Talisman Philanthropy

Status Quo – Yes or No?

January 20, 2015 at 10:16 am Barbara Talisman, CFRE Leave a comment

Have  you noticed a change in status quo or lack of change in the past five to ten years? As a bucker of the quo – I am all for change. Lately some seems to be shifting and changing fast and others not at all.

The Oscars – an interesting conversation on NPR about the lack of diversity in Oscar nominations. Wesley Morris, who writes for the online magazine Grantland notes,

The Academy seems very comfortable nominating people of color who fall into a very familiar relationship to white people in movies. So I’m talking about playing slaves. I’m talking about playing housekeepers and maids and butlers and chauffeurs or famous entertainers.I would say that there is a kind of comfort with what people call a white savior narrative, where the point of view of something like the civil rights movement, the point of view belongs to a white actor. The agent of the change is white.

Gay Marriage – from “not in my city/state/place of worship” to the Supreme Court reviewing all bans and legislation. HRC has been working on this for decades – in the past year more positive change has taken place than in the last nine years. Even better – gay couples are finding it easier to adopt – See my friend Brian Rosenberg’s work on Gays with Kids. And television has come around to include gay couples, marriage and include gays with kids.

Communication – Faster, easier, better (?). Depends on who and what you are communicating. Personally, I do find it easier – stay in touch with friends who are no longer nearby. The ability to share information is also better – IMHO.

War – I just saw American Sniper and highly recommend it. I grew up during Vietnam and as a history major remember reading about how the US had to learn to fight differently. Again our military had to go to war differently in Iraq. Chris Kyle (THE sniper) was a part of that shift and he saved lives. Have you noticed the change in how we talk foreign policy from a decade ago?

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