Blog entries tagged social justice

2011 Ahead

Heather Berthoud — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 06:00:00 +0100

Another year has ended and the new one is hurrying along. It’s barely three weeks old and we’ve had a new Congress, the shooting in Arizona, snow across the entire country, and the iphone on Verizon. With that as an opening, there’s no telling where 2011 might go.

2010 in review

Berthoud Consulting highlights include AF...

Reader's Review--Fall 2010

Heather Berthoud — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 05:00:00 +0100

I recently read several books that you might find interesting:

A Nation of Strangers: Prejudice, Politics and the Populating of America by Ellis Cose. Though written in 1992, Cose provides a thorough review of immigration debates and policies from the founding of the US up to the time of publication. In some ways, reading an 18 year-old account helped frame questions for our current debate without having to wade through today’s polem...

What are you for?

Heather Berthoud — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:27:42 +0100

People respond to a positive proposition with energy that’s optimistic and sustainable. That is, people will strive for something compelling even, or especially, if it’s challenging. On the other hand, identifying something wrong or objectionable and fighting against what is, gets meager results compared to pursuing a desired outcome. Analysis or critique of the current state can be useful, but a problem focus fills up the available ...

Facilitating for Transformation

Heather Berthoud — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:00:00 +0100

The course I taught was, finally, a success. It took a lot to reach people, to get the concepts across, to get them to take ownership of their learning, their class, and their process. My colleague and I didn’t break through until the class was about two thirds complete. The final classroom activity showed that they had learned. I sense that we set their feet on a more fruitful path. They seemed motivated to continue.

As we w...

2010 Greetings

Heather Berthoud — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:28:56 +0100

Welcome to 2010, already in progress and already challenging in so many ways. Now, more than ever, I feel called to engage with community for peace and justice.

The year that was

2009 was full. A big focus was the trans...

Segregation on a Bus

Heather Berthoud — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:42:35 +0100

At an airport, on the way to a conference, I ran into a friend and her companion. My friend offered me a ride in her rental car. We three black women boarded the shuttle bus, put away our luggage and sat at the front of the bus. The remaining passengers filed in, stowed their luggage, and went to the back of the bus. Though there were open seats up front with us, the white passengers moved to the rear, including some who chose to stand. We black women exchanged knowing and perplexed look...

What is Enough?

Heather Berthoud — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

As I read accounts of overleveraged banks, executive “bonuses”, people losing homes they couldn’t afford, the rising unemployment rate, some people working two jobs to make ends meet (barely) while others count their houses, I hope that the benefit of all this suffering and uneven distribution of wealth and pain is a national recalibration of our moral compass.

I find myself asking, “What is enough?” How big do our houses need to be? How many (extra) rooms?...