Author Archives: Dignity Freedom Fighter

It has been 375 days since I started my role as Diversity Officer for Berkshire Health Systems (BHS). Often when we start a new job, and we pass the year one benchmark we look back and evaluate how we are doing. I asked myself these questions. What were my successes? Where can I do better? WhatContinue reading “Dignity: Day 375”

One of the things that I learned from reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom” is his ability to forgive. Under the Apartheid government of South Africa, he was robbed of 27 years of his life by being falsely imprisoned. Twenty-seven years of not seeing his children grow. Twenty-seven years away from his wife, family,Continue reading “Dignity: The Road to Forgiveness  “

It has been three years since I started writing these dignity posts. It all started as a commitment to my Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI)team at Baystate Health. It was the day I changed as a leader, and it was the day I began to grow as a person. When I wrote my first dignity messageContinue reading “Dignity: Thankful for You “

In my life’s journey I have learned and discovered many things. I have learned much about myself and about others as well as the value of treating people with dignity. Honoring dignity you might think is an easy thing to do but it takes those hard lessons and all our mistakes to finally see howContinue reading “Dignity: Move Forward “

“I can let my life pass me by or I can get down and try. Work it on out this lifetime. Work it on out this time.” – Maxwell Lyrics from the song “Lifetime”  How often have you turned on the television and listened to the news or sat down and read the newspaper andContinue reading “Dignity: Don’t Let This Life Pass You By “

In her Ten Essential Elements of Dignity Dr. Donna Hicks PhD defines safety as “physical and psychological. Physical threats need no explanation, but psychological threats are more complicated. Honoring others’ psychological safety means not shaming, humiliating, diminishing, or hurtfully criticizing them, especially, but not limited to, violations that are public.”  This element of dignity becomesContinue reading “Dignity: This Will Not Be Our Destiny”

I have a multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural, multireligious, and multi-political family. We may disagree on many things, and we may even get on each other’s nerves, but it is the love we have for each other that makes us the family we are. I am reminded of how fortunate we are when I see the formationContinue reading “Dignity: The War Hero, The Lady, The Storyteller, and The Protector “

Who determines the value and worth of a life? Does my life have more value because I am successful in my career than someone whose life took a different road, and they are now using substances and are homeless. This thought came to me after a conversation I had this week with someone when IContinue reading “Dignity: Who determines the value and worth of a life? “

Before I begin my dignity post I want to remember and celebrate the life of an amazing dignity leader Dora Robinson. Dora and Frank Robinson have dedicated their lives to helping so many. We have lost a great person but her legacy lives on in the lives she has changed for the better. I sendContinue reading “Dignity: What’s Your Superpower “

It has been 10 months since I took on my role as Chief Diversity Officer. I have spent 28 years of my 59 years on this earth as a registered nurse and often I am asked if I miss being at the bedside. I would answer “Yes, sometimes” but I would also follow that upContinue reading “Dignity: The Voice of The Many and The Few”