If you know me personally, and/or peruse my posts on LinkedIn, you know I'm an avid reader.
Furthermore, you know I believe that reading books written by and about people "not like you" is the best way to elevate your cultural competence.
And you also know I believe that a lack of cultural competence stems from a lack of curiosity, a lack of empathy, and a lack of connection to people you perceive to be different.
And of course you know that marginalizing, suppressing, or patronizing people you perceive to be different is the quickest and best way to maintain the perpetuity of the status quo, bro culture, and old boys' networks – to continue the normalization of dominant narratives.
And you no doubt also know that when dominant narratives are desperately clung to, the clinging hands are holding a barrel of oil and dumping it on the already flaming pyre of biases (conscious and unconscious), microaggressions, discrimination, and other majority-group-accepted everyday prejudices.
And I'm here to tell you – because you may not realize it – that your choice to not read books at all or to only read books by and about people like you is fueling the fire of social, political, legal, and professional inequities all around us.
Why don't you help put the fire out?
Read.