cultural diversity

the sum of all our parts

Hilda Mwagi (2017)
 About the speaker:
Hilda Mwangi
She is a Kenyan/American lawyer and philanthropist.

Her experiences in different cultures influence the

woman she has become.

She imagined her life as a jigsaw puzzle that makes up

who she is. Her jigsaw puzzle pieces include:

Faith
Family
Heritage
Travels
Foods
Friends
Education
Arts
As Hilda Mwangi asked her audience to stare
at the person beside them, she proves 2
points:

01
We instantly and unconsciously
judge someone based on their
appearance.

02
Making impressions and
conclusions on one another only
takes 7 seconds.
“in this day and age, we make such quick determinations about one
another without really giving much thought as to who people
really are.”
What is in a culture that makes people diverse?

Different
Different Different
Physical
Nationalities Traditions
Appearances
 How to fill the gap among people with diverse cultures?

01 Look beyond just who people

are on the outside 03 Make culture-inclusive policies

02 Focus on diverse perspective

04 Have cultural sensitivity
awareness
 01 Look beyond just who people
are on the outside

We must pay attention more to cultural diversity rather

than focusing on racial diversity.

We don’t fully know someone since we have no idea

about the things that make up who they really are.

We should have a deep conversation; not only a 10-

second hi or hello or making judgments within 7 seconds
of looking, but by genuinely and respectfully getting
close to one another.

Our experiences, struggles, and triumphs are the things

that really make up a true identity of who we are.
02 Focus on diverse perspectives

When we look at people and say “On the outside,

they look alike”, we don’t consider that people
see things differently.
02 Focus on diverse perspectives

We all have perceptions about what

others see. We try to convince them that
they are wrong and that they should see
it the way we saw it; Yet, everybody was
right.

The image on the left proves that

perspective matters, where we focus
more would determine what color the
dress would be.

What we see on the outside doesn’t

always mirror what they really are in the
inside.
03 Make culture-inclusive policies

We should implement laws that are not only

good for one community but for other
communities as well (what may be appropriate
to one community might be inappropriate to
another)

We don’t need to be in the same culture or

community with others to understand them.

Policy is everywhere around us, we need to

share experiences.
04 have cultural sensitivity awareness

Explore diversities in order to learn mutual

culture, tradition, customs, beliefs, and the
like.

In the case of Hilda Mwangi, she was able to

learn about different cultures or traditions
through her friends by sharing meals,
celebrations, and conversation.
We don‘t walk alone, we are a part of
someone

We are the sum of all our parts!