For all of those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom, we SALUTE YOU. Memorial Day is about the dead. Those who did not come home. Those who fought and died. We SALUTE your great sacrifice.
-Carole Copeland Thomas
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Lessons In The New World Of Real Global Diversity By Carole Copeland Thomas A biracial American actress brings her blackness to her wedding. Unashamed and proud to be both black and white. Divorced once, but wise beyond her years. And now a declared feminist, as announced on the royal website. A woman who loves her father, despite the last-minute controversies that kept him from walking her down the aisle. A woman deeply connected to her mother who was by her side throughout the ups and downs of her young life. Her loving Prince embraces the edginess and the elegance of his new cross cultural American family. His twenty-one-year journey of finally grieving the death of his beloved mother, Diana, can now be shared with the world. Yes, he’s had his foolish escapades, but now this woman gives him reason to settle down, settle in, love intently, and give back to the world. A call and response black Bishop from Chicago who raises the rafters of St. George’s Chapel like no other. He articulates the power of love, equating it to fire that speaks to our spiritual and earthly soul. Some squirm with his call and response style of preaching. Others smile. Those of us from the African diaspora do the holy dance around our television sets and declare it a #blackroyalwedding. An elegant black British gospel choir ignites the audience with their melodious rendition of “Stand By Me.” They further elevate the musical celebration with choruses of “Amen” and “This Little Light Of Mine” as the newly married couple jubilantly leave the chapel. It feels like home to me. Even though it’s thousands of miles away. A compelling and talented 19-year-old cellist captivates the crowd. He performs three moving numbers, and the tears well up in my eyes. My college memories as a classically trained voice major pop up in my head, and I am pulling for this gifted young artist to transform the worldwide audience with every note his plays. I am so captivated by him, I research his family and learn that every one of the seven brothers and sisters is classically trained and championed by their parents. Those in Sierra Leone and Antigua, the ancestral home of his parents are also doing a holy dance to his amazing performance. None of this was done by chance. All of the pomp and circumstance of this never before witnessed black British wedding was intentional. Even look at the coordination of Queen Elizabeth II and Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland. Both wore pale green outfits. The House of Windsor is changed forever. The Duke of Sussex adoringly loves his Duchess. And the Duchess equally adoringly loves her Duke. And we love them both. Love has overshadowed hate, violence, crime and political nonsense, at least for a moment in time with this fairy tale story of cross cultural romance. It’s a wake-up call to the world. A chance for us to see what real love, friendship, and diversity look like. It’s a signal that multiculturalism is here to stay, and the nearly 31 years I have spent on this journey as a diversity professional is taking root in places like The House of Windsor. It was a weekend wedding that yielded hope, possibility, and progress. Let the church say, Amen.
Focus On Empowerment can be heard every Thursday at 1pm Eastern.
Log Onto: www.blogtalkradio.com/globalcarole Listen LIVE or Download Anytime At This Blog Post. Each broadcast can be replayed immediately following the show. ===================================================================== With the emphasis on diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion largely resting on the shoulders of people of color and women, what is the role of D&I for white men? Are they the villains in the quest to standardize equality and fairness, or is there a strategic role they must play for justice and equity to permeate the American landscape? There certainly are enough high profile cases that complicate this universal goal, and fringe right-wing hate groups that continue to muddy the waters. However, white men play a central role in identifying opportunities to improve our society by bringing respect and dignity to all people regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. Today’s guest, Robert Principe knows the challenges we face and what’s needed to recruit more white men as allies in the D&I arena. He’s a veteran diversity practitioner and will walk us through the steps necessary to align white men with diversity and inclusion in a way that is helpful, encouraging and proactive.
Focus On Empowerment can be heard every Thursday at 1pm Eastern.
Log Onto: www.blogtalkradio.com/globalcarole Listen LIVE or Download Anytime At This Blog Post. Each broadcast can be replayed immediately following the show. ======================== In the fifty years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, America and the world have seen the rise and fall of great initiatives, all created in the name of equality and justice. Shortly before his assassination, Bobby Kennedy predicted that the country would have a black president some day. That day came in November 2008 when Barack Hussein Obama galloped to the finish line as our 44th President of the United States. But where are we now in the age of Obama's successor? The King era has morphed into the dismal days of Trump, lies, Russians and heightened racism. Today we will explore the impact of the Civil Rights Movement and, as Dr. Eddie Gaude termed it, the "racial hamster wheel," to see how far progress has been made in America and across the world.
January is always a good time to reset your course in life to make sure you are traveling in the right direction. Years ago I was taught how to create a vision statement to ensure that my path in life would take me far into the horizon.
Vision. What Your Vision For 2018?? Today we’ll talk about what it takes to create a vision statement for your life…one that will set your path and make you stretch far beyond what you ever imagined for yourself, your family and those around you. What is a vision? How can you start a vision statement for yourself? What is the benefit of creating a vision statement? We’ll discuss the details during today’s program where you can restart, rebuild and recheck your trajectory for your future. ============ CAROLE'S VISION STATEMENT January 1998 Carole Copeland Thomas will capture the essence of the human spirit by delivering messages of Hope. Interconnection. Purpose. Courage. And Faith. To people throughout the world. Dear Family, Valuable Friends, Clients, and Colleagues:
From my home to yours, I wish you rich blessings into the New Year. Here is a special article I created about the history of Watch Night Service in the African American community. The tradition predated the importance of the famous 1862 Watch Night Services and originated with the Moravians in Germany many years earlier. The first Methodist church in America to celebrate Watch Night in the 1700s was St. George United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, the home church of Bishop Richard Allen, co-founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. However, it has become particularly important in the Black Church, with its evolution in the early to mid-1800s. The word evolved from “Freedom’s Eve” to “Watch Night” as the freed and enslaved blacks “watched” the clock strike 12 midnight, turning the course of the Civil War and freeing three million slaves in the states of the rebellion. Wishing You The Best in 2018! Carole Copeland Thomas, MBA CDMP, CITM --------------------------- The History Of Watch Night Services In The Black Church by Carole Copeland Thomas With the festivities of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa now on full display, there is still time to reflect on the ritual of my ancestors and many other African Americans, whose forefathers sat around campfires and wood stoves in the twilight of December 31, 1862. There they sang spirituals acapella, prayed, and thanked the Good Lord for what was about to happen the next day. In the North, Abolitionists were jubilant that the “peculiar institution” was finally about to get dismantled one plantation at a time. The booklet, Walking Tours of Civil War Boston sites this about this historic event: “On January 1, 1863, large anti-slavery crowds gathered at Boston’s Music Hall and Tremont Temple to await word that President Abraham Lincoln had issued the much-anticipated Emancipation Proclamation (EP). Those present at the Music Hall included Uncle Tom’s Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe, poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and John Greenleaf Whittier and essayist, poet and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Also present was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who composed his Boston Hymn to mark the occasion.” Now… Let’s Look Back...154 Years Ago Tonight... It was on January 1, 1863, amidst the cannon fire, gun shots, and burnings at the height of the Civil War that President Abraham Lincoln sealed his own fate and signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It begins with the following decree: Whereas on the 22nd day of September, A.D. 1862, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, towit: "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.” That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States." CAROLE' S TRANSLATION: Effective January 1, 1863 all slaves in the states in rebellion against the Union are free. Technically that is all that President Lincoln could do at the time. He used his wartime powers as Commander in Chief to liberate the "property" of the states in rebellion of the Union. The act did not free the slaves of the Union or border states (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, or West Virginia) or any southern state under Union control (like parts of Virginia). It would take the 13th Amendment (that freed all slaves in 1865), the Union Army winning the Civil War (April 9, 1865), and the assassination of President Lincoln (shot on April 14th and died on April 15, 1865) for all of the slaves to be freed. That included the liberation of the slaves in rebellious Texas on June 19, 1865 (Juneteenth Day) and finally the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 18, 1865, giving all black people freedom and permanently abolishing slavery in the US. So in 1862 on the eve of this great era, the slaves "watched", prayed, and waited. My ancestors, including Bishop Wesley John Gaines of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) (a slave in Georgia freed by the EP) and the other three million slaves prayed for divine guidance and an empowered Abraham Lincoln to do the right thing. It is as important today as the tradition of black people eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck. Following the Emancipation Proclamation slaves were freed in stages, based on where they lived, the willingness of the plantation owner to release them and when Union troops began to control their area. Black educator and community activist Booker T. Washington as a boy of 9 in Virginia, remembered the day in early 1865: “As the great day drew nearer, there was more singing in the slave quarters than usual. It was bolder, had more ring, and lasted later into the night. Most of the verses of the plantation songs had some reference to freedom. ... Some man who seemed to be a stranger (a United States officer, I presume) made a little speech and then read a rather long paper—the Emancipation Proclamation, I think. After the reading, we were told that we were all free, and could go when and where we pleased. My mother, who was standing by my side, leaned over and kissed her children, while tears of joy ran down her cheeks. She explained to us what it all meant, that this was the day for which she had been so long praying, but fearing that she would never live to see.” The longest holdouts were the slaves in Texas, who were not freed until June 19, 1865, two months after the Civil War ended. That day is now celebrated as Juneteenth Day around the United States. That is the history of Watch Night in the African American culture. May you and your family enjoy a spirit-filled New Year throughout 2018. Thank you for ALL of your support you have given to me and my business throughout 2017. -Carole 12/21/2017 15 Reasons Why Women Won't Tell (Understanding The Victim's Side of Sexual Harassment)Read Now
Focus On Empowerment can be heard every Thursday at 1pm Eastern.
Log Onto: www.blogtalkradio.com/globalcarole Listen LIVE or Download Anytime At This Blog Post. Each broadcast can be replayed immediately following the show. ======================== It's easy to dismiss the charges of those who make claims of sexual harassment. I've heard the responses from those who have either never been a victim or have simply forgotten past incidences where they were either the victim or the perpetrator. "I don't believe them," they say. Or, "Why did they wait so long to bring charges to the guy?" Or, "It can't be true! Mr. X is such a nice guy. He wouldn't hurt a flea!" These comments mount up to potent ammunition AGAINST the accuser and can often shut down a viable complaint before it's even uttered. Today's show will examine 15 credible reasons why women won't tell and why too often the guy gets away Scott free because he knows the court of public opinion often swings in his favor. In this era of high profile men losing their jobs, their status, and their reputation, too often it's the woman who suffers EVEN MORE when she is compelled to keep her mouth shut. ====================== The 15 Reasons Why Women Won’t Tell 1. They are vulnerable. 2. They feel powerless. 3. They are AFRAID! Fear. 4. They have been threatened. 5. It causes internal threats to their job security. 6. It causes external threats to their job security. 7. Lingering Questioning: Am I To Blame? 8. You may not be believed. 9. Fear of Retaliation. 10. Fear of Isolations by colleagues, friends, and family. 11. They are not secure in understanding the company’s sexual harassment policy. 12. Society will blame them, and they will be left, “Holding the bag.” 13. Lack of training. 14. Lack of confidence. 15. The tendency to be risk-averse.
Focus On Empowerment can be heard every Thursday at 1pm Eastern.
Log Onto: www.blogtalkradio.com/globalcarole Listen LIVE or Download Anytime At This Blog Post. Each broadcast can be replayed immediately following the show. ======================== Today we'll cover opposite ends of the spectrum from the fun and festive to the courageous and confrontational. During our first segment, we'll talk with the leadership team that is producing this year's Ebony Winter Gala here in Boston. It will attract some 4000 attendees who dress up and dance the night away...all for a good cause. Our second segment will tackle the ever-present subject of sexual harassment, with practical ways to stop the action before it strangles your spirit. It's the hottest topic impacting news journalists, to corporate types to Alabama senatorial candidates. There are ways that you can be prepared, while pushing off unwanted advances on your job. =================== For More Information About The Ebony Gala Contact: Purmell DaCosta 617-840-3650 - [email protected] George Greer 617-445-8897 - [email protected] Leonard Lee 857-207-2736 - [email protected] Date: Friday, December 15, 2017 Hynes Convention Center, Boston NABA in association with The United Minority Professionals cordially invites you to the 30th Annual Ebony Winter! This year's event will be better than ever with more surprises and announcements to come plus the great value and entertainment you have come to expect from the premiere Boston event. **Light fare & desserts, cash bar, vendors, raffles, photo booths & door prizes **Three different rooms with DJs spinning Old Skool, House, Hip Hop,Top 40, Afrobeats, Caribbean & International Jamz and Live Music Performances **Parking options – Discounted Self-parking and Valet parking available at the Sheraton Hotel or Hynes Convention Center. **Hotel Accommodations are available at Sheraton Boston – please check back for more information see flyer for more details **Dress code: Formal Attire enforced **21+ Event Buy Your Tickets Online Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/30th-nabaump-ebony-winter-gala-tickets-39077473776
Focus On Empowerment can be heard every Thursday at 1pm Eastern.
Log Onto: www.blogtalkradio.com/globalcarole Listen LIVE or Download Anytime At This Blog Post. Each broadcast can be replayed immediately following the show. ======================== Shockwaves reverberated across America yesterday with the downfall of both NBC’s Matt Lauer and Minnesota Public Radio’s Garrison Keillor in one fell swoop. Yes, we outsiders were shocked, but insiders who knew these men weren’t surprised. What’s even more damning are the scores of their defenders, after they release statements admitting their actions. Sexual Harassment is widespread, global and a daunting declaration of power and dominance over unsuspecting victims, both female, and male. Announcements about someone getting fired because of sexual harassment triggers incidences that happened years ago, tucked away never to be presented to the light of day. Sexual Harassment is a PROBLEM. And today’s show will tackle five key issues you should know about when confronting sexual harassment both on and off the job. From Congress to the break room at work, we all must face the issues of sexual harassment so that it can be contained and eliminated wherever possible. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Happy Thanksgiving!
May at least one aspect of your life cause celebration of thanks on this day. I wish you good health and positive blessings for the rest of 2017. Happy Thanksgiving from my home to yours. And remember that the first Thanksgiving was a multicultural miracle for the Pilgrims who would have died had it not been for the supportive actions of the Wampanoag Indians of Massachusetts. Warmly, Carole Copeland Thomas |
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The Multicultural Symposium Series Webinar Series features current topics designed to enhance personal development both on and off the job. All you need is a computer and a phone to join each webinar. Open to Members of the Multicultural Symposium Series.
Visit www.mssconnect.com for complete information.' Want to learn what it's like to own your own business? Or how to expand your business? Pick up a copy of Carole's book today!
Click On The Cover Below... How can YOU practice diversity and multiculturalism where YOU live?? Read Carole's book and find out how to make it happen!!
Click On The Book Cover Below... AuthorCarole Copeland Thomas is a 27 year speaker, trainer and consultant specializing in global diversity, empowerment, multiculturalism and leadership issues. Archives
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