Shakti Diversity and Equity Training

     I am not a fan of beauty pageants. They value external over internal beauty, objectify women as sexual objects, and contribute to increased body insecurities. However, thanks to overt and unapologetic ignorance and racism directed at the new Miss America, beauty pageants have once again become significant. The new Miss America , Nina Davuluri, a 24-year-old Syracuse native and University of Michigan graduate who aspires to be a doctor, is the first Miss America of Asian Indian descent. This historic moment in the world of beauty pageants has caused outrage amongst some Americans who took to social media to  vent about their frustration that a brown skinned Indian-American won the title of Miss America. There were many haters and also many supporters of the changing face of Miss America that caused the interwebs to buzz today with conversations about race and American authenticity. Public Shaming captured some of the ignorance and hate displayed on t...

                       Are you C o l o r b l i n d ?   Today marks the 50 th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. King’s vision and hope was that America would be a nation where all people of all races would be treated equally. As a nation, we have definitely made progress and movement towards racial equality. We have an African American president, people of color now have advanced degrees, hold positions of power in both the public and private sectors, are well respected celebrities, and overall people of color have more opportunities to succeed now than ever before. However, we still have a lot of work to do to fully live out Dr. King’s vision for racial equality. One of the issues that stands in the way of racial equality and eliminating racial injustice is the color blind approach, an approach that Louisiana Governor Bobb...

                   George Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict was shocking to many Americans- causing riots, protests, and uproar throughout the country. In the last week, my facebook and twitter feeds have been filled with overtly strong opinions regarding the George Zimmerman verdict. Recent articles have stated that George Zimmerman’s innocence, much like Obama’s election and re-election, has created animosity and stress between friends who hold different viewpoints, resulting in  the deleting and blocking of facebook friends. This might have much to do with the fact that race is an underlying issue in this case. In my experience, anytime race is discussed there seems to be immediate feelings of uneasiness, sensitivity, and angst. People don’t seem to have a difficult time talking about issues or stories that illustrate sexual orientation privilege, class privilege, or age privilege- bu...

New Yorkers celebrating the 2013 Gay Pride Parade I’ll admit it- I wasn’t always as proud of the “American ” aspect of my Asian-Indian American identity as I am today. In recent years, I feel my American pride has grown. This week, my pride was undeniably present when the Supreme Court ruled part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional and struck down California’s Proposition 8 ballot initiative, which defines marriage being between one man and one woman.  I was living in the Castro district of San Francisco in 2008 when Gay marriage was made legal in California. I vividly remember that morning. The goose bumps I felt and tears of joys that ran down my cheeks as I watched the breaking news on television and the lively celebrations that I witnessed as I walked down Castro Street that left me so giddy are still fresh in my mind.  Living amongst open-minded and accepting San Franciscans and having Gay and Lesbian mentors, students, doctors, friends...