Justice is fairness – How do we create fairness without understanding different cultures.

To build a successful multi social justice organization it is necessary to include a diverse set of individuals in the planning details of organizations. To do that it is important to recognize that not all cultures teach in their culture the formal “meetings” that the dominant white culture practices.

I was at a meeting with several others. In the group was a rather diverse representation of minority members in the community.
The meeting was taking place in a restaurant. When it was the Native American’s turn to present her ideas, the waiter came in and there was quite a bit of disturbing noise. In her culture – this would have been completely unacceptable. In the middle of her presentation she quit speaking and left the room.

In John Anner’s article, Urban America was described as anything but the Disney World version of a global village. I went to Disney World last year. It was fascinating to me. I loved how perfect everything appeared. Yet I recognize that it was the product of one person’s imagination and dream of his personal ideal. Even in the Epcot center, where ‘villages’ representing different countries, it was only the family oriented ideals that were presented. The negative aspects of the different cultures were not divulged. Lower standards of livings were not discussed nor illustrated. I was especially interested in the village that represented Mexico. There was so much beauty in the little boat ride through the ancient Mayan and Aztec culture. The beauty of the music and art was profound. The colors were breathtaking yet in many individual’s minds, Mexico is thought as an undesirable place unless you are looking for a cheap vacation.

It is an incredible challenge to mobilize and organize and create a society that so many different people of different cultural backgrounds can coincide, peacefully. An international city exists within almost every large metropolis within the United States. The media unites us in ways peoples in the past have been unable to be united.

Living without television for a year is reminding me of the year my sister gave up chocolate. She discovered all sorts of new flavors and still enjoyed fat ridden calorie rich foods.

Not sure I'm really accomplishing anything with this goal, but I guess I'm learning.