INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY
b-inspired
INCLUSION and diversity
I may not really know what it feels like to be you, or you may not know what it feels to be me, but we can start by practicing kindness, compassion and understanding. Let’s celebrate our differences and come together as the big family we all are.
We made this with Love for you. Think of this as a Magazine full of awesomeness. Take your time with it, don’t rush it. There is a lot to learn, unlearn, and to be inspired by. This is a resource you can come back to over and over again. Send it to a friend and enjoy!
- 💖 -
Laura Peña
Founder, She is the Universe / Champion for girls
Being different is such a beautiful thing! And at the same time, we humans have more in common than we realize. I deeply believe that we can make the world a much better place when we embrace each other, with respect, and love. Understanding people of different races, cultures, and abilities opens our minds and hearts, creates empathy, and brings us together.
In this edition of our B-inspired Blog, we are bringing you some things to make you think, learn, and feel inspired. This is a collection of original thoughts and ideas shared by girls from our community, girls just like you. We also have content from other sources, videos and articles, and stories of young women you should know about, who are speaking up about what it means to be inclusive.
in·clu·sion: the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure.
curated by girls around the world
⭐ 1- what does inclusion means to me - by Ann Marie peña
Photograph: Dance, by Ann Marie Peña Taveras
“Ask questions with an open mind. Apologize when you’ve made a mistake. Walk many miles in many different shoes” - Ann Marie Peña
Inclusion is difficult to explain, we all think that we know what it means but we just have an idea of it. Personally, I’d like to define it with this quote by Vernā Myers “diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.” The feeling of being excluded, whether because of one’s family background, abilities, sexual orientation, race, age, experience, or associations, is a familiar one to many of us. It is perhaps human nature to seek out people like ourselves: people who can make us feel normal in a way.
I’ve always felt a little excluded, like an outsider looking in. Things got a bit harder when I became a teenager. I was passionate about things that everyone else hated and I always became close friends with the new people or the exchange students but most of the people in my class didn’t like them. But it is important to recognize that people think and share their thoughts in ways that might not be the same as yours. Ask questions with an open mind. Apologize when you’ve made a mistake. Walk many miles in many different shoes.
Social inclusion aims that no person feels that their rights have been violated, that their space in society is being occupied by another. In an ideal society, there should be no dividing wall, no valid reason to deprive one group of the rights of others.
You can implement inclusion in your life just by listening. Respect the time of the person in front of you, be attentive and sensitive to what they share with you.
Ann Marie Peña / 19 / Dominican Republic
B-inspired collaborator
Ann Marie is a 19 years old photography student from the Dominican Republic. She loves the outdoors, traveling, and learning new things. Go here to see more of Ann’s photography work
⭐ 2- Video / This Is Who You Are, BY Prince Ea
What if this lightbulb was the cure to racism, sexism, and classism?💡
“I wish every Human Being on Earth could watch this! There are so many labels, identities, cultures, religions, and even political affiliations that we can use to divide us. But our connection is so simple and greater than all these. Energy is who you truly are and energy is how we know we are one.”
- Prince Ea
⭐ 3- representation: Marley Dias, Author and Founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks.
Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian
From Activist To Author:
How 12-Year-Old Marley Dias Is Changing The Face Of Children's Literature
“When Marley Dias was 11 years old, she was a voracious reader. But she was sick of the books she was being given in school because, as she'll tell you, they were all about white boys and their dogs. And so, she set about changing that. In November 2015, Dias launched a campaign called #1000BlackGirlBooks. Her goal was simple: collect and donate 1,000 books that feature black girls as the main character. Today, Dias has accumulated more than 9,000 books and has landed a book deal of her own. At the annual Forbes' Women Summit in New York City Tuesday, Dias reflected on how she was able to turn her frustration by the books she was seeing in school -- stuff more along the lines of Shiloh than I Love My Hair -- into a genuine movement.” - Forbes- Read the rest of the article here
Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!
“Marley Dias, the powerhouse girl-wonder who started the #1000blackgirlbooks campaign, speaks to kids about her passion for making our world a better place, and how to make their dreams come true!
In this accessible guide with an introduction by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Marley Dias explores activism, social justice, volunteerism, equity and inclusion, and using social media for good. Drawing from her experience, Marley shows kids how they can galvanize their strengths to make positive changes in their communities, while getting support from parents, teachers, and friends to turn dreams into reality. Focusing on the importance of literacy and diversity, Marley offers suggestions on book selection, and delivers hands-on strategies for becoming a lifelong reader.”
Marley Dias (Erin Patrice O’Brien; Wardrobe Stylist: Jocelyn Kaye; Hair/Makeup: Melanie Harris: Prop Stylist: Helen Quinn)
@ Teens4Equality | Image Source: Alex Kent
black lives matter
By Sara Surani
Right now, the world is hurting, healing, fighting, feeling. All over the world, people's lives are being taken just for being different--a different color, a different shade, a different race. Disproportionately, many of the beautiful lives being taken are black. Just because people are born with a darker skin color, they are being treated less as people. But we can't let this go on, we cannot let black people die just because of their race. Their lives matter. Black Lives Matter.
But matter is the minimum. Black lives are important, black lives are loved, black lives are cherished. We are committed to standing up, raising our voices, and creating a community that values inclusion and diversity, especially of black stories that need to be heard. We believe that being different should not be something that pulls people apart, but rather something beautiful that brings people together.
@clay.banks
Now is our chance to practice inclusion, compassion, and understanding.
Now is our opportunity to learn how we can better support, love, and cherish black lives so important and dear to us. Although this process will be different for everybody, some ways to learn and engage can include:
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📖Learning about different perspectives by watching films, reading books, and reading articles about race
📣 Using your voice to give others a voice by talking with family, friends, and followers about our responsibility to make sure every life--especially black lives--are not only mattered, but cherished and loved
💖Engaging with your communities to spread awareness and educate others about racial inequity in the world today. This can include calling local and state representatives and sharing your voice with them!
👂🏽Listening and offering compassion for others, from close or from a distance
They Met on Twitter and Organized a Protest of Over 10,000 People for Black lives matter.
🙌🏾
Meet Jade Fuller, Nya Collins, Zee Thomas, Kennedy Green, and Emma Rose Smith. the five girls who launched @ teens4equality
"If my mom says yes, I'm leading a Nashville protest." Zee Thomas pressed send on her tweet on Wednesday, May 27, and by that weekend, she and five new collaborators (all between the ages of 14 and 16 years old) had organized a peaceful march against police brutality in Nashville. More than 10,000 people showed up.
Jade Fuller, Mikayla Smith, Emma Rose Smith, Kennedy Green, and Nya Collins reached out to Thomas after seeing her tweet and offered their support to make the protest a reality. Together, they created Teens4Equality.”
For more stories of Black girls, head to our IG @sheistheuniverseproject
⭐ 5- identity and the lgbtq+ community
🌈 ❤️💛💚💙💜
LGBTQ+ is the Acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer.
The + is a denotation of everything on the gender spectrum that letters and words can’t yet describe. People use this word as a way to identify with and celebrate people of all gender identities and all the ways people love each other.
“All human beings are equal in dignity and rights”
Universal declaration of human rights by the un
Gif by Julie Winegard
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Did you know that The World Health Organization estimates that 15 percent of the global population is made up of persons with disabilities?. Persons with disabilities are the world’s largest minority. 80% of this population lives in developing countries. “Women and girls with disabilities are subjected to multiple layers of discrimination. Based on their gender and disability status they often face “double discrimination”. This inequality is exacerbated for women and girls with disabilities who are members of marginalized ethnic or racial groups or part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex community.” (Source)
Here are a few girls who are speaking up about people with disabilities, or special abilities.
Understanding those with Different abilities - Lilly Rose Knott
“in so many ways we are different, but in so many ways we are the same”- Lilly Rose Knott
Lilly is the author of “Chelsea the Interrupting Cow”. A children’s book she wrote when she was 12 years old. She wrote the book to raise awareness and to educate people and help them understand those with special needs. Lilly lives with high functioning autism and epilepsy herself. She has severe seizures. Sometimes up to 30 a day. In fact, Lilly wrote most of this book in the hospital and doctor waiting rooms.
She wants the world to know that people with different abilities can accomplish amazing things too. Lilly believes that we are all part of one big human family. And we think so too.
Lilly Rose Knott
We interviewed Lilly for She is the Universe while we were in Australia. After a few hours of talking, while enjoying the view of the forest from her backyard, we learn a lot about not only her what her dreams are, but also about what it means to have different abilities, the book that she wrote and why people need to understand how awesome it is to be different.
“Meet Chelsea, a skateboarding cow who loves to have fun… but why is everyone shooshing her? All of the animals are starting to get annoyed because Chelsea just can’t stop interrupting! Join the animals on Farmer Patrick’s farm as they work together to understand this frustrating situation, and how to help Chelsea and everyone get along.”
“… An important social document. Not only does it address the challenges of young citizens living with a range of similar conditions, but it cleverly offers some strategies and techniques as to how to respond to them.” - Tony Barry, Actor/Producer
INVISIBLE ILLNESS, WHAT YOU DO SEE VS WHAT YOU DON’T - Elina Passant
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“Anyone with an invisible illness will have heard “you don’t look sick” more times than they can count. And it really is the biggest backhanded compliment you can give someone with an Invisible Illness because it comes off that their illness isn’t valid. I do understand why people say it because when you think of illness you tend to think of the flu or people in the hospital. But what most people don’t realize is that illness has so many stages and looks.”
Keep reading on Elina’s blog
justsoelina.com
She hides behind her smile,
But she can only keep it up a while,
The pain gets to be too much sometimes,
Leaving her only able to reminisce on the fun times,
Before her injury and illness,
When how she looked was no one’s business,
When her body obeyed every command,
And every lesson didn’t end with I don’t understand…
Elina Passant
on Elina’s blog, you can read about what it is like to live with chronic pain.
She also shares how to be more inclusive. Here is an article she wrote:
HOW TO BE A GOOD & INCLUSIVE ROLE MODEL ONLINE
Being a good and inclusive role model in any situation is incredibly important and especially online, says Elina from JustSoElina.com
“We live in a world where online people can be “cancelled”, bullied and discriminated against without even a second thought. But social media can also be an amazing and impactful space if used correctly and responsibly. As a blogger, the thought at the forefront of my mind is always how I can help others and make a difference in the world, even if it’s only a small one. As my passions have changed and grown so has my knowledge around inclusivity, accessibility, and empowering others. I learnt the importance of captioning your Instagram stories, adding alt text to your photos, showing your real-life, and using your platform in an impactful way.”
Here’s a guide of everything I’ve learnt so far that have helped me to become a better and more inclusive role model online”
CAPTION, CAPTION , CAPTION
I always get asked why I have captions on my Instagram stories and what the purpose of it is. 1 in 6 Australians are affected by hearing loss and we live in a world that is very digital based. For those with hearing loss videos, TV and movies are inaccessible unless there are captions available. Instagram stories are yet to have the automatic caption option (hey Instagram you need to get onto that!) luckily they are so easy to make accessible, you can either use the text option on stories to write out what you are saying or purchase and download cliptomatic. (keep reading)
* For captions for your instagram stories, download Cliptomatic here
Did you know that there are emojis to represent people with different abilities?!!!
“If you are always trying to be normal,
you will never know how amazing you can be.”
Drawing by Sammie Vance, 11, USA
Thanks to our collaborators for this edition:
Ann Marie peña, Elina passant, Sara surani, Detiny mejia,Thandi McAllister and Sammie Vance for helping make this happen!
your voice is important. and inclusion rocks!
b-inspired is curated for girls by girls like you from around the world!
If you would like to collaborate, email us at hello@sheistheuniverse.org
Illustration by Tyler Feder
“Deep inside, you and me, we are made
of the same stuff: Love.”
