Liza Mundy’s Post

ICYMI CNN quietly disbanded its Race and Equality Team this week according to whatimreading.net, a newsletter written by journalist Phil Lewis. The team was initially created in the aftermath of the 2020 police killing of George Floyd to represent CNN’s “significant and sustained commitment” to race coverage as a permanent part of their journalism. The team, which had 3 reporters (Delano Massey, Nicquel Terry Ellis and Chandelis Duster), produced award-winning coverage on police brutality, Black maternal mortality, and other pertinent topics impacting the Black community. This disbandment was part of an organizational restructuring effort that, unfortunately, saw 100 employees impacted. A CNN spokesperson speaking to Lewis however denied that the R&E Team was “disbanded”, and explained that instead of the team existing within an “organizational silo,” the reporters will now be integrated “fully and completely” across CNN’s platforms. I don’t want us to get bogged down in the semantics of what happened to their R&E Team and miss the bigger picture here 👉🏾 the anti-DEI backlash is real and continues to manifest in real ways in real time. We’ve seen numerous companies and organizations who pledged to take action during the so-called “racial reckoning,” backtrack on those pledges in one way or another. For example, 2 weeks ago the Tractor Supply Company eliminated its #DEI initiatives after conservative backlash from its customer base (as reported by CNN ironically https://lnkd.in/e8n3T8Dw) Tractor Supply will stop sponsoring activities like pride festivals and voting campaigns, will cut DEI roles, and retire current DEI goals, but says it will still ensure a respectful environment…um ok, but how? 🤔 Same with CNN. They say they’re still 100% committed, but don’t explain how or what that’s going to look like now that they don’t have a specific team overseeing this. Also, it’s a little concerning that an organization that has 37 editorial operations around the world and around 4,000 employees worldwide, only has 2 reporters dedicated to race and equality coverage. The math is not mathing at all 😩 As the anti-DEI backlash continues to gain momentum and goes into overdrive in anticipation of the November Presidential election, we’re going to continue to see organizations and companies backtrack, flip flop, about-face, reverse and 180 their way out of their 2020 commitments and pledges. The problem with acquiescing to the defund DEI/curtail CRT/hide history/weaponize woke movement is that racism, sexism, homophobia, workplace sexual harassment, discrimination, biases, microaggressions aren’t going to eliminate themselves. Without thoughtful policies, impactful education and programs, and participation by leaders at companies, long-standing problems are only going to become exacerbated, and as a result the human and financial costs will be astronomical.

As DEI professionals fight to preserve their programs & to bear the constant attacks on their mission, we find another example of an old White man lamenting how "identity & race" are being placed as "paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace." Let us clear some things up: ✅ Race and identity have ALWAYS been paramount in the workplace. The issue for those with White supremacist views is that the race & identity which have been historically centered, White males, no longer are the sole focus of the workplace, even though they still hold the VAST majority of positions of power across industries. And as a result, these White male supremacists ramble on about "identity politics" ruining the workplace, when they benefited for hundreds of years, & continue to do so, from those same identity politics. ✅ The notion of a liberal bias is a myth. We are no longer dealing with liberal vs. conservative viewpoints. We are now dealing with pro-democracy vs. fascist viewpoints. Facts vs. misinformation. Similar to the 1960s, which was about pro-civil rights viewpoints vs. racist segregationist viewpoints, both viewpoints (pro-democracy vs. fascist) should not be given equal coverage or validation. If your viewpoint refuses to acknowledge the humanity of Black people & other people of color, especially immigrants, transgender children, and women seeking an abortion, then it is not a viewpoint that should truly be weighted the same as one which acknowledges the humanity of all. Stop the "we need to hear both sides" argument, when one side favors racism, fascism, & taking away rights from women. ✅ It seems to always be convenient for those with a White supremacy ideology to attack people of color for the reason that "quality" has gone down, as the author has seemingly done in his essay. They tend to always ignore the research that more diverse teams are consistently more productive & creative than homogeneous ones. ✅ It is embarrassing & appalling in 2024 that a so called journalist could ask the question "Is American beset by systemic racism?," & then suggests that NPR should have gone about investigating this question, rather than taking steps to eradicate it. If you wish to be willfully ignorant to the documented systemic racism found in our schools, housing, healthcare, and workplaces over hundreds of years, that is your prerogative, but to act as if it still needs to be proven is racial gaslighting at its worst. The work of DEI professionals is made even more difficult by individuals such as the author of the essay criticizing NPR, an individual who cares more about "viewpoint diversity" than racial or gender diversity. Who clearly doesn't believe in DEI. He would rather have a workplace full of White men from across the political spectrum than make room for individuals from different racial or gender backgrounds. But we will not be deterred & we will continue to work for justice, equity, & inclusion. #dei #leadership

Absolutely!🎯 There are countless reasons why Black women in the room should not just be storytellers but involved in decision-making processes. We bring an unparalleled perspective that is deeply shaped by our unique lived experiences, which are often influenced by factors such as race and gender. It's crucial to have us as decision-makers because this ensures that our voices, concerns, and needs are heard, represented, and taken into account. This is fundamental to achieving genuine diversity and inclusivity.

If you don’t already follow Geena Davis, consider adding her institute to your resource list! Now let’s talk about how to navigate these stats of how women’s voices are perceived https://lnkd.in/e9r5VMf5

thanks EUPRERA & Tasos Theofilou for inviting me to talk about my research on Betty Stewart and share some thoughts on writing women into PR history you can watch via the link below #EUPRERAtalks

Did you know the Pew Research Group stumbled upon the fact that Black, college-educated women read the most books? Of course, they never followed up to determine why. In 2018, I conducted my own study. I wanted to know: 1. what we were reading 2. why we read 3. our favorite genres 3. which social media platforms we prefer and more. If you're a Black woman in America, please take some time to complete this survey. The results will be used to help authors craft marketing campaigns to reach their audience. The results will be revealed on June 14 at the Write for 3C Conference. Thanks so much! And please share! The more responses we receive, the better we help our authors. #blackauthors #bookmarketing #blackwomenhistorymonth

On 6 March our Ipsos UK Chief Executive, Kelly Beaver MBE, joined Julia Gillard, Australia's first - and only - female Prime Minister and Chair of the King's Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King’s College London and CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour for a special event to mark #InternationalWomensDay. Kelly took us through our latest global survey findings which revealed that nearly 1 in 2 Britons (47%) say women’s equality has gone far enough and that 60% of Gen Z men across 31 countries think women’s equality discriminates against men. Gender equality can only become a reality if both men and women buy into the advantages of re-imagining the workplace so that it becomes more family friendly for all, not a competition between genders, but our research found that a majority of men now believe gender equality has gone too far. Watch the replay and take a look at our survey here https://lnkd.in/eCzf-Fit #IWD2004 #GenderEquality #InspireInclusion #AmanpourIWD

Our Ipsos UK Chief Executive, Kelly Beaver MBE, recently participated in a special event alongside Australia's first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, Chair of the King's Global Institute for Women's Leadership and CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour at King’s College London to celebrate #InternationalWomensDay. During the event, Kelly shared insights from our latest global survey, which revealed that almost half of Britons believe women's equality has reached its peak, and 60% of Gen Z men in 31 countries feel that women's equality discriminates against men. Achieving gender equality requires the support of both men and women in re-imagining the workplace to be more family-friendly for everyone. However, our research shows that a majority of men feel that gender equality has been taken too far. This suggests there needs to be an ongoing national conversation about the practicalities of achieving true equality and how barriers to change can be broken down without alienating half of the population. You can watch the replay of the event and explore our survey findings here: https://lnkd.in/ecW-_uAv #IWD2004 #GenderEquality #InspireInclusion #AmanpourIWD

Popular history—the kind of books you can buy at an airport or your local bookstore—is mostly written by men. And what do they tend to focus on more than anything else? Other men. One study from Slate Magazine (2016) found that among works of popular history in 2015, 75% were authored by men, and over 70% of biographies focused on male subjects. Let’s get more women in the spotlight. For this year’s #WomensHistoryMonth, we invite you to join us to learn more about women who impacted the world around them—regardless of whether they’ve been the focus of a bestseller on The New York Times list. In the coming weeks, we’ll spotlight several of our favorite female writers, educators, and activists here on social media. But for now, we encourage you to explore this teacher’s guide from the Library of Congress, which includes lesson plans and free resources on a variety of topics: https://lnkd.in/ezwiThTB And if you’d like to read Slate Magazine’s full study on gender and popular history books, you can do so here: https://lnkd.in/eNSRRcJv #highered