The following excerpt was taken from Religion and Development: A Practitioner's' Guide organized by the Knowledge Center of Religion and Development in Holland. Corrie Van Der Ven from Kerk in Actie (Church in Action) discusses eloquently a perspective on identity that I think needs to be broadcast and seriously considered in the field and scope of our lives.
... our identity cannot be reduced to only one aspect. And that identities are not solidified. Our identity is made up of a multitude of facets. And they change over the years. I also learned that identities are manipulated. Sometimes people deliberately put unilateral or solidified or disqualifying labels on others. Our colleagues call that identity politics: conscious labelling to exclude or include people, and all for their own political or financial gain. Does the Muslim exist? Does the Christian exist? Or the Dutchman? No, of course not. Whoever says so, commits identity politics and tries to exclude people. The opposite of this is pluralism. It does not stand for relativism, but for hybridity. As an individual we have a hybrid, mixed identity and should not be pinned down to only one facet of our identity.”
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Predispositions and the experiences that followed cultivated an appreciation for diversity early in my life. I’m not talking exclusively about demographic diversity either, but also about the breadth of life that can shape and propel us forward. The arts were and still are a great instrument through which traditional and non-traditional notions of diversity can be introduced and absorbed.
The current discourse about diversity in the media and many times in terms of organizational capacity leaves me desperately wanting more. I’m at a place in my personal development and in my leadership journey where I’m more interested in being a catalyst which sparks from within people that which supersedes and that which transcends today’s diversity discourse of race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. I’m interested UNITY. How do we with reasonable and fair consideration for diversity tangibly practice unity? How do we practice unity in our lives? Discovering and exemplifying the answers to these questions is where we need to go. And go now. Throughout this blog, I will try to post ideas and/or tangible ways in which we can practice unity in our everyday lives with the hashtag #practiceUNITY. |
AuthorWelcome. After years as a manager in the education field, I accepted an invitation in 2014 to serve with the U.S. Peace Corps in Africa in the Youth Development sector. There have been no regrets. Disclaimer: The contents of this site and opinions expressed therein are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Peace Corps, the US Government, or the Kingdom of Morocco.
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