Title - $10.99

The challenges with bringing more diversity to media are multifaceted. You need to have talented people in the pipeline to develop and nurture so they can move into decision-making positions. You need to provide living wages that will attract young people who are coming out of college with more student loan debt and higher costs of living than in the past. You need more ways to showcase the diversity of the media industry, but until more people of color are recruited, retained and promoted to visible positions, aspiring journalists of color won’t be attracted to the field because they don’t see people who look like them climbing the ladder in positions of influence. And you need consistent financial support for programs that are geared towards recruitment, retention and training people of color; often when budgets are slashed, these types of programs are the first to be eliminated.

This happened to me at a quite nice restaurant during "boys' night out" with my 11 year old son.  I had accidentally left my wallet in my car, which was a few blocks away, and didn't realize until the bill came.  I spoke with the waiter and offered them my phone as collateral.  I also offered that my son could stay while I fetched the money (I already had my son's approval for this plan). 

The waiter expressed "I trust you--I recognize you from other dinners."  He then joked to my son "It's alright if your father doesn't come back--we need a new dishwasher in back anyway."  Upon my return, he then commented to my son "You must be worth keeping."  He got a good tip for making light of a possibly embarrassing situation.