Kira Hudson Banks is on faculty in the department of psychology at Saint Louis University. Her research examines the experience of discrimination, its impact on mental health and intergroup relations. She has consulted in schools, communities, institutions of higher education and corporations to improve diversity and inclusion efforts and engage people in productive dialogue and action for over 14 years. She received her PhD from University of Michigan and her BA from Mount Holyoke College.
When you start with a group's music, food, dance, or value system, you are looking at surface-level aspects of a culture. The push this week is to lean into the deeper aspects of a racial or ethnic group’s culture so you can begin to understand the group more fully.
What can people do to bring about change once they are aware of stereotypes, privilege, identity, unconscious biases and a beginning understanding of how these concepts operate on individual, cultural and institutional levels?
Stereotypes are short cuts that we use to approximate and assume understanding. They can lead us astray, down dead ends. We need to be willing to scrutinize them.
Some privileges (called unearned entitlements in the anti-ism field) are things we should all receive. For example we should all, regardless of religious affiliation or not, have the privilege of respect over belittlement or minimization.
This week, we will focus our lens on culture and our own personal stories. We will reflect on the various cultural groups we belong to and how we have been socialized into our group memberships and the values, traditions and norms that have been transmitted.
As a society we have socially constructed what it means to be one race or another. The biological differences are slight. So, how do we recognize how society dictates how we see race and how can we rethink that?
The biggest lesson is to be aware of your biases rather than deny they exist. Awareness will pave the way for the rest of our challenge. So, resist the urge to skip over this step assuming you are one of the “good ones.” Each one of us could benefit from self-reflection to become more aware of our unconscious biases.
It’s easy for us to say that we are “over” race. But as a country, we need to come to terms with the fact that we have a tendency to make grand, sweeping, judgmental assumptions about African Americans -- males in particular and people of color in general.
City Garden Montessori, a relatively new charter school, has been cited for good test scores. But it is also working to live into its mission of being socio-economically and racially diverse. And that means more than simply appearing diverse numerically.
The Olympics mark a time when our global society comes together. And the International Olympic Committee make clear statements condemning discrimination and encouraging inclusion. But such declarations should not keep us from seeing that we need to continue to improve our treatment and perceptions of each other.
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Meeting in St. Louis next week, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will have its first opportunity as an assembled group to consider what to do after the Vatican issued a mandate for change this spring. It calls on the conference to reorganize and more strictly observe church teachings.
When a family of four goes to the St. Louis Zoo, they can be forgiven for not knowing it will cost them $60, $72 if they park. If they can't pay, the alternative is to tell the kids they can't do what kids do at the zoo.
Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley gave reporters less than a half-hour’s notice today when he announced that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh’s sculptured bust will be formally installed in the Capitol at 1 p.m.
With the exception of its laser focus on gun rights, the 97th session of the Missouri General Assembly that ended at 6 p.m. Friday pretty much reflected the recent tradition: The Republican majority portrayed it an “immense success,’’ the Democrats called it an extremist failure and Gov. Jay Nixon declined to say.
The school, which was designed to help students who had dropped out come back to class to earn their degrees, started three years ago. But founder Stephanie Krauss said it was unable to overcome obstacles that had kept its target audience from succeeding in school.
When the first group of students who entered KIPP Inspire charter school in south St. Louis were ready to be promoted out to area high schools, seeing how they've done was a natural follow-up.
The Beacon's Mary Delach Leonard and Rob Koenig extensively covered flooding in 2011 in Missouri. Now this coverage is compiled in an iBook. Read the stories.
The feeling is openness, with soaring, airy spaces planned for easy and logical circulation and planned to reveal art not only to its best advantage but also appropriately and respectfully. Still, the building is notable more for its architectural reticence than its audacity.
When a Chicago photographer found more than a thousand unidentified slides, he set out to discover the couple behind them -- with a little help from social media.
The first reunion came about after Tom Hall broke his collarbone and musicians came together for a fundraiser. Then came two more. Hall simply says, “We decided that it’s fun to pay. We make good music. And people want to hear it.”
Donna Korando is the Beacon's arts and features editor. You can contact her at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Twenty winners will split a million dollars and a wide array of professional services after this year's Arch Grants competition. Victors will also see one-on-one business mentoring in their prize package. The diverse group includes everything from biotech concerns to fashion enterprises.
Eleven IT entrepreneurs vied for the attention of more than 70 investors at Capital Innovators' annual Demo Day. This year's crop of hopefuls wooed potential investors with eight-minute presentations on a wide variety of business ideas.
Innovation and entrepreneurial activity are on the rise in St. Louis, especially in bioscience, technology and alternative energy. The Beacon's InnovationSTL section focuses on the people who are part of this wave, what they're doing and how this is shaping our future. To many St. Louisans, this wave is not yet visible. InnovationSTL aims to change that. We welcome you to share your knowledge, learn more about this vibrant trend and discuss its impact.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Vernon Bowman's challenge to Monsanto Co.'s patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds was billed as a David vs. Goliath contest. Goliath won and won big. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that an Indiana soybean farmer had violated Monsanto's patent on its genetically engineered soybean seeds.
St. Louis theater artist Andrea Purnell dramatizes mental health issues for a living. For her efforts and potential, she'll receive a Grand Center Visionary Award for Emerging Artist in May 13 event at The Sheldon.
Sally Altman is the Beacon's Health and Science editor. You can contact her at saltman@stlbeacon.org.
When the first group of students who entered KIPP Inspire charter school in south St. Louis were ready to be promoted out to area high schools, seeing how they've done was a natural follow-up.
Much as Americans may disagree over politics, we share a belief in the public's right to know. This week's controversies were a reminder that a healthy press is vital to a healthy democracy.
Hegel may explain the trajectory of politics: A thesis breeds its antithesis. The dissonance between these polar opposites results in a new state of affairs called a synthesis. That synthesis becomes the new thesis as the process repeats itself. Thus does history travel its tangled paths.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's Voices editor. You can contact her and submit opinion pieces for possible publication at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.