A gift for educators, activists, and those new to the issue, Deep Diversity boldly reimagines how we can teach and achieve racial justice. For readers of Bren� Brown and Malcolm Gladwell."Shakil is a rare jewel in the work of what it means to heal, repair, and take responsibility...This book is required reading for anyone interested in building a loving, just and diverse world."
--Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, Zen teacher & author of Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake UpRacial justice without shame or blame.Road-tested tools to start making a difference today.In Deep Diversity, award-winning racial justice educator Shakil Choudhury explores the emotionally loaded topic of racism using a compassionate, scientific approach that everyone can understand--whether you are Black, Indigenous, a person of color (BIPOC), or white.With clear language and engaging stories, Choudhury explains how and why well-intentioned people can perpetuate systems of oppression, often unconsciously. Using a trauma-informed approach that removes shame or blame, he offers us the tools to recognize, take authentic responsibility, and enact deep change. In easy-to-absorb chapters, Choudhury interweaves research into the brain and studies on human behavior with hard-won lessons from his career of helping organizations and CEOs create more inclusive environments. He models vulnerability and mistake-making, sharing examples of his own bias-missteps so readers are encouraged into their own racial justice journey without judgment.Readers will come away from the book with practical tools and an understanding of: How to becomes a systems thinker by developing "racial pattern recognition" skills in order to challenge racism and other forms of systemic discrimination when we encounter them, while minimizing the tendency to shame or blame ourselves or others.How to recognize when the unconscious influence of bias, identity, emotions, or power contradict our beliefs about equality, and how to realign our thoughts/words/actions.How to break the racial "prejudice habits" we have all been socialized into since birth, using research-based strategies. How the rise in authoritarianism and income inequality (among other factors) contribute to a rise in hate crimes and racial discrimination, and what to do about it.Traditional approaches to anti-racism overly rely on analyzing history to explain systemic discrimination, which only tells us a part of the story. What's missing, Choudhury