Let’s be honest: Your company has probably been accused at some point of doing a poor job managing diversity in the workplace.

Many organizations are not very good at it. Most hadn’t been thinking much about it before this year. And all of them are trying to avoid being dragged by online critics for their reluctance/inability/abject refusal to take the matter seriously. It’s one of the great themes from the Year Of The Coronavirus that we can all agree is taking place (even if we don’t agree with the argument’s basic assumptions).

An approach that focuses on equity in conjunction with access takes a more comprehensive pathway to diversity and…

Twelve months, twelve poems, twelve power pieces of spoken word poetry for a different take on the Medium platform. Incredibly, we reached the ides of December on Sunday the 13th…

Greg Frankson (GF): Back in January, I approached you with the idea to create a series based on the spoken word poetry I’ve performed live on stage in Canada and around the world. It didn’t appear to be something that happened much on Medium (if at all), so I tossed the idea past you as pretty much the first thing I wanted to do on Assemblage. Once you saw my work, you were an enthusiastic YES on the project. Do you remember why you were so keyed up to do this with me?

Jonathan Greene (JG): I do remember why. First, I love spoken word poetry. It carries this rhythmic dance of words that opens your mind to a vibrancy that is pretty much unparalleled. There’s so much emotion in the spoken word. I watched about fifteen seconds of the clip you sent me and was a HELL, YES, let’s do this. I also liked that it wasn’t something that was common on Medium. Not just spoken word and/or audio, but a series of poems dropped monthly. I still don’t think Medium and its readers have caught up with how dope this was. What made Assemblage a good fit for The Ides Have It? …

there are three types of people in the world today
those in the game, those who watch, and those oblivious to the play
which one are you?
just wait a second — i want to get this on tape
my music box records the paradox
of life’s true shape

back in the days when television was a novelty set
and radio was still the king and the best way for you to get
all of your news and information on the state of the world
we used imaginative methods — mental images swirled
but now today you play your Prime or podcasts then plug your ears
pump up the volume while the über-rich exploit your worst fears
and the cable news networks distort with overblown speakers
play foxy games while they maintain the left is making us weaker
posting photos onto Instagram our young girls see
who starve themselves emaciated to be the best they can be
folks join the army of disarmed brains to defame Uncle Sam
a plan to spam misunderstandings while they perpetrate scams
to steal elections with predilections to hold the scepter of power
except the specter devours — our perspective is soured
now we expect that these hours and days of self-aggrandizing praise
delays the onset of ways for us to fight our malaise
we’re lazy intellectually and we’re ruled by the smug
so we deserve our automation — yo, get that matrix re-plugged
now just make sure to get a full LP we stream with machines
then play it over and over — the world is just as it…

i was alone in my apartment
the day my daughter was born
imagining the scene at the hospital as new mother
lay on bed with waters spilled and cervix
induced to expand like an eye taking in visions
loud screams followed by thick lips, a dark curly-haired crown
and a birthmark that reddened petite nostrils
nurse swoops in like a stork to cleanse the infant
of the fluids that ease passage through the birth canal
then places the tears, hopes, joys, and dreams
of two human beings
perfectly formed on new mother’s chest
flanked by new grandmother and best friend
experiencing a bond of feminine strength
that i cannot ever hope to…

When was the last time you asked for something?

Like, truly asked — with your sole objective being to find out something you didn’t know previously?

When we ASK from a place of authentic curiosity, we are interested in Acquiring Supplemental Knowledge.

The act of asking is a confessional. You are, in essence, saying “I don’t know the answer to this, but maybe you do” to the other person. That’s why I think so many of us have trouble doing it.

Relax into acceptance of your permanent yet fluctuating level of ignorance

Think about a time when you really needed to know something but were too shy or intimidated or fearful to ask someone. What was that about? What were you so afraid of that you willingly chose silence over knowledge? Have you since rooted out the bogeymen that resided in your mind, insisting at that moment that admitting that you don’t know was an unforgivable signal of weakness? …

a mother goose began this tale
with gander at her side
and on first sight of golden egg
the gander welled with pride
then geese in gaggles gathered
round to celebrate new birth
a little one from partnered lives
increased their love’s core worth
dad lifted his unbridled joy
in songs of heartfelt praise
to demonstrate his pure love for
the gosling they would raise
with optimistic hope he crushed
all fears that lurked and crept –
beside his goose you should have seen
the way the gander wept

at first, the situation fit
them both like hand in glove
and with harmonic resonance
this amplified their love
their gosling grew without a care
anxiety or concern
while taught by goose and gander
for through them she’d watch and learn
a bond entwined all three as one
encompassed family ties
the truth of this reality
burned deep in gander’s eyes
at night when he would humbly gaze
upon her as she slept –
the goose was not around to see
the way the gander…

Even in this crazy holiday season, it’s cool to see Medium writers give thanks. For American Thanksgiving, the incredible Jonathan Greene, editor of Assemblage, took the time to share a…