most public protests. It creates a tiered system of protest response that prioritizes deescalation, while banning the NYPD’s practice of kettling, a controversial tactic that involves trapping and arresting large groups of demonstrators.”

  • Texas student suspended over his loc hairstyle days after state’s Crown Act takes effect [CNN]: “Darryl George, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, received multiple disciplinary action notes and was placed on in-school suspension for wearing his locs hairstyle in a ponytail, his mother, Darresha George, told CNN.”

  • EEOC Commissioners Urge Caution, Care for Employers’ DEI Programs [Bloomberg Law]: “After the Supreme Court’s landmark affirmative action decision this summer, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chairperson Charlotte Burrows, Commissioner Andrea Lucas, and Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels weighed in with their views. Together, these statements convey a message to employers concerning their DEI efforts: Proceed, but with caution.”

Education

  • ‘Himpathy’ Is Making Colleges Suspicious of Women Students Who Report Sexual Assault [Jezebel]: “Through observation at one large public university’s Title IX office between 2018 and 2019, and 76 interviews with Title IX administrators and students at the unnamed university, Bedera found that in most cases, Title IX administrators determined the trauma that women victims incurred was either too severe for the university to even try to remedy, or that the women were “hysterical.” Sometimes administrators determined that neither party was lying when they had different perspectives on how a sexual encounter had transpired, with women saying they were harmed and men recounting a consensual encounter. But in such cases, men’s proclamations of innocence were valued above women saying they were violated. An attitude that assailants are unfairly punished for engaging in typical “boys will be boys” behavior also prevailed.”

Arts, Sports, Entertainment, & Media

“The NFL has claimed it wants to be held accountable regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. I tried to do so, and it cost me my job. I’m filing this lawsuit because I can’t complain about things that are wrong if I’m unwilling to fight for what is right.”

Jim Trotter, in a statement released by his law firm, Wigdor
graphic image my amazon ads for "why inclusivity matters" article. ocean blue background, with vairous colorful squiggles in green, purple, red. THere are 3 individuals smillig of different backgrounds.
  • Why Inclusivity Matters [AdWeek]: “Inclusive advertising is a

    business imperative. Today’s consumers don’t just seek out a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); they expect it. In fact, 81% of consumers are more likely to purchase products or services from brands whose values align with their own, according to the 2023 Higher Impact report from Amazon Ads.”

Inclusive Leadership & Management

  • Unlock the Power of Active Listening for Inclusive Management [ManagIn]: “Your listening skills might be your most powerful tool for creating an inclusive team. Active listening, a crucial but often overlooked skill, can be your ultimate hack for inclusive management.”

  • The Manager Squeeze: How the New Workplace Is Testing Team Leaders [Gallup]: “Managers are more likely to be burned out and disengaged than their teams. Budget cuts, added responsibilities and restructured teams add complexity. To reduce the squeeze, follow four pieces of advice: 1) Better Leadership Communication, 2) More Training and Development, 3) Coaching Support to Prevent Burnout, and 4) A Community of Shared Accountability.”

That’s all for today! I’ll be back later this week with more.

Be well,

Adriele

P.S. If you aren’t already subscribed to DEI in 5 on YouTube, what are you waiting for? 🙃