By Arsalan Iftikhar

Date Posted: April 11, 2008

DiversityInc correspondent Arsalan Iftikhar appears weekly on National Public Radio's "Barbershop" segment with Michel Martin.

Michel Martin, national radio host of National Public Radio (NPR)'s "Tell Me More" program, took time to tell us about diversity at Harvard in the 1980s, working for ABC's Ted Koppel and the responsibility of media in today's diverse and multicultural America.

"You blocked the door … You wouldn't let me leave," she jokes as we sit down in her NPR office to discuss her meteoric rise from the hallowed halls of Harvard Radcliffe to the elite levels of print, television and radio broadcasting.

"Tell Me More" was launched nationally by NPR almost one year ago with the aim of "capturing the headlines, issues and pleasures relevant to multicultural life in America."

The national daily one-hour series is hosted by Martin, an Emmy-award-winning journalist previously jettisoning to the highest levels of "ABC Nightline," The Washington Post and White House correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.

Martin, a Brooklyn native, offered her personal insights into a wide range of subjects from diversity in the media to multicultural voices that are not being heard by the general public.

By Arsalan Iftikhar
Date Posted: March 28, 2008

Hollywood has always had to have a bad guy, and a racial stereotype frequently fit the bill--whether it was the Native American in an old Western or a drug dealer in a Blaxploitation film. In the new millennium, a gun-toting angry Muslim male seems to be the villain of choice.

Because of Hollywood's checkered history with racist stereotypes, I decided to see firsthand its casting and portrayal of Muslims by becoming an extra for a multimillion-dollar Hollywood blockbuster.

By Arsalan Iftikhar
Date Posted: March 25, 2008

As the price tag goes up on the federally sponsored merger deal between JPMorgan Chase and Bear Stearns, many are questioning the bailout, saying the government has done little to help Americans facing foreclosure.

At a recent teleconference, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., pointed out that Bear Stearns' lending practices helped to create the problem. "At a crucial point where Bear Stearns [is] receiving billions of largesse," Conyers said, "I won't say they are the most predatory of the lenders … But they certainly are way up there at the top."

By Arsalan Iftikhar
Date Posted: March 20, 2008

When anyone walks into the main foyer of the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., they will be greeted by an enormous 5-foot-tall world globe beautifully mounted to the floor that once belonged to former French President Francois Mitterand.

Many French diplomats in Washington will happily tell you that the globe is in pristine shape except for a piece of chipped paint in the region of the globe, near the Pyrenees in southern France, where President Mitterand was born. Although not a major flaw in the globe itself, that chipped paint on Mitterand's globe in the lobby of the French Embassy shows the great pride that French people have in their national identity.

By Arsalan Iftikhar
Date Posted: March 17, 2008

Fittingly taking place at 101 Constitution Ave., the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) recently held its annual Legislative Conference on Capitol Hill to highlight the growing importance of 2.5 million Latino--owned small businesses and their contributions to American society. From President Bush to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the USHCC Legislative Conference read like the proverbial "Who's Who?" of Washington political elite.

The USHCC was formed in 1979 by a group of successful Latino restaurateurs in Kansas City. They decided to create USHCC because of "the void of federal procurement opportunities for Hispanic business owners," according to Noemi Perez, communications director for USHCC.