By Noel J. Jacobs, PhD (Title adapted from The Hill We Climb, by Amanda Gorman, excerpt taken from spoken word) We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one … Read more

Happy New Year!  Now is the season of renewal and making resolutions, for giving thanks for what has come in the past year and deciding what we want to come next. For some, however, true thankfulness for the past year is hard to experience. Real harm and the recurring threat of real harm by openly … Read more

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home: Heaven lies about us in … Read more

About two weeks ago I flew halfway around the world with my best friend, who is also my brother, and  13 wonderful people I now count as friends. We spent one amazing week in an historic, beloved, conflicted, painful place. It is a very young country, a little over 70 years old, and it is … Read more

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door. These words, by Emma Lazarus, are at the base of one of the most iconic statues in this country.  Except … Read more

I grew up with a sense of belonging in both received and chosen communities. I existed in several –Christian and Episcopalian; OU fan; Republican; middle class; Okie; American; guy. All of those communities create images of shared characteristics and maybe even a sense of connectedness for me at times. Community membership has many immediate benefits: it helps us identify “our” … Read more

TO: Tulsa Police Department; Tulsa Mayor’s Office We, the undersigned, represent the diverse communities of Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a group of citizens concerned about the status of policing in our dear city. We are writing you to urge you to ensure a fair, just, and transparent investigation into the shooting death of Terence Crutcher, to … Read more

Terence Crutcher: Questions From Two Perspectives .The news I have in front of me is confusing. I hear two stories, very far apart, both insisting they are the “truth” or point to the truth.  Justified or unjustified.  Guilty or not guilty. They are mutually exclusive narratives, and it is impossible for them both to be the “true … Read more

As the son of two Holocaust survivors who experienced the worst of intolerance, bigotry, hatred and violence for over five years, my heart goes out to the families of those murdered. From all of us at the Respect Diversity Foundation, our condolences to the families of those who died and our thoughts and prayers to … Read more

About 10 days ago the Jewish community observed Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. I attended and watched a stirring presentation on the “Monuments Men,” who bravely scoured Nazi occupied areas to recover and return art and precious belongings stolen from Jews and others they considered to be “untermensch “(a person considered racially or socially inferior). After this … Read more