Deep Diversity: A Compassionate, Scientific Approach to Achieving Racial Justice

<p><strong>"Shakil is a rare jewel in the work of what it means to heal, repair, and take responsibility...This book is required reading for anyone interested in building a loving, just and diverse world."</strong><br />&#8212;<strong>Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison</strong>,<strong> Zen teacher &amp; author of Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up</strong></p><p><strong>Racial justice without shame or blame.</strong></p><p><strong>Road-tested tools to start making a difference today.</strong></p><p>In Deep Diversity, award-winning racial justice educator Shakil Choudhury explores the emotionally loaded topic of racism using a compassionate, scientific approach that everyone can understand&#8212;whether you are Black, Indigenous, a person of color (BIPOC), or white.</p><p>With clear language and engaging stories that will appeal to readers of Bren&eacute; Brown and Malcom Gladwell, Choudhury explains how and why well-intentioned people can perpetuate systems of oppression, often unconsciously. Using <strong>a trauma-informed approach that removes shame or blame, he offers us the tools to recognize, take authentic responsibility, and enact deep change.</strong> In easy-to-absorb chapters, Choudhury interweaves research into the brain and studies on human behavior with hard-won lessons from his career of helping organizations and CEOs create more inclusive environments. He models vulnerability and mistake-making, sharing examples of his own bias-missteps so readers are encouraged into their own racial justice journey without judgment.</p><p><strong>Readers will come away from the book with practical tools and an understanding of:</strong></p><li><strong>How to becomes a systems thinker by developing "racial pattern recognition" skills</strong> in order to challenge racism and other forms of systemic discrimination when we encounter them, while minimizing the tendency to shame or blame ourselves or others.</li><li><strong>How to recognize when the unconscious influence of bias</strong>, identity, emotions, or power contradict our beliefs about equality, and how to realign our thoughts/words/actions.</li><li><strong>How to break the racial "prejudice habits" </strong>we have all been socialized into since birth, using research-based strategies. </li><li><strong>How the rise in authoritarianism and income inequality</strong> (among other factors) contribute to a rise in hate crimes and racial discrimination, and <strong>what to do about it</strong>.</li><p>Traditional approaches to anti-racism overly rely on analyzing history to explain systemic discrimination, which only tells us a part of the story. What's missing, Choudhury argues, is to understand why humans do what we do, the evolutionary impulses underlying our group-ish nature and our struggles with power, bias, and social dominance. This is why psychology and neuroscience perspectives are critical to integrate into anti-racist work, as is practicing compassion for ourselves and for others. Deep Diversity is a unique, evidence-based approach to racial justice that seeks to overcome feelings of shame that so often block our progress and prevent deep change at individual and systemic levels. </p><p>Deep Diversity meets you where you're at, regardless of your identity, class, ability, or belief system, and invites you to come along on a journey of self-discovery, social awareness, and lifelong learning. </p><p>It's only just begun.</p><p><strong><strong>"</strong>Choudhury draws on heart-touching stories, research on the brain, and hard-won lessons from real-world interventions to offer useful strategies to know ourselves, and others better.<strong>"&#8212;</strong></strong><strong>New York Times-</strong><strong>bestselling...