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The words "Dear Good People" written in script across a green boka background. Images at bottom of covers of The Person You Mean to Be and A More Just Future

Dear Good People, 
When Neil Diamond belts his epic anthem “America,” I get chills.

From when it was first released in 1980 to when I saw A Beautiful Noise:  The Neil Diamond Musical on Broadway just the other day (loved it!).

Chills every time.
Album cover of Neil Diamond Live in America.  Photo of Neil exuberantly singing with one arm reaching to the sky wearing sequin covered outfit.

Our Story


It’s not just because Diamond is such a fabulous performer.  

This song is my family's story, and maybe yours as well.

My parents immigrated to the United States from India when I was six months old in the late 1960s.  The lyrics hit home.
 
Statue of Liberty with the city skyline behind it.  The words "Far, We've been traveling far." written on top of the image.

The American Dream Surreal Scale

So, when I was invited to the literal White House last week in honor of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Month, well, cue the music.

(Though I confess to having briefly thought about that hilarious new TV show Jury Duty and wondering if I was Ronald and everyone else might be actors ... that's just how surreal the whole thing was!)
 
Invitation with the envelope from the White House Washington DC.  The invitation is a red and cream palm leaf pattern with the Presidential seal on the top.  The words scripted, The President requests the pleasure of your company at the screening of "American Born Chinese" in celebration of Asian America, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to be held at The White House on Monday, May 8, 2023 at seven forty-five o'clock.
Yes, we’ve been traveling far, indeed.

It was a  beautiful experience in which I felt proud to represent my Indian heritage and my family. 
Dolly Chugh taking a selfie in front of a blue movie screen that says Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023.

How did they do it?

In the White House, I kept thinking of my parents navigating a new language, culture, family structure, accent,  economy, geography, climate, government, cuisine, holiday schedule, currency, and set of parenting challenges    

Everything.  They had to figure out  EVERYTHING.  With no safety net.  
 
Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette and  Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton standing on a stage wearing 18th century costumes.
Keep in mind, this was a pre-Mindy / Kamala / Namesake / Preet / Priyanka / Aziz / Lilly / Hasan / Kal world

If they saw a brown person walking down the street, they literally became friends with them.  Times were different.
9 circles with a picture of each of these people Mindy / Kamala/ Namesake/Preet/ Priyanka/ Azia/ Lilly/ Hasan/ Kal
The older I get, the less I understand how they did it.  

Telling Everyone's Stories

Back at the White House, before introducing his new series AMERICAN BORN CHINESE, Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) shared his poignant journey to America.  President Biden listened with care and admiration. 

Quan's story was his own and yet, so many of ours.  
Dolly Chugh and Ke Huy Quan taking a selfie and smiling.  A United States of America flag is behind them.

After that, with White House popcorn and movie snacks (really!), it was thrilling to watch the first episode of Disney+ series American Born Chinese.  It is funny and action-filled,  featuring a star-studded cast; check out the awesome trailer - it releases May 24!.
Movie poster for American Born Chinese by Disney +

I am so happy more of our stories are being shared.  And I am so grateful to the storytellers, executives, and investors making it happen.

I can not imagine what it would have been like to grow up in a world where my parents' story was represented and where I could learn so many other stories.

I am beyond grateful that my kids are.
Dolly Chugh standing between two American flags with The White House Washington Seal hanging on the wall above her head.

Decoding a New World

While I will never understand how my parents did it, I think my own immigration journey had something to do with books.  

Books were always in our home.  They helped me decode a world that I did not always understand growing up as an Indian-American kid. 

Slang.  Cultural references.  Historical touchpoints.  Things my classmates just soaked up at home, I got through books (and tv and movies!).
Maybe that is why I feel so at home in a room full of books, even one as daunting as the Library Room at the White House.
Dolly Chugh taking a selfie while standing in the Presidential Library.

My Challenge

All these surreal moments had me deep in my reflections and got me thinking about a question.

Maybe, we are all immigrants in the changing world of 2023. 

What if we all looked at the world we live in as if we were immigrants trying to figure out a new place (with that new place actually being the place we think we already know)? 

We might read more stories about people different than us and delve into knowledge we don't organically have access to.  
So, that's my challenge for myself and for you:  What if we all read like we were new here?  
 
A young girl standing in front of a book case full of books while holding a magnifying glass up to her eye.

Read Like You Are New Here

So, from this little Indian-American girl who has yet to return to Earth from a heady trip to the White House, here is the Dear Good People mid-year book buzz issue. 

It is packed with so many new books that I am excited to read.  
I hope you find one – or many – that help you decode the "new" world we live in.

(Before we dive in, one more White House photos that made me smile - looks like Presidents and their spouses like cute pet photos decorating their home as much as the rest of us!)

 

A Picture frame with 6 smaller pictures in it of past Presidents and First Ladies with their pets.

Build Your Courage and Skills

Say the Right Thing:  How to Talk about Identity, Diversity, and Justice by Kenji Yoshino & David Glasgow (February 7, 2023)

Real Friends Talk about Race:  Bridging the Gaps through Uncomfortable Conversation by Yseult P. Mukantabana & Hannah Summerhill (April 4, 2023)

Reconstructing DEI: A Practitioner's Workbook by Lily Zheng (November 14, 2023)

 

3 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Decode Gender Programming

On Our Best Behavior:  The Seven Deadly Sins and The Price Women Pay to Be Good by Elise Loehnen (May 23, 2023)

Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate by Anna Bogutskaya (May 9, 2023)

Up to Speed:  The Groundbreaking Science of Women Athletes by Christine Yu (May 16, 2023)
3 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Justice Requires Rest and Joy

Rest Easy:  Discover Calm and Abundance through the Radical Power of Rest by Ximena Vengoechea (September 26, 2023) 

Let This Radicalize You:  The Revolution of Rescue and Reciprocal Care by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba (May 16, 2023)

Teaching Fiercely: Spreading Joy and Justice in Our Schools by Kass Minor (May 2, 2023)
3 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

The Past Illuminates the Present

The 272:  The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church by Rachel L. Swarns (June 13, 2023)
 

The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley:  A Poet’s Journey through Slavery and Independence by David Waldstreicher (March 7, 2023)
2 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Fiction Offers Us Windows and Mirrors

Lone Women by Victor LaValle  (March 29, 2023)

Flux:  A Novel by Jinwoo Chong (March 21, 2023)

Rogue Justice:  A Thriller (Avery Keene #2) by Stacey Abrams (May 23, 2023)

The Covenant of Water:  A Novel by Abraham Verghese (May 2, 2023) 
4 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Biographies Create Dimension

King: A Life  by Jonathan Eig (May 16, 2023) 

MA IN ALL CAPS:  A MA-MOIR by Jay Kuo (forthcoming, 2023)

2 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Memoirs Reveal

A Renaissance of Our Own: A Memoir & Manifesto on Reimagining by Rachel Elizabeth Cargle (May 16, 2023)

The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland (July 25, 2023)

Pageboy:  A Memoir by Elliot Page (June 6, 2023)
3 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Think Through Topical Issues

Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer (April 25, 2023) 

You or Someone You Love: Reflections from an Abortion Doula by Hannah Matthews (May 2, 2023)
2 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Navigate the Workplace

Be Your Own Cheerleader:  An Asian and South Asian Woman's Cultural, Psychological, and Spiritual Guide to Self-Promote at Work by Neelu Kaur (January 24, 2023)

How Work Works:  The Subtle Science of Getting Ahead Without Losing Yourself by Michelle King (October 10, 2023)
2 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Work Well with Others

How to Work with (Almost) Anyone:  Five Questions for Building the Best Possible Relationships by Michael Bungay Stanier (June 27, 2023)

Writing for Busy Readers:  Communicate More Effectively in the Real World by Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink (September 5, 2023)
2 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Share with young readers

The Sum of Us (Adapted for Young Readers):  How Racism Hurts Everyone by Heather McGhee (February 21, 2023)

Caste:  The Origins of our Discontents (Young Readers edition) by Isabel Wilkerson (September 19, 2023)
2 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Be On Top of Your Self

The Power of Saying No: The New Science of How to Say No that Puts You in Charge of Your Life by Vanessa Patrick (June 1, 2023) 

Selfless: The Social Creation of “You” by Brian Lowery  (March 28, 2023)

Your Future Self:  How to Make Tomorrow Better Today by Hal Hershfield (June 6, 2023)
3 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Get Past Where You Are

Anatomy of a Breakthrough:  How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most by  Adam Alter (May 16, 2023)

Think Bigger: How to Innovate by Sheena Iyengar (April 11, 2023)


Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies by Gaia Bernstein (March 28, 2023)
3 book covers and author photos. Text above images contains same information.

Please share with others


I hope you found a book that will help you decode our changing world.  I love the idea of reading like we are new here (wherever that might be for you).  Let me know what you picked!

And, as always, my goal in this newsletter is to offer you free, bite-sized, evidence-based, action-oriented, zeitgeisty tips on how to be more inclusive.  I bet there are some great past issues you missed - you can check out all of them right here.

Forward this issues to others and if you aren’t a subscriber, you can hit the subscribe button below!

Dolly Chugh




PS:  Want to see more White House pictures?  More from this visit here and and a previous one here.

Photo Credits:  Neil Diamond posterHamilton meme, American Born Chinese , Mindy, Kamala, Priyanka, Namesake, Preet, Aziz, Lilly, Hasan, Kal , personal images and Canva created images. 

Special Thanks:  Much love to CJ Singh for convincing me to rearrange life for this special opportunity and covering things on the homefront.  Thank you to Samantha Ng and Emily Koh for the wonderful opportunities.  And deep appreciation to Anna McMullen for her partnership in bringing you yet another issue of Dear Good People.
Dolly Chugh is the Jacob B. Melnick Term Professor at the New York University Stern School of Business in the Department of Management and Organizations. She studies the psychology of good people and teaches leadership/management courses. All views are her own.

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