An American Family Returns to the Table; New York Times, 1/28/14

Stuart Elliott, New York Times; An American Family Returns to the Table:

"A brand that garnered brickbats — and bouquets — last year for its take on modern family life is returning with another 30-second parable about diversity, this time during Super Bowl XLVIII, the year’s biggest showcase for advertising.

The brand is Cheerios cereal, which introduced in May a commercial featuring an interracial family that unexpectedly generated an outpouring of vituperative online remarks. Instead of shying away from the controversy, the maker of Cheerios, General Mills, has decided to bring out a sequel during this Sunday’s championship game, probably in the first half."

U.S. Is Becoming More Diverse, But Is The Online Population?; NPR, 1/20/14

NPR; U.S. Is Becoming More Diverse, But Is The Online Population? :

"According to a National Science Foundation study, only five percent of scientists and engineers in the U.S. are African-American. Host Michel Martin speaks with Freeman Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County about the challenges blacks face in the tech world. They're joined by Silicon Valley techie Ayori Selassie and digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong. This segment originally aired Nov. 27, 2013 on Tell Me More."...

MARTIN: Your tour is called Dream, Create, Go! - what do you see as the biggest challenge facing black students in particular? We're focusing on that today.

ARMSTRONG: You know what's interesting? I see this huge appetite. Kids want to go into these fields. The problem that I see quite often is that there's a disconnect between connecting why they should pursue these fields and their passions. In other words, a lot of times, I see people wanting to push technology down kids throats and get them to try to fulfill these pipeline issues. Where I think if you take a different approach, which we do on our show, is we try to find out what are kids' passions?And how do we tie - I call it STEAM 'cause we do add arts into this - STEAM - how do we tie that to their passions? Thereby giving them relevancy to wanting to learn math. If you want to become a video game programmer, you cannot do that if you don't understand trigonometry, geometry and the basics of laws of physics. So if you can tap into a child's passion, then you peel back the layers and find out what the STEM or STEAM is in those passions.

MARTIN: Ayori, what about you? As we mentioned, you're based in San Francisco and you help aspiring tech entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to experts. What do you see as - why aren't there more African-Americans in Silicon Valley?

AYORI SELASSIE: I think it's all social. I think it's all about community and how people gain exposure and how people gain support in those communities. So particularly in the Africa-American community, we've had - we've suffered from the digital divide for a long time. Now we see that closing with mobile devices and things of that nature, but that divide has affected our communities and our society until this point. And so parents are particularly unprepared to handle their children and to support their children in STEAM and STEM - STEM especially. And so we really need to address that social issue and help in that area."

Sochi 2014: No gay people in city, says mayor; BBC News, 1/26/14

BBC News; Sochi 2014: No gay people in city, says mayor:

"The mayor of Sochi, host of the Winter Olympics, has said there are no gay people in the city.

Anatoly Pakhomov said homosexuals were welcome at the Games - as long as they "respect Russian law" and "don't impose their habits on others".

Olympic Sponsors Were Warned About Sochi; Now McDonald's and Coca-Cola Are Having a PR Nightmare; HuffingtonPost.com, 1/28/14

Michelangelo Signorile, HuffingtonPost.com; Olympic Sponsors Were Warned About Sochi; Now McDonald's and Coca-Cola Are Having a PR Nightmare:

"LGBT people are not having it anymore. And apparently American multinational corporations had not realized that. They can offer their nondiscrimination policies, domestic partnership benefits and sponsorship of Pride events in the U.S. as evidence that they care about LGBT rights, but that's no longer enough. With the Winter Olympics in Sochi, LGBT activists are making it clear that American companies can no longer get away with tacitly supporting foreign regimes that are brutalizing LGBT people. The backlash against such companies is probably only just beginning and will last long after Sochi."

Sponsors of Sochi Olympics find themselves drawn into battle over gay rights in Russia; New York Times via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/28/14

Stuart Elliott, New York Times via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Sponsors of Sochi Olympics find themselves drawn into battle over gay rights in Russia:

“We’re a brand that has always been about inclusion and diversity,” Katie Bayne, president for North America brands at the Coca-Cola North America unit of the Coca-Cola Co., said in a telephone interview Monday. “We’re convinced, as we talk about Coke standing for inclusion, it’s the best way to go.”...

“We are aware that some activists are targeting Olympic sponsors to voice their concerns regarding the Russia LGBT legislation,” the statement continued. “McDonald’s supports human rights, the spirit of the Olympics and all the athletes who’ve worked so hard to compete in the Games. We believe the Olympic Games should be open to all, free of discrimination, and that applies to spectators, officials, media and athletes.”

The activists do not seem mollified. On Twitter on Monday, Queer Nation NY expanded its efforts to appropriate #CheersToSochi to include sponsors like Procter & Gamble and Visa. The organization posted a photograph of Russian protesters being arrested with the comment “Use @Visa for your bail!”

Antonio Lucio, chief brand officer at Visa, said in a recent interview that Visa executives “support the highest ideals of the Olympic movement, which include inclusion.”"

Corporate training boot camp; 60 Minutes, 1/26/14

60 Minutes; Corporate training boot camp:

"Go inside the classroom of Year Up -- a year long jobs training boot camp for some of the country's most disadvantaged young people"

Jason Collins among Michelle Obama's guests at state of the union address; Guardian, 1/27/14

Dan Roberts, Guardian; Jason Collins among Michelle Obama's guests at state of the union address:

"Jason Collins, the first male player in major US team sports to come out openly as gay, is among a clutch of guests the White House has invited to join Michelle Obama's box to watch the state of the union address on Tuesday.

President Obama said he “couldn’t be prouder” of the 35-year-old basketball player when he came out April and has been more vocal on gay rights since his re-election last November.

In a statement, the White House praised Collins, who has played for six NBA teams including the Boston Celtics, as “a point of progress for the LGBT community, and one more step in America’s goal to treat everyone fairly and with respect”.

Shonda Rhimes Talks Diversity Award, Is 'Kind Of Pissed' That There Needs To Be An Award; HuffingtonPost.com, 1/27/14

HuffingtonPost.com; Shonda Rhimes Talks Diversity Award, Is 'Kind Of Pissed' That There Needs To Be An Award:

"This past Saturday (Jan. 25), Shonda Rhimes and "Scandal" executive producer Betsy Beers received a Diversity Award from the Directors Guild of America.

So how does Rhimes feel about being honored in such a way? Not too great.

“When I heard I was getting a Diversity Award, I was really, truly, profoundly honored ... but I was also a little pissed off,” Rhimes said, according to EW. “So was Betsy. So over many, many, many bottles of wine we discussed this.”

“We’re a little pissed off because there still needs to be an award. Like, there’s such a lack of people hiring women and minorities that when someone does it on a regular basis, they are given an award.""

Cracking the Code That Stalls People of Color; Harvard Business Review, 1/22/14

Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Harvard Business Review; Cracking the Code That Stalls People of Color:

"It’s a topic which corporations once routinely ignored, then dismissed, and are only now beginning to discuss: the dearth of professionals of color in senior positions. Professionals of color hold only 11% of executive posts in corporate America. Among Fortune 500 CEOs, only six are black, eight are Asian, and eight are Hispanic.

Performance, hard work, and sponsors get top talent recognized and promoted, but “leadership potential” isn’t enough to lever men and women into the executive suite. Top jobs are given to those who also look and act the part, who manifest “executive presence” (EP). According to new CTI research (PDF), EP constitutes 26% of what senior leaders say it takes to get the next promotion. Yet because senior leaders are overwhelmingly Caucasian, professionals of color (African-American, Asian, and Hispanic individuals) find themselves at an immediate disadvantage in trying to look, sound, and act like a leader. And the feedback that might help them do so is markedly absent at all levels of management.

EP rests on three pillars: gravitas (the core characteristic, according to 67% of the 268 senior executives surveyed), an amalgam of behaviors that convey confidence, inspire trust, and bolster credibility; communication skills (according to 28%); and appearance, the filter through which communication skills and gravitas become more apparent. While they are aware of the importance of executive presence, men and women of color are nonetheless hard-pressed to interpret and embody aspects of a code written by and for white men."

The downside of diversity; Economist's Schumpeter's Notebook, 1/21/14

Economist's Schumpeter's Notebook; The downside of diversity:

"It is far too easy to present “diversity” in one-sided terms: as a triumph of enlightenment over bigotry and creativity over closed-mindedness. But the subject is too important to be left to the cliché-mongers. Diversity can bring risks as well as benefits and perils as well as perks. There are trade-offs to be made, for example between the trust that comes from sharing a common background and the cultural sensitivity that comes from employing people from different parts of the word.

Roy Y.J .Chua, of Harvard Business School, is one of the few academics to produce serious studies of this subject. Mr Chua agrees that in a world of multinational corporations and global product markets success depends more than ever on your ability to foster multicultural thinking and cross-border collaboration. But in a paper in the current issue of the Academy of Management Journal (“The Costs of Ambient Cultural Disharmony: Indirect Intercultural Conflict in Social Environment Undermine Creativity") he goes on to note that getting people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds to co-operate is fraught with difficulties. At best differences in world-view and cultural styles can produce “intercultural anxiety”, at worst outright conflict. The very thing that can produce added creativity—the collision of different cultures—can also produce friction. The question is whether the creativity is worth the conflict...

“Ambient cultural disharmony” persuades people to give up on making such connections because they conclude that it is not worth the trouble.

Mr Chua also says that “ambient cultural disharmony” has its strongest impact on people who regard themselves as open-minded. Closed-minded people expect cultural tensions. Open-minded people don’t expect them and so react to them more strongly."

Oblivious: Black people love Pittsburgh, too, but can’t help but wonder how much Pittsburgh loves them; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/19/14

Damon Young, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Oblivious: Black people love Pittsburgh, too, but can’t help but wonder how much Pittsburgh loves them:

For black Pittsburghers, though, an annoying bit of ambivalence has a tendency to attach itself to this civic pride. Even as we boast about living in America’s “Most Livable” or “Most Welcoming” city, we question whether it is truly livable for and welcoming to us. This is largely due to the fact that Pittsburgh’s relationship with its Yinzers of color has always been, for lack of a better term, complex. When you read “Pittsburgh is a wonderful city that doesn’t even see the mirror,” you can’t help but continue “ … and it doesn’t see its black people, either.”...What do I mean by “oblivious”? Well, let me put it this way: Between contributing writers and editors, there were (at least) a dozen different eyes that had a hand in creating this list. Apparently none of them thought to say “Um, guys. Not to be a stickler or anything, but out of all the black people in Pittsburgh, don’t you think it’s a little odd that the lone black person we named happens to be a basketball player? Feels kinda, um, stereotypical or something, doesn’t it?” I’m no idealist. I don’t expect some technicolor post-racial utopia here. Or anywhere else, for that matter. I don’t even want that. But, when it comes to recognizing the contributions of a demographic that comprises 26 percent of Pittsburgh’s population — a demographic that wants to love the city as much as the city loves itself — I do want one thing. An effort.

2014 awards season: Does diversity matter more than wins?; CNN.com, 1/16/14

Lisa Respers France, CNN.com; 2014 awards season: Does diversity matter more than wins? :

This year's roster of awards show nominees are more diverse than has probably ever before been seen in Hollywood. Films featuring mostly African-American casts such as "12 Years a Slave," "Fruitvale Station," "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" and "Lee Daniels' The Butler" have seen both their projects and their actors rack up plenty of critical praise and some nominations. But does diversity really count if a film or its stars are passed over for the win?...

Jeff Friday is founder and chief executive officer of Film Life, Inc., which sponsors the annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF). He said that while this season has turned out to be "a phenomenal year as it relates to diversity in cinema," that doesn't ensure those films will be noted...

"Hollywood is an industry about mass consumption and mass acceptance, but the people who pick the best are always a very small, monolithic group, so we don't have a voice," Friday said. "We should be proud of being nominated, but let's not have the illusion of inclusion."

Andrew Haigh And Michael Lannan, 'Looking' Creators, Address Racial Diversity On HBO Show; HuffingtonPost.com, 1/18/14

HuffingtonPost.com; Andrew Haigh And Michael Lannan, 'Looking' Creators, Address Racial Diversity On HBO Show:

The latest show about and aimed at catching the eyes of the gay community, HBO's "Looking," is set to hit the small screen on Sunday, January 19. The series has already garnered attention even before its debut with buzz about its promise to depict "the realities of gay sex" and comparisons to another HBO show, "Girls." And as with "Girls," which faced major backlash for what many people claimed was a frustrating lack of diversity, some have questioned whether "Looking" will go far enough in presenting diverse representations of the queer community...

We have two very prominent Latin characters. We have an African-American character. We have an Asian-American character, so I think we are dealing with different ethnicities," Haigh said. "There's always a limit to what you can put in a half-hour show and we've never tried to represent the whole of the LGBT community because it's an enormous community made up of lots of different elements.

The Case for Hiring “Outlier” Employees; Harvard Business Review, 1/13/14

Robert D. Austin and Thorkil Sonne; Harvard Business Review; The Case for Hiring “Outlier” Employees: "A few months ago, software giant SAP announced plans to hire 650 new employees with autism. Yes, autism—even though people on what’s known as the “autism spectrum” are often seen as unemployable. They typically have trouble interacting with others and tend to engage in repetitive behaviors. Only 15% have full-time jobs. But this is no charitable gesture on SAP’s part. The company knows that some people with autism have an exceptional ability to focus on the repetitive, detailed work of software testing... Most companies don’t perceive the value of people with autism—or, for that matter, the value of other people who think or behave differently. Managers are unaware that outliers can create enormous value if they’re placed into environments that maximize their ability to contribute... Human society can’t afford to set aside people who are different. Their perspectives are desperately needed if we are to innovate our way through today’s global challenges."

Sasheer Zamata Joins 'SNL' Cast Amid Controversy Over Black Women; HuffingtonPost.com, 1/6/14

Ross Luippold, HuffingtonPost.com; Sasheer Zamata Joins 'SNL' Cast Amid Controversy Over Black Women: ""Saturday Night Live" will add Sasheer Zamata to its cast this month, according to a spokesperson for the show. Deadline first broke the news that Zamata will join the cast after months of press surrounding the lack of black women on the NBC sketch program... "SNL" currently has no black women in the cast, a fact that received criticism from the press as well as within its own cast."