Celebrating Difference Isn’t Enough

Why does authentic inclusion remain so elusive after so many of us have been working so long to achieve it?

One answer to this question is that inclusion can't be achieved without meaningfully addressing difference, identity, and inequality.

Audre Lorde famously declared: "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences." This is one of my all-time favorite quotes, but Lorde's words are often misunderstood and misappropriated.

During Pride month, let's remember that the transformative work of authentic inclusion and belonging demands much more than recognizing and accepting people who are different from us.

"Celebrating" difference requires transforming those systems that exclude marginalized and multiply marginalized people in the first place.