Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

ORLANDO Entering the All-Star break of his fourth season in the NBA, Wendell Carter Jr. is showing tremendous growth on the court.

The versatile big man is averaging career highs in points (14.0), rebounds (10.2), and assists (2.7) this season, while also playing some of his best defense since hes entered the league.

Yet, when asked where the Duke alum has shown the most growth this season, his head coach did not point to his improved 3-point shooting, his playmaking or defensive prowess. Instead, Orlando Magic Head Coach Jamahl Mosley praised Carter for his strides in leadership both on and off the court.

The one thing that I really have just loved the most more than anything that has shown up on the court is his off-the-court as well as locker room presence, Mosley said of the 22-year-old Atlanta native. His ability to lead. He does it in such a way that its not necessarily his physical presence, but his voice just says so much to these guys.

So, its only fitting that as the NBA heads into All-Star weekend, Carter tipped off his break not by going on a lavish vacation which would certainly have been well deserved by the way but instead by speaking to a group of young men about the importance of education, leadership, and guidance as they make their journey through life.

On Thursday, Carter met with a select group of young men, ages 14-18, who are part of the Boys2Men mentoring program, at the Repertory Theatre in Orlando and spoke to them about the importance of education and community resources to experience a higher quality of life.

Its an honor. Looking back when I was their age, I never thought I would be in this position where Im able to walk in a room where Ive got all eyes and ears on me and theyre trying to learn things from my life, said Carter. I just want to be able to help as many of them as I can in any shape, form or fashion.

There were many lessons that Carter delivered to group of young men in the Boys2Men mentoring program, a nonprofit organization committed to creating communities of empowerment for all teenage boys on their journey to manhood.

At the forefront was the importance of education, a value instilled in him by his mother, who would not let him participate in basketball games during high school unless he had all As. That standard helped provide him with options upon graduation as he not only had a plethora of athletic scholarships to choose from, but also academic acceptance into Ivy League institutions like Harvard.

I give a lot of credit to both of my parents. I was lucky enough to have both of them in my life, Carter said. I just give a lot of credit to them. Like I said, they werent really big on me going to the NBA. That was never their first goal with me. They wanted me to be good on the academic side and also, just be a good person.

Additional topics included the value of living in the moment and not letting past mistakes or anxiety about future events overwhelm your thought process. That was guidance he picked up from a mentor of his own, legendary Duke Mens Basketball Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Living in the moment (is the biggest lesson I want them to take away). I feel like a lot of people get caught up in the past or things that they went through, Carter explained. People get caught up in trying to see whats going to happen in the future. Sometimes we take for granted what is right in front of us. One of my mentors, Coach K, was the person who taught me that when I got to Duke. Being able to live in the moment and not putting too much energy into the past or the future. Staying present.

Its not just lip service from Carter. Hes put these lessons into action both on and off the court this season and displayed phenomenal personal growth in the process.

Earlier this year, he spoke up at halftime of the Magics home game against the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 23. At the time, Orlando was amidst a four-game losing skid, where the team had either blown a first-half lead or let the game get away from them early in the second half.

Rather than sit back, he chose to speak up, address the team and point out the areas where the group needed to improve in the second half of games.

I definitely grew in that aspect, said Carter, whose words helped lead Orlando to a 114-95 victory over Chicago. Every time we go into halftime and were up I kind of think about that moment. We had been there plenty of times and I felt like it was the perfect opportunity. We had lost a lot of games in a row, and I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to (point out) that weve been here before. I felt like it wasnt on the coaches, it was on us. I spoke up and they got behind what I was saying.

While Carter has developed as a leader, he was quick to point out to the group that he still has room to grow and has a number of life goals to check off along the way.

Among them, play a full season without missing a game, finish his college studies and get his degree, improve his skills as an actor Carter participated in plays during his time at school and most importantly, win an NBA championship.

Itll be no surprise if Carter, just as hes done throughout his life, achieves all of those lofty goals.

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Orlando Magics Wendell Carter Jr. Shares Insight and Stories of Encouragement with Youth from Boys2Men Men... - OrlandoMagic.com

Marc Andreessen on a panel at the Fortune Global Forum at the Fairmont Hotel on November 3, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Fortune)

Last Christmas Eve, I was driving with my 17-year-old nephew through an industrial part of northeast Portland, Oregon, when he pointed out some new graffiti on a wall near his house. How Does The Metaverse, someone had written, in quite beautiful blue script, Help Poor People?

This struck me as a very poignant thing to spraypaint on a wall in a run-down section of a midsize American city, not far from a huge and heart-rendingly grim homeless encampment on Columbia Avenue. Whoever wrote it must have had a sense that a massive change in how humans live and interact was looming before us all. We can be sure that they didnt know what this Metaverse would look like, since no one knows exactly. But they knew enough to be alarmed by it, and they must have had a sense that ordinary people wouldnt have much say in how it shaped up and impacted their lives. They knew that there was no point in writing their congressman or the local newspaper to discuss whether or not Americans really want to live out their lives in a digital simulacrum of reality, or to question whether it makes sense for us to deploy massive portions of our nations capital and brainpower toward building this simulacrum. Those sorts of questions get answered by investors and tech executives, and almost no one in power in this country thinks they ought to fall under the purview of our democracy or public debate. So they were left to scrawl a plaintive little protest, on a wall between a weed dispensary and a Vietnamese grocery.

There are hardly any better ways in American life to express political objections to the tech- and capital-driven changes that have so reshaped our lives in the past decadesfrom the industrialization of American agriculture to mass adoption of the media technologies that have done so much to destroy our brains and public debate. One of our last vestiges of mainstream consensus is that we talk about these shifts as irresistible, not subject to serious objection. But something strange is happening with the idea of the Metaverse, a basket of consumer technologies that might someday add up to an immersive and interconnected virtual world where many very powerful people hope we may soon be socializing, looking at art, buying property, and generally conducting our individual human lives through the prism of a mass-produced consumer headset. The systems that work to convince us that consumer technologies are inevitably a step forward in the march of human progress are fraying. No one was going around spraypainting anti-iPhone slogans on buildings back in 2009. The Metaverse is being planned, but it is going to take some effort to sell it.

Last spring, the early web pioneer, billionaire investor, and Facebook board member Marc Andreessen did an interview that got a lot of attention in the small world of people who theorize about tech, and almost none outside of it. It was with a pseudonymous figure who writes under the name Niccolo Soldo, who alternates between obviously satirical forays and genuinely weighty questions about how tech has reshaped human life in the past few years. About halfway through, Soldo asked Andreessen a question about whether our world of constant screen-based communication was hurting our collective mental health.

Your question is a great example of what I call Reality Privilege, Andreessen answered, before going into a world-historical vision of what the Metaverse would offer to humanity. Reality Privilege was an idea hed borrowed from the virtual reality developer Beau Cronin, who wrote way back in 2015 that physical reality, such as we experience as we go through the world in our human bodies, was a painful and unpleasant experience for manymaybe even mostof us. So it was a mark of privilege, comfort and luck, to think of non-digital reality as being truer or more worthwhile than one experienced through a screen. If its hard to imagine much about your life that could be improved by porting to a new platform, Cronin wrote about virtual-reality worlds, then maybe youre not the target user here. Consider the possibility that a visceral defense of the physical, and an accompanying dismissal of the virtual as inferior or escapist, is a result of superuser privileges. You are one of the Verified Users of the real. Congratulations for now, but beware the platform shift ahead.

At the time, Cronin was struggling with addiction and mental health issues, which may have had something to do with the fact that he cited traveling for in-person meetings as one aspect of reality he personally found to be onerous. He offered a prediction that, at least with regard to those meetings, has already largely come true: In ten years time, he wrote, well find absurd many of the activities we waste our physical presence on today.

But even Cronin seemed taken aback by Andreesens later elaboration of the Reality Privilege concept, and the intense discussion it produced in the tiny world of people who follow this sort of thing. A small percent of people live in a real-world environment that is rich, even overflowing, with glorious substance, Andreessen told Soldo. Beautiful settings, plentiful stimulation, and many fascinating people to talk to, and to work with, and to date. But these are just the lucky among us. Everyone else, he said, the vast majority of humanity, lacks Reality Privilegetheir online world is, or will be, immeasurably richer and more fulfilling than most of the physical and social environment around them in the quote-unquote real world.

It turned out that Andreessen had a very direct answer to the question of how the Metaverse would help poor people. The Reality Privileged, he said, call this conclusion dystopian, and demand that we prioritize improvements in reality over improvements in virtuality. To which I say: reality has had 5,000 years to get good, and is clearly still woefully lacking for most people; I dont think we should wait another 5,000 years to see if it eventually closes the gap. We should buildand we are buildingonline worlds that make life and work and love wonderful for everyone, no matter what level of reality deprivation they find themselves in.

So heres an immensely influential billionaire, with a huge personal stake in the development of the Metaverse, leveraging the language of privilege to suggest that the opinions of people who protest that were being lead towards dystopia are definitionally invalid. And Im going to offer a prediction: you will hear more arguments like this in the near future. But this is less of a new line of thinking than it may appear at first. Andreessen is just stating things more clearly than anyone had to back before we knew how ruinous the consumer technologies sold to us as social progress would be to our lives and society. Because if we can see how this Metaverse is being sold, maybe we might not end up buying it.

* * *

This interview took place several months before Facebook announced, in late October 2021, that it was changing its name to Meta and reorienting the company around building this new Metaverse. I mention this because the timeline is important. It seems safe to assume that many people reading this had never even heard of the Metaverse before Facebooks name-change produced a burst of coverage about the idea, almost all of it taking it as a given that this Metaverse would soon be a reality. They were right, in a way, to take it for granted. We are building this new world, Andreessen had said, and he meant it.

That morning in October, a host for NPRs Morning Edition brought on a tech reporter for the Verge to talk about what the Metaverse would look like. The ground for this interview had obviously been laid far in advance, with select tech reporters briefed by Facebook with embargoed talking points so theyd be ready to spread the news once Meta was ready for its big unveiling. But the NPR host asked a question that the Verge reporter was quite obviously unprepared for. So who wants this Metaverse? he asked. I mean, is this filling a demand? The reporter stammered audibly. The unspoken rule that we are supposed to uncritically embrace tech offerings like this had been violated. Uh, he said, well, its not built yet. He changed the subject.

But this was only partly true. Within days of the announcement, Nike filed a trademark application for digital sneakers. There was already a burgeoning market for virtual real estate in virtual worlds with names like The Sandbox and Decentraland. A subsidiary of Pricewaterhouse Coopers disclosed in December that it had been buying land in The Sandbox, a project of a Hong Kongbased company that has made prominent partnerships with Snoop Dogg and announced plans to build a virtual-reality concert venue in partnership with Warner Music. Its like buying land in Manhattan 250 years ago, one investor told the Wall Street Journal. Facebook-now-Meta invested $10 billion last year in developing its own large corner of the Metaverse, with the idea that soon Metaverse worlds created by Apple and Google and various gaming companies could be integrated into a more or less seamless virtual reality experience. There was already an infrastructure in place to sell the world on a product most people didnt yet even know existed.

But this world must exist, if youre thinking about the needs of corporate America. Because almost all our major innovations in the past 50 years have been in the form communications technologies and financial tinkering. The Metaverse offers a vital new avenue for profits and growth, in an economy increasingly decoupled, as gentle phrasing has it, from material reality. People may spend their time hanging out on Twitter and Facebook, as the tech writer and Twitter gadfly Noah Smith wrote recently, but with a few exceptions, they still produce and sell stuff in the real world. The more complex and flexible of a virtual reality the Metaverse creates, the more humans will actually be able to innovate new goods and services within that reality.

This gives you a more realistic picture of this Metaverse than what you usually get from slavish media reports about a beautiful, seamless new world. Its a jumble of half-developed products and speculative corporate forays, more notable at this point for the strange and inventive ways that companies have planned to monetize every aspect of virtual-world life than for any immersive VR experiences. The closest thing we have to the Metaverse as planned by Andreessen are video games, and the most radical innovations in these game-worlds are decentralized currencies and the ability (limited as yet, but growing) for inhabitants to invest in things like land and houses that they would have no hope of affording in the physical reality as we know it. But with investors already moving into the market, it may soon be as difficult for a young person to imagine buying a house in Decentraland as in the real world.

This is where the selling comes in. The Metaverse on offer in the next few years is going to be like the internet we already have, only more so: more ways to consume time and attention, more ways to get you to spend money, more ways for corporations and brands to get involved in areas of life we once knew as profound and on some level private, like intimate communication or our experience of art. This internet we have today is a disaster. Everyone knows this, even the people responsible for creating it. Many of those very people now feel very defensive and concerned that our collective enchantment with their offerings may be wearing off.

I talked recently with Nir Eyal, who has made a career and personal brand for himself by founding a company selling ads for Facebook and then consulting for tech giants on how to harness compulsive behaviors for profit. We were talking about whether its actually possible for people to choose whether or not to adopt consumer technologies that are designed and sold on a mass scale. He laughed off our developing societal anxiety about the power of Facebook-now-Meta in shaping our world. Look, how many more stories about how Facebook is hijacking our brain do we need? he asked me. My narrative is about personal empowerment, not of victimization.

He meant that we all have a choice, as individual consumers, how much we engage with the products that these companies build, so it would be misplaced to question their right to build them or to blame them for the impact theyve had on our own real world. Weve moved from skepticism to now cynicism, he complained. Now theres nothing that tech can do right. Its all about this cynical power struggle. The viewpoint is now that because these companies have power, they will abuse power.

Every new technology we kind of freak out, he said later about the Metaverse. So, on one hand, Im not surprised that theres a moral panic around the new technology revolution. But on the other hand, I am kind of surprised that we dont learn the lessonthat how we get through this stuff is we adapt our behaviors, and by adopting new technologies to help us get through the last generation of technologies.

This was an unintentionally revealing way of describing how consumer technology works today. It seems strange to think that we have to get used to new modes of livingwe must get through them, as Eyal saysin order to accommodate our lives to a new technology that does not actually fill any pre-existing human need. Most people dont adopt these technologies because they consciously decide that theyre a valuable addition to their personal lives. We accept them in response to a complex of social and economic pressures that arise when a technology achieves mass adoption. Only a lucky few people in our society today have enough privilege to decide whether or not to use a smartphone. The same thing will have to come true for the Metaverse, if its going to work as planned.

* * *

Shortly after the interview where Andreessen outlined the idea of Reality Privilege, the tech writer Nicholas Carr, a Pulitzer finalist for his book The Shallows, described Andreessen as the Metaverses Statue of Liberty.

He stands just outside the virtual worlds golden door, Carr put it, illuminating the surrounding darkness with a holographic torch, welcoming the downtrodden to a new and better life. It was a winkingly funny image for anyone who knows much about Andreessen, a stout figure with a famously large and eggish bald head.

But Carr understood the subtle ways that conversations among powerful people in tech can shape the way that the media talks about this sort of thing. Thats how the selling of something like the Metaverse really gets done.

He mentioned that Andreessen has been called the Obi-Wan to Mark Zuckerbergs Luke Skywalker. Its tempting to dismiss all this as just more bad craziness from Big Techs fiercely adolescent mind, he said. But that would be a mistake. Andreessen had been thinking about the concept of Reality Privilege since at least 2017, when he brought it up in a conversation with the tech journalist Kara Swisher at a Code conference forum. Andreessen is revealing his worldview and his ultimate goals, Carr said. He has the influence and the resources to, if not create the future, at least push the future in the direction he prefers.

You can already see this power at work. Virtual worlds, immersive online experiences, digital economiesthese concepts are new and different and often uncomfortable, the investor and tech blogger Rex Woodbury wrote soon after Andreessens interview came out. Even I occasionally find it all a little dystopian. But the concept of Reality Privilege resonates. Not everyone has the chance to live in Manhattan. Who was he, with all his privilege, to argue against a chance for the reality-impoverished to live there virtually?

But he doesnt have much of a choice either way. This sexy VR future grows nearer with every advance in computer power, an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by Rob Brooks, an Australian biologist, stated recently. With faster processors, better haptics, and teledildonic (look it up yourself!) sex toys that can be controlled remotely, two or more people will have the chance to participate in the same VR-enhanced, physically satisfying sex scene, while each remains in the comfort and safety of their own home.

You may not have realized how highly planned the future of sex in the Metaverse already is. Be careful about objecting to it, or you may be accused of prudishness. I side with the machines and against the puritans, Brooks wrote. I think artificial intimacy could deliver a more relaxed, inclusive, and humane sexuality, but only if societies have enough maturity to give it a chance.

All of this is being designed, planned, and promulgated to the public as fait accompli, despite the fact that a vote on whether or not to move society into the Metaverse would fail badly. Analysts at Morgan Stanley said the metaverse could represent an $8 trillion opportunity, Business Insider wrote recently in a piece outlining the large-scale plans and investments for the Metaverse of 14 major corporations. But it would be a challenge to get people interested in using it. A recent poll found that only 33 percent of Americans were interested in spending money on digital items in the Metaverse. Generation Z, Insider fretted, needs more convincing that the Metaverse is the shape of things to come.

Its too late to stop them from building them. But somehow I still think it may be possible to build a politics that resists the forces leading us into dystopia and continues the 5,000-year project of improving the reality we already have. Even tech executives are starting to sound worried about where this is all heading. This metaverse is going to be far more pervasive and powerful than anything else, Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games, said recently. If one central company gains control of this, they will become more powerful than any government and be god on Earth.

Thats not quite true. They wont be god on Earth. Theyll be god in the Metaverse. Our only option now is to build an Earth thats preferable to it.

James Pogue is the author of Chosen Country: A Rebellion in the West.

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Selling the Metaverse - The American Conservative

Introduction

Greening the Management philosophy has become increasingly popular on academic and business fronts.1 In pursuit of greening the management plan, it is realized that organizations having environmentally conscientious employees would reap strategic advantages.2 The vitality of employees in sustaining organizations green initiatives has resulted in an increasing scholarly interest in identifying the predictors and the mediating mechanisms that facilitate employees pro-environmental behavior (EPB).36 According to Graves, Sarkis,6 employees pro-environmental behavior is

a broad set of environmentally-responsible activities such as learning more about the environment, developing and applying ideas for reducing the companys environmental impact, developing green processes and products, recycling and reusing, and questioning practices that hurt the environment.

Such behavior by the employees is essential for realizing organizations green initiatives.7,8

Leaders role is critical in shaping and nurturing employees desired behavior.911 A growing scholarship has explored the influence of different leadership styles in shaping EPB.1214 However, only a few studies are there for environmentally specific servant leadership (ESL).7 Servant leadership is built on the premise of others oriented leadership approach that establishes a one-to-one relationship with followers by prioritizing their needs and interests.15 Under this leadership philosophy, the leader alters employees perspectives from self-centered to pro social to go beyond the call for duty.16 To align with green leadership literature, the authors grounded ESL in the Liden, Wayne10 servant leadership model, which emphasized the leadership role in

emotional healing, green value creation, conceptual skills, green empowerment, helping subordinates to realize environmental goals, putting the environment first, and behaving ethically towards the environment.

In response to the calls for research and to better understand the underlying mechanisms of ESL,1517 we identified green self-efficacy as a mediating channel that explains the relationship between ESL and EPB.

Though servant leaders treat all employees equally, employees individual differences may lead them to respond differently.18 Thus, exploring the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between ESL and EPB is highly meaningful. Efficacy theory19 accentuates that individuals self-efficacious belief is strongly linked with their resulting performance.20 It is emphasized that to act pro-environmentally, employees need to care about the community at large. It is advanced that ESL can catalyze this state of caring by nurturing employees self-efficacy needs. Self-efficacy at the workplace refers to an employees realization of his/her potential to accomplish the assigned task.19 Instead of general self-efficacy, we employ green self-efficacy, being more effective in predicting employees environment-related behaviors.21 We argue that ESL supplements the four essentials of employees green self-efficacy, ie, mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and psychological feedback, which in turn foster EPB. Theoretical underpinnings of servant leadership and self-efficacy theory support the postulation that employees green self-efficacy is vital to realize EPB.

The authors claim three distinctive value-additions of this research to the knowledge of employee pro-environmental behavior and environmentally specific leadership. First, advancing self-efficacy theory, this research explores green self-efficacy as the mediating channel through which ESL predicts EPB. Secondly, it supplements the limited empirical investigations by responding to multiple calls for research to examine servant leaderships role in shaping EPB.13,22 Third, concerning EPB, the energy sector is a comparatively new context despite being highly relevant due to its share in adversely impacting the environment.13

During the last decade, a shift in the focus of leadership studies has been started towards environmental issues,2325 and environmentally specific constructs of various leadership styles have emerged.2629 To date, environmentally specific or green transformational leadership attracted a significant share of studies predicting its influence on employees environment-related behaviors. However, only recently, Tuan (2018) conceptualized environmentally specific servant leadership that has started attracting researchers in this area.13 Building on Liden, Wayne10 model of servant leadership, our conceptualization of environmentally specific servant leadership emphasizes the leadership role in

emotional healing, green value creation, conceptual skills, green empowerment, helping subordinates to realize environmental goals, putting the environment first, and behaving ethically towards the environment.13

Theoretically, ESL is perhaps the most suitable amongst the positive leadership styles in influencing EPB.7 However, very few studies examined ESL in relation to employees behaviors towards protecting the environment. This study intends to advance the ESL literature by exploring its influence on EPB.

EPB is defined as

a broad set of environmentally-responsible activities such as learning more about the environment, developing and applying ideas for reducing the companys environmental impact, developing green processes and products, recycling and reusing, and questioning practices that hurt the environment.6

It is usually difficult for organizations to explicitly specify all of such behaviors in the formal job descriptions. Thus, the performance of EPB demands an extra call for duty from the employees and is critical for achieving the corporate greening objectives,7 improving organizations financial performance,30 and also in protecting the eco-system.9 EPB represents their ethical conviction towards preserving the environment and is consistent with the philosophy of servant leadership, where transforming followers as environmental servants is a top priority.

Servant leaders considered it their primary responsibility to serve others, including employees, customers, and the community.31,32 Serving a wider spectrum, including protecting the environment, would activate EPB.13 Environmentally specific servant leaders do not consider economic gains when it comes to protecting the environment and encouraging followers to value it.33 Instead, they offer their subordinates the required training and knowledge and sensitize them to participate in pro-environmental initiatives.7 Such leaders believe in followers green empowerment and act as role models by behaving ethically towards the environment.26 They build close relationships with the employees and enhance their conceptual skills while helping them to realize environmental goals.

In addition to the arguments above, empirical evidence also supports the postulation that ESL is positively linked with employees environment-related outcomes.3335 Therefore, the following is hypothesized:

H1: Environmentally specific servant leadership positively influences EPB.

Bandura36 defined self-efficacy as a belief in ones capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments. Choi37 contended that field-specific self-efficacy has an enhanced capability to predict the behavior in that field. In this study, the authors operationalized green self-efficacy as employees belief about their competencies to engage and accomplish environment-related tasks.13 It refers to employees evaluation of their capabilities to accomplish pro-environmental targets.38 There exists a positive association between green self-efficacy and EPB.13,39 Extant research has examined the intervening role of general self-efficacy between servant leadership and employees outcomes, eg, creativity,20 citizenship behavior,40 and proactivity.41 However, research has not unraveled the mediating role of green self-efficacy in explaining the relationship between ESL and EPB. This study is an attempt to bridge this knowledge gap.

Bandura36 maintained that individuals belief in their efficacy depends on four foundations: mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and psychological feedback. We advance that ESL would enhance employees green self-efficacy through these four self-efficacy sources. According to Bandura,36 mastership experience, when one has perceived expertise about a task, is the vital ingredient of self-efficacy. Environmentally specific servant leaders, through empowerment, encouraging aptitude, and facilitation of subordinates to find and resolve green issues on their jobs would help them accomplish green tasks. Because of such leaders close one-to-one relationship with followers, they assign each follower an activity that best fits his/her potential. Such leaders would also offer their subordinates opportunities to develop green skills to advance their careers in green jobs. Moreover, an environmentally specific servant leader coaches and develops followers, which increases their skills level related to the environmental tasks. Consequently, subordinates receive positive feedback about their accomplishments, which uplifts their mastery experience.

Secondly, the vicarious experiences of employees also shape their self-efficacy belief. Vicarious experience occurs when one witnesses others completing a task successfully.42 Environmentally specific servant leaders possess advanced conceptual skills and the green knowledge of tasks being carried out in the organization. Thus, they are well equipped to assist and support the subordinates. Through their approach of leading by example, such leaders prove their authority as a role model worth imitating.13 The course of role modeling augments employees belief that if their leaders can complete a task successfully, they can succeed in such activities.19

Bandura36 enlisted social persuasion as the third way to develop self-efficacy. Employees could be convinced to believe that they have the expertise and skills to succeed. The verbal appreciation and encouragement from the environmentally specific servant leaders help employees overcome their self-doubts. Such leaders encourage followers and display trust in employees abilities (Joseph & Winston, 2005), thus extracting the best from employees efforts.

Lastly, environmentally specific servant leaders make genuine efforts to understand and support employees by emphasizing building long-term relationships. Furthermore, such leaders regulate the emotions of their subordinates in a positive way, which reduces stress and creates such an environment in which employees feel psychologically safe, which ultimately enhances their self-efficacious belief.42 From this discussion, it is argued that ESL improves employees green self-efficacy, which aids employees to demonstrate pro-environmental behavior on the jobs actively. Therefore, the following is postulated:

H2: The positive influence of ESL on EPB is mediated through employees green self-efficacy.

The theoretical model is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Theoretical Model.

This studys population comprised employees and their respective supervisors from Pakistans energy sector. Selecting the respondents from this sector is profoundly meaningful because of its significant share of greenhouse gas emissions in the country, nearly fifty percent.7 Besides, due to the $33 billion foreign investment, this sector is undergoing rapid expansion and entrusted to enhance the share of renewable energy from two percent to thirty percent by 2030 in the countrys energy mix.43 Then, this is one of the few comprehensive sectors in Pakistan comprising generation, dispatch, and distribution of energy. Further, it must adhere to the sustainability parameters for seeking loans and aids from international donor agencies.

The study fulfills requirements laid down in the declaration of Helsinki. Researchers explained the purpose and aims of the study in the questionnaire. A statement clearly indicated that the participation was purely voluntary and the participants could exit at any stage. The study was not invasive in any respect and did not pose any harm, whether mental, physical or in terms of their professional reputation/interactions. They were assured of anonymity and confidentiality and that the data shall be used in aggregate without identifying any individual. The information collected from all participants in this research project was kept securely by the authors on a dedicated computer and was not shared or transmitted to anyone else. This study was carried out after the approval by the University Research Supervisor and the Research Ethics Committee of Tianjin University of Finance and Economics. As per legal requirements in Pakistan, no further ethical approvals were required from any authority because the study did not involve any manipulation and was not invasive.

Researchers contacted Pakistans Ministry of Energy (Power Division), explained the objective of this research, ensuring the participants privacy, and requested permission for data collection. Employees working at entry-level managerial positions with at least 1 year of experience and their respective supervisors were the studys potential participants. The Ministrys representative shared a list containing names, designations, and email addresses of 2453 employees and their respective 887 supervisors. The systematic random sampling where every 4th employee and the particular supervisor selected as potential participants. Two questionnaires for employees and their immediate supervisors, prepared with Google Docs (see Supplementary Material), were performed online during JuneJuly 2021 with a three-week time-gap to lessen common method bias.44 Online data collection strategy was adopted because the data were collected during COVID-19 and it was convenient to approach the potential participants online rather physically. Although such a research design reduces the final response rate, this study has gathered a reasonable response from the participants. Potential participants were voluntarily requested to fill out the survey. The first wave survey was performed on 613 employees. In that wave, the questionnaire contained questions about employees demographics, green self-efficacy, environmentally specific servant leadership, and the immediate supervisors name to match responses at a later stage. At the end of the first wave, 406 usable responses with a response rate of 66.23% were received. Three weeks after the first wave, the second-wave survey began to collect responses on EPB from the immediate supervisors of already participating subordinates. For the final analysis, 381 matched dyads (employee-supervisor) were gathered. The authors also employed the commonly used method for testing the common method bias, ie Harmans single-factor test.44 In the present research, without factor rotation, the characteristic root of the common factor with the greatest explanatory power is 10.52 that explains 35.62% of the total variance. No single factor explains most covariance of independent variables and dependent variables, confirming that common method bias is not an issue in this research. The sample profile of the participants is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 Sample Profile of Participants

The authors used established measures for tapping all the constructs in this study. Responses were solicited through a 7-point Likert scale, one representing strongly disagree and seven as strongly agree. Employees rated their supervisors as environmentally specific servant leadership through a 12-item scale adapted by Tuan.26 Employees response regarding their green self-efficacy was measured with a 6-item instrument developed by Chen and Chang.38 Finally, each employees immediate supervisor was asked to evaluate EPB on a 10-item measure introduced by Robertson and Barling.45 All the items of the constructs are enlisted in Appendix-A.

The analysis of this research is carried out through the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method by using Smart-PLS 3.3.3 software (Boenningstedt, Germany). The PLS-SEM technique is preferred for various reasons. First, PLS-SEM has established its dominance over other statistical techniques for meditation analysis.46 Second, the study at hand is prediction-oriented, where PLS-SEM best suits.46,47 Third, it is comprised of the modern statistical tools of analysis48 and offers improved statistical power.49 Using the PLS-SEM technique, the analysis was performed in the following two stages:

Confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) has recently been advocated by scholars as a systematic methodological process for examining the measurement model in PLS-SEM.50 In CCA, the nature of the constructs, reflective or formative, is specified at the beginning. The study at hand contained all the constructs as reflective lower-order. The CCA was performed in the following steps:

Items loadings evaluation is the first step of CCA in the evaluation of the measurement model. An item loading above 0.708 and the t-statistic above 1.96 under two-tailed is considered significant.50 Items loadings along with t-statistics are enlisted in Table 2.

Table 2 Confirmatory Composite Analysis

The second step in CCA evaluates construct-level reliability. Cronbachs alpha () and composite reliability (C.R) are widely used statistics for the evaluation of construct-level reliability. The threshold values for and C.R are from 0.70 to 0.95.49 The values for and C.R are presented in Table 2 and are within the threshold range for all constructs.

The convergent validity of all the constructs is assessed in the third step of CCA. The average variance extracted (AVE) is the most commonly used statistic for establishing convergent validity of constructs.49 The threshold value of AVE is above 0.50. AVE values for all the constructs are shown in Table 2.

Lastly, CCA is performed to establish the uniqueness of the constructs. The heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlations46 is the recommended metric, and its values should be below 0.90.49 HTMP values presented in Table 3 settle the distinctness of the constructs.

Table 3 Discriminant Validity

Assessment of the structural model (SM) was carried out by performing the following steps:

Ensuring that multi collinearity is not a potential problem is the first step in the assessment of SM. The variance inflation factor (VIF) is a widely used metric in this regard. The VIF value below three is the threshold in the latest instructions.50 VIF values are well within the limit and are presented in Table 2.

Evaluation of directed and mediation hypotheses is the second step in SM assessment. The bootstrapping approach of the PLS algorithm is employed to obtain the path coefficient () values for all the hypothesized paths. The latest guidelines have recommended reporting percentile bootstrap confidence intervals where for the statistical significance of a structural path, its confidence intervals should not have a zero value.49,51 To understand the nature of mediation, ie partial or full after assessment of the indirect effect, it is essential to look at the strength of the direct effect. If, after introducing the mediating variable(s), the direct effect is still significant, the mediation would be partial, and if that direct effect becomes non-significant, then the mediation would be full.51 To substantiate the mediation results, value for Variance Accounted For (VAF) was calculated which decides about the nature of mediation. As a rule of thumb, the VAF value <0.2, 0.2 but 0.8, and >0.8 means No mediation, Partial mediation, and Full mediation, respectively.52 Results for the assessment of SM are presented in Table 4.

Table 4 Assessment of the Structural Model

Lastly, the structural models quality indicators, including coefficient of determination (R2) and predictive relevance (Q2), are also needed to be presented in the assessment of the structural model. The coefficient of determination highlights the variance explained by independent variables(s) in the dependent variable(s). The R2 threshold values 0.19, 0.33, and 0.67 are considered as small, moderate, and substantial, respectively (Chin, 1998). Similarly, the predictive relevance (Q2) describes the predictive accuracy of a structural model. For the purpose of generating Q2 values, the PLS-SEM blindfolding procedure was employed. Table 4 enlists R2 and Q2 values of the SM. Results of the SM are also presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Structural Model Results.

This study aimed to explore environmentally specific servant leaderships mechanisms in predicting EPB through mediating role of employees green self-efficacy.

Our results accentuate the direct effect of ESL on EPB, which is in line with the findings of the past studies.12,26,33 Servant leadership characterized by environmental focus aims at investing in green training and development of employee behaviors while offering constructive feedback in a timely manner and backing up your employees in their green initiatives. Environmentally specific-servant leaders offer employees autonomy and encouragement, which increases their involvement in taking part in green tasks. This finding echoes with past research wherein ESL was shown to influence the employees green or environment-related behaviors.1,7,13 The servant leaders caring attitude towards community and green values helps establish such credibility that he/she is seen as an exemplary figure among followers who copy his/her behavior. Servant leaders under green philosophy equip employees with the necessary environmental knowledge and sharpen their skills and abilities, which in turn help them to engage in EPB.13

Then, the finding establishes that employees green self-efficacy mediates the relationship of ESL with EPB. Environmentally specific servant leaders not just behave and pose responsibly, they also make every effort to provide support and direction, establish autonomy among employees, allocate resources, and extend green training to employees with the aim of growing them as an environmental servant-leader for the future.10,12 The repeated action and learning mechanism from feedback establishes a sense of self-efficacy among employees that they are capable of achieving such positive environmental tasks once they commit. Hence, our results conclude that green self-efficacy acts as a channel through which ESL influences EPB. Environmentally specific servant leaders ensure the basic essentials of self-efficacy through empowerment, extending a chance to participate in pro-environmental tasks freely and displaying a genuine concern towards the initiatives that are important initiatives for employees professional growth. In return, employees engaged in pro-environmental behavior. The results reveal that the nature of mediation in this study is partial mediation which means that other intervening variables also in addition to employees green self-efficacy that may explain the relationship between ESL and EPB.

This paper makes a contribution to the green and pro-environmental literature from multiple management perspectives. First, this study responds to multiple calls for the paper to investigate the relationship between environmentally-specific servant leadership and EPB.7,13 Secondly, this study furthers the scope of self-efficacy theory by incorporating green and pro-environmental behaviors into the existing body of knowledge on green management practices. This is done by studying the mediation effects of green self-efficacy between ESL and EPB. Third, it responds to calls for research on examining the possible mediating effect of employees green self-efficacy from the perspective of servant leadership and EPB.53

The results also indicate managerial implications for green practices in Pakistans energy sector. The need for environmentally specific servant leaders echoes with the growing attention of organizations on establishing green human resource practices as part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives. Leadership roles are often considered informal mechanisms, supplementing formal HRM policies written in company rule books. Organizational policies must incorporate green self-efficacy into the work climate through positive reinforcement. Results reiterate that ESL is a key driver of employees pro-environmental behaviors, indicating that policymakers should engrain their human resource practices to prioritize green behaviors in the hiring and selection process to hire servant leaders who are inclined towards green behaviors. Whereas for the existing workforce and the managerial staff, green training programs should be devised and developed. This helps inculcate pro-environmental attitudes and enhances ESL behavior. The focus needs to be laid on grooming employees to build servant leadership practices that they identify with due to inspiration. These practices help organizations develop future environmentally specific servant leaders (Liden et al, 2008; Luu, 2018).

Despite offering valuable insights into the relationship between ESL and EPB, this research has its limitations. The cross-sectional design of this study does not establish causality between independent and dependent variables. We suggest aspiring researchers design longitudinal investigations based on this model. Second, it may not be possible to assess whether individual differences (eg, personality traits, values, and interest in the subject of the study) potentially could have skewed the data, this must be noted as a limitation of this study because authors did not gather data on these variables and could not assess this aspect. Third, we gathered data from employee-supervisor dyads from the energy sector of Pakistan; a better level of generalizability can be achieved by future researchers by conducting replication studies in another sector or industry. Fourth, this study included individual-level mediators and green self-efficacy in the relationship between ESL and EPB. It is suggested that team-level or group-based self-efficacy may be observed to examine its effect on EPB. Lastly, future studies may further explore mediating or moderating roles of other job-related factors, such as employee-supervisor value congruence, leader-identification, employees green job crafting, and green locus of control. In the rapidly growing knowledge stream of employees pro-environmental behavior, this study intended to explore employees green self-efficacy as the underlying mechanism of environmentally specific servant leadership (ESL) in influencing employees pro-environmental behavior (EPB). The perspective of self-efficacy theory was employed to understand the influence of ESL in predicting EPB. Our findings highlighted that environmentally specific servant leadership has a significant direct impact on employees pro-environmental behavior and employees green self-efficacy partially mediates the positive influence of ESL on EPB.

This study was carried out after the approval by the University Research Supervisor and the Research Ethics Committee of Tianjin University of Finance and Economics. No additional ethical approvals were required since the study was not invasive and did not involve manipulation of any kind. Participants were informed that participation was voluntary, and that they could exit at any stage. The study did not pose any harm mentally, physically or to professional relationships/reputation of participants. The study was designed in such a way as not to obtain any personal information of the respondents. They were assured of anonymity and that their personal identification information (eg name and email id) will not be shared with anyone and will be kept strictly confidential. The information collected from all participants in this research project was kept securely by the authors on a dedicated computer and was not shared or transmitted to anyone else.

The authors declare no competing interests in this work.

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ESL and EPB: through the lens of Self Efficacy Theory | PRBM - Dove Medical Press

Get ready for NBA All-Star 2022 from Feb. 18-20 in Cleveland.

NEW YORK The National Basketball Association (NBA) will honor the NBAs 75th Anniversary Team in a special halftime ceremony during the 71st NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 20 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. Eight-time GRAMMY Award winner andCleveland Cavaliers part-owner Usher, five-time Academy Award and two-time Emmy Award winner Spike Lee, GRAMMY and Emmy Award winner Tiffany Haddish and Emmy Award nominee Anthony Anderson will serve as narrators and take fans on a journey through the leagues first 75 years, recognizing the players who have shined the brightest and highlighting the themes that have served as the cornerstones of the NBA since its founding: competition, culture and inclusion. Nine-time GRAMMY Award winners Earth, Wind & Fire will perform their hit Shining Star as the halftime finale. Members of the NBA 75th Anniversary team from nearly every decade of the leagues existence will be in the arena for the ceremony honoring the NBAs diamond anniversary. The game will air live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT and in 215 countries and territories.

Prior to tip-off, Billboard Award-winning artist and Cleveland native Machine Gun Kelly and renowned producer and award-winning DJ D-Nice will introduce the 2022 NBA All-Stars. Four-time GRAMMY Award winner Macy Gray, who is from Ohio, will sing the U.S. national anthem and Toronto native, two-time Juno Award-nominated and platinum-selling artist Ryland James will sing the Canadian national anthem.

On Saturday, Feb. 19, GRAMMY Award-winning music mogul DJ Khaled will be joined by a star-studded lineup of friends including nine-time GRAMMY Award winner and two-time Academy Award winner Mary J. Blige, three-time GRAMMY Award winner Ludacris, five-time GRAMMY Award winner Lil Wayne, Gunna, Migos and Lil Baby to headline an unforgettable performance before the AT&T Slam Dunk during State Farm All-Star Saturday Night airing at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.

As previously announced, prior to the start of the inaugural NBA HBCU Classic presented by AT&T on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. ET on TNT, ESPN2 and NBA TV, award-winning actress, musical artist and television personality Keke Palmer will perform the U.S. national anthem and the Black national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing. She will be accompanied by the Howard University Showtime Marching Band.

About the Artists

Anthony AndersonEmmy and Golden Globe nominated actor, Anthony Anderson is the star and executive producer of ABCs multi-award nominated sitcom black-ish where he portrays Andre Dre Johnson which is currently airing its eighth and final season. Anderson also will reprise his role as Detective Kevin Barnard on the 21st season of Law and Order, which makes a highly anticipated return to television. He also hosts the ABC game show To Tell the Truth. Anderson is executive producer of both black-ish and its spin-off grown-ish. He has numerous other television and film credits including TRANSFORMERS, THE DEPARTED and HUSTLE & FLOW. Anderson has received seven Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series as producer, and three Golden Globe nominations and three Critics Choice nominations for his role on black-ish. He has won seven Image Awards and received 16 nominations in his career. In 2020 he was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

D-NiceThe legendary DJ, rapper, beatboxer, producer, photographer and philanthropist has moved millions on wax with timeless records, on stage at unforgettable gigs and online with his revolutionary virtual Club Quarantine on Instagram Live. The NAACP Image Awards named him Entertainer of The Year, Time Magazine nominated him for 2020 Person of the Year, while he took home the 2020 Webby Artist of the Year award in the category of Special Achievement and Ebony Magazine included him on its 2021 Power 100 list. Most importantly, Club Quarantine positively impacted the globe, raising millions for first responders, HBCUs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Apollo Theater and more.

DJ KhaledSince launching his career two decades ago, GRAMMY winner, multiplatinum artist, music industry visionary, innovative influencer, mogul and mega-producer DJ Khaled has sold 18 million singles and 5 million albums and generated more than 3 billion streams. His discography encompasses eight gold singles, five platinum singles and two double-platinum singles. He landed back-to-back No. 1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200 with the gold-selling Major Key in 2016 and the platinum-certified, GRAMMY Award-nominated Grateful in 2017. The latter boasted the sextuple-platinum Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 Im The One (feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne) and quadruple-platinum Wild Thoughts (feat. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller). His 12th full-length album, Father of Asahd, was the No. 1 Most-Streamed Record upon release in 2019, achieved a gold certification from the RIAA and marked his third straight Top 2 debut on the Billboard Top 200. He also runs We the Best Music Group, is a New York Times bestselling author and served as a judge on Foxs top-rated 2018 smash The Four.

Earth, Wind & FireEarth, Wind & Fire is a music institution. In 1969, music legend Maurice White birthed the music force named after the elements from his very own astrological charts. The group has scored eight number one hits and sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. Theyve released 23 albums; eight went double platinum and hit the Top 10, making them one of the best-selling artists of all time. Theyve won nine GRAMMY Awards including one for Lifetime Achievement (2012). In 2000, Earth, Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, cementing their lasting impact on popular music. In 2019, their contributions to arts and culture were acknowledged with a prestigious Kennedy Center Honor. The music of Earth, Wind & Fire is more alive than ever as they continue to inspire new audiences and thrill those who have been with them from the beginning. Like the elements in the groups name, Earth, Wind & Fires music has withstood ever-changing trends in the world and shows no sign of vanishing. Fromthe funky and infectiousLetsGroove to the timeless dance classic September to the heartfelt Reasons, Earth,Wind&Firescatalog of hits has become the soundtracktomany lives;now,then andforever.

Lil BabySix-time GRAMMY-nominated rapper Lil Baby has been one of the most dominant and critically-acclaimed names in music with over 30 billion global streams. Unapologetically himself and speaking his truth in lyrics connects him to listeners like no other. In 2020 he released My Turn, the No. 1 streamed and No. 1 selling album of any genre that year which also held 14 records simultaneously on The Billboard Hot 100, tying himwith musical titans Prince and Paul McCartney. His 2021 joint project, The Voice of the Heroes, with Lil Durk was his second number one project on the Billboard 200. He has earned three BET Awards for Best Male Hip Hop Artist, Best Duo with Lil Durk, and Best New Artist. He was also named Vevos Top Performing Hip-Hop Artist, MVP on Rap Caviar, and won Global Artist of the Year at the Apple Music Awards. He has earned six Grammy nominations during his young career.

Lil WayneLil Wayne rewrote the entire game in his image. The five-time GRAMMY Award-winning multiplatinum rap icon, Young Money Entertainment founder, acclaimed author, skater, philanthropist, and history-making superstar has left an indelible tattoo on the culture. By 2020, he cemented his legacy forever as one of the best-selling artists of all time, tallying sales of more than 100 million records worldwide with 15 million albums and 37 million digital tracks sold in the United States alone. He garnered 11 BET Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, two MTV VMAs, and eight NAACP Image Awards. Among many milestones, he emerged as the first male artist to surpass Elvis Presley with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100, logging a staggering 109 entries. With a discography highlighted by two consecutive No. 1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200 with 2008s triple-platinum, three-time GRAMMY Award-winning opus Tha Carter III and its double-platinum 2011 successor Tha Carter IV, he completed the series with Tha Carter V in 2018. Simultaneously, Wayne owns and operates Young Money Entertainment as CEO.

LudacrisAs a recording artist, Ludacris has sold more than 15 million albums domestically, thanks to the blockbuster success of such singles as Stand Up, Get Back, Southern Hospitality, Number One Spot, Money Maker and My Chick Bad in addition to being featured in and co-writing Carrie Underwoods hit single The Champion. His feature film credits include Universal Pictures blockbuster Fast & the Furious franchise, including Fast 7, Fast & Furious 6, Fast Five, 2 Fast 2 Furious and The Fate of the Furious, which broke records at the box office, becoming the highest grossing film opening worldwide. He has also played feature roles in Crash, Hustle & Flow, Ride and Show Dogs, New Years Eve and No Strings Attached, opposite Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman. Stepping back into the studio, he is working on new music with an album release sometime this year.His latest venture includes launching his educational platform devoted to the enrichment of children called KidNation, in addition, the opening of his long-anticipated restaurant Chicken-n-Beer located at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport. Bridges philanthropic efforts rival his entertainment accomplishments. He started The Ludacris Foundation in 2001 which focuses on helping the youth in his hometown of Atlanta.In addition, he has recently partnered with No Kid Hungry and Feeding America.

Mary J. BligeIconic GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter, Oscar-nominated actress, producer and philanthropist, Mary J. Blige is a figure of inspiration, transformation and empowerment, making her one of the defining voices of the contemporary music era. With a track record of eight multi-platinum albums, nine GRAMMY Awards (plus a staggering 32 nominations), two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, a SAG nomination, and a BET Lifetime Achievement award, among many other accolades, Blige has cemented herself as a global superstar. The singer/songwriter has attracted an intensely loyal fan base responsible for propelling worldwide sales of more than 50 million albums. Blige just released her 15th studio album, GOOD MORNING GORGEOUS, and performed in the historic Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show.

Macy GrayMacy Gray, the renowned artist, actor, activist and strong woman, is no stranger to saying what needs to be said and acting on her words. Since Gray broke into the music scene in 1999 with the release of her debut, triple-platinum album, How Life is, she has become a powerhouse of R&B and Soul. She has amassed a devoted global fan base and sold over 25 million total albums globally. A five-time GRAMMY Nominee, Gray received the GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance in 2000 for her iconic song I Try and has received two BRIT Awards. Grays latest album will be coming out in 2022. Titled The Reset, the album is primed to create further discussion about what is happening in todays world and will help redefine what pop music should be while providing music lovers with amazing music, good times and a great message. Grays talents resound beyond music as well. She starred in Tyler Perrys Black Reel Award-winning For Colored Girls and would grace the screen everywhere from Brotherly Love and Cardboard Boxer to NETFLIXs hit Fuller House.

Machine Gun KellyRecording artist Machine Gun Kelly is a multi-hyphenate talent with an impressive career that started in Cleveland and has made him a globally known star in both music and film. Machine Gun Kellys fifth studio album,Tickets To My Downfall,was released on September 25, 2020 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The platinum album was the first rock album of 2020 to take the top spot and amassed over half a billion streams in under a week. He has landed 18 songs on the Hot Rock Songs Billboard chart and to date,Tickets to My Downfallhas sold over 2.5 million albums and has had more than 3.6 billion streams worldwide. MGK has racked up numerous awards, including an American Music Award for Favorite Rock Artist, back-to-back MTV VMAs for Best Alternative, iHeart Radios Best Alternative Rock Album and 2021 Billboard Music Awards for Top Rock Artist and Top Rock Album.

MigosWith almost 30 billion streams and 68 billion YouTube views, Migos and their Culture series stand tall in the pantheon of hip-hop greatness. The group has received massive critical acclaim, 47 award nominations, and was the first rap group to tie the Beatles for most simultaneous Hot 100 entries. Since 2017, when they broke through with the original Culture, Migos has taken home Best Group at the BET Awards every year. With more than a dozen gold and platinum singles, two multi-platinum albums, and hundreds of songs behind them, Migos stepped away to prepare the final installment of their Culture trilogy. Culture III reminds everyone that Migos is the greatest rap group of the modern era and they are here to shift the culture once again.

Keke PalmerKeke Palmeris an Emmy award-winning actress, singer, songwriter, producer and television host. Kicking off the year, Palmer starred and executive produced the feature Alice alongside Steel Springs Picturesopposite Common and Johnny Lee Miller from writer and director Krystin Ver Linden. This summer, she is set to star as the lead inNope, Jordan Peeles highly anticipated next feature at Universal. In 2021, she received a Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of the five Taylor family members in her own series,Turnt Up With the Taylorswhich she produced with Kids at Play for Facebook Watch based on the original characters who rose to popularity on her social media. Keke is currently lending her voice to Maya in Disney+s revival of The Proud Familyand Rochelle in Netflixs newBig Mouthspinoff,Human Resourcesafter appearing in Season 5 ofBig MouthShe hosted Disney+s food competition show,Foodtastic, and can be heard voicing the role of Brynn opposite Pete Davidson in Broadway Videos Audible scripted podcast,Hit Job.

Ryland JamesA twotime JUNO Awardnominated and platinumcertified vocal dynamo, Ryland James is an emotionally keen songwriter and powerhouse performer. The Deseronto, Ontario native emerged on the global stage in 2019, with his breakout single In My Head. The song soared to No. 1 on Shazam Canadas Top 200 chart and went platinum in Canada. He supported multiplatinum superstar Alessia Cara on a sold out North American tour and performed at festivals such as Life Is Beautiful. On the heels of his self-titled 2020 debut EP, Ryland James, he exceeded 72 million global streams. He kicked off 2021 with the single Blame, which tallied another 5 millionplus streams and Save Me with Shaun Frank. James welcomed 2022 with a brand new single titled, I Give Everything, via Universal Music Canada and Republic Records. The track comes after a year of self-reflection and immense personal growth for James, who not only came to terms with who he is but embraced himself with pride.

Spike LeeAcademy Award Winner SPIKE LEE has an iconic body of storytelling that has made an indelible mark on filmmaking and television. Most recently, he has entered into a multiyear partnership with Netflix that will see him directing and producing narrative features. He previously collaborated with Netflix on projects including: Da 5 Bloods (which he directed and co-wrote), the series Shes Gotta Have It (which he created, wrote and directed), the film version of Rodney King (which he directed) and the Stefon Bristol sci-fi film See You Yesterday (which he produced). He is set to direct a multipart documentary on activist and athlete Colin Kaepernick for ESPN Films. In August 2021, he directed and produced the four-part documentary essay NYC EPICENTERS 9/112021 released by HBO and streamed on HBO Max. In 2018, the visionary filmmaker co-wrote and directed the Academy Award-nominated and critically acclaimed hit feature BlacKKKlansman, which won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. His career spans more than 30 years and includes: Shes Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, Get on the Bus, He Got Game, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me, Inside Man, Miracle at St. Anna, Red Hook Summer, Old Boy and Chi-Raq.

Tiffany HaddishEmmy and Grammy award winner Tiffany Haddish has established herself as one of the most sought-after comedic actresses and performers worldwide. She can be seen in Apple TVs murder mystery series The Afterparty,} opposite Dave Franco, Ben Schwartz and Ilana Glazer and opposite Oscar Isaac in the critically acclaimed Paul Schrader film The Card Counter. She is also currently in production on the Disney film Haunted Mansion and will next start production in Cory Finleys feature adaptation of the National Book Award winner Landscape With Invisible Hand. Other recent projects include reprising her role as Tuca in the Adult Swim animated series Tuca & Bertie, hosting TBS new weekly movie showcase and talk show Friday Night Vibes and Netflixs Bad Trip, starring alongside Eric Andre and Lil Rel Howery. Haddish is perhaps best known for her breakout role in the smash comedy Girls Trip, where she starred as the scene-stealing Dina alongside Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Regina Hall.

UsherUsher has changed music, culture and countless lives. Beyond selling more than 80 million records worldwide and collecting dozens of awards, he has simultaneously lit up the small screen on NBCsThe Voiceand the big screen in blockbusters such asHustlers. He has also tirelessly distinguished himself as a devout humanitarian, raising tens of millions of dollars for various causes and uplifting youth via his New Look Foundation since 1999. The multiple GRAMMY Award-winning, diamond-selling international megastar, actor, dancer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and proud Atlanta resident inspires change yet again in 2022 and beyond. Thus far, he has gathered eight GRAMMY Awards and emerged asBillboardsNo. 1 Hot 100 Artist of the 2000s,No. 2 most successful artist of the 2000s,andone of the best-selling artists in American music history,according to the RIAA. He catapulted four consecutive albums to No. 1 on theBillboardTop 200, beginning with the landmark diamond-certifiedConfessionsin 2004. He continued to push boundaries with a series of singles and shows before setting the stage for his ninth full-length offering in 2022. Most importantly, Usher gives back at every turn.

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NBA to honor NBA 75th Anniversary Team at halftime of 2022 NBA All-Star Game in special ceremony - NBA.com

In 2004, a surfing accident left Josh Basile with a severe spinal cord injury and permanent paralysis at age 18. Though his life was forever changed, Basile continued to chase his dreams and graduated magna cum laude from law school.

Basile, now a lawyer, philanthropist, disability rights advocate, and community relations manager for web accessibility company accessiBe, has worked tirelessly to promote web accessibility and be a leader in the disability community. From fighting for the catastrophically injured in court, to inventing an inclusive sport called Slingshot Golf, to founding a nonprofit for others with spinal cord injuries, Basile has seen immense success throughout his career.

CNBC Make It spoke with Josh Basile to discuss three tips for others with disabilities trying to achieve career success:

"Find somebody that is doing something well and learn from their experiences," says Basile.

Gaining insight from others who share similar circumstances can be useful for those unsure of their future potential after a traumatic injury. "Follow in someone's tracks because so much in the working world is figuring out what not to do," he told CNBC Make It. "Analyze what mistakes to avoid and let that guide you in the right direction."

Basile credits mentorship for providing him with motivation early on in his paralysis journey.

"My mentors taught me that life goes on in beautiful ways and that I could still wheel after my goals and dreams with purpose. They showed me what was possible and gave me the confidence to fight and advocate for a better future."

Mentorship has been proven to be beneficial in the workplace, according to a 2020 study from Guider, a career development company. According to the study, 87% of mentees feel like their mentoring relationships gave them a sense of empowerment and boosted their self-confidence. People with mentors are also promoted 5 times more than those without them.

According to Basile, your personal and professional success will largely be influenced by recognizing the worth of your contributions.

"Too often persons with disabilities are thought of as charity. And that is so far from the truth." Basile says. "There's such great value in your unique voice, skills, and talents. Businesses need you."

Being able to articulate your strengths and fully contribute at work takes confidence. Believing in yourself not only helps you rise to the occasion but also shows others what you're capable of despite having a disability.Basile is proud to share that his self-confidence has not only given him career success, but he's also expecting a baby boy in March.

There's a popular saying that goes "life begins at the end of your comfort zone." Being adventurous as someone with a disability can be extremely nerve-wracking, especially when there's still so much room for improvement in accessibility and inclusivity. However, Basile reassures that there are so many opportunities open to you if you just have the willingness to try.

"I have proactively stepped out of my comfort zone by partnering with accessiBe to help raise awareness, both online and through the media, about the importance of web accessibility, and what it truly means for people with disabilities and businesses of all sizes," he says. "I'm a big believer in living with adventurous wheels. The outside world can be very scary, but you're going to end up finding out that there is so much life to be lived."

Basile also says that putting yourself out there is also beneficial to the disability community as a whole.

"Once you're out there, not only are you improving your quality of life, but you're also starting to change the narrative of the world around you. You start teaching people around you about the value and importance of having workers with disabilities at all levels of business, not just at the entry-level. You're helping create a better world."

Read more:

A quadriplegic lawyer's 3 best tips for career success for others with disabilities: 'I'm a big believer in living with adventurous wheels' - CNBC

Cara Pritchettlights up when she talks about family memberswho have helped hernavigatelife withcerebral palsy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The oldest of four siblings, Pritchett, 25, of Upper Arlington, said she was diagnosed with a mild form of cerebral palsy shortly after she beingborn. The congenital disordercausedherto losefunction ofthe right side of her body and ledto other developmental and medical issues later in life.

Despite beingmore likely to be infected by COVID-19 andcontract severe illnesses from the virus, many people with disabilities and their advocates say they feel likethe community has been overlooked and pushed aside during the pandemic.

"The pandemic has not been very good to me," she said.

Without family, Pritchett said she doesn't know how she would have made it through the past two year being in and out of the hospital withulcerative colitis, having difficulties finding a job willing toaccommodateher conditions, and losingher best friend in a hit-and-run crash.

"They've been through it all with me," Pritchettsaid of her family.

Disabilities:Dublin woman, a self-advocate, named to county board of developmental disabilities

There are about 2.6 millionadults like Pritchett in Ohiowho have a disabilityand are more likely to develop other chronic conditions and lack access to health care, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last month, some 150 disability advocacy groups spoke out after CDC director Rochelle Walensky sharedin an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" what she called the "encouraging news"thatmost COVID-19 deaths among vaccinated individuals in a small studyhadother health problemsand were "unwell to begin with."

Afterward, disability rights activistImani Barbarin started the viral "#MyDisabledLifeIsWorthy" to call out Walensky's remarks,and she's been joined bypeople fromacross the world.

The CDC director apologized andmet with a group of disability activists after what she acknowledged was ahurtful, yet unintentional, statement, according to a CDC press release.Walenskyalsocommitted the CDC to regular engagements with the disability community.

The disability community is often overlooked ormade to feel devalued and dehumanized, saidSue Hetrick, executive director of theCenter for Disability Empowerment, aColumbus nonprofit that helps connect people with disabilities to housing, jobs, transportation and other service in Franklin, Licking, Delaware and Union counties.

"A lot of time policies or decisions are made without the input of people with disabilities," Hetrick said. "There isn't the awareness of the non-disabled community about who they are as people, not just what their needs are."

Opinion:People with disabilities are struggling to survive the pandemic

People like Hetrick andKerstinSjoberg, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy organizationDisability Rights Ohio,have fought discrimination and a lack of awareness throughout the pandemic.

As hospitals decide how to ration ventilators, medication and beds during a crisis, people with disabilitiescould be given lower priority based on stereotypes about their quality of life and how effective treatment might be,Sjoberg said.

Disability Rights Ohio worked with the Ohio Department of Health to create crisis standards of care for hospitals and doctors that are inclusive of the disabled community, but they're only recommendations, shesaid.

Sjobergadded thatthe new state budget gives the health department more influence in hospital policy, and she hopesdisability-inclusiverecommendations will be incorporated into hospital care guidelines.

The discrimination already exists in our system, and its not just doctors. Its part of our society, Sjoberg said.

'We made it through today': Coronavirus adds to issues for those with developmental disabilities

Some people with disabilities require aides and other workers who help them at home or in facilities to navigate daily life. This presented a problem during the pandemic, Hetrick said, becausesocial distancing and slowing the spread of the virus became next to impossible, making it harder to protect vulnerable populations.

The pandemic also mayhave isolated people with disabilities or prevented loved ones from visiting or keeping in touch, Sjoberg said. Without these natural support systems, it also became harder for people in institutionsor congregate settings to report neglect and abuse.

So Disability Rights Ohiocreated a virtual abuse and neglect reporting system and Q &A section where people canget information on personal protective equipment, safe housing, accurate information about COVID-19 vaccinations and more.

It's, of course, better to have it face-to-face, Sjoberg said. "We've been able to keep that core function operating very effectively during this process."

People with disabilities also often face the most barriers trying to getvaccinations, Hetrick said.Accessibility issues, concerns about reactions with existingmedications or conditions or fear about poor treatment can get in the way, she said.

"Information is not always accessible to people with disabilities, whether that's written information that's given to them, the kind of language that's used to inform them," Hetrick said. "Transportation is a huge barrier."

To help with these issues, theCenter for Disability Empowerment (CDE) and the Ohio Department of Health willhost pop-up vaccinationclinicsin late-February or March and provide scheduling assistance and transportation for those who need it, she said.

Other news:Some Ohioans will move on from COVID, but those most impacted may never be able to forget

Pritchett struggled to find a job in child careas the pandemic shrank opportunities and shut down schools and day cares.

She turned to the CDE for help last year, and even though she found a job she loves at Riverside Methodist Childcare Center in Upper Arlington,the group still checks in with her today.

"I've always said that people with disabilities are some of the strongest people I've ever met, because of the barriers that we're always facing," said Shari Veleba, a CDEinformation and referral coordinator.

Pritchett's parents and younger siblings also helped her deal with the boredom of having to isolate at home andthe challenges of having to deal with new health issues.

Even now, her parents continue to support herby doing such things as sending her TikToks showingdisability activists, she said.

And Pritchett said heryounger siblings Jake, John, Madison and Taylorare some of her biggest supporters in life, with Jake being especially encouraging as Pritchett dealt with the grief over the death of her friend.

She said he took her to the cemetery and wrote anessay about how strong she's been this past yearas his college applicationessay.

"He wrote the paper without me or anyone knowing what it was about, so when I read it, I was shocked and emotional,"Pritchett said. "Knowing that those were his words makes it really special."

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'The pandemic has not been very good to me': People with disabilities feel forgotten - The Columbus Dispatch

Last year, Aimy Steele discovered something she had never seen before in the world of personal finance advice: lessons that felt culturally relevant to her, and inclusive of her experiences.

Steele is no stranger to that world, and shes extremely familiar with the financial gurus who have become the faces of paying down debt, budgeting and saving. She met Dave Ramsey after completing one of his programs and has avidly followed the teachings of David Bach and Suze Orman. But as a Black woman, Steele found that the advice from the traditional personal finance industry never felt truly relatable.

We can't compare our stories and our oppressive experiences with that of our white counterparts, and then still say, But I'm supposed to be doing the exact same thing they're doing, Steele says. If I don't see someone who looks like me, then I don't explicitly link my fate to them.

So Steele, 42, took matters into her own hands. She signed up for dfree, a faith-based personal finance program specifically designed for the Black community. Created in 2005 by DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. a retired pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in New Jersey dfree walks participants through training courses and connects them with financial professionals. For three months, Steele logged into the program weekly from her dining room table, listening to facilitators discuss homeownership and debt elimination in the face of oppression. She felt much less alone.

And she isnt alone. Many people of color have long felt left out of the traditional personal finance space. Experts say that much of the industry approaches advice as though all people are on equal footing. But systemic barriers have led the median wealth of white families to rise to about $184,000 while that number remains much lower for families of other or multiple races at just around $23,000 for Black families and $38,000 for Hispanic families, the communities facing the biggest wealth gaps.

For years, dfree participants have been meeting up weekly in Black churches, sororities and community organizations across the country to learn about paying off debt, insurance and more, all while blending in conversations around racial inequality. Steele recently brought the program to her own church and became certified to facilitate the course. She says her dfree experience wasnt only transformative because of the financial advice she took away, but also because the program acknowledged the discrimination Black Americans have faced for years.

Hearing people talk about the fact that there is oppression validates what we have been feeling, thinking and knowing but could not articulate, Steele says.

So do we throw all traditional personal finance advice out the window? Of course not. Countless people have changed their lives thanks to mainstream money tips. But making room for new faces, new products and new ideas in a world that has been so white-dominated for years is a necessary step and its happening. There's a movement growing outside mainstream finance narratives that highlights control and empowerment, and it's being led by people of color, willing to reach an audience in whatever way they can. Getting there is the tricky part.

Money; Courtesy of Rahkim Sabree

Rahkim Sabree distinctly remembers rushing home ahead of his siblings to tear an eviction notice off the front door before it was seen. There were times he couldnt afford laundry, and food stamps didnt always cover the groceries he loaded onto the conveyor belt.

Situations like that are traumatic, says the 31-year-old financial coach. I never wanted to be poor again.

As he grew up, he sought out as many sources as he could on building wealth, including Robert Kiyosakis well-known book Rich Dad Poor Dad. But he found that many of the financial texts he read didnt acknowledge the financial trauma Black people have experienced in this country. That trauma, like the loss of $3 million after a bank created for emancipated slaves collapsed in the 1870s, reverberates throughout the community today, he says.

When you work so hard to build up capital just to have it taken from you, that creates a trauma and that trauma can last generations, Sabree says. Grandma says dont put your money into banks because theyre crooks, dad says dont put your money in the banks because theyre crooks and so you never put your money in the bank.

Financial education for the Black community has to be unique to the Black community, says Sabree, who helps people work through their own financial trauma, which he says can range from an eviction or bankruptcy to having someone tell you credit cards will ruin your life. Part of the solution, he says, is to point Black people to Black-owned businesses and banks they can trust, like Greenwood, a mobile banking platform designed for Black and Latino customers that was co-founded by rapper Killer Mike. Greenwood provides monthly grants to Black and Latino-owned businesses and produces personal finance educational content targeted at these communities.

Distrust goes beyond banks and touches investing, insurance, credit cards and more, Sabree adds.

Racial inequality has seeped into nearly every aspect of our financial lives. At work, claims of racial discrimination are often the most filed claims but have the lowest percentage of success, and the wage gap shows no signs of shrinking. Meanwhile, Black borrowers are far more likely to be saddled with student loans than their white counterparts. One report found that 20 years after graduation, a typical white borrower has paid off 94% of their balance on average, while the typical Black borrower had paid off just 5%. When it comes to housing, our culture of homeownership was constructed on policies that led to discriminatory practices that still exist today, says Jacob Faber, an associate professor at New York University's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service.

Were told almost from birth that the best way to build wealth is home ownership, Faber says. However, the opportunities to not only buy homes but also accumulate wealth through home ownership is deeply unequal.

Real estate agents, for example, may steer home seekers to particular areas based on their race, and theres a major racial gap in home appraisals. Last year, a white man and a Black woman shared that after replacing their photos with pictures of only white family members and removing books by Black authors their home appraisal jumped more than 40%.

The reality of the lingering effects of discrimination and racism and their economic impacts are irrefutable, says Soaries, the creator of dfree as well as New Jerseys first male African-American Secretary of State. The question now isnt how this was formed, but what kind of strategies can be effective in helping people close the gap.

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Money; Courtesy of Giovanna Gonzalez

The world of personal finance advice has always felt not for me, says Noemi Ibarra, a 24-year-old Latina woman based in Chicago.

Ibarra is a first-generation American, and her family has struggled with poverty ever since her parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico nearly 30 years ago. So when Ibarra graduated college and landed a full-time job, she was scared to invest her money.

I didnt know who to turn to, Ibarra says. But then she found someone she could relate to: Giovanna Gonzalez, another first-generation Latina woman who has garnered more than 180,000 followers on TikTok with the account name thefirstgenmentor. Finding online mentors of color like Gonzalez has made Ibarra say she feels more confident that she, too, can build wealth.

Financial advice on social media has exploded over the last several years, for better or worse. The internet is especially popular for young people to get money advice, with 41% of Gen Z respondents to a 2021 Fidelity survey saying that they turn to social media influencers to educate themselves on investing.

Money experts of color are breaking into the online financial scene. The Budgetnista Tiffany Aliche runs a Facebook group of more than 480,000 members who are mostly Black women, which provides a natural starting place for members to relate to each other. Kiersten and Julien Saunders tackle the deeply personal side of money through the lens of the Black American experience via their Rich and Regular blog, podcast and YouTube series.

Delyanne Barros has more than 320,000 followers between Instagram and TikTok. The attorney launched her money coaching business just before the pandemic to share what she had learned about investing with everyone, especially other Latinos, she says.

These newcomers are much needed in the finance world. Gonzalez says she read over 50 personal finance books, but didnt find that they address issues that hit close to her home, like planning for parents retirement and setting financial boundaries with families concerns she says are specifically pervasive in Latinx communities, but families rarely talk about.

Money is very taboo in our community, Gonzalez says.

So she decided to do her part to help others, sharing videos with captions like Struggling to set financial boundaries with your Latinx family? Try saying this with advice from a licensed therapist. That particular video is a favorite of Anna Gamezs, who says she struggles with this exact issue.

Now I feel really comfortable going into conversations with family and friends, Gamez, a 31-year-old job recruiter, says.

But not everyone does, or should, get their personal finance advice from social media. The financial advisor landscape needs to change as well, says Vaneesha Boney Dutra, an associate professor of finance at the University of Denver. Eighty-two percent of personal financial advisors are white, according to 2021 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because advisors looking for clients tend to start looking within their own circles, many of their clients also tend to be white, Dutra says.

The industry is ignoring a very large piece of the population, she adds.

The Onyx Advisor Network is trying to change that. Created by two financial advisors, Onyx is a network that focuses on helping historically underrepresented advisors start, scale and sustain their businesses by giving them tools, coaching and a network of advisors.

We want to make sure that the industry looks a lot more like our country, says Dasarte Yarnway, co-founder of Onyx, which announced its launch plans in December.

Yarnway didnt even know financial advising was a career he could pursue until he landed his first job at a financial firm. Hes hoping that with platforms like Onyx, more financial advisors of color will see success, and in turn, help those who come after them to do the same.

Online Financial Advisors can guide you toward smart investments and sound economic planning.

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Money; Courtesy of Jean Smart

Yemi Rose says he has always felt that traditional personal finance content does not speak to him.

So many things default to white, Rose says.

With his company OfColor a financial wellness software platform that partners with employers and focuses specifically on helping employees of color he hopes to help fill the gap. The platform connects employees with budgeting and savings tools, financial coaches of color and educational content geared towards non-white communities.

People of color are not a monolith and theres so much variation and nuance there, Rose says. But at the very least we try to attack what has been the traditional invisibility of people of color in personal finance.

Beyond representation, theres been a boom in financial tools and products specifically designed to help people of color better their finances. Its an important change: the one-two punch of diverse racial representation in the personal finance space, as well as tools and products built specifically with these communities in mind.

Jean Smart cant pinpoint exactly when she knew she had to leave her stable job at financial services giant UBS to start Penelope, which brings 401(k)s to small businesses, a majority of which are minority-owned.

It was 1,000 cuts, Smart says. They included seeing the disparities highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd. Then, anti-Asian racist events came to light, and Smart says for the first time ever, she asked her mother not to leave her house for fear of her safety.

During that chaos, Smart, a Korean-American woman, found that clients she had helped during her 20-year career in the financial industry didnt seem to need her help as much as other communities of color who were hurting. She quit her job and turned to those people instead, wanting to help them in the best way she knew how with a new team full of people of color and first- and second-generation immigrants.

So many retirement savings tools are difficult to understand especially for a small business owner who is juggling tons of tasks at once. Penelope aims to bring them a more streamlined approach to saving for retirement with a 401(k) subscription model that cuts through the jargon, Smart says.

Smart is hopeful about the future. She named her company after someone who embodies why its so important to her to help make the financial industry more inclusive: her 10-year-old daughter Penelope.

I think its going to get better, Smart says. I have to.

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The Faces of Personal Finance Are Changing, and These Trailblazers Are Forging a More Inclusive Path - Money

The Youth Empowerment Foundation (YEF) has held its stakeholders meeting to review the implementation of the GOAL project in the benefiting schools in Lagos State for last year and also outline, improve strategies for the programmes in 2022.

The foundation also set a target to empower about 12,000 girls through different life skills this year across Nigeria.

Among those that attended were representatives, principals, teachers from secondary schools in Lagos, Lagos State Ministry of Youth and social development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Education district IV, Yaba, Lagos Sport Commission, Surulere Local Government Area.

At the stakeholder meeting, Oluwaseunfunmi Arasi, monitoring and evaluation manager of the foundation, gave a score card of the foundations activities for last year, she equally advocated for more synergy between the foundation and the stakeholders for the success of the GOAL project in the benefiting schools across the state, adding that thousands of youths had benefited from the GOAL programmes in recent years.

Speaking on the essence of the meeting and future plans especially for 2022, Iwalola Akin-Jimoh, executive secretary of the foundation, , said the meeting which is yearly was necessary to seek the stakeholders input and contribution to make the project more robust for the year.

Read also:10,000 women, youths benefit from NDDC palliatives in Cross River

Iwalola Akin-Jimoh, stated that the key project for the foundation this year was to initiate start literacy classes particularly for the junior secondary school class 3, while adding that the foundations target is to directly target 12, 000 girls for the year across the country.

According to her, So what we want them to know is that this year, this is our target which is to empower 12,000 girls with information on health, being empowered, financially literate and also being a leader, the main reason is for us to come together and make the project more robust, because when you bring your stakeholders together they have one or two things to contribute.

And some of the challenges we are sharing with them we want to share with them so that they can make the training more successful. And one of the new things we want to do this year is to start literacy classes particularly for the girls who are in junior secondary class 3.

We want a situation where we can help them perform better in their final examination. So, if they decide that they want to go to a tertiary institution they can go. If they decide it is a business they want to do, we can help support them.

Tony Eleme, media officer, of the foundation stated that the gathering had become crucial because to enhance relationships and consolidate cooperation from the stakeholders.

One of the key essences of the meeting was to enhance relationships and consolidate the cooperation from the stakeholders, he said.

Ajayi Adebimpe Folashade, teacher at New Era Girls Senior Secondary School in Surulere, said the programs has helped shape the benefiting students morally, health wise, especially those from difficult backgrounds, turning them into good people for their environment and the country.

Because some of the girls are from Badia, Orele, and the other challenging environment influencing them negatively, the GOAL program is trying to shape their lives to make them a good person to themselves, to the environment, to the school and the country, she said.

(YEF) is a non-profit (NGO) in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank, working to improve knowledge, behaviours and skills for young people in: sexual reproductive health, HIV awareness and prevention, personal and team leadership. They also work with young people in reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, leadership and life-skills in Nigeria.

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Foundation to empower 12,000 girls in Nigeria - Businessday

By the 1920s, ice skating had taken North China by storm. A trendy new form of exercise associated with Western values and lifestyles, it was well-suited to the regions long, cold winters. Although nationalist proponents of skating called on men to take to the ice and battle Western colonizers, skating arguably had the greatest impact on women, as ice-rinks became a stage for Chinas emerging new woman to demonstrate her modernity.

The concept of the new woman was born out of the clashes between Chinese and Western cultures during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was, in essence, a canvas onto which reformers most of them men could project their imaginations of Chinas future.

Progressives of the time advocated for Chinese women to model themselves after their Western counterparts, from the French revolutionary Jean-Marie Roland de La Platire to Alexandre Dumas fictional La Dame aux Camlias. These women, fictional and otherwise, were held up as symbols of modern civilization, and Chinese women were divided into two categories according to how well they performed idealized Western femininity. Of the two categories, traditional women i.e., those that upheld traditional Chinese values were dismissed as being at odds with the values of modern society. Societys new women, on the other hand, were championed as icons of female emancipation who would help bring China out of the feudal era and set it on course to become a modern nation.

For women, modernity was less of a choice than an obligation. In the late Qing and early Republican eras, Chinese women were saddled with heavy responsibilities. To be deemed fit as mothers of the Republic, they had to both convey a positive image of China to the international community and nurture a new generation of strong, modern men and women capable of revitalizing Chinas national bloodlines.

Left: Winners of a skating masquerade event photographed for the magazine The Young Companion, Issue 55, 1931. Right: Winners of a skating masquerade event photographed for The Pictorial Supplement of The Peiping Morning Post, Vol. 31, Issue 1520, 1937. Courtesy of Yang Yufei

Urban women of the time largely accepted the responsibilities that came with the new woman label. They rejected traditional practices such as foot-binding and enrolled in the nations new schools, where they took part in sports, another new concept closely tied in reformers minds to strengthening the nation and preserving its people. Delicacy fell out of style in favor of healthy beauty, while sexual equality and free love were discussed and even pursued.

It was precisely in this context that the rising trend of ice skating found favor with modern women as a healthy, Western-approved sport in which both sexes could take part on an equal basis.

For Chinese women of the 1920s, the feeling of gliding on the ice must have resembled the feeling of heading full speed toward a revolution. In a sense, their experiences werent all that different from those of the new men of the time: Both sexes perceived a widening chasm between Chinas old and new societies, between China and the world, between weak and strong.

1/5 Xiao Shufang takes part in a figure skating competition in 1935. Courtesy of Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Arts, Xiao Shufang Archives

2/5 Xiao Shufang paints on an ice sled in 1935. Courtesy of Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Arts, Xiao Shufang Archives

3/5 A 1935 oil painting by Xiao Shufang. Courtesy of Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Arts, Xiao Shufang Archives

4/5 Xiao Shufang paints on an ice sled in 1935. Courtesy of Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Arts, Xiao Shufang Archives

5/5 An oil painting by Xiao Shufang shows Beihai Park in the 1950s. Courtesy of Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Arts, Xiao Shufang Archives

To some, skating was truly liberatory. Xiao Shufang, the niece of famous musician Xiao Youmei, would later become better known as a painter, but throughout the 1920s and 30s she was a famous ice-skater at rinks across Beiping, as Beijing was then known. Forty years later, recalling her memories of skating on the citys North Sea, Xiao linked this joyful experience with the tide of social change brought about by the Xinhai Revolution that finally toppled the Qing. In her paintings of ice skating scenes, Xiao evoked the atmosphere of excitement and new possibilities that came with being young at this crucial juncture in Chinas history.

However, more often than not, Chinas new women found themselves unable to completely cast off the shackles of traditional femininity. In particular, one of the most pressing dilemmas facing women who wanted to leave the home and take on more public roles in society was how to redefine their interactions with the opposite sex. And ice skating rinks provided them with an important venue in which they could seek and test out potential solutions to this dilemma.

At skating masquerades briefly in vogue during the Republican period that followed the Qing it was extremely common for female performers to dress as men, and vice versa. Whats interesting is that the male characters portrayed by women typically included high-ranking figures such as nobles and judges, while the female characters portrayed by men were usually elderly aunties and matchmakers from the countryside. Female skaters choice to dress as men recalls one of Chinas most well-known revolutionaries, Qiu Jin, who also frequently dressed in mens clothes. I want to first dress up as a man until my spirit, too, is male, Qiu once said.

On one level, this reversal of gender roles reflected the ongoing destabilization of patriarchal values and helped validate the new woman. On another, it suggests that, although womens status was on the rise, their self-affirmation nonetheless still depended on the appropriation of male symbols.

Other skaters, both at masquerade events and in their everyday lives, looked not to men, but to Western women as models for liberation. Young students in particular were a highly noticeable presence on ice rinks with their short hair, high-collared sweaters, knee-length skirts, and meticulously practiced Western figure-skating techniques. Their graceful execution of popular moves like waltzes inspired many women to follow in their footsteps.

An archival photo entitled Who is the Younger Sister? shows a woman (center) dressed in mens clothing during a masquerade event in Beijing, 1933. Courtesy of Yang Yufei

In their interactions at ice rinks, young men and women often consciously played the part of Western gentlemen and ladies, demonstrating their reverence for Western social etiquette. By collaborating and performing together, men and women produced new scenes of modernity and gender relations.

Though ice skating seemed to represent a plausible route to emancipation and equality, many female skaters nonetheless continued to view themselves through their male partners eyes, rather than see themselves as truly independent. Under the appearance of gender equality lurked the specter of misogyny.

In articles and literature about skating from the 1920s and 1930s, there is no lack of anecdotes denigrating women for their participation in on-ice performances. For example, the 1930 novella To Moscow by Hu Yepin highlights the ways in which both men and women were seen as using skating masquerades to advance their personal aims. In Hus story, Xu Daqi is an eloquent politician who realizes that skating masquerades are an infinitely more effective means of attracting the attention of reporters and the public than dispatches from government conferences and tries to convince his partner, Su Chang, to take part in one of these events with him. But Su rejects the idea due to her perception that female skaters were merely making bizarre poses for the pleasure of men. In Sus view, skaters were simply molding themselves according to the tastes and demands of men as a means of gaining social capital.

All this is to say that, at least in their interactions with men, new women faced many of the same barriers as their traditional counterparts. They had gained the semblance of equality through Westernized forms of empowerment, but not the substance.

As with so many of the modern activities Chinese women participated in during the early post-imperial era, skating was a kind of controlled experiment part of the Chinese nations urgent pursuit of Western-style modernity rather than a genuinely free form of expression. Women who were involved in winter sports still behaved according to their own cultural schema and constantly faced conflicts with men, with tradition, and with their own internal values as they struggled to redefine their identities on the ice.

Chinas women have come a long way since the 1920s. Gu Ailing, an 18-year-old woman of Chinese and American descent and one of the best skiers in the world, is probably the biggest star representing China at this years Winter Olympics, though she is far from the only one. As we marvel at Gus athleticism, lets not forget the Chinese women who braved the snow and ice before her. No revolution can be perfect, and true emancipation cannot be achieved overnight. But their courage, their contradictions, and their quiet revolutions helped lay the groundwork for everything that has come since.

Translator: Lewis Wright; editors: Wu Haiyun and Kilian ODonnell; visuals: Ding Yining.

(Header image: From left to right, skaters Gao Shuzhen, Xiong Minzhen, and Lin Xiulian in the 1930s. Photos taken by Li Yaosheng, Song Xindeng, and An Guolin, respectively. Courtesy of Yang Yufei)

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Skating Toward a Revolution - Sixth Tone

More than 100 countries across the world have criminalized marital rape; India stands in the dubious company of the likes of Saudi Arabia and central African countries in this regard.

For the past several weeks, Delhi High Court is finally grappling to arrive at a conclusion in the matter of Writ Petition 284 of 2015: the Public Interest Litigation filed by a batch of petitioners against the Union of India, challenging the exception provided in the Indian Penal Code, Section 375, exempting forced sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife from the offence of rape, the wife not being less than 15 years of age. In an earlier separate case, the Supreme Court has read down the age limit to 18 years of age but surprisingly left the larger issue of marital rape untouched.But legalistic quibbles appear to dominate the current battle rather than simple factual recognition of the unexceptional fundamental right of the woman to her bodily integrity and dignity, whatever her age or marital status. This case is one of an assertion of sexual autonomy that demands protection of bodily integrity, that is freedom from force and oppression and not that of sexual autonomy per se or freedom to licentiously do with the body whatever the individual pleases. Two very different concepts of sexual autonomyfreedom from and freedom tothat must be clearly differentiated and should elicit different attitudes.Can 21st century Independent India possibly allow continuation of an exception based on archaic colonial laws encoding the concept of the wife as the property of her husband? Recent decadeswhich have seen the most horrific explosion of both sexual and domestic violence in this countryhave also seen considerable enlightened change in laws governing sexual violence and crime, notwithstanding the huge gaps remaining in their interpretation and implementation. Yet, marital rape of an adult woman by her husband still remains on the States statutes. Is not this a surprisingly chauvinistic privileging of male sexual desire and rights that is sadly enabling of an overall environment of male impunity, totally reprehensible in the contested marital context and not without much wider impact? Equally, violative of the basic constitutional right of equality of all citizens?Rapeto take by force, to sexually violateis listed by the Geneva Convention as an outrage upon personal dignity, an extreme of humiliating and degrading treatment on par with torture and threat to life, a crime against humanity when perpetrated on scale in war or in peace. Eminent jurisprudence emanating from the International Criminal Tribunals constituted for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda has ruled: Sexual violence strikes at the very core of human dignity and physical integrity. It underscores that rape inflicts the severe physical and psychological pain and suffering that characterizes torture. Can we be serious in considering that this can be accepted as a natural happening in ANY circumstance whatsoever?But the Solicitor General of India, instead of moving forthwith to condemn the offending exemption and support its removal on behalf of a government repeatedly committing itself to womens empowerment, is procrastinating. He argues that India must not blindly follow the West by criminalizing marital rape and has quoted unique problems due to various factors like lack of literacy, lack of financial empowerment of a majority of females, mindset of society, vast diversity, poverty etc. He calls it a question of womens dignity and family values since Indian society regards marriage as a sacred sacrament and criminalizing marital rape would destabilize the institution that is a basic building block of the society. He further buttresses arguments by citing misuse of Section 498A on account of dowry harassment and fears corroborative medical evidence of bodily injury may be rendered useless circumstantial and corroborative evidence will become futile in case of marital rape making it difficult to determine when consent was withdrawn.Really? In the first instance, more than 100 countries across the worldnot just the liberal Westhave criminalized marital rape; India stands in the dubious company of the likes of Saudi Arabia and central African countries in this regard. Then, the very factors quoted as our unique problems actually make it imperative for the state to protect the interest of the vulnerable and change the societal mindset that accords subservient situation to the large mass of women. As for the misuse of another section of the law by some womenand the possibility that this could happen with the elimination of this exemptioncan this ever be an argument to retain a law that is oppressive of all married women and makes a mockery of a womans bodily integrity that is at the core of her dignity? The SGs perception of womens dignity beats comprehension.However, not to be dismissed is the contention that Indian society overwhelmingly considers the institution of marriage as a sacred sacrament and a valuable building block of society that must not be destabilized. This is a sterling attribute in the flummox of our turbulent modern times. But isnt it precisely because Indian society still overwhelmingly considers marriage as a sacrament that ideally alone should bring about the union of a man and a woman that it is important to ensure the institution is nurtured and safeguarded from oppressions that hollow it? Equally, imperative to make it in full consonance with the guarantees of gender equality enshrined in our Constitution?Fortunately, diverse enlightened religious perspectives recognizing core human intimacy to be inextricably interwoven within the institution of marriage also proclaim the same as a web of mutual rights, duties and obligations discharged with mutual respect, love and honour. What place can force possibly have in such thinking but one to be shunned? Leave aside feminist assertions for consent, religious thinking that accords the physical sexual act as a sacred aspect in the union of two persons, thus squarely invests the most intimate of intimacies within mutual understanding and consentgained by love and respect. Marriage ceremonies of almost all hues enjoin upon both the man and woman to work towards creating conditions that bring about desired core intimacy, not its gratification by brutal force. In case of irretrievable breakdown of the marriage that prevents such happening, the recourse for the man should be through the civil remedy of divorce not rape.Those of us who have worked a lifetime with women out in the field know only too well how often and how many wives are daily stripped of their dignity and bodily integrity at the hands of husbands returning home drunk, on drugs, or just in a misguided effort to regain self-esteem trampled upon in their own outer spheres and who have the mindset that sex with their wives is a birth right, to be taken any which way. Worth recalling is that well-known axiom: That some men can rape is the intimidation that keeps all women in fear.Bodily integrity is not a Western fad, but the most basic human right of every woman and an idea whose time is now long past due. The right course ahead would be for the government/Supreme Court to speedily move Suo Moto to set right this anomaly of marital rape.

Rami Chhabra is a media veteran, who pioneered the first feminist columns in the national press. She has served the country in various capacities, including in GoI and as Member, National Population Commission.

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The anomaly of marital rape - The Sunday Guardian