My name is Behnaz Reid; my husband gave me my nickname “Benny” knowing that some folks might have a little trouble pronouncing my foreign name. I was born and raised in Iran’s capital city, Tehran, long before the 1979 political revolution that overthrew the Shah, rocked the world, and forever changed my world. I grew…
Tag: Building Bridges
Generals, July 2020
Building Bridges
PebbleCreek Community Works Together to Prevent Spread of COVID-19 Stevan Augustin PebbleCreek is a marvelous retirement community. However, as seniors, PebbleCreek homeowners are at greater risk for coronavirus (COVID-19). According to Maricopa County on May 26, 2020, “People aged 65 or older or those who have at least one chronic health condition make up 72% of…
Generals, April 2020
Building Bridges: Comity 2020 Film Series is a Wrap
Comity Advisors As in 2018 and 2019, the Comity Advisors conducted a free film series to present content on the history of events and policies and their impact on the lives of people of color in the United States. This year’s series presented content about the history of contact between American Indians and European Americans…
Generals, December 2019
Building Bridges: looking back
Mary Thomas The Building Bridges column was introduced, with the support of the HOA, in June of 2018. The first article provided background information for the column’s establishment and introduced the purpose and aspirations of the column. As background for the column’s establishment, the first article noted that “planned communities are diversifying and the cultures of inclusive…
Generals, November 2019
Building Bridges: A treasure of our time
Roberta Medina I was moved and saddened to hear that another African American icon, Toni Morrison, had passed away. She died in August of this year. I’m writing this article to give you some insight into her life and work. The Morrison family was originally from Alabama but left in the early 1900s, taking up…
Generals, October 2019
Building Bridges – Speaking without words
Comity Advisors In an excerpt from their book, Body Language (published by Prentice Hall Regents, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, in 1982), D. R. Levine and M. B. Edelman provided the following example of transactions that occur in intercultural communication: “An American police officer, a Russian engineer, and a Jordanian teacher made the following comments about interactions they…
Generals, September 2019
Building Bridges
The day of infinite possibilities Roberta Medina, Comity Group Our article this month will look to the Jewish religion. On September 29, the Holy day of Rosh Hashanah will be celebrated by Jewish people the world over. For many of us, this is a date on the calendar that we know little about. The words…
Generals, August 2019
Building Bridges
People acted together to solve environmental crisis Stevan Augustin I worked as an environmental economist in the mid-1980s for the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis. We were developing economic accounts for environmental spending to supplement the United States national income and product accounts (GNP or GDP) and doing research on unit costs and the…
Generals, July 2019
Building Bridges
Connie Montgomery with the Comity Advisors After encouraging homeowners to submit articles to this column with stories about their lives as well as their contributions to their communities, Connie Montgomery submitted her story. Before moving to PebbleCreek, Mrs. Montgomery made significant contributions to her New Jersey community, taking on challenges to make schools better for…