Nichtsdestotrotz bin ich mir bewußt, dass die sprachlichen Fähigkeiten manchmal als Messlatte benutzt werden, um “Nicht-Inländer” eine Falle zu stellen. Statt die Botschaft zu würdigen, werden falsch eingesetzte Endungen aufgezählt, um Intelligenz und Kompetenz (und somit auch die Botschaft) in Frage zu stellen.

Am Ende habe ich für mich entschieden, dass eine solche Denk-/Vorgehensweise nicht mein Problem sei, sondern das Problem derer, die es nötig haben. Ich werde weiterhin so häufig auf Deutsch schreiben (mit allen meiner grammatikalischen Fehlern) wie ich dazu inspiriert werde.

Auch wenn die Ausbeute noch nicht sehr groß ist, möchte ich am Ende des Jahres noch einmal einige meiner deutschsprachigen Einträge hervorheben.

• “Warum werden manche Diversity Management-Initiativen frühzeitig zu Grabe getragen?” (16. Februar 2010)
• “Diversity Management als wirtschaftlicher Erfolgsfaktor” (21. Januar 2010)
• “Vierzehn Diversity-Management Tipps* (21. September 2009)
• “Wenn man einen wichtigen Lehr- und Lern-Moment verpasst” (13. August 2009)

In 2011 werden es sicherlich mehr!

I know the coming year will bring with it a new array of topics, perspectives and people that move the diversity world. So before this year comes to a close, I want to share with you an overview of some of the blog posts that reflect what moved me most in the area of diversity and inclusion during the last 12 months:

1. “Trying The ‘Tough Stuff’ in Diversity Management” (December 10, 2009)
2. “Why Some Diversity Management Initiatives Are Carried To A Premature Grave” (February 16, 2010)
3. “Is There Any Excuse For ‘Blackface’ In The 21st Century?” (April 19, 2010)
4. “From Awareness to Action to Results: The Business Case for Diversity” (May 11, 2010)
5. “Essential Leadership Skills: Winning Through Diversity and Inclusion” (June 20, 2010)

Feel free to leave any comments or questions you might have about any of these posts.

Of course, there are other posts from the year that are equally compelling, and I invite you to browse through the archive and have a look at a few.

I have been really enlightened by some of the links my cyber-friend Rosamarie Pena of the Black German Cultural Society, Inc. over on Facebook. Especially in lieu of the current debate on integration, it’s interesting to see how Germany’s historical urge to  “other” people has affected a group who – for the most part – aren’t Muslim.

Click on the link below to gain some interesting insights into the Afro-German struggle for recognition and acceptance; where language skills, contradictory religious beliefs and differing cultural morès aren’t an issue.

Roots, Germania? Afro-German Identity in Context from West European Studies at IU on Vimeo.

“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”

(Source: John F. Kennedy)

Mainstream society seldom questions how other groups are portrayed in public space, and what affect this has on the collective psyche of that group. Black men as criminals or ‘natural’ sports talents. Black women as exotically sexualized creatures or unshapely mother hens. Muslima as anonymous un(der)-educated and oppressed mass. The list goes on.

Listen to Grada Kilomba talk about the state of racial discourse in Europe, and the need for minorities to actively take control of their own images, as well as the need for mainstream Europe  to reflect on the dichotomy of power versus powerlessness that is presumed to go  hand-in-hand with “whiteness”.

“I do not want the peace which passeth understanding,

I want the understanding which bringeth peace.”

(Source: Helen Keller)

We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.

(Source: Angela Davis)