We are living within a time period where wrongs of the past are being corrected, and AMS is proud to be on the forefront of advancing those corrections in the workplace. The terminology we use is “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DE&I), and the reality is a culture of fairness, humanity, and non-discrimination in hiring and promotion: the end to prejudice based on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
Recognizing that there was prejudice and discrimination, and there is a history of overcoming, we celebrate, in the month of June, both PRIDE and Juneteenth.
With regard to Pride Month, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) history of overcoming is celebrated to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.
From History.com we have gleaned some details of the Stonewall Uprising:
“The Stonewall Riots, also called the Stonewall Uprising, began in the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village in New York City.
“The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar on Christopher Street, in neighboring streets and in nearby Christopher Park. The Stonewall Riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
“The 1960s and preceding decades were not welcoming times for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. For instance, solicitation of same-sex relations was illegal in New York City.
“For such reasons, LGBT individuals flocked to gay bars and clubs, places of refuge where they could express themselves openly and socialize without worry. However, the New York State Liquor Authority penalized and shut down establishments that served alcohol to known or suspected LGBT individuals, arguing that the mere gathering of homosexuals was ‘disorderly.'”
As well as being a month-long celebration, Pride Month is an opportunity raise awareness of current issues facing the community. Parades are a prominent feature, and there are many other events as well. Here below are links to the websites of the Los Angeles Pride and the New York City Pride celebrations.
In this year’s blog we’d like to give credit to the woman who started the celebrations, known as the “Mother of Pride”, Brenda Howard. It was Brenda Howard who coordinated the first LGBT Pride march. From this began a week of events, and these events developed into the annual LGBTQ celebrations held every June. Here below is some of that inspiring story:
“To assemble the parade and the first gay pride week, Howard and the committee met at the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, the first gay and lesbian bookstore in America, at 15 Christopher Street. With the bookstore’s mailing list, they got word out about the parade. Committee member L. Craig Schoonmaker suggested the word “Pride” for the event. “A lot of people were very repressed, they were conflicted internally, and didn’t know how to come out and be proud. That’s how the movement was most useful, because they thought, ‘Maybe I should be proud,’” Schoonmaker said in 2015.
“The parade was scheduled for June 28, 1970. At first, only a relative few showed up for the parade’s 2 PM start time, set to travel 51 blocks, from Greenwich Village to Central Park. Police, there to protect the marchers, had to urge those who did show up to begin at ten after two. As if waiting to see if others would go first, people first trickled into the parade and then showed up in droves, growing louder and louder, eventually forming a thousands-strong mass of people 20 blocks long.”
Read the full article HERE.
AMS Fulfillment strives to create a corporate culture that is truly inclusive, and eager to give respect to voices that have been historically excluded. We are a B Corporation, and as such we are committed to ‘B The Change’ for the better.
As employers with a long-time commitment to diversity, AMS knows from experience that a diverse workforce creates a stronger corporate family. We have a stronger company and a happier family because of the diverse talent, diverse backgrounds, and diverse experiences of our teams today, and we intend to continue on that foundation and improve whatever needs improvement as we go forward.
Happy PRIDE MONTH! Be proud!!
