Believe it or not, at a certain point, every empire ends. Never because it wants to, but because it cannot see beyond itself. It does not know how to identify and address its blind spots. It believes it is the master of all things not in its control. They could not hear the organized whispers of those that they simply overlooked, or worse, still oppressed. They stretched themselves so thin that they could no longer recognize the core of themselves. They believed that they cou

First published at Campus Activities Programming® - March/April 2019 Issue.

In the shadow of the (deserved) backlash against Green Book' s Oscar win, a new documentary premiered on the Smithsonian Channel that depicts a more accurate, beautiful, and terrible history of Victor Hugo Green’s Green Book. Filmmaker and CUNY professor Yoruba Richen articulates what so many of us were thinking during the latest Best Picture announcement: "The fact is that this was a story about racism and purported to be about the Green Book. The title is Green Book. Yet i

First published at Campus Activities Programming® - January/February 2019 Issue. I recently had the opportunity to attend a friend’s wedding in Havana, Cuba. This beautiful lush place of welcoming and joyful people will make you think twice as to why we in the “civilized” world consider Cuba a third world country, tainted by the stereotypes of people living in dire poverty, criminals roaming the streets and anti-American sentiment blaring from the radios of ’53 Chevys. So

First published at Campus Activities Programming® - July/August 2018 Issue.

First published at Campus Activities Programming® - April 2018 Issue. I was speaking recently with a student at Texas Christian University (TCU) about our visit the following week. We were discussing the temperature on campus in terms of welcoming and embracing diversity and fighting racism of any kind. In light of the current political situation, on most campuses we visit, the mercury is rising. She said that, in terms of diversity, the ongoing dialogue on campus is about

In honor of this most recent MLK day, we’d also like to take this opportunity to recognize the white guy in like the back-left-hand-side...

How many people at Unilever (who owns Dove) saw this ad before it was approved? The ad agency people, people at Unilever, people at Dove... Come on people! We realize it's Octoberfest, but sober up to some cultural sensitivity. Danke.

“A guy walks into an airport...” Please forgive me for interrupting my bad joke, but I think it is important to frame it for you. I came across an interesting little tid-bit earlier this week. It caught my eye for a couple reasons. First, it happened just a couple hours from where I live in North Carolina. Second, and most remarkable, I have a hard time understanding why this story did not get national attention. I can only come to one conclusion. Anyway, back to my bad

After having endured another round of ham-fisted divisive remarks by our chief executive – designed to bring more heat than light to the complicated issues we need to wrestle with as a country – I went searching for some light. I found it in Bob Costa ( video ). Once again, Mr. C. showed why he is among the best in his business. While speaking to the "kneeling during the anthem" issue he gave the type of greater overview which we all need to keep in mind before getting all