DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION RESOURCES

“Making Connections—The Power of Oral Storytelling” (Video, 17:59): Trent Hohaia shares with us what it means to find purpose and identity through oral storytelling—how narratives inform the world we live in through their repetition. Hohaia has spent much of his life attempting to reconcile being Māori with holding a positive self-image, and believes our story is one of the most important tools we have in understanding ourselves, accepting ourselves, and appreciating the skin we’re in.

“Help For Kids the Education System Ignores” (Video, 11:53): Victor Rios shares his story of success and urges educators (and everyone) to not see students as “at-risk,” but as “at-promising.” Students’ views of themselves are informed by the adults around them, and educators play a large role in their development—Rios illustrates how this simple extra push can be the deciding factor in a student’s ultimate success.

“Creating Culture with Storytelling” (Video, 4:39): A sense of culture affects how we see ourselves and how confident we are in our abilities to succeed, Kindra Hall explains, in this video highlighting the importance of culture in storytelling. She also talks about how this relates to teams, focusing on workplace, though this concept could easily be adjusted for creating a sense of culture and teamwork in a classroom!

“The Power of Storytelling to Change the World” (Video, 17:16): Dave Lieber (hilariously) tells us how to tell a story–by telling us a story. The importance of storytelling is made clear through his relations with others in trying to relate to Texans as a native New Yorker.

NEW: On Fatphobia, Hair Discrimination, and Daily Negotiations with a Racist Society: Writer and critic Clarkisha Kent shares a personal account about the intersections of blackness, femininity, and queerness on way people view her body.

NEW: My Friends Want Me to "Tone It Down." Am I Too Gay?: Out Magazine columnist JP "JuanPa" Brammer discusses the many nuances of self-expression and presentation as a queer person. "As long as you’re respecting people’s boundaries, you’re not being 'too much.' Maybe everyone else just isn’t being enough."

NEW: MTV Decoded: Light-Skinned Privilege (Video, 5:47): Franchesca Ramsey explains how we tend to think about people being judged by the color of their skin, as “Racism” the truth is the “colorism” exists both inside and outside black and brown communities. How so? Watch the episode to find out.

NEW: Breaking Down Structural Racism with "Ghosts in the Schoolyard" (Video, 7:18): One of Chicago's favorite poets, professors, and writers, Eve Ewing explains how a history of institutional racism in Chicago led to a series of school closures on the South and West sides.

“The Danger of a Single Story” (Video, 18:28): Chimamanda Adichie gives a powerful TedTalk about the danger of a ‘single story’ in which cultures are shown from only one angle. She promotes the telling, listening, and propagation of a diverse set of stories from each diverse part of our world–something she believes will transform that world into ‘a paradise.’

“How Students of Color Confront Imposter Syndrome” (Video, 10:21): In this inspiring TedTalk, Dena Simmons stresses the importance of cultivating an environment in which students of color feel comfortable to be themselves. She explains there exists a perceived dichotomy in which you can either be educated or maintain a non-white culture.

“The Boost Students Need to Overcome Obstacles” (Video, 7:06): Anindya Kundu stresses the importance of offering support to individuals belonging to marginalized groups. There is a belief instilled in our country that successful people of color are the exception—rare, unattainable to most, and this rhetoric is harmful to students’ self esteem and affects the way they view their futures.

Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism–from Ferguson to Charleston : The movement for racial justice needs more White Americans to get involved. And it’s our responsibility to help each other get involved–and get involved productively.

TED Talk: The Urgency of Intersectionality: Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon; as she says, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both. In this moving talk, she calls on us to bear witness to this reality and speak up for victims of prejudice.

Teaching Tolerance: Intersectionality 101 (Video, 3:03): Intersectionality is a BIG topic. Learn the basics with this student-friendly video!

There Is No Apolitical Classroom: Resources for Teaching in These Times : A post created by members of NCTE’s Standing Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English.

Peanut Butter, Jelly, and Racism (Video, 2:27): Part of a series of videos called, Who, Me? Biased? where NYT/POV's Saleem Reshamwala unscrews the lid on the unfair effects of our subconscious.

TED Talk: How to Overcome our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them: Our biases can be dangerous, even deadly — as we've seen in the cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner, in Staten Island, New York. Diversity advocate Vernā Myers looks closely at some of the subconscious attitudes we hold toward out-groups. She makes a plea to all people: Acknowledge your biases. Then move toward, not away from, the groups that make you uncomfortable. In a funny, impassioned, important talk, she shows us how.

Implicit Association Test: Implicit Association Tests provided by Project Implicit, a non-profit organization and international collaboration between researchers who are interested in implicit social cognition - thoughts and feelings outside of conscious awareness and control. The goal of the organization is to educate the public about hidden biases and to provide a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the Internet.