PPLD welcomes suggestions and assistance from the community in creating EDI displays using our physical materials, digital materials, and items created using our Makerspaces. These Community Displays reflect the diverse sets of voices, identities, and experiences of the people in El Paso County. To become involved, please submit your ideas to the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion department on the Contact Us form.
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. ~ Muhammad Ali (boxer)
Juneteenth … gives us an occasion to reflect on the profound contributions of enslaved Black Americans to the cause of human freedom. ~ Jamelle Bouie (writer)
In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different. ~ Coco Chanel (fashion designer)
You as one individual can change millions of lives. Think big. Do not limit your vision and do not ever compromise your dreams or ideals. ~ Iris Chang (author)
To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else. ~ Bernadette Devlin (civil rights leader)
If the left half of the brain controls the right half of the body, then only left-handed people are in the right mind. ~ W.C. Fields (comedian)
Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. ~ Khalil Gibran (writer)
We don’t own the planet Earth, we belong to it. And we must share it with our wildlife. ~ Steve Irwin (wildlife expert)
You are reborn with the roses, in every spring. ~ Juan Ramón Jiménez (Nobel Prize poet)
There is much wisdom in listening as there is in speaking – and that goes for all relationships, not just romantic ones. ~ Daniel Dae Kim (author)
Bad libraries build collections, good libraries build services, great libraries build communities. ~ David Lankes (professor)
Hope will never be silent. ~ Harvey Milk (politician)
Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay. ~ President Barack Obama (44th president of the U.S.)
Success is a collection of problems solved. ~ I. M. Pei (architect)
You don’t have to become something that you aren’t to become better than you are. ~ Sidney Poitier (actor)
Every organization should tolerate rebels who tell the emperor he has no cloths. ~ Gen. Colin Powell (former U.S. Secretary of State)
Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt (former U.S. First Lady)
What good is an idea if it remains an idea? Try. Experiment. Iterate. Fail. Try again. Change the world. ~ Simon Sinek (author)
If you can’t change your fate, change your attitude. ~ Amy Tan (writer)
My mother always used to say: The older you get, the better you get, unless you’re a banana. ~ Betty White (actress)
This guide is intended as a starting place for finding information about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion within our collection at Pikes Peak Library District and our El Paso County community. Use the tabs on the left to locate frequently recommended resources. Information provided is for educational purposes only. Any opinions expressed in the guide or resources do not necessarily represent those of the Pikes Peak Library District, its employees, or its patrons.
Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) recognizes the LGBTQIA+ community with Pride Month in June. Join us in celebrating individuality, diversity, and inclusion throughout the Pikes Peak region with programming and resources on this page. Explore booklists, LGBTQIA+ history, Library programming, and more.
Pikes Peak Library District is committed to respecting all individuals by embracing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion so we may achieve our greater mission statement to provide resources and opportunities that impact individual lives and build community. PPLD strives to meet the needs of all El Paso County citizens regardless of age, cultural background, physical ability, ethnicity, family status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, health, neurological ability, socioeconomic status, or veteran status.
Our Vision is to advance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion to foster engagement in the library and the community as a whole.
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is more than just a term. EDI encompasses the policies and programs, philosophy and acknowledgement, support and respect that promotes the representation and participation of different groups of individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, skills and expertise, including people of different ages, races and ethnicities, abilities and disabilities, genders and gender identities, sexual orientations, religions and spiritualities, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds.
EDI terms are everywhere and not everyone speaks the same way about these issues. Before delving into what can be complex conversations, it is important to have a shared perception of the terms often used in these discussions. The following tabs provide some, but not all, definitions and acronyms that can encourage a common understanding of EDI terminology to promote better communication and insight.
active listening: A process of hearing and understanding what someone is saying by empathizing with the speaker(s) and considering their perspective(s).
adverse impact: A substantially different rate of selection in hiring, promotion, transfer, training, or other employment-related decisions for any race, sex, gender, or ethnic group in comparison with other groups.
advocate: A person who actively works to end intolerance, educate others, and support social equity for a marginalized group; or actions that actively support or plea in favor of a particular cause and the actions of working to end intolerance or educate others.
AFAB/AMAB: Assigned Female At Birth / Assigned Male At Birth.
affirmative action: A set of policies and practices designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination among applicants, remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and prevent such discrimination in the future.
ageism: Prejudiced thoughts and discriminatory actions, such as referring to someone’s age in a context in which age is not relevant, based on differences in age; usually those of younger persons against older persons.
agency: The ability to act independently and make free choices; the ability to make conscious decisions for oneself.
agender: A person with no (or very little) connection to the traditional gender binary, no personal alignment with the concepts of either man or woman, and/or someone who sees themselves as existing without gender. Sometimes called gender neutral, or genderless.
agent: The perpetrator of oppression and/or discrimination; usually a member of the dominant, non‐target identity group.
agnostic: Someone who neither believes nor disbelieves in the existence of a deity; the view that human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that a deity exists or the belief that a deity does not exist.
ally: Someone who possesses power and privilege (based on ethnicity, class, gender, sexual identity, etc.) and stands in solidarity with, and is supportive of, marginalized groups and communities.
allyship: An active verb; leveraging personal positions of power and privilege to fight oppression by respecting, working with, and empowering marginalized voices and communities; using one’s own voice to project others’, less represented, voices.
American: A native or inhabitant of any of the countries of North, South, or Central America. Widely used to denote a native or citizen of the United States.
androgyne / androgynous / androgyny: Someone who reflects an appearance that is both masculine and feminine, neither or both.
anti-blackness: The Council for Democratizing Education defines anti-Blackness as being a two-part formation that both voids Blackness of value, while systematically marginalizing Black people and their issues. The first form of anti-Blackness is overt racism. Beneath this anti-Black racism is the covert structural and systemic racism which categorically predetermines the socioeconomic status of Blacks in this country. The structure is held in place by anti-Black policies, institutions, and ideologies.
anti-racist: An anti-racist is someone who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing antiracist ideas. This includes the expression or ideas that racial groups are equals and do not need developing and supporting policies that reduce racial inequity. "To be antiracist is to think nothing is behaviorally wrong or right -- inferior or superior -- with any of the racial groups. Whenever the antiracist sees individuals behaving positively or negatively, the antiracist sees exactly that: individuals behaving positively or negatively, not representatives of whole races. To be antiracist is to deracialize behavior, to remove the tattooed stereotype from every racialized body. Behavior is something humans do, not races do." (Kendi, 2019)
anti‐Semitism: The fear or hatred of Jews, Judaism, and related symbols.
aromantic: Experiencing little or no romantic attraction to other people. Aromanticism exists on a continuum.
asexual: Refers to a person who does not experience sexual attraction or has little interest in sexual activity.
assigned sex: The sex that is assigned to an infant at birth based on the child’s visible sex organs, including genitalia and other physical characteristics.
assimilation: The gradual process by which a person or group belonging to one culture adopts the practices of another, thereby, becoming a member of that culture. Assimilation can be voluntary or forced.
at-risk: Describes students or groups of students who are considered to have a higher probability of struggling academically or dropping out of school due to coming from social conditions that have not prepared them adequately or serve as hurdles in their way to success. Some challenges that at-risk students may face include poverty, homelessness, serious health issues, domestic violence, transiency, or learning disabilities.
autism: Also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication.
color-blind: A term referring to the disregard of racial characteristics; the belief in treating everyone “equally” by treating everyone the same; based in the presumption that differences are by definition bad or problematic, and therefore best ignored (i.e., “I don’t see race.”).
Proponents of color-blind practices believe that treating people equally inherently leads to a more equal society and/or that racism and race privilege no longer exercise the power they once did, while opponents of color-blind practices believe that color-blindness allows those in power to disregard or ignore the history of oppression and how it is experienced today.
Critical media literacy involves cultivating skills in analyzing media codes and conventions, abilities to criticize stereotypes, dominant values, and ideologies, and competencies to interpret the multiple meanings and messages generated by media texts. Media literacy helps people to use media intelligently, to discriminate and evaluate media content, to critically dissect media forms, to investigate media elects and uses, and to construct alternative media.” (Kellner & Share, 2005).
The centrality and intersectionality of race and racism. The challenge to dominant ideology. The commitment to social justice. The centrality of experiential knowledge. The interdisciplinary perspective.
Note: Many only have mild or partial loss of hearing. It is proper to use the terms person with hearing loss, partially deaf, or hearing impaired. Do not use deaf-dumb or deaf-mute.
Note: Major life activities include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working.
Major bodily functions include, functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.
diversity skills: The competencies (e.g., communication, critical analysis, media literacy, teamwork, leadership, and social networking) that allow people to interact with others in a way that respects and values differences.
domestic partner: Either member of an unmarried, cohabiting, straight and same-sex couple that seeks benefits usually available only to spouses.
dominant culture: The cultural values, beliefs, and practices that are assumed to be the most common and influential within a given society.
domination: The ability of a particular social identity group to marshal social resources toward one’s own group and away from others. This process can often be rendered invisible and seen as a “natural order.”
double consciousness: A person’s awareness of their own perspective and the perspective of others.
equity (social): Freedom from bias or favoritism; impartiality; fairness. Social equity seeks to address the underlying and systemic differences of opportunity and access to social resources. Differs from “equality” in that we are not all the same, some people need more help than others.
ESL: Acronym for “English as a Second Language,” a method of teaching English in the United Sates to non-English speaking people.
essential functions of the job: This term refers to those job activities that are determined by the University to be essential or core to performing the job; these functions cannot be modified.
ethnicity: A dynamic set of historically derived and institutionalized ideas and practices that (1) allows people to identify or to be identified with groupings of people on the basis of presumed (and usually claimed) commonalities including language, history, nation or region of origin, customs, ways of being, religion, names, physical appearance and/or genealogy or ancestry; (2) can be a source of meaning, action and identity; and (3) confers a sense of belonging, pride, and motivation.
ethnocentrism: The emotional attitude that one's own race, nation, or culture is superior to all others.
Euro-Centric: The inclination to consider European culture as normative. While the term does not imply an attitude of superiority (since all cultural groups have the initial right to understand their own culture as normative), most use the term with a clear awareness of the historic oppressiveness of Eurocentric tendencies in U.S and European society.
female or female-bodied: A person who was assigned female at birth.
Note: Though still used, this term genders bodies non-consensually and plays into cissexism (in that breasts or a vulva, for example, are considered inherently female).
fundamental attribution error: A common cognitive action in which one attributes their own success and positive actions to their own innate characteristics ('I’m a good person') and failure to external influences ('I lost it in the sun'), while attributing others' success to external influences ('He had help and got lucky') and failure to others’ innate characteristics ('They’re bad people'). This operates on group levels as well, with the in-group giving itself favorable attributions, while giving the out-group unfavorable attributions, as a way of maintaining a feeling of superiority, i.e., “double standard.”; does not take into consideration the external factors that can, and often do, impact an individual’s behavior.
fundamentalism: Movement with strict view of doctrine: a religious or political movement based on a literal interpretation of and strict adherence to doctrine, especially as a return to former principles.
gay: Used to describe people who are emotionally, romantically, and/or physically attracted to people of the same gender.
gender: Refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for boys and men or girls and women. While aspects of biological sex are similar across different cultures, aspects of gender may differ.
gendered: Having a distinct association with being masculine and/or feminine, man or woman.
gender affirming surgery: Surgical procedures associated with altering the genitals or secondary sex characteristics to be consistent with a person’s gender identity. What was formerly referred to as a “sex change” (an outdated and often offensive term).
gender binary: The idea that there are only two genders: man and woman. This idea is challenged by individuals who identify as non-binary (e.g., genderqueer, agender).
gender diversity: Refers to the extent to which a person's gender identity, role or expression differs from the cultural norms prescribed for people of a particular sex.
gender dysphoria: The distress that a person experiences when the sex they were assigned at birth (by way of anatomy) does not match their gender identity. A person may experience various degrees of dysphoria with respect to different parts of their anatomy. For example, a female-bodied person may experience dysphoria with their breasts and voice but not genitalia.
gender expression: External manifestations of gender, expressed through a person's name, pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, and/or body characteristics. Society identifies these cues as masculine and feminine, although what is considered masculine or feminine changes over time and varies by culture.
gender fluid: A gender identity characterized by fluctuation between masculine/feminine/other (gender expression) and/or man-ness/woman-ness/other (gender identity). Some gender fluid people experience shifts on a frequent basis (within a day), others may go long periods of time.
gender identity: Refers to a person's internal, deeply held sense of their gender.
gender-neutral / gender-inclusive: Inclusive language to describe relationships (spouse and partner instead of husband/boyfriend and wife/girlfriend), spaces (gender-neutral/inclusive restrooms are for use by all genders), pronouns (they and ze are gender neutral/inclusive pronouns) among other things.
gender neutral pronouns: Pronouns that do not adhere to the he:she and his:her binary, and can refer to a number of different gender identities. Some examples are ze/hir/hirs, and they/them/their but there are many others. Gender neutral pronouns are recognized by the Chicago Style Manual and AP.
gender non-conforming: An individual or identity characterized by traits that do not conform to conventional gendered behavior, expression, or gender roles.
gender normative: A person who conforms to gender-based expectations of society.
gender pronouns: The pronouns that a person prefers and reflects their gender identity (e.g., she/her/hers; they/them/theirs; he/him/his). A variety of gender-neutral pronouns exist, most commonly they/them/theirs.
gender role: Refers to a pattern of appearance, personality, and behavior that, in a given culture, is associated with being a boy/man/male or being a girl/woman/female.
genderqueer: A person who does not subscribe to conventional gender distinctions, but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of masculine and feminine genders. Includes a non-binary gender identity. May use gender-neutral pronouns.
genocide: The intentional attempt to completely erase or destroy a peoples through structural oppression and/or open acts of physical violence.
gentrification: Demographic shifts that usually occur in big cities in which upper-middle class and/or racially privileged individuals and businesses move into historically working class and poor and/or racially oppressed neighborhoods and communities.
glass ceiling: Barriers, either real or perceived, that affect the promotion or hiring of protected group members.
global competency: The knowledge, skills, and abilities that help people from cross disciplinary domains to understand global events and respond to them effectively. As described by Reimers (2009), Global competency has three interdependent dimensions. The first approach considers cultural differences and a willingness to engage those differences (an important component of which is empathy for people with other cultural identities, an interest in seeking understanding of various civilizations and their histories, and the ability to see potential differences as opportunities for constructive and respectful interactions). Some argue that there is also an ethical dimension of global competency which includes a commitment to basic equality and the rights of all persons as well as an obligation to uphold those rights. The second dimension of global competency is the pragmatic aspect, which is the ability to speak, understand, and think in different languages. The third dimension involves extensive knowledge of world history, geography, and the global aspects of common issues such as: health care, climate change, economics, politics, education, among other issues.
global perspective: A viewpoint that tries to understand the place or places of individuals, groups, cultures, and societies in the world and how they relate to each other.
globalization: Worldwide flow and integration of culture, media, and technology due to advances in communication systems and economic interests.
glocalization: A culture’s openness to diverse influences and ability to blend foreign ideas and best practices with one’s own traditions.
group identity: A category of differences that describes a set of common physical traits, characteristics, or attributes. Everyone has multiple group identities including, age, ability, class, education level, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race, language, religion, and sexual orientation. In organizations and society, the extent to which one is aware of the meaning and impact of these identities is key to understanding the impact of diversity and changing the status quo.
hate crime: Hate crime legislation often defines a hate crime as a crime motivated by the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of the victim.
HBCU: Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
hegemony: One group or community holding all authoritative power or dominance over other groups in a given society, geographical region, and/or political system.
heteronormativity: The societal assumption and norm that all people are heterosexual.
heterosexism: The belief or assumption that everyone is, or should be heterosexual; the idea that being heterosexual is normal, natural, and healthy, and all other people are somehow unnatural, abnormal and unhealthy.
heterosexual: Refers to a person who is emotionally, romantically, and/or physically attracted to a person of the opposite gender. Also referred to as straight.
heterosexual privilege: Those benefits derived automatically by being heterosexual that are denied to homosexuals and bisexuals. Also, the benefits homosexuals and bisexuals receive as a result of claiming heterosexual identity or denying homosexual or bisexual identity.
homophobia: On a personal level, homophobia is an irrational fear, aversion, or dislike of homosexualities and people who identify as homosexual; on a social level, homophobia is the ingrained structural discrimination against homosexuality and those who identify as homosexual that prevents access to certain resources or opportunities and inhibits individuals from feeling safe or able to be socially recognized as homosexual.
homosexual: A male whose sexual orientation is toward other men or a female whose sexual orientation is toward females.
Note: This is not a preferred term. Homosexual males typically prefer the term gay and homosexual females typically prefer the term lesbian.
horizontal hostility / horizontal oppression: When people from targeted groups believe, act on, or enforce dominant systems of oppression against other members of targeted groups.
HSI: Hispanic Serving Institution
immigrant: A person who moves out of their country of birth, supposedly for permanent residence in a new country.
implicit bias: Also known as unconscious or hidden bias, implicit biases are negative associations that people unknowingly hold. They are expressed automatically, without conscious awareness. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one’s tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing.
impostor syndrome: Refers to individuals' feelings of not being as capable or adequate as others. Common symptoms of the impostor phenomenon include feelings of phoniness, self-doubt, and inability to take credit for one's accomplishments. The literature has shown that such impostor feelings influence a person's self-esteem, professional goal directed-ness, locus of control, mood, and relationships with others.
in‐group bias (favoritism): The tendency for groups to “favor” themselves by rewarding group members economically, socially, psychologically, and emotionally in order to uplift one group over another.
in-groups and out-groups: An in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify.
inclusion: Authentically bringing traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups into processes, activities and decision/policy making in a way that shares power. Inclusion promotes broad engagement, shared participation, and advances authentic sense of belonging through safe, positive, and nurturing environments. Inclusion is key to eliminating systemic inequality.
inclusive excellence: The recognition that a community or institution's success is dependent on how well it values, engages, and includes the rich diversity of students, staff, faculty, administrators, and alumni constituents.
inclusive language: Refers to non-sexist language or language that “includes” all persons in its references. For example, “a writer needs to proofread his work” excludes females due to the masculine reference of the pronoun. Likewise, “a nurse must disinfect her hands” is exclusive of males and stereotypes nurses as females.
Indigenous peoples: Ethnic groups who are the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied, or colonized the area more recently. In the United States, this can refer to groups traditionally termed Native Americans (American Indians), Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. In Canada, it can refer to the groups typically termed First Nations.
institutional oppression: The systematic mistreatment and dehumanization of any individual based solely on a social identity group with which they identify that is supported and enforced by society and its institutions; based on the belief that people of such a social identity group are inherently inferior.
intersectionality: The interconnected nature of social identities such as race, class, and gender that creates interdependent systems of privilege and disadvantage; the intersection of race, class, gender, and ability identities within each individual that informs how one views, discusses, and navigates through the world the way each of us views and discusses the world.
intercultural competency: A process of learning about and becoming allies with people from other cultures, thereby broadening our own understanding and ability to participate in a multicultural process. The key element to becoming more culturally competent is respect for the ways that others live in and organize the world and an openness to learn from them.
intergroup conflict: Tension and conflict which exists between social groups. And which may be enacted by individual members of these groups.
internalized oppression: The process whereby individuals in the target group make oppression internal and personal by coming to believe that the lies, prejudices, and stereotypes about them are true. Members of target groups exhibit internalized oppression when they alter their attitudes, behaviors, speech, and self-confidence to reflect the stereotypes and norms of the dominant group. Internalized oppression can create low self-esteem, self-doubt, and even self-loathing. It can also be projected outward as fear, criticism, and distrust of members of one’s target group.
internalized racism: When individuals from targeted racial groups internalize racist beliefs about themselves or members of their racial group. Examples include using creams to lighten one’s skin, believing that white leaders are inherently more competent, asserting that individuals of color are not as intelligent as white individuals, believing that racial inequality is the result of individuals of color not raising themselves up “by their bootstraps”. (Jackson & Hardiman, 1997).
intersex: Refers to people who are biologically between the medically expected definitions of male and female. This can be through variations in hormones, chromosomes, internal or external genitalia, or any combination of any or all primary and/or secondary sex characteristics.
invisible minority: A group whose minority status is not always immediately visible, such as disabled people and LGBTQ+ people. This lack of visibility may make organizing for rights difficult.
Islamophobia: The irrational fear or hatred of Islam, Muslims, Islamic traditions, and practices, and, more broadly, those who appear to be Muslim.
Ism: Social phenomenon and psychological state where prejudice is accompanied by the power to systemically enact it.
lesbian: An identity term for a female-identified person who is attracted to other female-identified people.
LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQIAA+: Acronyms referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, agender, and asexual/ally.
lines of difference: A person who operates across lines of difference is one who welcomes and honors perspectives from others in different racial, gender, socioeconomic, generational, regional groups than their own.
linguicism: Refers to discrimination based particularly on language. Language oppression is often tied to discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and/or class.
lookism: Construction of a standard for beauty and attractiveness, and judgments made about people based on how well or poorly they meet the standard.
major life activities: This term includes caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working.
male-bodied: A person who was assigned male at birth.
Note: Though still occasionally used this term is very problematic as it genders bodies non-consensually and plays into cissexism (in that a flat chest or a penis, for example, are considered inherently male).
media literacy: The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media in a variety of forms.
microaggression: Brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial, gender, sexual orientation and religious slights and insults to the target person or group.
These messages may be sent verbally, ("You speak good English"), non-verbally (clutching one's purse more tightly around people from certain race/ethnicity) or environmentally (symbols like the confederate flag or using Native American mascots). Such communications are usually outside the level of conscious awareness of perpetrators.
micro-insults: Verbal and nonverbal communications that subtly convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person's racial heritage or identity. An example is an employee who asks a colleague of color how she got her job, implying she may have landed it through an affirmative action or quota system.
micro-invalidation: Communications that subtly exclude, negate, or nullify the thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color. For instance, white individuals often ask Asian-Americans where they were born, conveying the message that they are perpetual foreigners in their own land.
minority / minority groups / minorities: Refer to categories of people who are differentiated from a social majority due to having less social power. They can sometimes be underrepresented in particular majors, careers, or societies but can also be in majority numerically and yet lack social power or the ability to influence. Historically, minority is often associated with people of color (e.g., Asians, Latinos, and Blacks) but it actually can be applied to other identities like gender, sexuality, and religion.
misogyny: Hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against women. Misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including sexual discrimination, denigration of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification of women.
mobility: The ability to move through society, both physically and socioeconomically.
model minority: Refers to a minority ethnic, racial, or religious group whose members achieve a higher degree of success than the population average. This success is typically measured in income, education, and related factors such as low crime rate and high family stability.
MSI: Minority Serving Institutions.
MTF/M2F/M to F: Abbreviation for a person who was assigned male at birth (AMAB) but identifies as female and transitioned to a feminine appearance that is consistent with their gender identity. This term is problematic to some MAAB trans people as they feel they were never male and because X to Y terms can put too much focus on traditional means of physical transition.
MTM/FTF: A transgender individual who has medically transitioned and feels their birth sex was never an identity to which they could relate. In other words, a person with a birth sex of female may have lived as female for many years, but never identified as a woman. Instead, they always identified as male and transitioned to become outwardly visible as male. The social identity of female (FTM) to male is an inappropriate description of their experience with gender.
multicultural: This term is used in a variety of ways and is less often defined by its users than terms such as multiculturalism or multicultural education. One common use of the term refers to the raw fact of cultural diversity: “multicultural education … responds to a multicultural population.” Another use of the term refers to an ideological awareness of diversity: “[multicultural theorists] have a clear recognition of a pluralistic society.” Still others go beyond this and understand multicultural as reflecting a specific ideology of inclusion and openness toward “others.” Perhaps the most common use of this term in the literature is in reference simultaneously to a context of cultural pluralism and an ideology of inclusion or “mutual exchange of and respect for diverse cultures.”
When the term is used to refer to a group of persons (or an organization or institution), it most often refers to the presence of and mutual interaction among diverse persons (in terms of race, class, gender, and so forth) of significant representation in the group. In other words, a few African Americans in a predominantly European American congregation would not make the congregation “multicultural.” Some, however, do use the term to refer to the mere presence of some non-majority persons somewhere in the designated institution (or group or society), even if there is neither significant interaction nor substantial numerical representation.
multiethnic: An individual that comes from more than one ethnicity. An individual whose parents are born from more than one ethnicity (See Ethnicity).
multiplicity: The quality of having multiple, simultaneous social identities (e.g., being male, Buddhist and wealthy).
multiracial: A person who identifies as coming from two or more racial groups; a person whose biological parents come from different racial groups.
national origin: The political state from which an individual hails; may or may not be the same as that the person's current location or citizenship.
nativism: Prejudiced thoughts or discriminatory actions that benefit or show preference to individuals born in a territory over those who have migrated into said territory.
neocolonialization: The survival of the colonial system in spite of formal recognition of political independence in former colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Americas which became victims of indirect and subtle form of domination by political, economic, social, military, or technical forces, generally disguised as humanitarian help or aid. The mechanisms of neo-colonialism are designed to serve the interest of continued economic and political dependence of former colonies by the former European colonial powers.
neo-liberalism: A substantial subjugation and marginalization of policies and practices informed by the values of social justice and equity.
neurodiversity: A viewpoint that brain differences are normal, rather than deficits and can have benefits for people with learning and thinking differences. used especially in the context of autistic spectrum disorders.
non-binary / gender variant: A spectrum of gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or exclusively feminine—identities that are outside the gender binary.
nondisabled: A person who does not have a disability. Generally preferred over able-bodied.
nonviolence: A strategy employed by social and civil advocates that stresses social and political change through acts that do not involve physical violence against oneself or others; nonviolent language is used to imply language that does not perpetuate structural inequalities.
non-white: Used at times to reference all persons or groups outside of the white culture, often in the clear consciousness that white culture should be seen as an alternative to various non-white cultures and not as normative.
oppression (institutionalized): The systematic mistreatment and dehumanization of any individual based solely on a social identity group with which they identify that is supported and enforced by society and its institutions; based on the belief that people of such a social identity group are inherently inferior.
oppression (internalized): The process whereby individuals in the target group make oppression internal and personal by coming to believe that the lies, prejudices, and stereotypes about them are true. Members of target groups exhibit internalized oppression when they alter their attitudes, behaviors, speech, and self-confidence to reflect the stereotypes and norms of the dominant group. Internalized oppression can create low self-esteem, self-doubt, and even self-loathing. It can also be projected outward as fear, criticism, and distrust of members of one’s target group.
overprivileged: Disproportionately privileged compared to others; excessively privileged.
pansexual: A term referring to the potential for sexual attractions or romantic love toward people of all gender identities and biological sexes. The concept of pansexuality deliberately rejects the gender binary and derives its origin from the transgender movement.
passing privilege: There is variation in the degree to which medically and/or socially transitioned people are recognized as their correct gender (i.e., passing) and this comes with various, context dependent, levels of privilege.
patriarchy: A social system and institution in which men have primary power in the political, social, economic, legal, and familial spheres; patriarchy favors male-dominated thought, and is centralized on the male narrative or perspective of how the world works and should work.
Pell-eligible: A student who applied for a Pell Grant and was determined to be eligible.
people-/person-first language: A way of describing disability that involves putting the word person or people before the word disability or the name of a disability, rather than placing the disability first and using it as an adjective. Some examples of people-first language might include saying "person with a disability," "woman with cerebral palsy" and "man with an intellectual disability." The purpose of people-first language is to promote the idea that someone's disability label is just a disability label not the defining characteristic of the entire individual.
people of color: A collective term for men and women of Asian, African, Latin, and Native American (non-White) backgrounds; as opposed to the collective "White" for those of European ancestry.
permanent resident: Any person not a citizen of the United States who is residing in the U.S. under legally recognized and lawfully recorded permanent resident as an immigrant. Also known as permanent resident alien, resident alien permit holder, and green card holder.
personal identity: Our identities as individuals‐including our personal characteristics, history, personality, name, and other characteristics that make us unique and different from other individuals.
pluralism: A situation in which people of different social classes, religions, races, etc., are together in a society but continue to have their different traditions and interests.
post-racial: A theoretical term to describe an environment free from racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice.
people of color: A collective term for men and women of Asian, African, Latin, and Native American (non-White) backgrounds; as opposed to the collective "White" for those of European ancestry.
permanent resident: Any person not a citizen of the United States who is residing in the U.S. under legally recognized and lawfully recorded permanent resident as an immigrant. Also known as permanent resident alien, resident alien permit holder, and green card holder.
personal identity: Our identities as individuals‐including our personal characteristics, history, personality, name, and other characteristics that make us unique and different from other individuals.
pluralism: A situation in which people of different social classes, religions, races, etc., are together in a society but continue to have their different traditions and interests.
post-racial: A theoretical term to describe an environment free from racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice.
prejudice: An opinion, prejudgment or attitude about a group or its individual members. A prejudice can be positive but usually refers to a negative attitude. Prejudices are often accompanied by ignorance, fear, or hatred. Prejudices are formed by a complex psychological process that begins with attachment to a close circle of acquaintances or an in-group such as a family. Prejudice is often aimed at out-groups.
privilege: Benefit, advantage, or favor granted to individuals and communities by unequal social structures and institutions.
privileged group member: A member of an advantaged social group privileged by birth or acquisition, i.e., Whites, men, owning class, upper-middle-class, heterosexuals, gentiles, Christians, non-disabled individuals.
pronouns: A pronoun is a word that refers to someone or something that is being talked about (like she, it, them, and this). Gender pronouns (like he and hers) specifically refer to people that you are talking about. You cannot always know what pronoun (she/her, he/him, they/them) someone uses by looking at them. Asking and correctly using someone’s personal pronoun is one of the most basic ways to show your respect for their gender identity.
protected status: A characteristic that, in accordance with federal and state law, is protected from discrimination and harassment: age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
PWI: Predominantly White Institution
pyramiding effect: The cumulative impact of encounters with social barriers (i.e., ethnocentrism, limited perceptions, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination).
queer: An umbrella term that can refer to anyone who transgresses society's view of gender or sexuality. A term that was used by heterosexuals as an insult that has been reclaimed by some members of the LGBTQ community.
Note: Some LGBT and non-LGBT individuals find the word offensive and some queer-identified people may be offended if non-queer people use the term.
queer theory: A theoretical approach that critically deconstructs and challenges binaries such as male and female or heterosexual and homosexual.
questioning: An identity label for a person who is exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity and is in a state of moratorium in terms of identity formation.
racial and ethnic identity: An individual's awareness and experience of being a member of a racial and ethnic group; the racial and ethnic categories that an individual chooses to describe him or herself based on such factors as biological heritage, physical appearance, cultural affiliation, early socialization and personal experience.
racial equity: Racial equity is the condition that would be achieved if one's racial identity is no longer predicted, in a statistical sense, how one fares. When this term is used, the term may imply that racial equity is one part of racial justice, and thus also includes work to address the root causes of inequities, not just their manifestations. This includes the elimination of policies, practices, attitudes, and cultural messages that reinforce differential outcomes by race or fail to eliminate them.
racial profiling: The use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense.
racism: An ideology and institution that reflects the racial worldview in which humans are divided into racial groups and in which races are arranged in a hierarchy where some races are considered innately superior to others; racism is the effect of domination of certain racial groups by other racial groups, historically the domination of people of color by white/European peoples.
racism (cultural): Refers to representations, messages and stories conveying the idea that behaviors and values associated with white people or “whiteness” are automatically “better” or more “normal” than those associated with other racially defined groups. Cultural racism shows up in advertising, movies, history books, definitions of patriotism, and in policies and laws. Cultural racism is also a powerful force in maintaining systems of internalized supremacy and internalized racism. It does that by influencing collective beliefs about what constitutes appropriate behavior, what is seen as beautiful, and the value placed on various forms of expression. All of these cultural norms and values in the U.S. have explicitly or implicitly racialized ideals and assumptions (for example, what “nude” means as a color, which facial features and body types are considered beautiful, which child-rearing practices are considered appropriate.)
racism (individual): Individual racism refers to the beliefs, attitudes, and actions of individuals that support or perpetuate racism. Individual racism can be deliberate, or the individual may act to perpetuate or support racism without knowing that is what he or she is doing.
Examples: Telling a racist joke, using a racial epithet, or believing in the inherent superiority of whites over other groups; Avoiding people of color whom you do not know personally, but not whites whom you do not know personally (e.g., white people crossing the street to avoid a group of Latino/a young people; locking their doors when they see African American families sitting on their doorsteps in a city neighborhood; or not hiring a person of color because “something doesn’t feel right”); Accepting things as they are (a form of collusion).
racism (institutional): Refers specifically to the ways in which institutional policies and practices create different outcomes for different racial groups. The institutional policies may never mention any racial group, but their effect is to create advantages for whites and oppression and disadvantage for people from groups classified as people of color.
racism (internalized): When individuals from targeted racial groups internalize racist beliefs about themselves or members of their racial group. Examples include using creams to lighten one’s skin, believing that white leaders are inherently more competent, asserting that individuals of color are not as intelligent as white individuals, believing that racial inequality is the result of individuals of color not raising themselves up “by their bootstraps.” (Jackson & Hardiman, 1997)
racism (structural): A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and adapt over time. Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice. Instead, it has been a feature of the social, economic, and political systems in which we all exist.
Structural racism is more difficult to locate in a particular institution because it involves the reinforcing effects of multiple institutions and cultural norms, past and present, continually reproducing old and producing new forms of racism. Structural racism is the most profound and pervasive form of racism – all other forms of racism emerge from structural racism.
racist policy: Any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between or among racial groups. Policies are written and unwritten laws, rules, procedures, processes, regulations and guidelines that govern people. There is no such thing as a nonracist or race-neutral policy. Every policy in every institution in every community in every nation is producing or sustaining either racial inequity or equity between racial groups. (Kendi, 2019)
rankism: Abuse, discrimination, or exploitation based on rank; abusive, discriminatory, or exploitative behavior towards people who have less power because of their lower rank in a particular hierarchy.
reasonable accommodation: Any modification or adjustment to a job or the work environment that will enable a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to participate in the application process or to perform essential job functions. Reasonable accommodation also includes adjustments to assure that a qualified individual with a disability has rights and privileges in employment equal to those of employees without disabilities.
reclaim: To take back or demand the return of something that was lost or taken away; to restore to a previous state.
refugee: A person that flees a country out of fear for their safety either for economic or political reasons, or due to a natural disaster, or because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on the person's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
re-fencing (exception-making): A cognitive process for protecting stereotypes by explaining any evidence/example to the contrary as an isolated exception.
religion: A system of beliefs, usually spiritual in nature, and often in terms of a formal, organized denomination.
religious oppression: Oppression against individuals or groups based on their religious beliefs and practices.
resilience: The ability to recover from some shock or disturbance.
respect: Giving consideration and attention to a given person, group, or situation that takes another’s perspective and experiences into account.
restorative justice: A theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused by crime and conflict. It places decisions in the hands of those who have been most affected by a wrongdoing, and gives equal concern to the victim, the offender, and the surrounding community. Restorative responses are meant to repair harm, heal broken relationships, and address the underlying reasons for the offense. Restorative Justice emphasizes individual and collective accountability. Crime and conflict generate opportunities to build community and increase grassroots power when restorative practices are employed.
same gender loving: A term coined by activist Cleo Manago as a description for homosexuals, particularly in the African American community. SGL is an alternative to terms for homosexual identities (e.g., gay and lesbian) that can carry negative connotations to some people.
saliency: The quality of a group identity of which an individual is more conscious of in any given moment and which plays a larger role in that individual's day‐to‐day life; for example, a man's awareness of his "maleness" in an elevator with only women.
sapiosexual: One who find the contents of someone else’s mind to be their most attractive attribute, above physical or other characteristics.
scapegoating: The action of blaming an individual or group for something when, in reality, there is no one person or group responsible for the problem. It targets another person or group as responsible for problems in society because of that person’s group identity.
serostatus: The state of either having or not having detectible antibodies against a specific antigen, as measured by a blood test (serologic test). For example, HIV seropositive mean that a person has detectible antibodies to HIV; seronegative means that a person does not have detectible HIV antibodies.
settler colonialism: Refers to colonization in which colonizing powers create permanent or long-term settlement on land owned and/or occupied by other peoples, often by force. This contrasts with colonialism where colonizer’s focus only on extracting resources back to their countries of origin, for example. Settler Colonialism typically includes oppressive governance, dismantling of indigenous cultural forms, and enforcement of codes of superiority (such as white supremacy). Examples include white European occupations of land in what is now the United States, Spain’s settlements throughout Latin America, and the Apartheid government established by White Europeans in South Africa.
sex: Binary biological classification of male or female (based on genetic or physiological features); as opposed to gender, which is social in nature (frequently used interchangeably with “gender” despite this difference).
sexism: Refers to the range of attitudes, beliefs, policies, laws and behaviors that discriminate on the basis of sex or gender.
sexual orientation: One's natural (not chosen) preference in sexual partners.
sex assignment: The initial categorization of an infant as male or female.
silencing: The conscious or unconscious processes by which the voice or participation of particular social identities is exclude or inhibited.
sizeism: The mistreatment of or discrimination against people based upon their perceived (or self-perceived) body size or shape.
social construction: The notion that patterns of human interaction (often deemed to be normal, natural, or universal) are, in fact, humanly produced and constructed by social expectation and coercion but is presented as “objective.” For example, the erroneous assumption of women being better at housework is not at all connected to their female anatomy, but to social expectations and pressures imposed on women.
social forces: The omnipresent social influences that surround us and help shape our attitudes, character, knowledge, feelings, and other individual attributes.
social identity: A person’s sense of who they are based on their group memberships. Each person has multiple social identities associated with varying degrees of privilege.
social identity development: The stages or phases that a person's group identity follows as it matures or develops.
social inequality: When resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. It is the differentiation preference of access of social goods in the society brought about by power, religion, kinship, prestige, race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and class. Social inequality usually implies to the lack of equality of outcome but may alternatively be conceptualized in terms of the lack of equality of access to opportunity.
social justice: A broad term that connotes the practice of allyship and coalition work in order to promote equality, equity, respect, and the assurance of rights within and between communities and social groups. Social justice includes a vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure. Social justice involves social actors who have a sense of their own agency as well as a sense of social responsibility toward and with others and the society as a whole.
social movement: A collective action by a group of people with a shared or collective identity based on a set of beliefs and opinions that intend to change or maintain some aspect of the social order.
social oppression: When one social group, whether knowingly or unconsciously, exploits another group for its own benefit.
social self‐esteem: The degree of positive‐negative evaluation an individual holds about his/her particular situation in regard to his/her social identities.
social self‐view: An individual's perception of to which social identity groups he/she belongs.
social transition: The process of altering how one socially presents their gender. This may involve using different pronouns and minor or significant alteration of gender expression. Social transition may happen before or even without medical transition.
socialization: The process through which we become accustomed to societal norms, i.e., rules about appropriate or acceptable social identities, beliefs, and behaviors. We are bombarded by these messages even before we are born. These messages are offered by a widening social network (interpersonal, institutional, structural). Through socialization, we learn about social identity categories, such as socioeconomic status, race, assigned sex, gender, religion, health status, sexual orientation, many other social identity categories, as well as the boundaries of human worth and value.
SOFFA: Acronym for Significant Others, Friends, Families, and Allies of transgender individuals.
solidarity: Unity or agreement based on shared interests and objectives; long-term mutual support within and between groups.
spotlighting: The practice of inequitably calling attention to particular social groups in language, while leaving others as the invisible, de facto norm. For example: "black male suspect" (versus "male suspect," presumed white); "WNBA" (as opposed to "NBA," presumed male); “female senator” (versus “senator”, presumed male).
status (social status): An individual’s position, often relative to others, in a group or society as characterized by certain benefits and responsibilities as determined by an individual’s rank and role.
stealth: This refers to a person who has socially and/or medically transitioned from their sex assigned at birth and does not disclose their past, presenting only as their true gender. Often this involves disassociating from people who know their history.
stereotype: An exaggerated belief, image, or distorted truth about a person or group that is widespread - a generalization that allows for little or no individual differences or social variation. Stereotypes are based on images in mass media or representations passed on by parents, peers, and other members of society. Though stereotypes can be positive and negative, they all have negative effects because they support institutionalized oppression by validating oversimplified beliefs that are often not based on facts.
stereotype threat: A situational predicament in which a people are or feel themselves to be at risk of confirming a stereotype about their social group.
stigma: The social phenomenon or process whereby individuals that are taken to be different in some way are rejected by the greater society in with they live based on that difference; 2. (noun) Labels that associate people with unfavorable or disapproved behavior and characteristics.
stigmatization: The marking, labeling, or spoiling of an identity, which leads to ostracism, marginalization, discrimination, and abuse.
structural inequality: Systemic disadvantage(s) of one social group compared to other groups, rooted and perpetuated through discriminatory practices (conscious or unconscious) that are reinforced through institutions, ideologies, representations, policies/laws, and practices. When this kind of inequalities is related to racial/ethnic discrimination is referred to as systemic or structural racism.
subordination: The experience of social dispossession, dislocation, and disempowerment relative to a dominant social group. This experience of being seen as “less than” or “minoritized” can often be rendered invisible and seen as a “natural order.”
substantially limiting: The determination of whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity requires an individualized assessment, and an impairment that is episodic or in remission may also meet the definition of disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active.
supremacy: The superiority of one group of people over other groups of people through a system of domination and subordination.
Survivor: A term used to refer to someone who has gone through the recovery process, or when discussing the short- or long-term effects of sexual violence. Some people identify as a victim, while others prefer the term survivor. The best way to be respectful is to ask for their preference.
system of oppression: Conscious and unconscious, non‐random, and organized harassment, discrimination, exploitation, discrimination, prejudice, and other forms of unequal treatment that impact different groups.
third gender: Someone whose gender identity is not man or woman, but some other gender outside of the binary.
tolerance: Acceptance and open‐mindedness to different practices, attitudes, and cultures; does not necessarily mean agreement with the differences.
tokenism: Hiring or seeking to have representation such as a few women and/or racial or ethnic minority persons so as to appear inclusive while remaining mono-cultural.
transculturation: The process by which a person adjusts to another cultural environment without sacrificing their own cultural identity.
transformative learning: The expansion of awareness through the evolution of individual worldviews and perceptions of oneself. Transformative learning is facilitated through consciously directed processes such as accessing new information and frameworks and critically analyzing underlying premises.
transgender: An umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. Trans is sometimes used as a shorthand for transgender. Not everyone whose appearance or behavior is gender-nonconforming will identify as a transgender person.
transition: The process trans people may go through to become comfortable in terms of their gender. Transitioning may include social, physical, mental, and emotional components.
transmisogyny: The intersection of transphobia and misogyny. Defined as the irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against transgender people. Transmisogyny is often directed at transwomen in particular.
transphobia: The fear or hatred of persons perceived to be transgender and/or transsexual.
transsexual: An older term that originated in the medical and psychological communities. Still preferred by some people who have permanently changed - or seek to change - their bodies through medical interventions, including but not limited to hormones and/or surgeries. Unlike transgender, transsexual is not an umbrella term. Many transgender people do not identify as transsexual and prefer the word transgender. It is best to ask which term a person prefers. If preferred, use as an adjective: transsexual woman or transsexual man.
Two Spirit: A Native American term for individuals who identify both as male and female. In western culture these individuals are identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered.
underprivileged: Not having the same standard of living or rights as the majority of people in a society.
underrepresented communities: Consist of individuals holding identities broadly underrepresented or underserved within an institution or field.
underutilization - The condition of having fewer protected group members in a particular job classification than would be reasonably expected by their availability in the labor force.
undue hardship: An action requiring significant difficulty or expense by the University.
undocumented: A foreign-born person living in the United States without legal citizenship status.
undocumented student: School-aged immigrants who entered the United States without inspection/overstayed their visas and are present in the United States with or without their parents. They face unique legal uncertainties and limitations within the United States educational system.
union: A formal organization of workers that is formed to protect the rights of its members; a joining together of many things into one.
unisex: Clothing, behaviors, thoughts, feelings, relationships, etc., which are considered appropriate for members of any gender/sex.
universal design: The process of creating products that are usable by people with the widest possible range of abilities, operating within the widest possible range of situations; whereas, accessibility primarily refers to design for people with disabilities.
UPstander: A person who chooses to take positive action in the face of injustice in society or in situations in which individuals need personal assistance; the opposite of a bystander.
upward mobility (upward social mobility): An individual’s or group’s (e.g., family) rise within the hierarchy that increases their level of class, power, or status.
white privilege: Refers to the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white; an exemption of social, political, and/or economic burdens placed on non-white people; benefitting from societal structuring that prioritizes white people and whiteness. Generally, white people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it.
This document has been adapted from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Glossary from University of Pittsburgh Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and using information from:
https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/education/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-glossary
https://omsa.vcu.edu/resources/glossary-of-diversity-terms/
www.law.cornell.edu/wex/affirmative_action
www.thesafezoneproject.com/resources/vocabulary/www.ada.gov/
www.chegg.com/homework-help/definitions/assimilation-49culture
www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/biaswww.mypronouns.org/what-and-why
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Local EDI Events
Join Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) and Citizen-Powered Media as we celebrate Patrons that are providing positive influences in the areas of culture, business, and leadership in El Paso County. These local leaders will discuss their shared interest and experiences on how Diverse Voices strengthen organizations and communities. Register for In-Person or Livestream
May is Jewish American Heritage Month where we “call upon all Americans to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities and ceremonies.” – President Biden
National Foster Care Month campaign recognizes the important role that members from all parts of child welfare play in supporting children, youth, and families. This year’s theme, “Strengthening Minds. Uplifting Families.” highlights the need to take a holistic and culturally responsive approach to supporting the mental health needs of those involved with child welfare.
“Cyclists have a duty to each other to create and encourage a sense of belonging regardless of background and race.” - Kecia McCullough leader of the Black Girls Do Bike chapter in Rochester, NY.
National Week of Making is celebrated every year from June 17 to June 23. This week celebrates the innovations in science, technology, engineering, art, and math, as well as the individuals who contribute to the Maker Movement. The term ‘making’ refers to the creative aspects of textile art, metalworking, woodworking, drawing, digital fabrication, and more!
No matter how different we may seem, our national flag binds us into one strong force. On June 14th, celebrate Flag Day with PPLD as we recognize this symbol of our national pride, our honored history, and our eternal freedom. Stop by your local library during the week of June 12-17 to pick up a flag pin to celebrate this wonderful day with us. While supplies last.
Meet 21 incredible figures with a variety of mental health conditions from throughout history right up to the present day.
This beautifully illustrated book provides new perspectives on life in the West from the 1840s to the 1920s, as well as on the Jewish experience in America.
The author discusses the unique challenges faced by African American youth in foster homes and provides lessons on how to live independently.
A best-of anthology of contemporary art comics, along with some classic comic strips and other historical materials that have retained a "modern" sensibility.
A trailblazer in the world of women's racing and motorcycling, Bessie Stringfield was a figure who will inspire all children to pursue their dreams.
A counseling psychologist who specializes in masculinity studies, explains the counseling method he developed for improving men's regulation of their thoughts, emotions, and actions.
Estrella learns about her Cuban and Jewish heritage as she helps her aunt move from her Miami apartment to an assisted living community.
Focusing intensely on a few foster families who are deeply invested in the system's success, To the End of June is essential for humanizing and challenging a broken system, while at the same time it is a tribute to resiliency and offers hope for real change.
For the first time ever, the inspiring, infuriating, and utterly insane story of comics, graphic novels, and manga is presented in comic book form!
In worlds where bicycle rides bring luck, a minotaur needs a bicycle, and werewolves stalk the post-apocalyptic landscape, nobody has time to question gender.
Today marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month, where we aim to raise awareness, fight stigmas, and prioritize the importance of Marines’ emotional, psychological, and social well-being.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month in the U.S. - commemorating over 350 amazing years of Jewish history in America.
May is National Foster Care month. Learn the joys and importance of being a Foster parent and the difference they make in the life of a child.
Free Comic Book Day is the first Saturday in May. It's an International Event that celebrates comic books and the local comic shops that provide them to their communities.
Are you ready to ride? Join us for Bike Month in May 2023.