Diversity: the art of thinking independently together
I have grown up as a Christian and in my late teen years I made a personal decision to embrace Christianity as a personal faith. Being an African from Kenya, topics about faith are common and it has shaped my worldview and that of many Kenyans. For most of us, faith has been the lens through which we view and handle societal issues.
As a result, our attitudes and sentiments are either black or white, and we often shy away from the grey areas. Malcom Forbes was an American businessman whose dad, B. C. Forbes, founded the famous Forbes magazine. My 1st semester experience could be summed up in this quote by Malcom, “diversity is the art of thinking independently together”. I might not agree with Malcolm’s way of life, but to some extent, I resonate with his quote. Joining the ReD Global as a student, I can comfortably say that my cohort has been a definition of diversity. I am realizing that the grey area often shunned is the diversity of opinion, ideas, way of life, and beliefs. Malcolm’s quote plays a role in my interactions with my lecturers, classmates, coursework, group discussions, and everyday life. I’ve been doing lots of self-searching and reflecting on where my heart is at, what I’m holding on dearly, and what my biases are. Most importantly, what am I learning from each of these courses about myself and what I can or can’t do differently, both in my personal life and hopefully in my community. I am still learning.
Written by: Mokeira Manyonyi
It is great to have the awareness and environment to do self-reflection. What is very interesting is realising that this idea of black and white eliminates the possibility of learning without judging.