Shakti Diversity and Equity Training

                   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...