The Paradox of Inclusion

Facilitator Preparation

• Watch the recommended video clips in advance of the workshop
• Cue up video clips on the computer, check sound
• Write questions from Part I on the flip chart paper and post in the room
• Write questions from Part II on flip chart paper and place in the room so that the questions are unseen.
• Consider writing a third set of questions that relate to your organization and the paradox of inclusion. Hide this set of questions, as well.

Facilitation

After warmly welcoming your participants and providing a brief overview of the program, read the following introduction followed by the three quotes provided below.

Introduction: “The strategy for these sessions on Inclusion and Diversity is to consider the words of accomplished academics from seemingly unrelated disciplines and apply those ideas to the world of I & D. I am going to read you a few quotes and then show you a video clip from a talk by Ms. Virginia Eubanks a professor at SUNY in Albany, New York and Author of Digital Dead End: Fighting for Social Justice in the Information Age. The quotes are from Ms. Eubank’s talk, but they have been changed to get you thinking about how her challenges as a researcher in New York may relate to our challenges here today.”

Quotes:

• “We have this magical thinking about inclusion and diversity. [ ] If you wish for something hard enough it will appear!”
• “Inclusion and diversity has changed our social relationships deeply and in some very positive and progressive ways.”
• “Rather than teaching inclusion and diversity skills to those that we deem I & D deficient in some way, we gather everybody’s insight into what it means to be a critical I & D citizen and we build structures for talking across difference.”

Advise participants to watch the video clips. Ask participants to silently substitute the word “technology “with the words “Inclusion and Diversity” while watching. Consider the shift in meaning.

Part I. (30 Minutes)

1. Watch the following clip from Virginia Eubanks' talk (17:29 to End):
   
   http://splicd.com/pJwZcUJQFkk/1051/1396
   
   Discuss the following questions (or a subset of) as a large group. Pay particular attention to trying to promote even participation among those in attendance.
   • How relevant is the concept of social justice in organizations today?
   • What does it mean to be a critical-thinker and inclusive citizen in an organization?
   • What (or where) is the equity in inclusion?
   • If you provide Diversity and Inclusion tools and make them accessible to all, do you still need to challenge the organizational structures that could push inclusion back? How?
   • As you see it, what is the paradox of inclusion?

Part II. (20 Minutes)

1. Adam Bradley is the editor of The Anthology of Rap, and recently collaborated with rapper and actor Common on Common's memoir, One Day It'll All Make Sense. Watch the following clip from Adam Bradley's talk (8:24 - 9:35): http://splicd.com/CyZD0Cdbv6c/504/575
2. Begin with the following conversation starter and context.
   
   

   How many times has an effective conversation ended with the enthusiastic declaration, “we need a plan.” Our natural inclination is to go stepwise toward some measurable goal. Cultural transformation rarely happens that way. We listen, we understand, and we dare to be different, but it still feels empty. It still feels unsafe. What would happen if you disclosed some deeply uncomfortable information and followed up with the question: “What are you going to do with that information?” Does your listener have the freedom to answer honestly? How else can two courageous people build enough trust to co-create something powerful?

3. Discuss the following questions as a large group. Pay particular attention to trying to promote even participation among those in attendance.
   
   

   How do we move from inclusion to co creation and survive the conversation? Is this part of our paradox?

Part III. (10-20 Minutes)

Answer the questions that the facilitator drafted in advance of the workshop that relate directly to the paradox of inclusion for your organization.

Race and Racialization: Are we tired yet?

Facilitator Preparation

• Watch recommended video clips in advance of the workshop
• Cue up video clips on the computer, check sound
• Consider the definition of racialization. Sociologists define racialization as:

  “the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed.… Race is a matter of both social structure and cultural representation” (Omi and Winant 1994, pp. 55–56).

  "Racialization." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 4 Jan. 2012

Facilitation

After warmly welcoming your participants and providing a brief overview of the program,

1. Ask the participants, “What is racialization?” (5 minute discussion)
2. What is the impact of racialization on you (or) how have you experienced racialization? Probe to engage all participants. (10 minute discussion)
3. Watch the following clip of Mr. Raul Coronado. He is an Assistant Professor in English Language & Literature at the University of Chicago. http://splicd.com/Y4HmKkKMqTE/241/352 (4:01-5:52)
4. Ask the following question of your participants: “How does a racialized workforce engage the global economy?” (10 minute discussion)
5. Follow the above discussion with the next question: “How relevant is the concept of race today? (10 minute discussion)
6. Watch clips:
   1. Virginia Eubanks (Steve Pemberton, moderator) (15:39–19:35) http://splicd.com/2XFI6cy5m8g/939/1175
   2. Raúl Coronado (44:01-46:01) http://splicd.com/2XFI6cy5m8g/2641/2761
   3. Adam Bradley (22:17-23:38) http://splicd.com/2XFI6cy5m8g/1337/1418
7. Do we need fatigue? ( 15 minute discussion)
8. Close with Lamar Jordan’s spoken word performance followed by quiet reflection. http://splicd.com/2XFI6cy5m8g/2908/3178 (48:28 to end) (5 minutes)

(Assign homework for Activity #3)

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself: Hip-Hop Rules

Facilitator Preparation

• Assign the following clip for viewing at home prior to meeting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyZD0Cdbv6c
  Ask participants to extrapolate the rules of hip-hop as defined by Mr. Bradley to Inclusion and Diversity. Further, ask participants to write down these “new rules for Inclusion and Diversity.”
• Watch all of the recommended video clips in advance of the workshop
• Cue up video clips on the computer, check sound
• Review the following outline of Mr. Bradley’s speech:

1. Facing common challenges, national and global.
   1. How to have explosive conversations?
   2. How to expand the conversation without losing sight of the reasons that we developed diversity programs in the first place?
   3. How do we do this in a global society that is at once more integrated and more divided than ever?
2. Hip-hop, a rich grass-roots culture that emerged from a moment of crisis.
   1. Conduit of cool
   2. Look at hip-hop from the inside
   3. A multigenerational global force
3. Three hip-hop values.
   1. Keep it real. How to be authentic? Know your limitations. Hip-hop as CNN.
   2. Know what I’m sayin’? Misinterpretations—transcribing and listening closely; reach out to understand. Listening past our assumptions. Be an intermediary and understand coded speech from both sides. To build—add to one another to find our way to a new height.
   3. The battle. Find comfort in discomfort. Create safe places to achieve discussions about controversial things. Keep cool. The cypher—a collaborative space that includes competition. Look to new structures, create corporate cypher spaces. Connection, identity and shared experience.
4. Hip-hop leading the way to a new global youth culture melting pot re-mixed—the new mental melting pot. Moving toward commonalities of experience, taste, and value that shape a world view.
   1. Companies need to identify talent that may take a different shape.
   2. Companies need to anticipate what your work force will look like—a brilliant mess!

Facilitation

After warmly welcoming your participants and providing a brief overview of the program,

• Ask participants to break into groups of three and list their new rules of Inclusion and Diversity based upon Mr. Bradley’s rules of hip-hop. These should be recorded on flip chart paper and displayed. (10 minutes of preparation and recording.)
• Ask each group to present their ideas (5 minutes)
• Facilitate a short group discussion about hip-hop and intergenerational cultures. (10 minutes)
• Re-watch the following clip of Mr. Bradley’s talk: http://splicd.com/CyZD0Cdbv6c/943/1124 (15:43-18:44)
• Engage in a group discussion about the relevance of “the battle” to Inclusion and Diversity in organizations. What is the benefit of suspending the usual societal rules? Can we have a cypher in our organizations?(10 minutes)
• Ask teams of three to write a rap poem about the new rules for inclusion. The poem/rap should be at least four, four-line stanzas. The poems should avoid cuss words and epithets. Accompanying percussion such as hand clapping or knee slapping is encouraged if the workshop room is appropriately located to tolerate the fun! (25 minutes)
• Each team presents their poetry not limited to verbal expression. (10 minutes)
• Celebrate the conversation.