Cultural Diversity A Reality, Not A Choice!

Tribe of Doris is celebrating World Day for Cultural Diversity for dialogue and development

LIVING ON an island like Britain, with a history of exploration and oppression and often an ‘us against them’ mentality, it’s easy to slip into false thinking that the rest of the world only works in the way we see it.

Time changes everything and everything is connected, two truths that cannot be avoided.

When politicians talk of immigration we are quick to forget just how interdependent we all are, how history affects our present, how we all need each other across the planet.

What we really lack at this time is a rhetoric that is inclusive and not one based on fear of the other. In the end the ‘other’ is a human being just like us, with needs and aspirations much like our own. What really keeps us apart is the lack of opportunity to meet each other and find out more about what makes us all tick as well as a story that is constantly pedalled by the media that we are under attack.

Which paper is interested in helping us find solutions to problems the whole world faces, when a good scare story will sell far more copies?

The reality is, Britain has changed radically, we are a diverse country made up of citizens from all over the world. One in ten relationships are of mixed heritage, so it’s very important that we speak well of each other, because this is our society. We need to be cohesive, work together and benefit each other in our work, taxes and contributions to our daily lives. We also need to appreciate each other. How do we do that?

Where are the opportunities that bring us together? Government websites speak of valuing cultural diversity and sharing cultural perspectives, but where is the encouragement?

We tend to focus on our differences as if they are the reasons we don’t want to live in harmony, but our differences are a) small and b) interesting. If we are to share cultures, we need to spend time together actually learning from each other. We will find ourselves surprised that we enjoy different aspects of other cultures, let’s celebrate this.

We’re a small but vibrant organisation that has been doing this for over 20 years.

Tribe of Doris grew out of an engagement and enjoyment of rhythms from across the world and quickly embraced all expressions of music and dance, bringing people together across a few days to really participate in each others culture.

The effect on individuals has been profound, and many people of mixed and diverse cultural heritages have found a place to be themselves, explore their culture in a joyous and inclusive way, that has lead them to want to share this experience with others and take the message of “We really are in this together”.

We like to play music, dance and sing, like everyone else across the world and “this keeps us happy, fit and feeling connected”.

A recent study looked into the reason we humans have an affinity with rhythm and it proposes that it helps us become more connected and feel part of the same group, experiencing empathy rather than enmity. Isn’t it time that we practiced this more?

Tribe of Doris runs an amazingly diverse summer camp/festival close to Leicester, also one of the most successfully diverse cities in the UK. If you believe that its better to live joyfully rather than fearfully, come and join us and see what can happen when we really celebrate our diversity.

www.tribeofdoris.co.uk

Vercida works with over one hundred clients who are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. If you are an employer and interested in working with Vercida to promote your diversity and inclusion initiatives and attract the best candidates, please call 02037405973 or email [email protected] for more information.

We are also officially recommended by Disability Confident as a step on achieving Employer status, please click here for more information.