Hierarchical Religions in Decline?

In 2020, the percentage of Americans belonging to a religious institution dropped below 50% for the first time in 80 years. 

This is no surprise, as so many religions are centered around a male deity, who is negatively judgmental about anyone who is not just like him, and thinks like this deity that is created by men who practice that religion. 

The overwhelming support among religious people for Donald Trump also leaves a clear indication that many religious people are opposed to equality and justice, and use their deity as an excuse to be so.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/church-membership-hits-all-time-low-in-2020-gallup-finds/ar-BB1f5qWY

Executive Orders In Honor of International Women's Day

Today, on International Women's Day, President Biden signed two executive orders hoping to help promote gender equality, around the world and in the United States.

The first executive order establishes a Gender Policy Council within the White House, reformulating an office from the Obama administration that was later disbanded by the Trump administration, and giving it more clout.

The second executive order involves the Department of Education. It aims to reverse a rule issued by Trump's education secretary Betsy DeVos that granted more rights and protections for those accused of sexual assault and harassment.

In every day life, it really does matter whether you vote for candidates trying to address and end hierarchies, or if you support the Republican platform that consistently promotes and builds hierarchies instead.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/08/974655385/biden-will-establish-a-gender-policy-council-within-the-white-house?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0xX1Ehm4_mJOR7QoVQcmMxsFX4HJibfXLtcXNCG4uv4o1fJk0_OtBYCBc

Minimum Wage Does Not Keep Up

 

Crayola Releases Crayons with 24 Skin Colors

Now most child can represent themselves accurately when they color a picture. Crayola has released crayons with 24 skin tone shades, so people coloring can create images of themselves and their friends and family more accurately than in previous centuries.

The new crayons are called "Multicultural Crayons" or "Colors of the World."

https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/141766/crayola-skin-tone-crayons/?fbclid=IwAR0xX1Ehm4_mJOR7QoVQcmMxsFX4HJibfXLtcXNCG4uv4o1fJk0_OtBYCBc

Time to Reward Diversity and Inclusion Efforts in Promotion Decisions

“When you have diversity of viewpoints, you have better outcomes, better solutions,” said Marie Bernard, the National Institutes of Health’s acting chief officer for scientific workforce diversity. “If you don’t have a diverse team, you’re missing out on a lot of talent.”

What hasn’t been incentivized or credited, researchers throughout that ladder say, is work to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion — the task forces served on, the community outreach, the mentoring of trainees from underrepresented groups. Recognizing such work in more formal ways could not only encourage it, but actively help institutions achieve their stated goals of adding and retaining more faculty of color, particularly at upper leadership levels, according to interviews with Black, Latino, and Indigenous academics.

Some schools have revised faculty codes to consider such service scholarly activity, but for the most part, “schools do not provide any incentive for you to serve on that committee” or for the other diversity efforts, said David Acosta, the AAMC’s chief diversity and inclusion officer. 

https://www.statnews.com/2021/02/19/doctors-push-academiareward-diversity-work-in-promotion-decisions/

Orlando Fire Station Built to Promote Diversity

A New "Outpost Nine" has been built in the Rosemont community of Orlando, a new home to 30 firefighters. The new building has private bunk rooms and restrooms for crews and includes a secure room for female firefighters. 

Fire Chief Benjamin Barksdale said the fire station was designed to promote diversity within the fire department as part of the “Inclusivity and Equity Action Plan.”

“The old-style fire station was what we call our community sleeping area and it provided no

 privacy at all and it was very challenging for women and other genders as well,” Barksdale said.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/02/23/orlando-fire-department-opens-new-fire-station-designed-to-promote-diversity/#//

Lesbian and Heterosexual Professional Soccer Moms Given Equal Billing

In a USA Today post, heterosexual as well as lesbian mothers are celebrated, and adoptive and birth mothers. 

Two-time World Cup champions Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger announced on February 14 that they had adopted a daughter, Sloane Phillips, born two days earlier. 

The article also stated that the teammate Alex Morgan birthed a daughter Charlie in May. 

Times have changed much for the better when a mom is a mom.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2021/02/24/shebelieves-cup-megan-rapinoe-acts-greeter-newest-uswnt-member/6810141002/