DIEJ
Diversity Inclusion Equity Justice

I like JEDI because we can all relate to Yoda if you know Star Wars, but I have come to believe the letters should be switched to better reflect how it affects our thoughts and practices.

Diversity should come first because that is our world. You cannot escape diversity. It is everywhere you look. Step out your door and you are enveloped in diversity. The problem is our ability at recognizing and accepting it. Too many of us accept tribal instincts and not see the beauty of diversity. Diversity in many pockets of our current society is not accepted, even though we can’t avoid accepting it. It is our reality. We are all different. We all have our quirks, religions, sexualities, politics, fetishes, beliefs. But we all share our species, earth, and neighborhoods. We can’t avoid that.

Next should be inclusion. After we realize that diversity is all around us, we need to make the move to include it in our lives. Not just personal, but professional. We have to set our biases aside and get to know that which we don’t.

And then we need to embrace equity. Equality, although not accepted by many, is inherent, equity is not. We are Homo sapiens. We all have different traits, handicaps, skills, ideals, but in the end we all have gall bladders, lungs, hearts and bleed red. As a species, we need to step up to the plate to make sure our species survives, and I think we have lost sight of that.

And then there is justice. And that becomes the holy grail. If we can’t, as a world, as a species, if we can’t reconcile the absolute need to accept diversity, include it in our daily lives and help everybody step up to the same level, we will never have true justice.