Joel Lesko is an award-winning filmmaker, DEI educator and community organizer. Founder of www.sunshowerlearning.com and the Culture of Belonging. Screenwriter www.seeds-movie.com
A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from David, a local Democratic organizer. "Joel, can you make me a short video to get out the vote?" Before he finished the sentence, I heard myself saying, "Yes, of course!" I didn't have a
Every election cycle, the same headline reappears across the New York Times and other newspapers: America is more polarized than ever, and both parties are to blame. It sounds responsible and neutral, but it isn't either. It's a way to avoid holding one side accountable, and
Dr. Derald Wing Sue on Fear, Fatigue, and the Long Arc of the Movement I was speaking with Dr. Derald Wing Sue about his new book, Breaking the Deadly Dance of Racism, and I asked how he feels watching decades of civil rights progress get dismantled in real time. He
SHRM's Johnny Taylor Is Not a Weatherman. He's a Gatekeeper. I just read an article in the magazine, HR Dive titled, DEI’s next era? Reorientation, says Johnny Taylor Jr., and had to write my take. Taylor is the President and CEO of SHRM, the Society
The backlash against DEI and the rise of AI are not separate phenomena. They are the same move. American folklore tells the story of John Henry, a Black man who drove steel for a living, hammering a metal drill into rock by hand to blast tunnels through mountains for the
On being wired for fascism, neuropolitics, and the work of belonging This piece started with a question that I've been thinking about a lot: why does fascism keep coming back? Why has the false promise of certainty become so seductive in moments of economic precarity, social rupture, climate
Journalist Bella Fromm’s Berlin diary from 1930s Germany is a cry from the past to do something NOW to stop fascism This post is published here with permission from the author, Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter/producer, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. It
When an AI chatbot expresses more moral clarity about civilian deaths than the government deploying it, what does that tell us about our government? When national security journalist Shane Harris asked the Claude chatbot how it feels about being used by the U.S. military to select targets, he expected
Last night Wajahat Ali showed up on the Piers Morgan show to debate the failures of Trump's Iran War and Trump's inexplicable fight with Pope Leo. I have added an 8 minute clip below in which Ali confronted Pastor Doug Wilson, who is the religious mentor
New research shows surprising feedback on DEI Diversity programs have become an easy punchline. Critics say they’re radical. Too political. Too “woke.” But new research suggests the opposite: DEI isn’t failing because it’s too political. It’s failing because it refuses to be political at all. A
Donald Trump lies, breaks his campaign promises and has plunged the U.S. into a war in the Middle East - yet his supporters remain true. Rather than going to a diner in Iowa to speak with Trump voters like the NY Times does every few months, two social scientists actually
What’s Driving the Retreat from DEI? Are companies pulling back from this work because the law requires it? Or because the political climate makes it feel risky to continue? Over the past year, I’ve watched organizations retreat from training that helps people recognize and address stereotypes and microaggressions.