I have spoken at many conferences and community events about acceptance of diversity. I have also been a panelist and a podcast guest speaking about accepting people from different spheres of life. The contents of my presentations and discussions are typically based on my personal experiences as described in my first book titled “A Life Interrupted – the story of my battle with bullying and obsessive compulsive disorder” as well as from my latest book titled “Minority Viewpoint – my experience, as a person of color, with the American Justice System”.
This presentation/discussion is focused on three key objectives – acceptance of differences in people around you, being kind and respectful to others as opposed to negative behavior such as bias-based bullying, and focusing on self-acceptance so you can achieve success in life. It includes description of devastating long term impact of bullying that was based on non-acceptance of diversity. It also includes description of negative bias that any person of color might experience. The purpose of this presentation is to motivate everyone to respect others because mistreatment can cause serious life-long impact.
I share my personal stories to inspire everyone to be accepting of people irrespective of their differences and to be kind and respectful in their day-to-day behavior towards others. This discussion focuses on devastating long-term impact of mistreatment (or bullying) that is based on cultural/racial differences. When a person is mistreated because of differences in how he looks or how his name is spelled, the long term impact can be devastating. During my discussions I use my specific example to make the point that any mistreatment (whether it is based on cultural differences or any other differences) can have similar negative results. My presentation describes my two decades of battle and recovery from obsessive compulsive disorder, a devastating mental illness, triggered because of this mistreatment, and everyone is able to relate to that. The presentation/discussion also includes description of negative experiences I have had over the years in everyday life.