Diversity

Make a Positive Impact in Your Workplace

At our multicultural summer camp, we try to be intentional about fostering a culturally competent atmosphere that is welcoming to everybody. Here are some good tips, culled from a calendar from the Anti-Defamation League, detailing how you can make a positive impact in your workplace. Offer professional development workshops that help all employees understand and respect individual work and communication styles. Be understanding and supportive of co-workers when they are observing religious and/or cultural holidays. If a co-worker makes an insensitive racial, ethnic or religious comment, respond by respectfully pointing […]

Youth Committed to Diversity Education

At our multicultural summer camp, we recognize that children crave global unity, acceptance of each other, and understanding. Here’s a cool video showing how tomorrow’s leaders address language discrimination and the importance of accepting others. While we’re pondering diversity and acceptance, check out this Chicago-based organization, Genesis at the Crossroads which uses arts education to bring cultures in conflict together globally.

Multiculturalism is Better than Colorblindness

I recently came across an article, which articulates well why and how we try to celebrate and appreciate difference at our multicultural camp. Below is a summary (in her words) of the full article by Monnica T. Williams, PhD. What is racial colorblindness? Colorblindness is the racial ideology that posits the best way to end discrimination is by treating individuals as equally as possible, without regard to race, culture, or ethnicity. At its face value, colorblindness seems like a good thing — really taking MLK seriously on his call to judge people […]

Embracing Our Differences

Below is a piece by Lee Mun Wah, renowned facilitator of multicultural and diversity exercises. It so encapsulated what we try to do at our multicultural summer camp that I thought it most poignant to reproduce it in its entirety. It comes from a recent newsletter from his organization, Stir Fry Seminars, and is available at this link. “Recently, at a training I was facilitating, a young white man adamantly shared that he didn’t see differences in people and thought that my talking about our differences only added to our […]

5 Ways White Feminists Can Address Our Own Racism

Kupugani camp director passed an article onto me titled “5 Ways White Feminists Can Address Our Own Racism”. Given my work at a girls-only summer camp, I was instantly intrigued; how can feminists be racist when their cause is for gender empowerment and equality? This article put an array of subjects into perspective for me. A particular quote stood out for me: “People don’t remember what you say or do but rather how you make them feel.” The article essentially outlined many of the things Camp Kupugani stands for. We […]

Encourage Kids to Appreciate Diversity

At Camp Kupugani, as a multicultural summer camp that is intentional in our empowerment and safely challenging our campers, we teach about and bleed diversity. It’s part of our mission and as such we are in a structurally and intentionally diverse environment. But what can you do if you’re at home and not necessarily in a diverse and supportive environment? How then to facilitate those important lessons? One article I checked out recently emphasizes: “Parents are uniquely positioned to guide their children to appreciate the differences that make each of us […]

Properly Serving a Changing Population

A recent Today show piece touted that Caucasian children won’t comprise the majority of children born in the U.S. within 5 or 6 years. This story isn’t news to us at our multicultural summer camp, which has been emphasizing serving who our population actually is for many years. It’s interesting now that is increasingly in the public eye. It hasn’t been news for a while. From the 2010 US census, non-Hispanic white children ages 5 to 17 (or roughly “camp age”) comprise only about 55.5% of that segment. “Minority” children […]

Should Black History Month Be Cause for Celebration?

February means Black History Month. For some—an occasion for celebration; for others—cause for dismay. For all, February gives rise to a (short) month-long recognition of the achievements of African-Americans. Black History Month began 32 years ago as an expansion of Negro History Week, established fifty years prior by Carter G. Woodson. Building on the efforts of others, Woodson conceived of the event as a national celebration, seeking to appeal to whites and blacks and to improve race relations. At first, the Week was celebrated almost exclusively by African Americans; however, […]

Appreciating MLK by Tackling Race and Identity Issues

It has been almost 45 years since the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. A good time to reflect on the issue of race and racism in America. Despite a lot of fear and denial that race is still an issue or being used as an issue, dialogue seems to proceed in fits and starts in this country. Unfortunately, race and racism continues to permeate American institutions, corporations, schools, and communities. Our avoiding the difficult conversations with our families or in our workplaces makes our children pay for our silence […]

Why We Celebrate Instead of Tolerate

tol·er·ate [tol-uh-reyt] “to endure without repugnance; put up with” “to experience, undergo, or sustain, as pain or hardship” “to endure or resist the action of without serious discomfort” “to allow to be or to be done without prohibition, hindrance, or contradiction” Examples of TOLERATE Our teacher will not tolerate bad grammar. I can’t tolerate that noise. The government cannot tolerate lawlessness. How can you tolerate such laziness? These plants tolerate drought well. I don’t like my boss, but I tolerate him. Those are a few quick examples of some online […]

Blue Skies, Fun on the Fourteenth

Blue skies and a fresh breeze to wake up to this morning! We loved the breakfast including sausages and French Toast and orange juice. Energized for the day, the campers moved on to their team activities including “I am from” poems and team-building games. Using the poetry skills they learned yesterday they are sure to be confident. This afternoon, we have camptivities including drawing, cricket and canoeing to look forward to! It is going to be another great day! Keep Up to Date Have access to incredible articles and keep […]

6 Questions for Supporters of Arizona Law

As a camp celebrating diversity and empowerment of girls and women of all cultures and backgrounds, it’s been a troubling few weeks following the attempted passage of the proposed Arizona law targeting undocumented aliens. The article below has some good insights… Six questions for supporters of Arizona law BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com This has been a bad week for those of us opposing Arizona’s anti-immigration law: New polls show that a huge majority of Americans support the legislation, and key candidates for November’s mid-term elections are now saying they want […]