Human Library! A Powerful Concept

Diversity & Inclusivity

There would be very few organizations, if any, where you might not have heard of this term. Irrespective of the degree of diversity, and then, the degree of inclusivity, for each aspect of diversity, the intent is to foster multitude of perspectives and enrich human experiences across the board.

It's strange at outset, on the need to emphasize inclusivity, exclusively, despite existing emphasis on diversity. It's not so difficult, if we pause and ponder a few minutes, to acknowledge the auto response engrained, the prejudice, the stigma, the discrimination on the basis of one's lifestyle, belief, disability, color, social status, ethnic origin etc.

Self Awareness

While the intent and efforts at organizational levels could at best be appreciable, the deeper impact is possible when individuals take these opportunities to connect with their own prejudices, notions, discriminations etc. — to become aware of it, acknowledge it and take time and conscious efforts to improve upon understanding the other side(s). Such an in-depth reflection in a safe environment to address them would be fantastic to breed true expansion of one self.

Human Library: A Concept

Not long ago, I came across an initiative, started two decades ago, called Human Library! This, in the true sense of the word, is a library "of people". They host events where readers can borrow "human beings" serving as "open books" and have conversations they would otherwise normally not have access to. Every "human book" represents a group in our society that is often subjected to prejudice, stigmatization or discrimination.

Human Library works to create a safe framework for personal conversations that can help to challenge prejudice, get help to bring down discrimination, prevent conflicts and contribute to greater human cohesion across social, religious and ethnic divisions. Perhaps one key element they have to offer, is the "Human Books" up for a dialogue, where taboo topics can be discussed openly without condemnation. A place, where people, who would otherwise never talk, find room for conversation.

Extending to Daily Interactions

Now, this is a powerful concept. This if adopted could take inclusivity to a whole new level for an individual. What if we were to extend this concept. Adding our learnings on mindfulness and active listening along with self-curated consciously planned interactions (with an open mind) could be a way to work on our own biases, with the very people where such responses are triggered in us.

What if we could often plan these interventions and spend time to improve upon our Pavlovian responses, even without an explicit library "of the People"? What if all those whom we interact, we are successful in giving that safe environment, where they could talk about and be the book from such a library of sorts? What if we too take time to open up, at least where we feel safe and try sharing our true feelings and vulnerabilities, just as a human book perhaps would do? What if our interactions day to day could then become reading, reflecting and exchanging of the sorts — of any human we are interacting with? Imagine the experiences we would compound upon!

Further Questions & Conclusion

Would we, then, understand every other perspective? Would we be better understood than we are now? When and how much would we assert on our opinion? When and how much would we accept others? Would it be easy to bring a balance between so varied perspectives to keep the focus on collective purpose of the group?

Irrespective of these questions… one thing is certain: we would be able to do most of the above better than what we are able to do it today! We surely would be more diverse, more inclusive and it would bring more peace to ourselves and others with each passing interaction!

Call to Action

How do you appreciate diversity and inclusivity? Eager to read your comments @LinkedIn!