HELPFUL TIPS TO START BUILDING A DIVERSE COMMUNITY
In the book, Healing into Action, authors Cherie Brown and George Mazza list principles that, when put into practice, help create a favorable environment for building diverse communities. The following guidelines are taken from their principles:
WELCOME EVERYONE.
In order for people to commit to working on diversity, every person needs to feel that they will be included and important. Whether the person is a Japanese-American woman, a white man, a Jew, a gay person, an African-American, a Arab-American, a fundamentalist Christian, or speaks with an accent, has a disability, is poor, or is wealthy--each person needs to feel welcomed in the effort to create a diverse community. And each person needs to know that their culture is important to others.