Newsletter: November 2025 Issue 1
- Cultures Connecting
- Oct 31
- 5 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Advanced Microaggressions on November 20th & 21st
Advanced Microaggressions for Leaders: How to Facilitate Difficult Conversations workshop will be taking place this month on November 20th & 21st at 8:30-12:00pm PT on Zoom. We apologize for the incorrect dates in our last newsletter (it was correct on Eventbrite).
This workshop is for people in leadership positions who want to develop skills for approaching challenging situations in a way that
invites healing,
creates psychological safety,
increases their staff’s ability to have courageous conversations,
and promotes growth when confronted with cross cultural conflicts.
Our e-course Microaggressions: What are they and How are they Harmful? is included for those with limited understanding of what microaggressions are to complete prior to the workshop .
For questions, please reach out to Judy at judy.lee@culturesconnecting.com. Click the button below for more details and to register!
November is Native American & Indigenous Heritage Month
National Native American Heritage Month, which is also referred to as American Indian or Alaska Native Heritage Month, was established in 1990 to recognize the significant contributions of Indigenous people. This originates back to 1915 when Episcopal priest and Native rights activist Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, called on the country to observe American Indian Day the second Saturday of each May.
Thanksgiving, one of the biggest U.S. holidays of the year, also falls in November and if you downloaded our Diversity Calendar, you'll know that Thanksgiving is called "Day of Mourning" by many Indigenous people. We will bring you more on this in our next newsletter.
To celebrate Native American Heritage, check out our interviews with Sondra Seguro and Cynthia Masterson from last year. Sondra is an indigenous artist, writer, and singer using art to preserve the Haida language. Cynthia is a teaching artist creating art with traditional indigenous beading techniques.
You can also watch this Tedx Teachers College talk by teacher and photographer Matika Wilbur, "Changing the Way We See Native Americans." Matika is a Seattleite who quit her job in 2012 and drove 600,000 miles throughout the U.S. to photograph all 562 federally recognized tribes (since then, more have been recognized). Project 562 culminated in a beautiful book a decade later. Most us at Cultures Connecting have the book Project 562 and you can buy your own copy online or in-person at the indigenous art gallery Tidelands in downtown Seattle. Matika also did a Tedx Seattle talk called "Surviving Disappearance, Re-Imagining & Humanizing Native Peoples" which you can watch too.
Cultivating Abundance with New Book Uncompete
The need to compete is deeply ingrained in every aspect of our lives and work. It’s often viewed as a positive: we are told it motivates us to do our best, to work hard, that it drives innovation and excellence. But, what if that’s a lie? What if in reality, competition causes more harm than good: exhaustion, anxiety, burnout, and an isolating lack of community. It encourages a scarcity mindset and keeps us from reaching our true potential.
Our colleague Ruchika T. Malhotra is releasing her book Uncompete: Rejecting Competition to Unlock Success, which will go on sale November 4, 2025. Drawing on her own experiences working with corporations as a sought-after inclusion strategist, as well as interviews from business and community leaders and the latest research data, Uncompete offers a new framework for building a culture of collaboration, solidarity, and mutuality. It’s a framework that yields not only a happier workplace, but a far more successful one, and it can transform our work and our lives. From showing us how to tap into our benign envy, to investigate our cultural norms, to cultivate a greater imagination, and rewrite the rules to lift everyone up, Uncompete is a radical reset of our mindsets. It helps us cultivate abundance, find genuine joy in others’ victories, and embody the belief that there is room for all of us to succeed.
Ruchika is also author of Inclusion on Purpose. Pre-order Uncompete today and see Ruchkita on her book tour in Seattle on November 6th at 7:30pm at Town Hall. She will be in conversation with Ijeoma Oluo, Ekin Yasin, and La'Kita Williams.
Ways to Take Action for Change
Participate in Disappeared in America Weekend of Action
Disappeared in America is a national effort to protect immigrant rights, due process, and democracy. The Disappeared in America Weekend of Action on November 1-2 is a mobilization effort to protect immigrants, expose corporate complicity, and honor the lives lost in detention. Events include protests at Home Depot, freedom vigils at detention centers, courthouses, and jails, as well as Dia de los Muertos actions to honor the lives lost in ICE detention. Visit the Disappeared in America website to learn more and sign up.
Write a Letter to Increase Voter Turnout
Vote Forward is a grassroots nonprofit organization that aims to increase voter turnout through letter writing. Volunteers select a campaign and write personal, heart-felt, and non-partisan letters to mobilize voters in key elections. Visit Vote Forward to learn more and to "adopt" voters.
Take Action with Black Voters Matter
Black Voters Matter empowers and mobilize Black voters against voter suppression and oppression in over 25 states. They address critical issues in education, health equity, and economic justice. Their activities include voter registration, policy advocacy, and development/training.
You can support them either through donation or by getting involved with their current campaigns on their website. You can also sign up for their mailing list on for up-to-date information, including calls for action. Follow them on Facebook, Threads, or Instagram.
It's a new month which means taking a look at our Diversity Calendar to look at significant dates to consider when planning meetings or events to create greater inclusion. Click on the name of the day to learn more.
11/31-01: Samhain (Neo-Pagan)
11/01: All Saint's Day (Anglican & Roman Catholic)
11/01-02: Día de los Muertos (Mexican/Latin American)
11/05: Birthday of Guru Nanak (Sikh)
11/27: Day of Mourning (United States)
If you'd like to add our Diversity Calendar dates to your Google calendar, you can add it using this link.
Upcoming DEIB/Social Justice Events
For details on these and other events, workshops and conferences happening in the social justice space, visit our Events Calendar. If you have an event you would like us to share, please reach out to us!
11/01: Dear Sista, Good Mourning: A Grief Healing Circle for BIPOC Women
11/01: Dia De Los Muertos Celebration at El Centro de Raza
11/01: Disappeared in America Weekend in Action
11/04: NAMI BIPOC Support Group
11/06: NAMI LGBTQ+ Support Group
10/06: Roots & Resonance: The Workshops
11/06: Uncompete: Ruchika T. Malhotra Book Tour Talk
11/07: Facilitating Challenging Discussions: Tools for Constructive Conversations
11/10: Police Against the Movement: The Sabotage of the Civil Rights Struggle and the Activists Who Fought Back
11/10: Institute for Common Power Banned Books Club - Fall Series
11/10: NAAM Unity 2025
11/10: People's Institute Northwest Organizing Meeting'
11/13: Just Narratives for Multiracial Solidarity Conference
11/12: Intergenerational Power: Amplifying Youth Voices and Uniting Communities Against Divisive Forces
11/13: Power Matters Lab
11/13: Schools are Stacked against Working Class Kids
...and so much more! Visit our Events Calendar to see the most up-to-date full schedule.
*Cultures Connecting workshop.
