My diversity is formative

This extracts the elements of my diversity from a first person essay I wrote on how my diversity was formed.

1. Cultural Background:

• Raised in a progressive hometown that was a Civil Rights hotbed, with a strong anti-Establishment and countercultural influence.

2. Racial and Ethnic Exposure:

• Grew up in an integrated school district, with diverse classmates and teachers from BIPOC and AAPI communities.

3. Gender and Feminism:

• Steeped in inclusive language and feminist instinct from an early age, navigating and challenging sexism throughout life and career.

4. International Experience:

• Lived and worked in numerous American cities and other countries like Italy, Malaysia, Turkey, gaining insights into different cultures and social norms.

5. Socio-Economic Background:

• Experienced the challenges of a lower socio-economic upbringing, providing a unique perspective on privilege and systemic inequality.

6. Religious and Spiritual Diversity:

• Studied transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the age of 9, embracing spiritual practices uncommon among peers.

7. LGBTQIA+ Community Involvement:

• Lived in an almost exclusively LGBTQIA+ environment for eight years, fostering deep connections and understanding of LGBTQIA+ issues.

8. Disability and Health Awareness:

• Inherited sensitivity towards disability and health challenges through familial experiences, notably a father with significant health and social obstacles.

Fleet Week is a jobs fair and experiential museum

Substantial exhibits just strolling through the humanitarian center at Marina Green this Fleet Week, where I was tabling at the San Francisco Fire Depot’s Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) table.

It’s a jobs fair and experiential museum. You can learn how the US Army intubates a patient, and what an earthquake feels like.

I met a Navy diver who dives into wrecks in seas and rivers to retrieve the sunken remains of MIA service people all over the world. 😳

What we mean when we say "Berkeley"

Much of what I and my Berkeley-native peers experienced growing up there was being duplicated in alternative communities everywhere, and also much of it was a product of the times. We didn't know that.

Berkeley is revealed in its "byzantine cultural complexity" by secular Jewish homegirl author of new book about going undercover in Jerry Falwell's evangelical church.

"If you’re from Berkeley...you know the muscle of the Berkeley Left is actually made up of a million fibers, often flexing at cross purposes — the Green Partiers, the Clintonites, the Obamaphiles, the Slow Foodists and Dumpster Divers, the Second and Third Wave feminists, the Marxists, anarchists, and Revolutionary Communists, the vaguely apathetic left-leaners, the merely apathetic."

Read the Berkeleyside article here.

"The first time I saw a bowl of table grapes I had a panic attack. ~ KOKO MULDER"

Connecting through social media with the diaspora of Berkeley kids, and comparing our upbringings. Read the New York Times article here.