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ellie krug
writer, lawyer, human
Human Inspiration Works, LLC
The Ripple
Vol 6 No. 9 October 2021
Inspired by the words and deeds of Robert F. Kennedy
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Hearing from the Universe
Dear Friends:
Early October had me doing two-a-day online trainings for separate clients once again. Several talks were either “How to Be Welcoming to LGBTQ Humans” or “Transgender 101” and some of those events had folks from greater Minnesota in the audience.
I’m always aware of how some from outside the Twin Cities may view me and my messages, and thus I made it a point to start the trainings with an acknowledgment that greater MN viewers might be meeting a transgender person for the first time. I expressed understanding that some of what I would talk about might make some folks uncomfortable and then thanked them in advance for their willingness to hang in during the talk.
At the end of those talks, I provided a call to action: “Please, tell the younger trans or lesbian, gay or bisexual person in your life that you care about them. Tell them too that they ‘matter.’ So many younger ‘Alphabet’ humans feel as if they don’t matter.”
A couple days after those talks, I received a Facebook message from a woman who advised that she wasn’t at my talk, but that a relative of hers had attended the event. The message writer related that two of her teenage children identified as LGBTQ in one way or another, which had been a reason for the relative to pull back from the teens. The message writer then wrote that because of my talk, the relative had reached out to the teens. She wanted to thank me for whatever I had said to get the relative to again want to be in the teens’ lives.
I don’t share this to be braggadocious, but instead to reinforce how we ripple to each other—often when we have no idea. I also share it because I’ve come to believe that the Universe sometimes sends us messages. Getting that FB message came at a moment when I needed some extra reinforcement that my work matters; heck, that I matter.
Thanks for letting me write about this here!
Before I go, a Jack-the-puppy update: he’s now close to 50 lbs. and slowly learning new phrases like “leave it,” “heel” and “no bite.” Words can’t fully describe the joy he gave me on a recent windy-day walk where all he wanted was to chase leaves. I couldn’t stop laughing—nor could I keep from thinking about how grateful I am for him and everything else!
Have a great Halloween! Remember, I care about you.
ellie
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Former Hosptial Security Guard
Becomes a Doctor and More
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As this Washington Post story from last year relates, Russell Ledet, the son of a single mother who relied on food stamps for her family, was told by a high school teacher that he had great aptitude and should go to college to study chemistry or biology. After a U.S. Navy stint, Russell took his teacher’s advice and enrolled in college to study organic chemistry. To support himself, he worked as a security guard at the Baton Rouge General Medical Center, where he met many medical professionals and saw firsthand the importance of medical care for those struggling financially. Soon, Russell was asking doctors if he could shadow them. His efforts were rebuffed until the chief surgery resident, Dr. Patrick Greiffenstein said okay.
“It’s hard not to like him (Russell) right away,” said Dr. Greiffenstein.
While that shadowing planted the seed for Russell, his trajectory to medical school was delayed when he attended New York University to earn a PhD in molecular biology—which included research on prostate cancer, something for which Russell earned recognition.
Not content with that stellar accomplishment, Russell set his sights on attending medical school. An hour after his second daughter was born, Tulane University Medical School in New Orleans advised that he had been accepted with a full scholarship. Russell started medical school in 2018, and eventually his hospital residency put him full circle—back at the Baton Rouge General Medical Center where he had worked for five years as a security guard.
While all of this is remarkable for any human, Russell’s story doesn’t end there. In 2019, Russell and 14 other black medical colleagues visited Whitney Plantation where enslaved humans once worked and lived. The group posed for a picture in front of a cabin that housed enslaved persons, sending a powerful visual message of what’s possible for young people. Russell then copyrighted the photo and sells tee shirts with the image to raise scholarship money for black medical students; he and others also created a nonprofit. (See The 15 White Coats.org.)
This is also a story of love (Russell married his high school sweetheart, Mallory Alice, who earned a psychology degree when the family lived on the east coast) and fatherhood (the couple now parent two daughters). I urge you to take the time to read Russell’s Instagram post embedded in the WP story—he writes, “Fathering is my favorite thing to do.”
Wow! This is a story of incredible drive, insight, and idealism. It also shows the importance of certain people (a high school teacher, a physician-mentor) showing up in Russell’s life. So I ask, who are you showing up for? Who are you helping to ignite and dream?
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Inclusivity Tip of the Month
Ceding Power: Creating Room for "Other"
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I’m often asked what someone can do to be an ally to persons from marginalized communities—diverse humans in one way or another who are “Other” in our society. Among the things I suggest is to cede power, to create room for those who have historically lacked seats or voices at the table.
How do you cede power or create room? I have several suggestions.
First, examine your organization’s internal structures, even to the point of why you habitually place the leader at the end of a conference room table (I’m talking post-Covid here). Have the leader switch up where he or she or they sit, allowing the room dynamics to be more egalitarian. From there, ensure that everyone is given an opportunity to speak; if the meeting is coming to a close and Frank or Jasmine haven’t yet said a word, specifically ask for their thoughts on the topic at hand. If their ideas merit more time for discussion, provide the additional time right then or immediately set another meeting to go over the ideas.
Second, as this article suggests, leaders should utilize their privilege to open doors for those who historically have been left out of key discussions. If your tenure as the member of a nonprofit board is coming to an end, suggest a diverse team member as your successor. Alternatively, why not create a sponsorship program where your organization searches out possible board positions or other community leadership roles for those team members; then, use your connections to get them on those boards or in those roles.
Lastly, make it clear that you—as someone of influence in the workplace or community—want to learn as much as possible about how you can help someone succeed. This means taking the time to get to know people who probably are outside your normal orbit. It may also involve instituting a reverse mentoring program (see the March 2018 issue of The Ripple for more about reverse mentoring) where you are the one expected to learn from your younger, more diverse colleague.
I’m all in for ceding power. In fact, I’m exploring ways to provide some of my public platform to a more diverse transgender writer or communicator so they have an opportunity for their voice and perspective to be heard. Stay tuned on this!
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In the wake of Jon Gruden’s resignation as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders due to his history of racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments and emails, another NFL coach modeled polar opposite behavior. See this story about Brandon Staley, coach for the San Diego Chargers, who eloquently spoke of respecting everyone, including, “A big part of our thing here is listening to people and learning about people because I think what you'll discover is that we have so much more common than not.” Staley also spoke of understanding that as a leader, people place their trust in him to protect and lift them up. If only everyone leading an organization understood what Staley understands.
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Earlier this month, the American Bar Association’s newsletter highlighted some of my ideas about allyship from a panel discussion where I appeared with two other transgender attorneys—read about it here. There’s also this Minnesota Women’s Press piece, “Tick...Tock…” which isn’t so much about mission as it is about regrets. Finally, spend a bit of time listening to my Ellie 2.0 Radio interview of Art Cullen, the Pulitzer-winning editor of The Storm Lake Times in Storm Lake, Iowa. Art talks about the wonderful diversity of Storm Lake and about a documentary, Storm Lake, that’s been playing in select cities, and which will air on PBS in early November. Art’s work highlights the incredibly important role of local newspapers/reporting as a bedrock of our democracy. (Also, see this Atlantic Magazine piece about how a hedge fund is buying up newspapers and gutting them.)
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For Pain, we start with how on its fourth attempt, the Texas legislature passed a law prohibiting K-12 transgender students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity—becoming the 10th state with such governmental oppression of transgender humans. See this story about America’s history of slavery and the myths around it that continue to hold our country captive. Here also is a New York Times piece by David Brooks about how “essentialism” (which sure sounds a lot like grouping and labeling that I talk about in Gray Area Thinking®) is tearing our country apart. Finally, here’s a HuffPost piece titled, “A White Woman Told Me She Doesn’t Think of Me as Black. Here’s How I Reacted.” A very important read!
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Enjoy hearing about “Dads on Duty” (a group of fathers and father-figures) who’ve gone into a Shreveport LA high school to end student fighting and behavior issues—such a cool idea! In this video, Bill Nye, the science guy, expertly explains how there’s only one human race, with skin color differences due to where people live in the world. Here’s a story about Rachel Levine, a transgender woman (formerly PA’s Secretary of Health), who’s now been advanced to four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service. Finally, notwithstanding what Texas legislators did to trans athletes this month, we need to give credit to the Texas mothers of trans kids who fought so earnestly to protect their kids; they’re a model for everyone!
Lastly, if you want to help me to do more work for organizations that lack budgets for training, please consider donating to Human Ripple Works, Inc., a nonprofit that others and I set up to train nonprofits/other organizations on human inclusivity. Thank you for that!! If you’d like to support this work, please click here on the HRW website.
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Finally....
The Ripple is a work in progress, so please, I welcome your suggestions and comments! Please share this newsletter with others, too!
Thank you for helping to make the world a better place! I'm at your side, cheering you on, I promise! Please have compassion for yourself and for others.
ellie
Encouraging Open Hearts and Thriving Human Spirits
Human Inspiration Works, LLC: We make "inclusion" an action word
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Ellen (Ellie) Krug
319-360-1692
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