5 Things / Unlearning
When I was a little kid, my dad wouldn’t let me have a lemonade stand because he thought neighbors would think we needed money. I was raised to be independent, not ask for help, and not talk about personal problems. Can you relate?
It’s taken me a long time to unlearn that. To realize that connection comes from honesty, from being just a little bit real. Last week, I wrote about crying in front of a client, and the number of messages I got in response reminded me why I keep choosing vulnerability. It works. It brings people closer.
So here’s a small experiment: next time someone asks how you’re doing, answer like you mean it. Be specific but don’t over-share (this is key!) Try it somewhere low-stakes. I’ve been testing it out during pickleball breaks. You might be surprised by how good it feels to let someone in.
This Week's Good Vibes:
Feel the Music, Literally
Omaha Performing Arts is redefining accessibility with the SoundShirt, a groundbreaking jacket that transforms sound into touch. This wearable tech uses vibrational actuators to let Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals feel music in real time—matching different vibrations to instruments across the stage. The rollout included deaf individuals, and the shirt will debut at Interwoven: Where Fashion & Technology Connect, featuring adaptive fashion and a silent disco, with pay-what-you-can admission to remove financial barriers. ♐ Partner with disabled communities in pilot stages of new product development.
Greenwood Gets Its Trust Fund
On the 104th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the city took a historic step forward: a $105 million Greenwood Trust aimed at generational repair. The trust is a concrete move toward healing the deep economic and cultural scars inflicted when white mobs destroyed Tulsa’s thriving Black business district. Funds will support affordable housing, cultural preservation, and legacy wealth-building for survivors’ descendants. The trust will include publicly transferred property and community input, signaling a rare municipal effort to tangibly address systemic racism. ♐ Audit how your city or company holds land and legacy—who benefits?
X Marks Justice in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court has ruled that nonbinary people can now list an “X” gender marker on their birth certificates. Puerto Rico already allows gender changes for binary transitions and now joins 17+ U.S. states affirming that legal recognition of nonbinary identities is both possible and constitutionally required. Legal recognition opens access to healthcare, housing, education, and safety. This is a critical counter-narrative to the federal rollback of trans and nonbinary rights, including the suspension of X markers on passports. ♐ Audit your forms and systems: is gender self-identification allowed?
Field Day, Their Way
Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Washington, USA, developed an adaptive field day event to over 200 special education students across the district. With a petting zoo, sensory tents, wheelchair basketball, and superhero volunteers, the day was designed around neurodiverse needs. Sensory-friendly zones allowed students to stim, retreat, or engage however they felt best without judgment. And with 25+ community partners and students from the ParaSport Spokane and Velocity soccer team, the event proved that inclusion isn’t a one-time gesture. ♐ Design events with sensory, physical, and emotional access in mind from the start.
Brazil to Get a Power Boost from Diversity
Brazil expanded affirmative action, raising the quota for Black candidates in federal government jobs from 20% to 30%, and added Indigenous people and descendants of enslaved Afro-Brazilians as eligible beneficiaries. These changes apply across federal agencies, public foundations, and state-run companies, with a built-in review set for 2035. While representation in top government jobs has increased from 25% to 36% over the past decade, Black and mixed-race Brazilians make up 55% of the population but are vastly underrepresented in leadership. They also make up more than 70% of those living below the poverty line. ♐ Representation must reflect the real population, not preserve the power structure.
Good Vibes to Go:
Check out and subscribe to the weekly Queer News podcast, an “Ambie award-winning weekly news podcast where race & sexuality meet politics, culture and entertainment.” The show is available on YouTube and everywhere. Queer News is hosted by Anna DeShawn, a former guest on my own show.