The Critical Role of Faith in Social Justice & Workplace Equity: Opportunity to Inspire and Empower Employees to Peak Performance.

This weekend and indeed, the whole month of April is full of religious activities that impact over five billion people all over the world – which is over 70% of the world’s pollution.

About 2.3 billion Christians are celebrating the Good Friday and Easter holidays worldwide while just about two billion Muslims are engaged in severe fasting to celebrate Ramadan.?

In addition to the activities by other religious groups this month, between today, Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 23, 2022, over 15 million Jews will be celebrating the Passover, also called Pesach.

This major Jewish holiday signifies the freedom of the Israelites after 430 years of slavery in Egypt – which is just about the length of time Africans were enslaved across the Americas and Europe.

It was to celebrate Pesach (Passover) that Jesus Christ went to Jerusalem where he was unjustly arrested, viciously murdered by crucifixion, buried with disdain, and rose miraculously on the Third Day.

This year, Ramadan falls between April 1 and May 1, and according to Al Jazeera: “The pre-sunrise to sunset fast lasts anywhere from?10 to 19 hours?depending on where in the world you are. The fast entails abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual relations to achieve greater “taqwa”, or consciousness of God.”

How considerate are you of this awareness towards your friends, associates, employees, clients, and any of your associate who identifies as a Muslim?

In the quest to create a more inclusive and equitable work environment, how conscious is the senior management in your organization about the impact of Ramadan on Muslim employees?

As more than half of the world’s population is celebrating one religious ceremony or the other this month, how is your workplace supporting their employees of faith?

How can your organization ensure the equitable recognition of faith at work and even create a safe and brave space for employees to share this as one of what matters most to them?

Besides ethnicity and other aspects of diversity like gender and sexual orientation, is religion one of the indicators you track to better understand the representation in your workplace?

THE BENEFICIAL IMPACT OF FAITH IN CORPORATE CULTURE

For far too long, organizations, institutions and the government have been quite na?ve about the impact of faith in their corporate culture. They have been blinded by the na?ve notion of separating the church and state, so to speak, even though it is even irrelevant in this context.

Authenticity, we all agree is critical to productivity, excellence, and cohesiveness.

Therefore, if employees don’t feel comfortable sharing a critical aspect of themselves in workplaces or that their employer does not care about their faith, it will hinder maximum productivity at work.

Just as organizations are beginning to see the benefit of encouraging and supporting those who identify as non-binary, they must ensure that encouragement and support are also accorded to those whose religion and faith mean a lot to them.

After facilitating thousands workshops in my lifetime, and consulting with institutions, conglomerates, and governments all over the world in the last 25 years of speaking, coaching and consulting, I have learned that leadership principles and values like integrity, dignity, humility, generosity, kindness, compassion, care, concern, diligence, and hospitality often have their roots in religion and spirituality.

I have also learned that diversity, which is now a buzzword in organizations since the modern-day lynching of George Floyd, is the cumulation, appreciation and maximization of the fundamental differences in creation and humanity.

Inclusion is the commitment to ensure no one is shortchanged of common benefits because of their differences, while equity is the outcome of deliberate efforts to treat people fairly – relatively, considerably, and sustainably.

According to Jesus Christ, whose death, burial, and resurrection are remembered this weekend, “God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” In the eyes of God, therefore, no one is superior to others, nor more important, loved, or favoured.

While most religions are fundamentally different, many agree with the Scriptures that Righteousness and Justice are the Foundations of God’s Throne; that we must be caring and concerned about our fellow human beings; that we must be impartial and tolerant and enable a safe space for personal growth.

This is the foundation upon which the concept of social justice was founded.

It is this strong fundamental and godly belief that icons like Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela lived and died for. All of them, including Albert Einstein, attributed their brilliant minds and achievements to their faith and spirituality.

Whether you believe in God or not is irrespective – but rather if you are considerate towards those who do, and if you are making every effort to respect the beliefs of those who do.

In the interest of allyship, we should make the effort of expressing well wishes to those who may be celebrating their faith or commemorating a significant part of their history.?

We must be determined to create a conducive environment and enhance corporate policies and culture to avoid religious persecution in workplaces, schools, communities, government, and organizations.

It would be remiss on my part to not mention that Canada is still lagging in this area and therefore the government should rise above its colonial mentality and step up to protect the civil liberties and rights of faithful believers - inclusively and equitably.

It is irresponsible for Justin Trudeau and his cohort of mostly the dominant culture to stay on the sidelines while the Province of Quebec hatefully discriminates against people of faith through Bill 21 which violates the rights of Canadian citizens.

To ban teachers and government employees from wearing things that signify their religion like the hijabs, kippahs and turbans is inconsiderate, disrespectful, and quite frankly, inhumane and oppressive.?For people's faith is part of their identify.

Yesterday, April 14, 2020 marked the 40th anniversary of Canada’s Charter of Human Rights and I was honoured to be part of a Press Conference organized by Canadians United Against Hate and hosted at the Parliament by Senator Marilou McPhedran.

For my brief message and the thought-provoking comments of other participants, click here.

As someone who identifies as a man, of African descent and a Christian, I wish those celebrating Resurrection Sunday popularly known as Easter, a joyous, restful, transformative and memorable one with family and friends.

Also, we wish our Muslim friends Ramadan Mubarak and Happy Passover to our Jewish friends too. To everyone celebrating or commemorating something, or going through a monumental challenge, I pray that Almighty God grants all of us the strength to persevere through our faith and tenacity to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

TO REGISTER FOR THE SECOND ANNUAL?GEORGE FLOYD MEMORIAL LECTURE, CLICK ON https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvcuGqrjkuEtOZPdiyRJc28adrryC5DLE5

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