I Have Known Rivers: Navigating the Currents of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Photo by Cole Freeman on Unsplash

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I have known rivers and how they flow, their currents twisting and turning through the landscape of time. Like Langston Hughes, I have felt the rhythm of these ancient waters, witnessed their journey from source to sea, and marveled at their power to shape the world around them.

Yet, in this modern age, the rivers of diversity, equity, and inclusion run with a complexity and urgency that demands our attention. As a practitioner in this field, I am both navigator and witness to the…