Things can truly change with intentionally increasing diversity.
Take the medical field, for example, where only 2.8% of doctors are Black women. A new documentary series is highlighting their stories by bringing them to a wider audience. "Faces of Medicine" is showing the first episode of this ongoing journey at several locations across western Massachusetts through the month of February. We talk with Dr. Khama Ennis, the driving force behind this film, about the importance of seeing oneself in these settings both as patient and as colleague.
Then, we move to the field of children’s literature where only 1% of stories depict Indigenous and Native children. Adding to that number is Larry Spotted Crow Mann’s latest book, “The Adventures of Kehteau.” It’s the first book in the "Native Explorer Series," a collection of stories that will journey through Native lands, customs, and cultures. We talk to Mann about the importance of diverse representation in children's literature, and how we can best educate folx about the original inhabitants of the lands we live on.
And we’re diversifying our language as well. A question from Mike in Holyoke plunges Emily Brewster, NEPM's resident wordster and senior editor at Merriam Webster, into a discussion about adjectives, and how we qualify their intensity in a battle between “more” and the suffix “-er”.
