Not In My Community

“You must be able and prepared to give until you cannot give any more.We must use our time and our space on this little planet that we call Earth to make a lasting contribution, to leave it a little better than we found it, and now that need is greater than ever before.” Rep. John Lewis

Goodbye, John Lewis. Thank you for your lasting contributions.

Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon who began pushing for racial justice in the Jim Crow south, has died The Georgia lawmaker and son of sharecroppers had been suffering from Stage IV pancreatic cancer since December. He was 80.

It can be hard to talk about hatred and ignorance. But do it anyways.

Only when diverse perspectives are included, respected, and valued can we start to get a full picture of the world: who we serve, what they need, and how to successfully meet people where they are.

Daring leaders fight for the inclusion of all people, opinions, and perspectives because that makes us all better and stronger. That means having the courage to acknowledge our own privilege, and staying open to learning about our biases and blind spots. It is also listening, centering, and honoring stories that reflect experiences that are different than our own.

Courage is listening, learning, unlearning, knowing when to lead, and knowing when to let others lead.

Recommendation - The War For Kindness

Feeling you belong to a group can be great - but it also has a darker side, leading us down an unhappy path of hatred and violence towards people with different identities and backgrounds.

Dr Laurie Santos talks to Mina Cikara - whose homeland descended into a bloody civil war - and Jamil Zaki about how we can fight hatred with empathy, kindness and difficult conversations.

https://www.happinesslab.fm/season-2-episodes/episode-9-the-war-for-kindness

- celebrating with Delmar and the City of Dodge City! Check out the link below to learn more.

World Refugee Day | Dalmar

As we celebrate on June 20th, we recognize the presence and contributions of refugees in our community. Dalmar Ahmed fled with his parents as a toddler to escape extreme violence erupting in their native Somalia in 1991. Twenty-six difficult years later, he found refuge in Dodge City. Like so many other refugee residents, Dalmar has become a vital part of our community. Read more of Dalmar's story at https://catholiccharitiesswks.org/services/refugees-and-immigrants/our-newcomers.