August 03 | Week in Review
Can you believe we’re in August already? I don’t know where the year has gone. (Actually, I do - I lost the first several months of it to narcolepsy. But now we’re back on track.) More importantly, you’re along for the journey. I’m glad you’re here!
My week has been full of some boring-ish studying that needs to be done. If you remember, I had a little bit of a walkaway from a professional organization last year.
Civility Does Not Replace Equity
HR friends, do you remember this SHRM announcement last year? I wrote a couple posts at the time about my thoughts, which I’m summarizing here. The originals can be found over at the Inclusive Pixelation blog:
As a result of leaving SHRM, I let my SHRM-SCP certification lapse. So I’ve been without a proper HR credential, and I’m aiming to fix that by studying for the SPHR.
Much of my reading this week has been of the studying nature, but I did find a few other great reads to share. I hope you find a new topic to explore.
Voices on Public Media
In case you missed it, public media in America is likely doomed. Without the Federal-level budget, public media organizations like the Center for Public Broadcasting can’t provide funding and services to local media outlets.
Read more about CPB’s shutdown at NPR: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/nx-s1-5489808/cpb-shut-down-public-broadcasting-trump
"Public media has been one of the most trusted institutions in American life, providing educational opportunity, emergency alerts, civil discourse, and cultural connection to every corner of the country."
Want a good summary of budget cuts - and the funding being raised by local organizations instead? Read more here:
Speaking of public media, what about news that’s accessible to all?
What Would Accessible News Mean to You?
What would our world be like if all news were accessible to all kinds of disabilities?
Voices on Learning
It taught us that “seeking out new life and new civilizations” wasn’t just space jargon. It was a dare: be curious, not just about the galaxy, but about each other. Exploration is empathy, with warp drive. Also, sometimes, exploration means getting stuck in a time loop until you finally admit you’re wrong. (Thanks for that, “Cause and Effect.”)
Okay, you’ll always get a reshare out of my with a reference to my favorite Star Trek episode EVER. But really, you should read more about what the group at NDD is up to:
More doom and gloom in the world? Sign me up, I guess…
This new arrangement doesn’t fall evenly. It never has. The removal of in-school deferment, the front-loading of interest, and the shift to 30-year repayment aren’t abstract policy decisions—they are deliberate redistributions of risk onto those least able to carry it. And for most students today, there is no way through higher education without taking on that risk.
We are disabled by ignorance, by convenience and by not-yet disabled people speaking over us, about us and for us. It’s time to unlearn the medical model of disability, a model that undermines our autonomy and agency. Let us speak for ourselves and learn when it's time to be an upstander or advocate. Let us grow into lived expertise professionals with as few workplace injuries as possible.
I hope you’ve found something new to read this week, or a new perspective to consider. Share with me what you’ve been reading in the comments!