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Inclusion Center's Fundraiser Supports Youth Programing

8/5/2014

 
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By Richard Winter, 
Inclusion Center for Community and Justice

      Two people with equal qualifications send resumes to an open job position. The resumes show equal collegiate academic standings, and identical work experience. One of the resumes has the name Jamaal Williams, the other Rich Winter.
      The Jamaal Williams resume gets tossed on the bottom of the pile and the Rich Winter resume gets pulled to the side for further consideration.
      Outraged yet?
      If the above scenario has you speechless, then imagine how the Jamall Williams' of the world feel every day.
     The Inclusion Center aims to eliminate those, and other kinds of battles, and bring light to the dark areas of discrimination.
      "We are a human relations organization dedicated to eliminating prejudice, bigotry and discrimination," Director, Saundra Stokes said. "The Inclusion Center develops inclusive solutions to promote respect for all people through conflict resolution, education, advocacy and empowerment."
     Each summer, the Inclusion Center, gathers youth from the state of Utah for their 'Anytown Retreat'. The youth come from many different socio-economic backgrounds, representing a wide array of ethnicities and diverse cultural backgrounds.
    For six days, the youth are housed together and taught self-awareness, education, conflict resolution and communication skills that help them resolve prejudice and bigotry in their own communities.
      "Delegates that come to Anytown gain not only a deeper sense of self, but of their own cultural identity," Hande Togrul, Adult Program Director said. "The workshops and programming are geared towards those in attendance gaining an understanding of others, but also gives participants the needed tools to speak their mind respectfully and peacefully in their communities, schools, and situations of conflict."
     Many of the young people that attend the summits, come back as peer mentors, and many, like Executive Director, Saundra Stokes are so moved by the experience, they continue to volunteer at and for the Inclusion Center.
     Stokes has been with the program since 1996, when she first attended a Global Leaders Program in 1996 while she was a sophomore at West high school. Following her first retreat, she began volunteering for the group until her first day of employment in 2003.
    "The experience of our retreat's are such powerful and imitate real-life scenarios that it's hard not to want to be part of something so life changing," Stokes said. "Seeing the changes in outward perception of others, just from spending six days together, is truly a life-altering experience."
    In addition to the Anytown Summit, the Inclusion Center provides several other opportunities for community members to feel the power of change.
Inclusion Summit - Is a 5-day retreat for adults and professional
Global Leaders and Global Friends - This retreat is for high school and junior high students respectively. This summit is run in coordination and support with local schools.
     But the Inclusion Center is much more than three retreats per year.
    "During the school year we are regularly invited to speak and illustrate our programs to junior-high and high school students throughout the state," Torgul said. "Although the speaking engagements are shorter in duration than the retreat's, we are able to effectively demonstrate how we look past prejudice, racism and bigotry in our everyday lives."
    Of course, changing perceptions and teaching youth and adults the real dangers of bigotry, bullying, racism and bringing a voice to these subjects that aren't always talked about in the way they should be doesn't come easy, or cheap.
      The Inclusion Center will be hosting a fund-raising golf tournament on Thursday, Sep. 25.
      "The Inclusion Open, formerly Drive Out Racism, is our annual fund-raising event and we're really excited that so many people have responded to what we think is a very important cause," Javier Alegre, Director of Development said. "The event is really a celebration of what we do all year and the impact we have on changing lives and perceptions of others, one person at a time."
      The fundraiser itself celebrates Utah's growing diversity and fosters a friendly competition between golfers. All proceeds will go toward youth programs that help a younger generation become humanitarians, dialogue in constructive manners and expand perspectives of themselves and those around them.
    For more information on the Inclusion Open or any of the programs offered by the Inclusion Center, please call or visit our website at www.inclusioncenter.org.



Are you for Anytown 2014?!

6/19/2014

 
Another successful and amazing camp in our peoples history! This year at Anytown, we had a total of 48 loving and brave delegates who worked together for a week in big cottonwood canyon, to try and figure out what it means to build community and how to take care of it when they got back to their homes in the valley. We laughed, sung and played all week; but more importantly they used conflict resolution when there were differences amongst themselves. 

A big shout out to all my 2014 Anytowners! Remember that camp is not just at Camp Tuttle, but camp is always in your heart and can be used for the rest of your life. 

Special thanks to our Camp Tuttle Stuff for their hospitality. Thank you to Natalie and Nicholas and Company for keeping our bodies nourished with yummy meals for the week. Thank you to all of our organizations who we partnered with to get our delegates there. It really is an amazing community production and we would not be able to do it without you all. 

P.S. your hug is always there for you! 
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The Inclusion Center/Anytown

Are we sending our youth to school or prison training?

11/13/2013

 
Ever pondered the thought about the school to prison pipeline? Rollingstone just released an article last week that gives some shocking statistics about how we are treating our youth today (especially youth of color) in school. Catch the jump here!
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An Essay from a Global Leaders Delegate

10/22/2013

 
Being a leader to me, means many things. Being a leader means using what you have to help others. Being a leader means sticking up for those who cannot stick up for themselves. Speaking for those who can’t or are afraid to, and leading people to build a better community.

! But this is easier said than done. “Building a better community” is a big thing to say and an even bigger thing to accomplish. So how does an ordinary person, like you or I, “build a better community?” How does someone become a leader?

! I think Margaret Thatcher put it best when she said, “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” Being a leader means living by example. Telling people that you’re kind, or honest, or smart, doesn’t make you any of those things. It doesn’t prove anything to anybody. If you want people to know you’re kind, give to everyone and let them know you care about them. If you want people to know that you’re honest, tell the truth, always. If you want people to know that you’re brave, stand up and speak, even if society says it’s not the norm, even if it means exposing your heart to other people, even if it means making contact.

! Real leaders know about contact. They know that there is a story behind every person’s feelings, and a person’s feelings behind every story. They know that, to quote Bob Dylan, “Behind every beautiful thing is some kind of pain.”

! They know that everyone is equal. Equally smart, equally capable, and equally hurt by comments made without true knowledge of the person behind their skin color, gender, or sexual orientation.

! But the problem is, not many leaders today follow what they preach. They abuse their power by having affairs, spending money on personal pleasures, and discriminating against certain races or religions. The children of today do not have very many good examples of leaders to follow. But how can we know what a good leader is, if we don’t learn from the bad ones?

! Leaders know that things won’t work out perfectly all the time. Because without failure, no one would learn how to succeed. Without persecution, no one would learn how to be courageous in the face of others. Without problems, no one in this community would push themselves to be better people. Leaders understand that no matter what the difficulty, it is essential for all people everywhere to continue to act.


Thanks Olivia for your inspiring words!
If you would like to learn more about our work, join us at our camp reunion on Friday at 5:00

Jonathan Ferrell Killed (Huffington Post)

9/17/2013

 
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A man named Jonathan Ferrell was killed by police in North Carolina early Sunday morning (9/15/13).  Ferrell attended Florida A&M and played football for them from 2009-2010. Just before North Carolina police shot him, he was in a very serious car accident in which he had to get out of his car from his back window. He had gone to the nearest house for help, where a woman immediately closed the door on Ferrell and called the police. When police arrived, Ferrell ran towards the police. When police saw Ferrell, they tried to taser him and then shot him when that did not seem to slow him down. Thoughts, comments, concerns? 

Read the full article here.


Granary Project Highlights Urban Beauty

9/12/2013

 
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Located between 3rd West, i-15 and 6th south, this lovely part of our community has been highlighted by the work of the Kentlands Initiative. Check out the articles below!
Catalyst Article
Granary District Facebook

Thoughts on this new development?

Lady Gaga has a new song called, "Burqa". (Colorlines)

8/22/2013

 
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In the link below you can see what the conversation looks like with some female muslim activists on the new song. 

Questions, comments, concerns?  What do you think of the new Lady Gaga single? 

Check out what some of lyrics are here.

YouthWorks Is Hiring Females For Fall 2013

8/22/2013

 
Our good friends at NeighborWorks are hiring for their  fall crew. This is a great way to learn a trade, break down stereotypes, and build a resume.
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Addicted to "Orange is the New Black"?  (Colorlines)

8/20/2013

 
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If the title of this article grabbed your attention, chances are you are in love with "Orange is the New Black". Take a look on why we should still be critical with the false realities of our prison systems that are displayed in the show. Thoughts, comments, concerns?

Read the article here

The Nation's Highest Paid Public Employees

8/20/2013

 
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Click here to read the article. 
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801.587.0823
hello@inclusioncenter.org
mailing address:
Inclusion Center
14 Heritage Center
Salt Lake City, Utah
84112


physical location:
Inside the Equity Office
Ground Floor of Building 820
Benchmark Plaza
University of Utah