Amid #DemSoWhite Protests, Cory Booker Slams DNC For Lack Of Diversity Among Dec. 19 Debate Participants

Six months ago, the field of candidates vying for the Democratic presidential nomination was considered the most diverse in history. With four days before the candidate selection deadline for the Dec. 19 debate in Los Angeles, there is currently an all-white slate of six contenders who have qualified to appear on the stage.

Outraged critics of the Democratic National Committee’s qualifications criteria have been protesting the process on social media using the hashtags #DemSoWhite and #DebateSoWhite.

They are not alone in their fury.

US Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, currently one of two African American candidates in the race, is fighting to get his message heard at the upcoming debate. According to The Washington Times, he completed a nearly 800-mile, 12-county tour of Iowa on Sunday by rebuking the Democratic Party for letting “elites” and “money” decide which candidates gain the opportunity to occupy the debate stage. He’s now urging voters to include his name when pollsters call.

“Iowa never lets elites decide,” he told a crowd at his Cedar Rapids, Iowa, campaign office on Sunday. “Let’s let Iowa have another comeback story.”

So far, South Bend, Indiana Mayor and Iowa Caucus frontrunner Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Amy Klobchar of Minnesota, and billionaire Tom Steyer have qualified for the L.A. debate.

Although Booker has not been selected, he has met the required threshold of donors but does not rate when it comes to polling – either garnering 4% support in at least four polls or 6% in two early-state polls. With the Dec. 12 deadline quickly approaching, he has not been able to make the cut on a single poll.

Booker maintains that the debate standards favor candidates who can afford to run television ads. That doesn’t mean, he claims, that their candidacy reflects the true sentiments of voters in the Hawkeye State. From town halls to forums with unionists and farmers across four days, news outlets reported about Booker’s ability to connect with different segments of voters as well as his standing-ovation reception at events.

“I’m a little upset with the (Democratic National Committee) right now because they seem to be trying to make the decisions for you,” he told a Sunday afternoon crowd gathered in a Dubuque, Iowa bar.

DNC spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa told the Washington Times that the party’s debate requirements were “inclusive. She asserted that historically, candidates who have polled lower than 4% in the primary season have never been selected as the Democratic presidential nominee. “While we are legally required to have objective criteria for each debate, our qualifying criteria has stayed extremely low throughout this entire process,” she said in an emailed statement. “We’ve never seen a political party take this many steps to be inclusive.”

With that said, it still appears that the Democrats could be absent of African American candidates during primary season. With top contender Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) dropping out of the race last week and the largely unknown Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam calling it quits two weeks ago, Booker and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick are the only African Americans in the pool of 15 candidates. At this point, the former HUD secretary under Obama Julian Castro, who is Latinx, has not made the cut for the debate but Chinese businessman Andrew Yang and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), the first Samoan-American member of Congress, are reportedly on the cusp.

Politico reported that the Booker camp has announced that Harris’ exit has “triggered an outpouring of financial support.” In fact, Booker said his campaign had its best online fundraising day of his campaign on Wednesday.  Still, political observers maintain that such news will have little impact in earning him a spot on the debate stage.

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It’s Time to Rethink Diversity Hiring, Starting With Middle Management

In an era when diversity is celebrated, when corporations recognize the power of that diversity, when programs, incentives, and opportunities are put into place to expand workplace diversity, why is the human resources department often looked upon by the minority community as a career roadblock and not a pathway?

At a recent gala event for black leaders, the keynote speaker addressed this issue directly. While pushing for more inclusion in the workplace, he pleaded with the audience to do their best to bypass their HR department in order to fill more meaningful roles in their organizations with minority applicants.

Today, many HR practitioners partner with top corporate leadership to embrace minority hiring, provide educational programs for employees that advance their careers, and embed into the fabric of their company a sustained commitment to diversity. But have HR professionals done enough when we see thought leaders in the minority community questioning HR hiring practices that they perceive as falling short of ensuring long-term diversity growth?

Start with middle management

A common practice in current HR hiring is to emphasize diversity and inclusion for entry-level job applicants. This may allow corporations to “check the box” in meeting hiring goals, but by doing so, companies are setting themselves up for failure. Diversity and inclusion can only work as an institutional change embedded throughout the company and not a simple metric applied only to entry-level applicants.

Creating that change takes time and a plan. That is why this HR professional suggests that my colleagues consider expanding their current focus on entry-level hiring and seek first to fill middle-management positions with diverse candidates. In sports it’s called “building a bench.”

Concentrating on creating a diverse mid-level executive team requires a two-tiered strategy. First, by hiring experienced mid-level management, the organization builds a talent pipeline from which diverse top leadership can be selected in the future. As these mid-level executives have “grown up” within the organization, they will already be deeply versed in the company’s culture and values and primed for senior positions. Second, company leaders can invest in the future by having diverse middle management identify and mentor younger employees.

By starting in the middle of the corporate hierarchy, companies can ensure that inclusion is taking root in a fertile place, reaching down toward entry level positions while growing up toward senior titles. This will enable institutional change that is comprehensive, enduring, and apparent to any new job applicant. All this must be accomplished while taking care to support the growth and career development of existing minorities in middle management.

Take a good look in the mirror

The sad reality is there still remains subtle racism in the 21st-century workplace. In Britain, the publication of Racism at Work: The Danger of Indifference, revealed that 60% of black and 42% of Asian people have experienced racism at work (compared to just 14% of white people), with one in five (20%) experiencing verbal or physical abuse. One suspects similar numbers can be found in the United States, where racism was pervasive, open, and accepted up until the late 1960s.

Every workday, HR professionals are challenged to put down the mirrored lens that can subconsciously affect our decisions regarding who to hire based on our own characteristics, whether that is education, race, religion, or gender. It is important to recognize the potential bias that mirrored lens creates and to safeguard against its destructive effects by establishing practices and protocols that guarantee we are never indifferent to the task of creating a genuinely diverse workplace.

Companies can target establishing diverse middle management in two ways. The first is looking closely at their recruitment sources. Instead of looking at the same communities or referral sources, HR and hiring managers should look to new talent pipelines, whether that is graduate programs or partner organizations.  Leadership will need to practice skilled outreach to find and create these partnerships, to broaden a company’s reach and brand.

Secondarily, diversity in middle management can subsequently be achieved if human resources works with company leaders to highlight diversity and inclusion in their recruitment materials, including job descriptions. An attractive employee value proposition will include not only a good benefits package but will also spotlight opportunities to serve as diversity mentors. By including diversity in the corporate brand, especially in recruitment ads and job descriptions, businesses are showing the talent pool that diversity and inclusion are truly seamed into the company culture and that they want to be consistent with those values in hiring and promotion.

By starting “in the middle,” i.e., hiring or developing diverse middle management, a company has the opportunity to invest in the future of its corporate soul. But it isn’t without challenges. It requires a heightened level of self-awareness to ensure we never allow ourselves to become indifferent to the challenge or remain content with our recruitment achievements.

 

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(Angela Colon-Mahoney, VP, Human Resources at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies)

Angela Colon-Mahoney is Vice President, Human Resources at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies, a global leader at the intersection of technology and medicine where her responsibilities include strategic organizational design and attracting the best possible talent to this innovative company. Ms. Mahoney brings over 20 years of experience in attracting executive leadership to global brands such as The Estée Lauder Companies, Tyco and Unilever. Mahoney earned an MS in Organization Change Management from the New School University, and a BA of Psychology from St. John’s University.

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2sdY66w

It’s Time to Rethink Diversity Hiring, Starting With Middle Management

In an era when diversity is celebrated, when corporations recognize the power of that diversity, when programs, incentives, and opportunities are put into place to expand workplace diversity, why is the human resources department often looked upon by the minority community as a career roadblock and not a pathway?

At a recent gala event for black leaders, the keynote speaker addressed this issue directly. While pushing for more inclusion in the workplace, he pleaded with the audience to do their best to bypass their HR department in order to fill more meaningful roles in their organizations with minority applicants.

Today, many HR practitioners partner with top corporate leadership to embrace minority hiring, provide educational programs for employees that advance their careers, and embed into the fabric of their company a sustained commitment to diversity. But have HR professionals done enough when we see thought leaders in the minority community questioning HR hiring practices that they perceive as falling short of ensuring long-term diversity growth?

Start with middle management

A common practice in current HR hiring is to emphasize diversity and inclusion for entry-level job applicants. This may allow corporations to “check the box” in meeting hiring goals, but by doing so, companies are setting themselves up for failure. Diversity and inclusion can only work as an institutional change embedded throughout the company and not a simple metric applied only to entry-level applicants.

Creating that change takes time and a plan. That is why this HR professional suggests that my colleagues consider expanding their current focus on entry-level hiring and seek first to fill middle-management positions with diverse candidates. In sports it’s called “building a bench.”

Concentrating on creating a diverse mid-level executive team requires a two-tiered strategy. First, by hiring experienced mid-level management, the organization builds a talent pipeline from which diverse top leadership can be selected in the future. As these mid-level executives have “grown up” within the organization, they will already be deeply versed in the company’s culture and values and primed for senior positions. Second, company leaders can invest in the future by having diverse middle management identify and mentor younger employees.

By starting in the middle of the corporate hierarchy, companies can ensure that inclusion is taking root in a fertile place, reaching down toward entry level positions while growing up toward senior titles. This will enable institutional change that is comprehensive, enduring, and apparent to any new job applicant. All this must be accomplished while taking care to support the growth and career development of existing minorities in middle management.

Take a good look in the mirror

The sad reality is there still remains subtle racism in the 21st-century workplace. In Britain, the publication of Racism at Work: The Danger of Indifference, revealed that 60% of black and 42% of Asian people have experienced racism at work (compared to just 14% of white people), with one in five (20%) experiencing verbal or physical abuse. One suspects similar numbers can be found in the United States, where racism was pervasive, open, and accepted up until the late 1960s.

Every workday, HR professionals are challenged to put down the mirrored lens that can subconsciously affect our decisions regarding who to hire based on our own characteristics, whether that is education, race, religion, or gender. It is important to recognize the potential bias that mirrored lens creates and to safeguard against its destructive effects by establishing practices and protocols that guarantee we are never indifferent to the task of creating a genuinely diverse workplace.

Companies can target establishing diverse middle management in two ways. The first is looking closely at their recruitment sources. Instead of looking at the same communities or referral sources, HR and hiring managers should look to new talent pipelines, whether that is graduate programs or partner organizations.  Leadership will need to practice skilled outreach to find and create these partnerships, to broaden a company’s reach and brand.

Secondarily, diversity in middle management can subsequently be achieved if human resources works with company leaders to highlight diversity and inclusion in their recruitment materials, including job descriptions. An attractive employee value proposition will include not only a good benefits package but will also spotlight opportunities to serve as diversity mentors. By including diversity in the corporate brand, especially in recruitment ads and job descriptions, businesses are showing the talent pool that diversity and inclusion are truly seamed into the company culture and that they want to be consistent with those values in hiring and promotion.

By starting “in the middle,” i.e., hiring or developing diverse middle management, a company has the opportunity to invest in the future of its corporate soul. But it isn’t without challenges. It requires a heightened level of self-awareness to ensure we never allow ourselves to become indifferent to the challenge or remain content with our recruitment achievements.

 

---

(Angela Colon-Mahoney, VP, Human Resources at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies)

Angela Colon-Mahoney is Vice President, Human Resources at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies, a global leader at the intersection of technology and medicine where her responsibilities include strategic organizational design and attracting the best possible talent to this innovative company. Ms. Mahoney brings over 20 years of experience in attracting executive leadership to global brands such as The Estée Lauder Companies, Tyco and Unilever. Mahoney earned an MS in Organization Change Management from the New School University, and a BA of Psychology from St. John’s University.

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2sdY66w

Three men indicted on capital murder charges for killing Joshua Brown

Police say it was a drug deal gone bad. Now, three men have been indicted on capital murder charges for the fatal shooting of Joshua Brown, who was a witness in former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger’s murder trial.

Jacquerious Mitchell, 20, Michael Diaz Mitchell, 32, and Thaddeous Charles Green, 22, were all indicted by a Dallas County grand jury on Thursday. The Mitchells, who are related as uncle and nephew, were captured and are being held in the Dallas County Jail, each on $500,000 bail. Green is at large and considered armed and dangerous, according to The Dallas Morning News.

READ MORE: Second suspect arrested for killing of Joshua Brown, key witness in Amber Guyger trial

Brown, 28, was gunned down in Dallas on Oct. 4. Just days prior, he had testified in Guyger’s murder trial for killing Botham Jean.

Brown, who lived across the hall from Jean, tearfully recounted for jurors what he remembered from that night, Sept. 6, 2018, when off-duty officer Guyger illegally entered Jean’s apartment. Brown said he had just gotten back in from a football game and was in the hallway when he heard two people who seemingly met by surprise followed by gunshots.

Brown told jurors he initially ran but then came back to his apartment and looked from his peephole and saw Guyger talking on her cellphone before police responded. He told jurors he had just met Jean that very morning.

Since that shooting, Brown moved to another apartment complex in Dallas.

When news broke that Brown had also been murdered, there was widespread speculation that Dallas police were involved as retaliation for Brown’s testimony – which Dallas police vehemently denied.

Several days after Brown’s killing, police say they knew who they were searching for.

Both Mitchell men and Green reportedly rented a car in Alexandria, La. and drove to Dallas to rob Brown, who thought they were making a drug purchase, according to The Dallas Morning News. When the men got his apartment complex, Green reportedly got out of the rental car to talk to Brown and this is when the two men started to argue.

Jacquerious Mitchell told police that he got out of the car and Brown shot him. Mitchell said as he fell into the car, he heard two more shots.

Green reportedly got back into the car with Brown’s gun and a bag filled with marijuana, and the men fled, according to The Dallas Morning News, which quotes police affidavits. Jacquerious was dropped off at a Dallas hospital, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken into custody at Parkland Memorial Hospital. His uncle was arrested on Oct. 8.

READ MORE: Texas law enforcement group gives Botham Jean’s brother award for hugging Amber Guyger

Witnesses told police they saw a silver sedan speed away after Brown was shot. Police said a silver 2020 Kia was returned back to a car rental place in Alexandria, La. two days later.

Anyone with information about the shooting or Green’s whereabouts is being asked to contact Detective Jacob White at 214-671-3690 or jacob.white@dallascityhall.com.

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Miss South Africa wins Miss Universe 2019 competition

Nelson Mandela would be so proud.

Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa was crowned Miss Universe 2019 on Sunday after receiving excellent scores for her response to questions on social issues and what we should be teaching young girls about their value, self-being and how they have to “cement” themselves in spaces that they enter.

READ MORE: Tyler Perry Studios is hosting the 2019 Miss Universe pageant

Tunzi’s smile was as vibrant as the sun and lit up the stage.

“I think the most important thing we should be teaching young girls today is leadership. It’s something that has been lacking in young girls and women for a very long time, not because we don’t want to but because of what society has labeled women to be,” said Tunzi, who is an activist engaged in the fight against gender-based violence, according to Miss Universe. “I think we are the most powerful beings in the world and that we should be given every opportunity and that is what we should be teaching these girls, to take up space. Nothing is as important as taking up space and cementing yourself.”

Tunzi also impressed the judges with the way she worked her swimsuit and evening gown apparel and said she wanted to be Miss Universe because: “I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered to be beautiful. I think it is time that that stops today. I want children to look at me and see my face and I want them to see their faces reflected in mine.”

The two runners up – Miss Mexico and Miss Puerto Rico – also received high marks for their thoughtful responses to the question of why they should be selected as Miss Universe.

Sofía Aragón of Mexico told the judges that “if you do not use your beauty for your life’s mission, it’s just an empty ornament.”

Madison Anderson, who represented Puerto Rico, said the pageant helped her find her passion.

“Being on the Miss Universe stage is not just a dream” Anderson said. “I believe that I found my mission. It’s a representation of dedication, resilience, and perseverance. I do believe my mission is to show the world that magic happens when we refuse to give up because the universe always listens to a stubborn heart.”

The pageant, in all of its splendor, was held at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta and Steve Harvey hosted the affair for his fifth year. The pageant made history from the onset with Miss Myanmar, Swe Zin Htet, declaring she is the competition’s first openly gay contestant.

READ MORE: Miss South Africa beats out stiff competition to become Miss Universe 2017

In a video, last year’s winner, Catriona Gray from the Philippines, told the contestants that her reign as Miss Universe over the past year had been “unforgettable, life-changing and purposeful.”

“We’re getting this amazing platform to voice the things we’re passionate about, the things we care about,” Gray said. “I always had a voice, but Miss Universe allowed me to amplify it.”

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