#IBelongWDMCS Newsletter

• #IBelongWDMCS Letter from Dr. Jok, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
• Photos: Sept. 26 Community Engagement Event
• Engage with WDMCS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Thank Yous and Upcoming Opportunities
• Observances: November and December Calendar Observances
  

Team,

Good day! I hope this finds you and your family in good health.

I want to send my thoughts and well wishes to each member of our community experiencing pain. There is a lot of harm, fear, violence, and hurt in the world, and it is times like this that WE define the ancestors we become. I am leaning into the words of the great American poet and activist, Amanda Gorman: “The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”

#IBelongWDMCS affirms individual agency and curiosity. Honoring each person’s ability to choose —who they are, how they show up, how they engage with others, how they love, their self-respect, and their contributions to the community — is critical.

Belonging is a commitment to better align our values with our actions and behaviors: the courage to choose hope when it is easier to soak in despair, choose courage when it is safer to give in, choose to be a lantern — the light — when it seems impossible. Belonging is courageously confronting our own pain and hurt without projecting onto other people. As a community, we cannot project our individual and collective pain and hurt onto others. Instead, we must continue to choose to create a humane community and society.

As we continue to co-create spaces that affirm each other’s humanity, please remember that people’s feelings and opinions are not facts. But we can affirm other folx's emotions and recognize that dismissing their emotions is a reflection of our values and humanity, not theirs. #IBelongWDMCS is a commitment to cherish each person’s right to think for themselves, to feel, and to exercise their voice.

• What single stories do you have about yourself? About others?

• How can you challenge your single stories to better align your values with your actions/behaviors consistently?

Please also reflect on this question: how are you choosing healing in this season of your life?

From United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) — emphasis added by WDMCS:

"In 1996, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 51/95 proclaiming 16 November as International Day for Tolerance.

This action followed the adoption of a Declaration of Principles on Tolerance by UNESCO's Member States on 16 November 1995. Among other things, the Declaration affirms that tolerance is neither indulgence nor indifference. It is respect and appreciation of the rich variety of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. Tolerance recognizes the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms of others. People are naturally diverse; only tolerance can ensure the survival of mixed communities in every region of the globe."

UNESCO also shares ways that intolerance can be countered, including through education:

"Intolerance is very often rooted in ignorance and fear: fear of the unknown, of the other, other cultures, nations, religions.... Endeavours to build tolerance through education will not succeed unless they reach all age groups, and take place everywhere: at home, in schools, in the workplace, in law-enforcement and legal training, and not least in entertainment and on the information highways."

Keep Learning

• What is UNESCO?
• Read the Charleston, West Virginia, YWCA's "5 steps to bring us closer to a tolerant ideal community"

If your family would like to learn about additional national and international observances in November and December, you can start with these resources: