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Inclusion is respect. Inclusion is feeling and being valued.


Joyce's Pulitzer Inclusion Lessons

2024


2023

One person can change the direction of someone’s life and how another human feels on any given day.

2023

Question accounts of why someone is successful. Myth, omission, lies, and self-deception may mask the truth.

2022

Beware of revisionists, including history teachers with an agenda and people who stand in the way of quality education.

2021

You. Injustice is prevented by individuals with the conviction and courage to do and give whatever they can to make things right.

2020

Accountability. Revealing ugly truths in American history is a required step for reforms of the justice and education systems.

2019

Connect. Survival and happiness depend on mutual respect of each other and our shared surroundings.

2018

Defy age. It’s just a number.

2017

Know your history. America is a place that not only enslaved people, but informed on and hung escaped slaves and abolitionists, and conducted medical experiments and involuntary sterilization on Black Americans.

2016

Understand Why. Actions and beliefs grow from life experience, ideology, culture, basic needs, relationships, physical/emotional state

2015

Find Common Ground. The “enemy” is a person just like you are.

2014

Nurture the young. Bad situations trigger bad behavior. Stealing, drugs, and truancy are symptoms of food insecurity, lack of supervision, loneliness, boredom, and PTSD.

2013

Truth. See who you really are and how people in your society actually live.

2012

"The main reason [for the fiction decision] is that not one of the three entries received a majority and thus, after lengthy consideration, no prize was awarded." - Sig Gissler, Fiction jury chair

2011

Reconnect. People from your past provide your progress report on personal growth. Time is the Goon.

2010

Understand. Lack of knowledge can be a trigger for shame, resentment, fear and bad decisions.

2009

Persevere. You’re never too old to get better.

2008

No regrets. What you didn’t do hurts more than an of the moment penalty.

2007

Endure. You can handle way more than you think you can.

2006

Serve mindfully. Use your skills, interests and uniqueness to do something actually makes a difference.

2005

Live your beliefs. Do more than preach about the right thing to do.

2004

Morality trumps the system. Evil is evil no matter what the law permits and who has done wrong.

2003

Transparency. Withholding essential facts is selfish and unfair.

2002

Self-love. Bullies require a victim. Beware that self-love is only one-piece of addressing bullying.

2001

Create. All forms of literature and art have the power to educate, expose, inspire and prompt action.

2000

Audience Awareness. Know who to ask for help and when to offer advice. Consider professional and life experience before you ask, respond or refer.

1999

24 hours can seem unendurable. Make time for someone in need.

1998

Admit flaws and unspeakable reality. In yourself, in people you love, in your country. Differences are not flaws. Blame is not acceptance.

1997

Visualize the future. Imagine how life can be better for others and what you can do to help create that reality.

1996

Embrace vulnerability. The search for community and connections requires putting yourself out there in a world where the American Dream remains a dream, not reality, and all people are imperfect.

1995

DIY Attitude Makeover. Reinvention is possible.

1994

It’s OK to move on. Your people and your happiness just might be somewhere else.

1993

Act. You know something and have a perspective that others do not.

1992

"Don’t presume. Keeping up appearances is sometimes a strategy to hide big problems."

1991

Heed. Disaster should not be a surprise.

1990

Perpetuate good. Tap your talent, teach your skill. Recognize and find a path beyond ugliness in your past. Your father’s beatings do not make a life of serial womanizing OK.

1989

Accept. Manipulation does not end well.

1988

Reparation. When you’ve done the unspeakable – slavery – fair treatment of Black citizens is the absolute minimum required response.

1987

Don’t forget. Not feasible to mentally delete bad history or possible to make things better without acknowledging wrongs.

1986

One face. Show integrity in all you do. A position of power like law enforcement magnifies disconnects and bad behavior.

1985

Embarrassment reveals. Awkwardness/shame about being with someone says you haven’t accepted the person you’re with and/or you’ve encountered really judgmental people.

1984

Share. People with virtually nothing give their last nickel and scrap of food to others in need. It’s not hard to give when you have resources.

1983

Sisterhood. Lift each other.

1982

Kindness and self-control. Every judgy, nasty thing you say is an invitation for more of the same.

1981

Think about the wrapper. Instead of judging appearance and behavior, imagine the why: fit-in, stand-out, aspiration, resources, cultural custom, time-crunch, weather, comfort, parental modeling, etc.

1980

Reform. Address societal issues that cause crime, wrongful conviction, imprisonment, recidivism, and death row including, poverty, systemic racism, public education, housing, lack of support for single parents, employment opportunities, substance abuse, guns, mental illness and access to mental health counseling, and the experience of living among people who commit crimes.

1979

Provide/Get Help. Addressing addiction requires compassionate support.

1978

Ouch. Insults that bother you may not disturb someone else because they’ve been subject to so much worse.

1977

"Richard T. Baker, who administers the prizes on behalf of Columbia University, said that no prizes were given in these two categories because no recommendation “was clearly leading the pack.” - New York Times, April 19, 1977

1976

Accessibility. Be clear and memorable without being insulting, boring or pretentious.

1975

Listen objectively. Be aware of bias, detect misinformation, consider what’s not being said.

1974

“All three members of the Pulitzer Prize jury on fiction expressed distress and bewilderment yesterday that their unanimous recommendation for a prize for Thomas Pynchon's “Gravity's Rainbow” had been turned down and that no fiction award was given this year.” – New York Times, May 8, 1974

1973

Be classy. Don’t talk down to adults with limited education or children. Be especially nice to someone who tried and did not get the desired outcome.

1972

Silence speaks. People are feeling and reacting even when they are not verbal.

1971

“One place understood helps us understand all places better” ― Eudora Welty

1970

Empathy. Terror can follow extreme pain. People don’t always have the bandwidth for interaction.

1969

Systemic kindness. Unrelenting challenge requires a network of patient, skilled caregivers.

1968

Fact Check. Verify sources like a legit journalist or scholar which, thanks to the internet, is a lot easier to do now that it was during the 1960s.

1967

Universal suffering and joy. What happens to you happens to all of us.

1966

Thoughtful service. Giving of yourself involves what you do as well as what you don’t

1965

Understand your family tree. Reflect on recent generations through an inclusion lens. Think all the way back to your original ancestors, who are everybody’s ancestors.

1964

"We felt there was nothing worth a prize in those categories” comment attributed to Newbold Noyes Jr., editor, of the Washington Star by the New York Times, May 5, 1964

1963

Act. Being passive is being complicit.

1962

Safeguard second chances. Ensure community safety as well support and supervision.

1961

Be childlike. Act like nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process.

1960

Be true. Reflect your principles in your actions; overrule ambition, retribution, expediency, and quid pro quo.

1959

People rally around imperfect individuals. Intelligence, humor, kindness, helpfulness, a valuable skill, fairness and optimism are magnetic.

1958

Respect bandwidth. Grief, age, beliefs, alcohol and other considerations affect interpretation and response.

1957

“My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” - JFK

1956

Backyard awareness. People are suffering nearby. Find out and reach out.

1955

Resist. People who don't follow bad orders create progress.

1954

“On Sept. 11, 1941, Charles Lindbergh gave his notorious ‘Who are the war agitators?’ speech in Des Moines, Iowa. Designed to persuade Americans to stay neutral in World War II, the speech ultimately backfired and Lindbergh was painted as a Nazi-sympathizer and anti-Semite.”- “This Week in History,” Deseret News, Cody Carlson, September 12, 2013

1953

Resolution. Skills, effort, strength, creativity, suffering, joy, and endurance are not enough.

1952

Reflect. Do you really understand the person, their situation, and the ramifications of your intended action?

1951

Humility. Trying to impress doesn't. Don’t assume you know things you don’t.

1950

Fair trade. Treat the people you do business with respectfully and equitably.

1949

Now. People were writing about systemic racism 70+ years ago.

1948

Privacy. Inclusion does not require universal access to private aspects of people’s lives.
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