2024 Themed Resources
From MTC Library
Books by and about Female EDI Advocates
D. I. V. E. R. S. I. T. Y. by
Being culturally competent in practice is an essential skill for any practitioner working with people. Award-winning social worker and diversity trainer Vivian Okeze-Tirado has developed an applied practice model to help you to increase your understanding of diversity and improve your cultural competency: D - Decide to be a Culturally Sensitive Practitioner I - Invite people to talk about their cultures, values, beliefs, and experiences V- Value their history, individuality(,) and differences E- Explore the client's realities, show curiosity R- Reflect upon information and knowledge received S- Scrutinise yourself I -Identify strategies to aid your work T- Train yourself to treat people, children, and families individually Y- Yield to culturally sensitive practice Encouraging you to do more than just talk about racism, this simple practice tool provides easily achievable steps and practical guidance to empower you and your colleagues tackle racism and discrimination in practice.
The Elephant and the Mouse by
Explore diversity, equity, and inclusion that goes beyond unconscious bias and explores the ideas and tools needed to achieve these goals In The Elephant and the Mouse, award-winning speaker and diversity and inclusion expert Laura Liswood delivers a thought-provoking and insightful new business guide that explores workplace diversity and offers new ideas for gaining the real benefits from your diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The Elephant and the Mouse refers to the dynamic in organizations that are roadblocks to consciously inclusive success. The Elephant, often dominant group leadership, knows little about the experiences of the Mouse, the non-dominant groups, while the Mouse knows so much more about the Elephant. In diverse workplaces, these two groups live in different worlds. Success will come only if everyone works in a true meritocracy. You learn what may be easy for some to do in their career is much harder for others to do. In this book, which builds upon Liswood's groundbreaking book, The Loudest Duck, you'll explore the powerful case for diversity, equity, and inclusion and the often-overlooked risks posed by a homogeneous workforce. You will learn the hard truths about why many DE&I efforts fail, millions of dollars are wasted, and why organizations confuse efforts with outcomes. You'll consider new ways of leading others, with a strong emphasis on tactics and strategies employed by successful Elephant and Mouse leaders, including women leaders. The book also includes: Realistic explanations for the slow progress in diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice in society and organizations Examinations of the concept and myths of meritocracy and how to conduct a Meritocracy Stress Test on your firm How organizations often have an illusion of inclusion but find their efforts not creating the inclusive, equitable teams they say they want How safety efforts can provide a roadmap for diversity missions An exploration of both the human interventions and non-human roles of technology in DE&I initiatives, including the use of people analytics to de-bias organizations What tools are needed to go beyond awareness of unconscious bias to de-bias processes and what traits the new Elephant and Mouse leader has An indispensable resource for managers, executives, and other business leaders who seek to recreate truly diverse, inclusive, and equitable organizations, The Elephant and the Mouse is also a must-read for human resources professionals, individuals who want successful careers in diverse teams, and anyone involved in the hiring, retaining, and promoting processes. This book offers a way to move beyond traditional diversity efforts towards more modern practices that embrace--and profit from--the differences between people.
Ella Baker's Catalytic Leadership by
Ella Baker (1903-1986) was an influential African American civil rights and human rights activist. For five decades, she worked behind the scenes with people in vulnerable communities to catalyze social justice leadership. Her steadfast belief in the power of ordinary people to create change continues to inspire social justice activists around the world. This book describes a case study that translates Ella Baker's community engagement philosophy into a catalytic leadership praxis, which others can adapt for their work. Catalytic leadership is a concrete set of communication practices for social justice leadership produced in equitable partnership with, instead of on, communities. The case centers the voices of African American teenage girls who were living in a segregated neighborhood of an affluent college town and became part of a small collective of college students, parents, university faculty, and community activists learning leadership in the spirit of Ella Baker.
The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias by
A "profound" (Cynt Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks), timely, must-have guide to understanding and overcoming bias in the workplace from the experts at FranklinCovey. Unconscious bias affects everyone. It can look like the disappointment of an HR professional when a candidate for a new position asks about maternity leave. It can look like preferring the application of an Ivy League graduate over one from a state school. It can look like assuming a man is more entitled to speak in a meeting than his female junior colleague. Ideal for every manager who wants to understand and move past their own preconceived ideas, The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias is a "must-read" (Sylvia Acevedo, CEO, rocket scientist, STEM leader, and author) that explains that bias is the result of mental shortcuts, our likes and dislikes, and is a natural part of the human condition. And what we assume about each other and how we interact with one another has vast effects on our organizational success--especially in the workplace. This book teaches you how to overcome unconscious bias and provides more than thirty unique tools, such as a prep worksheet and a list of ways to reframe your unconscious thoughts. According to the experts at FranklinCovey, your workplace can achieve its highest performance rate once you start to overcome your biases and allow your employees to be whole people. By recognizing bias, emphasizing empathy and curiosity, and making true understanding a priority in the workplace, we can unlock the potential of every person we encounter.
Performing Anti-Slavery by
In Performing Anti-Slavery, Gay Gibson Cima reimagines the connection between the self and the other within activist performance, providing fascinating new insights into women's nineteenth-century reform efforts, revising the history of abolition, and illuminating an affective repertoire that haunts both present-day theatrical stages and anti-trafficking organizations. Cima argues that black and white American women in the nineteenth-century abolitionist movement transformed mainstream performance practices into successful activism. In family circles, literary associations, religious gatherings, and transatlantic anti-slavery societies, women debated activist performance strategies across racial and religious differences: they staged abolitionist dialogues, recited anti-slavery poems, gave speeches, shared narratives, and published essays. Drawing on liberal religious traditions as well as the Eastern notion of transmigration, Elizabeth Chandler, Sarah Forten, Maria W. Stewart, Sarah Douglass, Lucretia Mott, Ellen Craft and others forged activist pathways that reverberate to this day.
Race, Work, and Leadership by
Rethinking How to Build Inclusive Organizations Race, Work, and Leadership is a rare and important compilation of essays that examines how race matters in people's experience of work and leadership. What does it mean to be black in corporate America today? How are racial dynamics in organizations changing? How do we build inclusive organizations? Inspired by and developed in conjunction with the research and programming for Harvard Business School's commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the HBS African American Student Union, this groundbreaking book shines new light on these and other timely questions and illuminates the present-day dynamics of race in the workplace. Contributions from top scholars, researchers, and practitioners in leadership, organizational behavior, psychology, sociology, and education test the relevance of long-held assumptions and reconsider the research approaches and interventions needed to understand and advance African Americans in work settings and leadership roles. At a time when--following a peak in 2002--there are fewer African American men and women in corporate leadership roles, Race, Work, and Leadership will stimulate new scholarship and dialogue on the organizational and leadership challenges of African Americans and become the indispensable reference for anyone committed to understanding, studying, and acting on the challenges facing leaders who are building inclusive organizations.
Remaking Black Power by
In this comprehensive history, Ashley D. Farmer examines black women's political, social, and cultural engagement with Black Power ideals and organizations. Complicating the assumption that sexism relegated black women to the margins of the movement, Farmer demonstrates how female activists fought for more inclusive understandings of Black Power and social justice by developing new ideas about black womanhood. This compelling book shows how the new tropes of womanhood that they created--the "Militant Black Domestic," the "Revolutionary Black Woman," and the "Third World Woman," for instance--spurred debate among activists over the importance of women and gender to Black Power organizing, causing many of the era's organizations and leaders to critique patriarchy and support gender equality. Making use of a vast and untapped array of black women's artwork, political cartoons, manifestos, and political essays that they produced as members of groups such as the Black Panther Party and the Congress of African People, Farmer reveals how black women activists reimagined black womanhood, challenged sexism, and redefined the meaning of race, gender, and identity in American life.
She Takes a Stand by
A source of inspiration for young women with strong social convictions, She Takes a Stand highlights 16 extraordinary women who have fought for human rights, civil rights, workers' rights, reproductive/sexual rights, and world peace. Among these are many who have been imprisoned, threatened, or suffered financial hardships for pursuing their missions to change the world for the better. Included are historic heroes such as anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells and suffragist Alice Paul, along with contemporary figures such as girls-education activist Malala Yousafzai; Sampat Pal Devi, who fights violence against Indian women; and SPARK executive director Dana Edell, who works to end the sexualization of women and girls in the media. Taking a multicultural, multinational perspective, She Takes a Stand spotlights brave women around the world with an emphasis on childhood details, motivations, and life turning points--in many cases gleaned from the author's original interviews--and includes related sidebars, a bibliography, source notes, and a list of organizations young women can explore to get involved in changing their world.
U. S. Women's History by
In the 1970s, feminist slogans proclaimed "Sisterhood is powerful," and women's historians searched through the historical archives to recover stories of solidarity and sisterhood. However, as feminist scholars have started taking a more intersectional approach--acknowledging that no woman is simply defined by her gender and that affiliations like race, class, and sexual identity are often equally powerful--women's historians have begun to offer more varied and nuanced narratives. The ten original essays in U.S. Women's History represent a cross-section of current research in the field. Including work from both emerging and established scholars, this collection employs innovative approaches to study both the causes that have united American women and the conflicts that have divided them. Some essays uncover little-known aspects of women's history, while others offer a fresh take on familiar events and figures, from Rosa Parks to Take Back the Night marches. Spanning the antebellum era to the present day, these essays vividly convey the long histories and ongoing relevance of topics ranging from women's immigration to incarceration, from acts of cross-dressing to the activism of feminist mothers. This volume thus not only untangles the threads of the sisterhood mythos, it weaves them into a multi-textured and multi-hued tapestry that reflects the breadth and diversity of U.S. women's history.
Vital Voices by
How women around the world are leading powerful change Women's progress is global progress. Where there is an increase in women's university enrollment rates, women's earnings, and maternal health, and a reduction in violence against women, we see more prosperous communities, better educated, healthier families, and the preservation of equal human rights. Yet globally, women remain the most consistently under-utilized resource. Vital Voices calls for and makes possible transformative leadership around the world. In Vital Voices, CEO Alyse Nelson shares the stories of remarkable, world-changing women, as well as the story of how Vital Voices was founded, crossing lines that typically divide. For 15 years, Vital Voices has brought together women who want to enable others to become change agents in their governments, advocates for social justice, and supporters of democracy. They equip women with management and business development skills to expand their enterprises and create jobs in their communities. Their voices, stories, and hard-earned lessons--shared here for the first time--are deeply authentic and truly vital. Features interviews and first-person accounts of global leaders, such as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia, and Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Prize-winning Burmese pro-democracy leader, as well as business leaders Draws on the work of the Vital Voices, the organization founded by Hillary Clinton in 1997 as a government initiative that transformed into a leading non-profit, which enables a network of 10,000 emerging women leaders in politics, human rights, and economic development in 127 countries. These women have gone on to mentor and train more than 500,000 Focuses on the key elements of the Vital Voices five-step model of transformational leadership, including how to find a voice, lead with purpose, cross lines that divide, and more Through the firsthand accounts of trail-blazing leaders, Vital Voices introduces unforgettable, inspiring women who are shaping our world.
Online Resources
Digital Collections
- National Women's History MuseumThe National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) is an innovative online museum dedicated to uncovering, interpreting, and celebrating women’s diverse contributions to society. A renowned leader in women’s history education, the Museum brings to life the countless untold stories of women throughout history, and serves as a space for all to inspire, experience, collaborate, and amplify women’s impact—past, present, and future.
- New-York Historical Society's Center for Women's HistoryThe first of its kind in the nation within the walls of a major museum, the Center for Women's History unearths the lives and legacies of women who have shaped and continue to shape the American experience.
- Smithsonian Women's History InitiativeRead about the Smithsonian's latest scholarship on women's history, get inspired with stories from their collections, and see other updates.
- UNLADYLIKE2020UNLADYLIKE2020 is an innovative multimedia series featuring diverse and little-known, trend-setting American heroines from the early years of feminism, and the women who follow in their footsteps.
- We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DCExplore this special online exhibition that shares and expands upon the stories told in We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC.
- Women's History Month at Library of CongressThe Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.
- Women's History Month Resources from NCHEA curated list of websites featuring resources that explore women's history in the United States and the world. These sites offer historical overviews, a variety of primary sources for analysis, and suggestions for using primary sources with learners of all ages.
Local Connections
- Columbia City of WomenCelebrating Columbia's Women Leaders - We're here to put women in their (rightful) place — on the map.
- DesignHER Women’s PanelThursday, March 12 | MakeHER Market 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. | Panel Discussion and Q&A 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. | Mix and mingle 8:00 – 9:00 p.m.
- Promoting Women in the Arts in the Digital EraFriday, March 24, 2023 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Richland Library Main - Women's History Collection from SCETVTV, radio, and web resources about local women's history.
Videos about Women DEI Advocates
- DoloresDolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century - and she continues the fight to this day, at 87. With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one's life to social change.
- RGBRBG is a revelatory documentary exploring Ginsburg 's exceptional life and career from Betsy West and Julie Cohen.
- Thunderbird Woman: Winona LaDukeThis is an inspiring portrait of Winona La Duke, a unique and dynamic activist and member of the Anishinaabe tribe from the White Earth reservation in Northern Minnesota.
- Untold: Women and The American StoryProduced in partnership with the New York Historical Society, this series on Women in the American Story illuminates diverse women’s contributions to the American past. You can visit the WAMS project here: https://wams.nyhistory.org/