Blogs

22 Jun 2015

Charleston: A Wake up Call Louder Than the Rest
What are we to do? I am still in shock about the killing of nine parishioners at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina by a young white gunman who apparently wrote a manifesto of racial hatred born of deep ignorance. I know that, like me, many people are still trying to find a way to process this tragedy which is quite difficult as we are sucked in by the 24-hour news c...
29 Apr 2015

Bring Your Hope to Baltimore
I watched much of the sensationalized “Baltimore is on Fire” CNN coverage. I followed the tweets and Facebook comments about the “riots” in Baltimore (my home town) until 11 pm last night, upset by the misrepresentation and saddened that this is happening yet again. I woke up this morning in my high rise condo, the sun reflecting off the harbor and into my large windows and I thought: I ...
06 Mar 2015

All Lives Matter
All Lives Matter: Bring the Conversation to Your Holiday Table Washington Park, New York City – December, 2014 “Black Lives Matter!” While thousands of New Yorkers were doing their holiday shopping on a Saturday afternoon, I found myself on the City’s streets surrounded by a throng of the most diverse young men and women I have ever seen. I later learned that more than 50,000 people g...
24 Mar 2014

Diversity should foster inclusion
Times correspondent SUSAN EMERY wrote this piece about Verna for the Times of Northwest Indiana on March 24, 2014 VALPARAISO | Just because an organization is diverse doesn’t mean it’s inclusive, a diversity consultant said Monday. “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance,” said Verna Myers, a nationally recognized expert in diversity issues withi...