Tag: matter

Six Misunderstood Concepts About Diversity In The Workplace And Why They Matter?
LGBTQ, SOCIETY

Six Misunderstood Concepts About Diversity In The Workplace And Why They Matter?

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a sensitive topic. People are afraid to get things wrong or to use the wrong word. It doesn’t help that the words involved are confusing. You have probably encountered these concepts at a mandatory training session, a workplace event, or on Twitter. They often involve decades of complex scholarship being reduced down to a single word, and, as such, they can easily be misrepresented. But for any progress to be made, and for real diversity and inclusion to be achieved, getting to grips with what they actually mean is crucial. Here then are six of the most embattled concepts. You may be interested in: ‘We’re her real mum’: lesbian parents face healthcare challenges How racism and a lack of diversity can harm our workplaces CEOs are hinderin...
It’s No Laughing Matter For Millions Of Black American Women – But What Is Alopecia?
HEALTH & WELLNESS

It’s No Laughing Matter For Millions Of Black American Women – But What Is Alopecia?

The Oscar slap that overshadowed the Academy Awards ceremony was sparked by a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s lack of hair – with husband Will Smith objecting violently to comedian Chris Rock mocking the actress’s shaved head. Away from the recriminations over what could be perceived as a mean-spirited jibe and a disproportionate response, many people will sympathize with Pinkett Smith. As millions of women in the U.S. will attest, hair loss is no laughing matter. The Conversation asked dermatologist Danita Peoples of Wayne State University’s School of Medicine about alopecia and why certain forms of it can disproportionately affect Black women. 1. What is alopecia? Alopecia is a medical word that refers to hair loss generally. And there are descriptors added which can refer to where the...
When It Comes To Heart Disease The Sex Of Your Cells Matter
SCIENCE

When It Comes To Heart Disease The Sex Of Your Cells Matter

Most mammals, including humans, have two sex chromosomes, X and Y. One sex chromosome is usually inherited from each parent, and they pair up as either XX or XY in every cell of the body. People with XX chromosomes typically identify as female, and people with XY chromosomes typically identify as male. The genes on these chromosomes play a key role in development and function – including how heart disease develops. Before I became a biomedical engineer studying how sex chromosomes affect the heart, I learned about one curious function of X chromosomes in my high school science class, with the calico cat example. Female calico cats almost always have orange and black splotches of fur, because the gene that defines coat color is found on the X chromosome. When an orange cat mates with a bl...
How Far Has The Black Lives Matter Movement Come?
SOCIAL JUSTICE

How Far Has The Black Lives Matter Movement Come?

Kwasi Konadu, Colgate University and Bright Gyamfi, Northwestern University Black Lives Matter has been called the largest civil movement in U.S. history. Since 2013, local BLM chapters have formed nationwide to demand accountability for the killings of dozens of African Americans by police and others. Since the summer of 2020, when tens of millions in the U.S. and around the world marched under the “Black Lives Matter” slogan to protest a Minneapolis police officer’s murder of George Floyd, the movement has risen to a new level of prominence, funding and scrutiny. BLM has long been seen as a coordinated yet decentralized effort. Lately, the movement and its leading organizations have become more traditional and hierarchical in structure. Public opinion is also changing, as BLM chapters ...
Heading Back To The Battlefield Is Black Voters Matter
SOCIAL JUSTICE

Heading Back To The Battlefield Is Black Voters Matter

Black Voters Matter is leading a coalition of national civil rights and grassroots groups on the Freedom Ride for Voting Rights starting Saturday. Errin Haines Originally published by The 19th Since helping to deliver Democratic victories in November and January, largely on the backs of Black voters, LaTosha Brown has barely had time to catch her breath. Normally after an election, people have the space to decompress, to really get ready for the next fight, explains Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. But Brown and many of her sister Black women organizers say nothing about this moment in American politics is normal. “We haven’t had a break in four years,” she said. “Instead, it intensified. We have been fighting nonstop, because we are in extraordinary circumstances. This isn’t...
No Matter What Stage Of Life You Are In, Relationship Goals Will Be A Game Changer
BOOKS

No Matter What Stage Of Life You Are In, Relationship Goals Will Be A Game Changer

Pastor Michael Todd became a viral sensation thanks to his Relationship Goals video series. The natural next step? This wonderfully insightful book on finding (and keeping) a relationship that will make both you and God happy. Drawing on Biblical scripture, his own experiences as a husband, and the struggles faced by his parishioners, Todd offers a road map to lasting love. He also discusses his vision of single life as an opportunity to learn how to make the Lord part of our sexuality and enter the dating world with the conscious intention of finding a spouse. We were inspired by the nondenominational religious approach that sets this book apart from so many dating guides. And while Todd’s messages are serious, his writing style is down to earth and often quite funny. Relationship Goal...
Beset By Crime Colombian City Declares ‘Black Lives Matter’
SOCIAL JUSTICE

Beset By Crime Colombian City Declares ‘Black Lives Matter’

Chaotic and deadly protests have for weeks rocked the Colombian port city of Buenaventura. In mid-May some demonstrators stormed the airport, and riot police responded with force, killing three. Buenaventura’s demonstrations are a part of the massive, violent national wave of protests over increasing poverty and incessant violence in Colombia. But they actually began well before Colombia’s broader upheaval. Since early 2021, people in this majority-Black coastal city have been rising up peacefully but insistently against rampant drug trafficking, political violence and cartel infiltration. Organized crime and illicit economies are both national problems in Colombia. But in Buenaventura, a history of state neglect has allowed both to flourish unchecked, according to my academic research ...
It’s All A Matter Of Perspective – Support For Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package May Not Be As Broad As It Seems
COVID-19, POLITICS

It’s All A Matter Of Perspective – Support For Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package May Not Be As Broad As It Seems

Congress is on the verge of spending US$1.9 trillion to provide additional coronavirus relief to Americans, including $1,400 direct payments and extended unemployment benefits. Opinion polls show the bill has strong support, even among Republican voters. CC BY-NC-ND But what if you were told that this spending level represents about $15,000 for every household in the U.S.? Would that make you less likely to support it even if you like its provisions? We are accounting professors who research how the presentation of financial information affects individual judgments. Our recent work suggests it would lessen most people’s support for the spending bill. Making sense of big numbers In the Spring 2020 issue of Behavioral Research in Accounting, we published a study investigating whether indiv...
A Quantum Technology Speed Boost And The Search For Dark Matter
SCIENCE

A Quantum Technology Speed Boost And The Search For Dark Matter

Nearly a century after dark matter was first proposed to explain the motion of galaxy clusters, physicists still have no idea what it’s made of. Researchers around the world have built dozens of detectors in hopes of discovering dark matter. As a graduate student, I helped design and operate one of these detectors, aptly named HAYSTAC. But despite decades of experimental effort, scientists have yet to identify the dark matter particle. Now, the search for dark matter has received an unlikely assist from technology used in quantum computing research. In a new paper published in the journal Nature, my colleagues on the HAYSTAC team and I describe how we used a bit of quantum trickery to double the rate at which our detector can search for dark matter. Our result adds a much-needed speed bo...
Making Black Lives Matter During COVID
COVID-19

Making Black Lives Matter During COVID

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unveil the deficiencies in all of our systems, racial disparities—particularly the disproportionate number of Black people dying—top the list. The staggering statistics keep pouring in, dispelling an earlier rumor among some in Black communities that Black people are somehow immune to contracting the disease. But more importantly, the high numbers highlight the health care inequities in the United States. “Inequities have existed for generations, and it’s something we cannot ignore,” Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist says. “The disparity and mortality rate with COVID-19 are more urgent because people [can] die within a month of contracting the virus.” In Michigan, Gilchrist’s home state, the African American population is 14%. Yet, as of mid-April, ...