#Identity
Diana Patton | September 23 | 4:00 - 5:00 PM | Room 2584
At the root of any social justice cause, there must be a strong sense of identity of one’s self and the cause for which one is promoting. Most people lack a clear understanding of their own identity. When someone lacks identity, they scramble to find pieces of themselves in material things, other people and even social causes, and often harbor limiting beliefs, self-doubt, and a lack of self-esteem, which can result in subtle but insidious depression.
Until one finds their own identity and commits to training themselves in it, they are not in the best position to help themselves or others. They can bring challenges to the social cause they are promoting, and even cause harm to themselves. It is imperative for those who are promoting social justice against human trafficking to understand their own identity.
Diana understands the search for personal identity because she, too, scrambled to find her own identity, and wrote about it in her autobiographical book, “Inspiration in My Shoes.” After years of attaining higher education, working high-level corporate jobs, leading a non-profit organization, and joining social justice causes, she found that this identity struggle is all too common among the highly educated. The more confident she became in her own identity, the more effective she became at leading social change.
She helps people ground themselves in their own identity to equip social justice leaders in human trafficking prevention efforts, which can also alleviate the factors that make people vulnerable to trafficking.