Response to 'The Urgency of Now...' from Willette Neal
bravery change commitment crossroads diversity interculturalists march 2022 maria thacker race racisim understanding willette neal Mar 15, 2022Director of Membership, Outreach and Diversity Willette Neal responds to the Opinion article by Maria Thacker, March 2022; read the original article here: Opinion March 2022
Maria, thank you.
Thank you for taking a very difficult step in truly trying to understand privilege and its’ benefits. As interculturalists, we are where some would deem “the crossroad.” Will we do what is necessary to address the challenging times in which we find ourselves? Or will we continue to operate in a constant state of hope wanting things to ‘go back to the way they were. That notion of returning is impossible. As I was recently reminded, the world isn’t changing—it has changed. Interculturalists are in the best place and possess a mountain of resources to address the change. It will require introspection and reflection similar to your journey Maria. But, more importantly it will require a level of commitment and bravery.
We need voices that ring true and loud, that will not sit by silently, as we know from years of research, the levels and systems that can and will be enacted when people fear what they do not understand. This commitment may come in the form of an interracial book club. But as an interculturalist, it must also come in the way we train and teach others. Our impact and reach can go beyond what we can ever imagine. This will only work if we truly believe in the work we are doing. We can no longer address and explain intercultural interactions without including the impact that race and racism plays across the globe. It pains me to hear that interculturalist are shying away from the conversations around diversity and race because they are uncomfortable. If not us, then who? If we are not the ones to address how cultures are interacting, then who? Thanks, Maria, for being brave and committed.
Willette Neal, Director
Membership Outreach and Diversity
Categories
All Categories 2017 keynote 2019 conference 2020 conference 2022 2024 seucongress a pattern of islands adam komisarof adaptability advocacy air traffic controller alvino fantini amanda gorman amer ahmed andrej juriga andy molinsky andy reynolds angola dixon anthology anti-hate anti-ignorance anti-prejudice anti-social antimo cimino apology to poc applying the intercultural lens apr 2022 april 2019 april 2020 april 2022 arab american heritage month art insight assumed values atlanta august 2019 authenticity author author interview barricades bear with it bert vercamer bias bio black history month board board leadership board of directors book review bookmarks bookmarks interview bravery breaking barriers brett parry brian bolston bridging cultural differences british traveller insights bruce la brack business caliopy glaros call for nominations career startup tips carlos cortes carolyn ryffel celebration certificate program challenges change chris cartwright christmas traditions el salvador christmas traditions germany christmas traditions in austria christmas traditions in iceland christmas traditions in japan christmas traditions in martinique christmas traditions in mexico christmas traditions in norway christmas traditions in phillipines christmas traditions in poland christmas traditions in sweden civil rights civil war class discussion client marketing cliff clarke colleague colleagues commitment communication communication breakdown communication compexities communication problems communities company values conference conference city conference connections conference keynotes confront privilege connection contributor core valuing craig storti credibility cross-cultural psychology cross-cultural understanding crossroads crt cultivating our field cultural understanding cultural context cultural global labs cultural intelligence cultural traditions cultural value dimensinos culture & covid 19 curiosity darla deardorff day of silence deanna shoss deborah orlowski debrief december 2020 december 2021 december holidays deep dive defend freedom define cultural intelligence dei dei & women in the workplace dei practitioners dei research deia deiba developing leaders development dianne hofner saphiere difficult discussons director discrimination diverse leaders diverse staffing tips diversity diversity in teams diversity of background donation donna stringer dr mai nguyen phuong dr. kyoung-ah nam draw a tree education educational deficits elmer dixon embrace change embrace diversity emily kawasaki empowerment encouraging engage in dialogue englishman abroad equity statement ernest gundling ernie gundling esmond in india evolving executive diversity services expat fiction experiential faces are blue facilitation facilitator tips family fanchon silberstein feb 2022 february 2020 february 2022 ferial pearson festivus first peoples freedom friend friends geert hofstede george renwick georgia global dexterity global human rights global inclusion partners global inclusion praxis model global mindset gratitude groningen univeristy growth hanukkah harry c. triandis harry c. triandix heads are green helen kim helen mcnulty heritage holiday recipe human behavior human rights humility iair icbi ici library identity implications on current status? implicit bias importance of deib work importance of support in memoriam inclusion inclusivity incomplete observations individual cultural blueprint indicator inequity exists influencer informal gathering inherently interculturral interaction intercultural intercultural awareness intercultural communications intercultural communications institute intercultural competence intercultural education intercultural leader intercultural practitioners intercultural press intercultural relations intercultural understanding interculturalists interview irish irish-american jan 2021 jan 2022 janet bennett january 2020 january 2021 jay jones joe lurie joel brown joel davis brown john knight jolt joy harjo jul-aug 2022 julia gaspar-bates july 2019 july-august 2020 june 2019 june 2020 karen lokkesmoe kathy ellis kwanzaa leadership learn to change learning learning points lesley unviersity lgbtq library life-long learner listening live online learning activities louisiana technical college luby ismail make real change malta marc brennan march 2019 march 2020 march 2022 mari alexander maria thacker masking up during covid massingham materials divided may 2019 may 2020 may 2022 megan norton membership mentor michael tuckere michele gelfand mindfulness minor mission mitchell hammer mitigate modernize interulturalism morocco motivation ms. globaliscious naahm native american native american history month neal goodman necessity newsletter nicholas brealey international nicole barile nov 2019 november november 2020 november 2021 obituary observers october 2019 october 2020 oel brown one database opinion opportunities oppression organizational leadership outreach paradigm shift passion patricial malidor coleman patty digh paul bowles peggy pusch perception across cultures perception shift personal development pioneer planned planning poc sessions podcasst poet laureate poetry poetry crossings poetry review poets reading the news positive impacts power president's perpective president's perspective president's perspective brett parry pride month privilege professional development purdue university pyramid of aggression race racial equity circles racisim racism re-thinking interculturalism redefining boundaries of culture refugee refugees reject bias reject stigma research connection respect restorative justice review rule breakers rule makers russanne bucci russian aggression safe environment safe space sandy fowler scholarship recipients schools self-assessment sept 2019 september 2020 seucongress shannon murphy sherri tapp sietar europa sietar europa 2019 sietar usa sietar usa conference sietar usa founder sietar usa founders award sietarusa sietarusa sandbox siic silence social issues social media social stereotypes soumaya khalifa southern african philosphy speak out speak up spontaneous state of the society 2020 statement stereotypes stimulate discussion stonewall story circles sudden roleplay sue shinomiya summer institute support support ukraine surviving the pandemic teacher teaching thankfulness thanksgiving the healing power of human connection in a sometimes lonely world the hill we climb the institute for developing across differences the insult movie the interact series thiagi thiagi training together training training tip training tips travel travel writing travellers tribute ubuntu ukraine unconscious bias understanding unified val bath values virtual conference event vision and insights vivek murthy walking in ambiguity war we are one well-known authors wellness during covid what is global leadership whiteness/anti-racism willette neal woke culture working globesmart world council intercultural and global competence world war influences zoom fatigue