Our country is not perfect but our country embraces its diversity. You can be different in this country. I have traveled around the world. I've been in countries where people are not allowed to be different.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the importance of embracing diversity within a country.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield emphasizes that while no country is perfect, the ability to accept and celebrate diversity distinguishes her country. Her experiences traveling globally revealed that many nations restrict individuality and difference, reinforcing the value of an inclusive society where being different is not only accepted but cherished.
In practice
In a speech about cultural integration, you could use this quote to underline the value of diversity.
Throughout my career, from Jamaica to Nigeria, Pakistan to Switzerland, I've learned that effective diplomacy means more than shaking hands and staging photo ops. It means developing real, robust relationships. It means finding common ground and managing points of differentiation. It means doing genuine, old-fashioned, people-to-people diplomacy.
The fact that I made it to where I made it, when I look at where I came, I think is a message to the world and it's also a message to other young people who come from diverse and underprivileged backgrounds, that where they come from does not necessarily have to define where they are going.
Those of us who experience racism cannot, and should not, internalize it, despite the impact that it can have on our everyday lives. We must face it down, every time, no matter whom it's directed towards.
I think countries are now, leaders are now more conscious of the importance of having women engage in their country's development plan. Because again, and I say this over and over and over again, when we invest in women they invest back in their families, they invest in their communities, and they invest in their countries.
The more we elevate people's lives - the more we treat people with dignity and respect and honor their rights and freedoms - the more we discourageand even preventterrorism.
It is unconscionable for Russia to force Ukrainian citizens into Russia, and put them in what will basically be concentration and prisoner camps.
The United Nations and the Organization of American States have named 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent. This is an opportunity for all of us around the globe to celebrate the diversity of our societies and to honor the contributions that our fellow citizens of African descent make every day to the economic, social and political fabrics of our communities.
I know and I've always felt for Canada that we recognize that diversity is a great source of strength.
I've come to realize that, basically all my bosses and supervisors throughout my career have been male. And I've had great experiences, but it's made me appreciate the importance of diversity and inclusion.
And what do we love about New York City? We love that everyone's here. We are one of the most diverse cities in the world. And that diversity is racial. It's ethnic, it's linguistic, it's class.
I'm not asking for there to be all black writer's rooms or all Asian writer's rooms, or all white - I want them all to be diverse. When it's diverse, you're going to have a completely different dynamic. Everybody feels othered. Nobody feels like they've got the upper hand.
We're supposed to be bringing out-of-the-box thinking and innovation, and you cannot do that unless you've got diversity... It's everything from gender to ethnicity to geographic diversity.
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