Diversity Brings People Together
Right. So, I climb on the bus the other day, one that would carry me to my place of servitude, otherwise known as “work.” I quickly take a seat in the back of the bus, only to abandon it minutes later to a pregnant womon speaking a SE Asian dialect that I soon determined to be Vietnamese. I couldn’t understand a single word she spoke to the little girl with chopped black hair sitting on her lap, but they both seemed content enough to brave a wide smile among strangers.
Now standing at the back of the bus, I had a bird’s eye view of all inhabitants sitting or dangling from the bars bolted to the roof. Apart from the anguished mother screaming at her kids to quiet down, you could feel the low rumbling of voices stretching from front to back of the bus.
I do what I sometimes do to pass the commute time. I took inventory of all the passengers by race, ethnicity and color.
This man looks to be from India. The women across from me was likely Russian based her dress and the heavy accent. The young woman in front was definitely from Somalia until I heard her
As we continued shuffling further back with every additional stop to make room for our end-of-the-line friends, I soon determined my earlier demographics dissipating into a new makeup. I found myself a minority, as was every other member sitting or standing on that bus that day. Our bus community was a true melting pot of color, ethnicity and culture.
As I exited the bus that day, I remember thinking how cool it was living in a corner of the world so diverse that every group and individual is a minority. Diversity is the spice of life in the 21st century. It gives us a variety of foods, customs, traditions and practices. It opens us up to gain a new perception of each other and ourselves. It brings us opportunity to learn, grow and rise to new horizons. “When we celebrate our differences, we find our commonalities.” We all share the same inherent pursuit of happiness and inclusion.
Advance Books is a strong believer that the first step in effective education is communication. One is five household in the U.S. speak a second language, yet only 3% of our literature is translated. It is for this reason we created a website solely dedicated to providing bilingual materials for early learners. Help us celebrate our diversity.