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Inclusion is respect. Inclusion is feeling and being valued.
Joyce's Pulitzer Inclusion Lessons
2023
Question accounts of why someone is successful. Myth, omission, lies, and self-deception may mask the truth.
2023
One person can change the direction of someone’s life and how another human feels on any given day.
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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