Black Lives Matter. Yes, they do, and they should — without condition. All lives matter; there is no changing that sacrosanct truth. Despite all that this presidential administration seems to believe in and act on, the mattering of all humans is paramount in our democracy — no ifs, ands, or buts. That Donald Trump and his cronies cherry-pick who’s “in” and who’s “out” is an activated insult and outright affront to all that most of us believe and covet.

For the record, “DEI” includes diversity, equity, and inclusion. Each element of this three-sided coin represents the freedoms we are striving for in our imperfect union and belief system. There’s a fourth element that has been included in recent years, but that will be the focus of another upcoming column. For now, we’ll focus on the essence and importance of these three components.

The “thinking” of this president and his team has been dressed up in all kinds of wording in a desperate attempt to try — weakly — to digress and draw attention away from all that they are doing. It appears that his aim is to marginalize anyone whom he sees as a threat to those who belong and subscribe to wealthy white male dominance. However, the rest of us are, by far, the majority of those who reside in the United States.

So, his vision, both spoken and unspoken, is to actively engage the opposite of DEI. He is encouraging and supporting uniformity, inequity/inequality and unfairness, exclusion, along with isolation. It seems that MAGA and company want to play games with our lives, and the flip-flopping on “policy points” seems to be designed to look like intermittent charitable action. Trump has reshaped our checks-and-balances system so that he can take away, then appear to give back at his pleasure — and so he does. He seems to enjoy and revel in his ramped up power and control.

“El Jefe” has essentially declared war on many constituencies with whom he appears to have a personal vendetta. But, slowly and inexorably, the tide is turning. A movement has begun in the hearts and minds of those who adhere to the tenets of DEI, and this portends well for the near and further-on future. But, in the present, we are forced to live with ugliness in the extreme; millions of folks’ livelihoods are now imperiled. While Trump and his minions denigrate differences between people, “those” people (us) are rising up in our efforts to exercise people-power and exorcise him and his demons. None of this is new, but it is all becoming more obvious that his endeavors are sinister and evil, to say the least.

DEI allows those who fervently believe in fair and equal opportunity for all to pursue a way of doing, thinking, and being which offers the dual gifts of hope and faith in the goodness of humanity. There is something that is stable, safe, and secure about DEI. It goes back to the irrevocable fact that all human beings matter. If you believe in that time-honored phrase, “we’re all in this together” — then that is DEI in a nutshell. Those who manipulate this reality are those who play on fear and doubt as much as possible. Given access to opportunity, we all have the potential to make a positive difference in our society. In my mind, that’s a win/win. When we start slicing and dicing that up, our lives are the lesser, and the world is smaller.

We simply cannot afford to decrease or eliminate the possible goodness of a single life. Trump’s “platform” — deporting people for no reason, imprisoning people for trumped-up charges that don’t exist, ICE-ing folks for no legal reason, and unemploying those wanting to be a positive piece of our workforce — all make for a crueler and angrier world. Is this what we want? Is that what we mean or meant by voting him in? No spin needed here. This is real; there is no denying or avoiding what he and his have been doing with and to most of us.

To mobilize our energies and efforts is to try to stabilize our society and governance. Our workforce, one of our chief strengths as a nation, comes from the diversity of our citizens and residents. We are, I believe, the better and stronger for the range of opinions and experiences that exist within our communities. One of our greatest “freedoms” within the breadth and depth that diversity brings is that of speech. Now that this is being forcibly challenged and restrained, people everywhere are scared and feeling even more marginalized — many to the point of silence and hiding.

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It is written in our Constitution that all (men) are given equal opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We clearly have much work to do to bring this to fruition. Equity is the quality of being fair and impartial. Equality and equity are big concepts and bigger actions. Of late they have been losing traction in all sectors of our nation. Education and freedom of speech and expression are at greater risk than ever before. There is much danger in seeing this being seriously eroded, near to the point of elimination in many ways. Equity and equality are precious rights for all, and must be preserved at all costs.

Finally — inclusion. Inclusion is the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized. Human beings are social in nature, and most people want to feel included, and to feel that they belong with and identify with others. We do everyone an injustice when we practice the opposite, which leads to increasing isolation, insularity, and fear. Aren’t we all better off when we and others feel engaged and part of something, with things that are meaningful to us in moving our lives forward?

All of this is food for thought, but, more importantly, ideas and ideals for action. It is time for us to meet the challenges we face in order to maintain and sustain DEI. It is well worth the struggle to realize these important values.

Daniel Cantor Yalowitz writes a regular column in the Recorder. A developmental and intercultural psychologist, he has facilitated change in many organizations and communities around the world. His two most recent books are “Journeying with Your Archetypes” and “Reflections on the Nature of Friendship.” Reach out to him at danielcyalowitz@gmail.com.