Honoring Diana Gregory

In a moment that truly embodies the essence of service and community care, Diana Gregory, the visionary founder of Diana Gregory Outreach Services, has been honored with the esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award from AmeriCorps. This award, presented on behalf of President Joe Biden, took place during a heartfelt ceremony at the VA Health Care System in Phoenix, Arizona, organized by the dedicated leadership of The Order of St. George.

Diana’s selection for this distinguished accolade highlights her extraordinary commitment to fostering positive change and improving the lives of those in her community. Over the past decade, she has passionately addressed critical issues like food insecurity and health awareness, focusing on supporting seniors and veterans. Through her organization, Diana Gregory Outreach Services, she has distributed fresh, nutritious produce to thousands, ensuring that those in need have access to healthy food options.

But Diana’s contributions extend far beyond food distribution; she has also implemented vital health education programs that empower individuals and families, helping them to embrace wellness and make informed choices about their health. This holistic approach has created a transformative impact on underserved communities, reinforcing the importance of access to both nutrition and education.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is an honorable recognition reserved for individuals who have dedicated over 4,000 hours of volunteer service. This milestone is a testament to Diana’s proactive engagement and relentless advocacy for those she serves. Her award serves not only as recognition of her achievements but also as an inspiration for others to follow in her footsteps and contribute to their communities.

The Order of St. George, a respected non-profit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance to refugees, veterans, and the Boy Scouts of America, proudly presented the award. Their involvement signifies the collaborative spirit of various organizations working together to uplift and empower individuals in need, underscoring how interconnected our communities truly are.

As we celebrate Diana Gregory’s well-deserved honor, we recognize the countless lives she has touched and the paths she has paved for a brighter, healthier future. Her remarkable efforts highlight the immense power of community service and the difference every individual can make when they dedicate their time and passion to helping others.

To learn more about Diana Gregory Outreach Services and how you can get involved in her inspiring mission, please visit dianagregory.com. Together, let’s continue the legacy of compassion and service that Diana has so beautifully embodied.

Congratulations, Diana Gregory, on this remarkable achievement! Your dedication is a shining example of what it means to be a true leader and advocate for community well-being. Your work inspires us all to be better, do better, and serve better.

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To learn more about Diana Gregory, visit https://dianagregory.com/

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The Bridge is a section of the STM Daily News Blog meant for diversity, offering real news stories about bona fide community efforts to perpetuate a greater good. The purpose of The Bridge is to connect the divides that separate us, fostering understanding and empathy among different groups. By highlighting positive initiatives and inspirational actions, The Bridge aims to create a sense of unity and shared purpose. This section brings to light stories of individuals and organizations working tirelessly to promote inclusivity, equality, and mutual respect. Through these narratives, readers are encouraged to appreciate the richness of diverse perspectives and to participate actively in building stronger, more cohesive communities.

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WASHINGTON /PRNewswire/ — Today the Violence Policy Center (VPC) released When Men Murder Women: A Review of 25 Years of Female Homicide Victimization in the United States. The study analyzes 25 years of data, from 1996 to 2020, from the VPC’s annual report, When Men Murder Women. This year, the VPC was forced to temporarily suspend the state rankings usually contained in the report due to the unreliability of 2021 federal crime data as the result of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s ongoing transition from its Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Summary Reporting System (SRS) to the new National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). [For an overview of how the problems associated with this switchover have negatively affected data collection and its impact on gun violence research and policy development, please see the new VPC study The Negative Impact of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Transition on Gun Violence Research.] As a result, the VPC is only able to offer this 25-year overview of females killed by males, although it is our hope that at some point in the near future we will be able to resume publication of the original report, including its state rankings.

STATE FINDINGS

During When Men Murder Women‘s 25-year publication history, 33 states had rates of females killed by males in single victim/single offender incidents that placed them among the jurisdictions with the 10 highest rates for that given year. During this period, eight states ranked in the top 10 in more than half of the past 25 years: Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Notably, virtually all of these states are southern or southwestern states and the majority have higher rates of household firearm ownership. During this period: 

• Alaska was in the top 10 states for 18 out of the last 25 years and has consistently ranked number one or two among states with the highest rates in the last decade.
  
• Arkansas was in the top 10 states for 14 out of the last 25 years.
  
• Louisiana was in the top 10 states every year with the exception of 2008.
  
• Nevada was in the top 10 states for 23 out of the past 25 years.
  
• New Mexico was in the top 10 states for 13 out of the past 25 years.
  
• Oklahoma was in the top 10 states for 15 out of the past 25 years.
  
• South Carolina was in the top 10 states for 23 out of the past 25 years.
  
• Tennessee was in the top 10 states for 20 out of the past 25 years.

NATIONAL FINDINGS

• A total of 45,817 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents between 1996 and 2020 as reported to the FBI UCR’s Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR). Of these, 29,503 victims were white (64 percent), 14,038 were Black (31 percent), 1,216 were Asian or Pacific Islander (three percent), and 522 were American Indian/Alaska Native (one percent). Information about race was missing for 538 victims (one percent).
  
• National homicide rates of females killed by males decreased slightly between 1996 and 2014, and then began increasing in 2015.
  
• Rates increased more substantially among Black and American Indian/Alaska Native females compared to other races during this 25-year period. The percentage of Black female victims killed with a gun has increased dramatically in the past decade, from 51 percent in 2011 to 72 percent in 2020.
  
• Most women killed by men knew their killers. Over the past 25 years, 92 percent of female victims knew their male killers.
  
• Among female victims who knew their male killers, 61 percent were murdered by an intimate partner.
  
• Fifty-three percent of female victims killed by males were killed with a firearm, the majority of which were handguns.

Kristen Rand, VPC Director of Government Affairs, states, “While the rate of females killed by males has increased, especially among Black females, we’re now flying blind with respect to how state rates differ. This information gap is broad and deep and impacts researchers, advocates, policymakers, and whole communities as they work to protect women and children from lethal domestic violence.” 

For a PDF version of the study, please visit https://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2023.pdf. 

To see previously released editions of When Men Murder Women, please click here.

The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on X/Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE Violence Policy Center

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The Bridge is a section of the STM Daily News Blog meant for diversity, offering real news stories about bona fide community efforts to perpetuate a greater good. The purpose of The Bridge is to connect the divides that separate us, fostering understanding and empathy among different groups. By highlighting positive initiatives and inspirational actions, The Bridge aims to create a sense of unity and shared purpose. This section brings to light stories of individuals and organizations working tirelessly to promote inclusivity, equality, and mutual respect. Through these narratives, readers are encouraged to appreciate the richness of diverse perspectives and to participate actively in building stronger, more cohesive communities.

https://stmdailynews.com/category/the-bridge

ATLANTA, GA /24-7PressRelease/ — In his role as founding Senior Director of the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing at Georgia Tech and Director of STEM Education Strategy at Google, Dr. Kamau Bobb has become a leading advocate for greater equity in U.S. education. He is speaking out against the recent SCOTUS ruling rejecting race-conscious admissions in higher education, claiming the court’s arguments miss the true reason for affirmative action: justice for the country’s long history of racial discrimination and ongoing segregation in education.

“Diversity is important, but the most compelling reason for race-conscious admissions is justice.”

The Supreme Court based many of its recent affirmative action case arguments on the 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ruling. But Dr. Bobb argued that the Bakke case’s emphasis on diversity as the end goal of affirmative action misses the mark. “The conservative side is willing, if not seeking, to disavow the reality of, and the national responsibility for, the lingering chains of two and half centuries of slavery and another hundred years of Jim Crow. They want a magic meritocratic America that has only ever been an idea, not a real place. While diversity is the ideological basis of affirmative action dating back to the 1978 Bakke case, and is dominating the public discussion now, it is a secondary goal. Justice is first.”

Dr. Bobb said that in spite of the 1954 Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education case making it illegal to separate kids in public schools on the basis of race, racial segregation continues in education, demanding greater justice. “In Atlanta, there are 10 traditional public high schools in the Atlanta Public School System. In seven of those schools there isn’t a single white student. As of October 2022, all of the nearly 2,000 white students attend only three of the schools, without exception. The other seven serve students of color only. Almost 70 years after Brown, these schools remain “for colored students only”. If we hold to the tenets of the Brown decision, these segregated schools are inherently unequal. Black students who succeed at the highest levels often do so despite public education, not because of it. Race is a factor in their education every step of the way.”

Dr. Bobb said that these inequities are evident at the highest levels of education. “The College of Computing at Georgia Tech, where I am on the faculty, is one of the premier public institutions in the country. Over the last seven years, of all the students earning degrees in computer science at all levels – B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. – only 3 percent have been Black. That, in a city and state that are 50% and 33% Black respectively.”

Dr. Bobb said that while diversity is a noble goal, it is not the primary reason affirmative action is worth pursuing. “Excellent educational institutions like Georgia Tech and those named in the recent Supreme Court case, Harvard and UNC, will continue to do well regardless of their diversity. Diversity is important, but the most compelling reason for race-conscious admissions is justice. The country has not come to terms with its past. The magic meritocracy is untethered from reality and historical truth. Confrontation with the fullness of the American past is the only path to justice. Diversity is merely a derivative of that.”

Dr. Bobb said that in spite of the Supreme Court’s recent blow to the movement for greater racial justice in U.S. education, he will continue his life’s work of advocating for greater equity in education.

Dr. Bobb holds a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Policy from Georgia Tech and an M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bobb served as a Program Officer at the National Science Foundation, overseeing $30 million of annual investments earmarked to improve computing and STEM education. In that role, he helped structure the national research agenda for effectively delivering equitable and quality computational education to all students.

Working with members of the Office and Science and Technology Policy in the Obama Administration, Dr. Bobb helped shape the national strategy for STEM education for both post-secondary and secondary schools. He was selected as a member of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper STEM + Entrepreneurship Taskforce, which helped engage young men and boys of color in STEM opportunities.

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To learn more about Dr. Bobb or his work to achieve greater justice and equity in the U.S. education system, visit www.kamaubobb.com.

Kamau Bobb is the Director of STEM Education Strategy at Google and the founding Senior Director of the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing at Georgia Tech.

Source: Georgia Tech