All posts by Editor-in-Chief

Deborah Levine founded the American Diversity Report in 2006. She is a Forbes Magazine top "Trailblazer" and award-winning author of 20 books. Her published articles span decades including: American Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Public Management & Social Policy, The Bermudian Magazine, The Harvard Divinity School Bulletin.
International Podcasts, Ukraine

Ukrainian Podcast: Mayor Yuriy Bova

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Mayor Yuriy Bova Yuriy Bova is Mayor of Trostyanets, a Ukrainian city just 20 miles from the Russian border that endured occupation for a month. Badly damaged in fighting with Russian forces almost two years ago, Trostyanets is one of six settlements being rebuilt in a pilot program to develop the skills and experience needed for a far broader reconstruction drive.

Trostyanets is now in partnership with the City of Chattanooga whose Mayor Tim Kelly formalized a cooperative agreement with the war-torn Ukrainian city. I met Mayor Bova at  a  recent reception celebrating the collaboration with many city leaders and organizations like Sister Cities. 

Hear Mayor Bova discuss through his translator:

  • The history and significance of Trostyanets and the remaining historical monuments
  • Trostyanets’ response to Russia’s large-scale invasion in 2022 and what the Russians did in the city 
  • The process of rebuilding: how it began and its current status
  • The city’s development strategy including sports and tourism industries and attracting new investors to the community

Takeaways:

  • What are current threats from Russia?
  • What are the most important problems requiring solutions now?
  • What will be the benefits of this partnership with Chattanooga and how does your visit benefit your people?

CLICK for podcast interview

DL Opinion columns

Celebrating our city’s literary artists – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Chattanooga is a hub for artists and aways has been. On September 25, ArtsBuild will celebrate 55 years of building our city through the Arts. There will also be a celebration of 10 years of the Ruth Holmberg Arts Leadership Awards with this year’s awardees: Cam Busch, Rita Lorraine Hubbard, Alan and Norma Mills, and Anna Baker Vancura. Several Holmberg relatives recently visited Chattanooga’s Mizpah synagogue which Ruth and her Ochs family helped create, as they’d done with The Chattanooga Times. Meeting them was a reminder that the past and present are interwoven through our city’s creative souls and their supporters. Whether it’s architecture, visual arts, dance, or music, we have a rich legacy of artists shaping our community. That legacy includes generations of writers, as demonstrated by the local Authors Fair hosted by the downtown public library this past weekend.    

Continue reading Celebrating our city’s literary artists – by Deborah Levine →

Levine articles

Election Exhaustion and that Afternoon Nap- by Deborah Levine

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As we get closer to the vote for president, the weariness is overwhelming and calls for a nap. I hate being so tired that I get fussy and cranky. But know that it’s helpful to rest rather than act in that state of mind.  I wrote this poem honoring the nap, especially for those whose nerves are frayed and tempers are so hot that you’re tempted to do something really nasty.

Arts & Culture Podcasts, Authors A-H, International Podcasts

Avi Hoffman Podcast: The Global Yiddish Renaissance

Avi on stage Avi Hoffman is a globally renowned award-winning actor, director and producer, and Co-Founder & CEO of Yiddishkayt Initiative, Inc.  (YILoveJewish.org)
This is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting Antisemitism through the Arts : Yiddish Saves The World.

Avi was recently awarded Congressional recognition. He was invited to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis and was inducted into the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame for his lifetime work advancing Jewish culture, Yiddish language and Holocaust awareness.

CLICK for Avi’s podcast interview

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Arwen Lewis Podcast – Under the Stars

Arwen Technically, Arwen Lewis inhabits our blue planet, but so much about her belongs in the celestial realm. First and foremost, her earthily angelic voice (just listen and you’ll know that’s not a contradiction in terms). Then there’s her lineage: The granddaughter of Oscar-winning actress Loretta Young and Tom Lewis who created the Armed Forces Radio Network during World War II. She is the daughter of Peter Lewis, a founding member of ‘60s psychedelic cult heroes Moby Grape, she’s been part of the creative cosmos all her life. So it’s no surprise that Arwen’s new OMAD EP is called Under the Stars—or that a slice of sonic heaven is poised to enter your heart, mind and soul.

Arwen creates music in the professional realm for the pure love of creating art, and because of the community that she has found in the world of music and performance. She not only performs but also works with other musicians. including organizes concerts. She  is also the host of a music podcast on Pantheon Podcasts called The Arwen Lewis Show. Arwen  looks forward to creating new music in the future and exploring the realm of alternative music with nuances of classical and jazz.

CLICK for Podcast

DL Opinion columns

Welcoming Moments of Nature – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Watching the news this weekend was another exercise in political upheaval. I was grateful for a brief intermission on CBS with its “Sunday Moment in Nature”. Seeing the beautiful mountain scenes and watching the birds up close was heart warming, and much needed. But I needed more so we hopped in the car and drove over to Fort Oglethorpe. I wanted to revisit one of my favorite places, the old log cabin that belonged to the Native American Chief John Ross. The surrounding ponds with their fountains were truly a gift and I hoped that they would have still have birds flocking to them.
Continue reading Welcoming Moments of Nature – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

Can’t We All Stop the Political Violence – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I originally planned to write about the massive number of politics-oriented texts that I’ve been getting on my phone. They were unsolicited and annoying, regardless of which candidate they’re promoting. I know that many of you were inundated with these texts and shared my concern. When I searched online for directions on how to stop all this, I discovered that the Federal Trade commission doesn’t block political campaign texts and calls. Political campaigns are run by legitimate organizations that know how to go around the rules meant to stop robocalls and robotexts. I was going to share the advice of a blog, “How To Survive the Election Year and Political Text Spam That Comes With It”. But so much changed with the weekend assassination attempt.

Continue reading Can’t We All Stop the Political Violence – by Deborah Levine →

About Us

Submission GUIDE

ARTICLE SUBMISSION INFO

Our local-global writers have collaborated to create resources for humanitarian efforts  for 19 years. We welcome relevant articles and use of our CALENDAR for monthly theme options is encouraged. Submission deadline is noon on the 15th of the month 
NOTE:  We are on summer hiatus from June – August.
September submissions are accepted after September 1 with a deadline of Sept. 15, 2024.

1. SUBMIT by E-MAIL 

Submit articles as a word.doc attachment and e-mail to: Levine.AmericanDiversityReport@gmail.com
New articles are announced in our monthly e-newsletter.  Authors are added to our mailing list and receive notification of publication through the ADR newsletter.

2.  FORMAT GUIDE

  • FONT: Times Roman – size 12
  • LANGUAGE:  Articles must be submitted in American or British English.
  • PARAGRAPHS:  Don’t indent paragraphs – space them instead.  The first 5 lines of your 1st paragraph are most visible.
  • WORD COUNT:  600-1,400 words.
  • SENTENCE LENGTH:  Readability scores show that sentences of 20 words or less are most likely to be read.
  • TITLE:  Do not use ALL CAPS, Symbols or Quotation marks. Titles no longer than 5 words are preferred.
  • SUBTITLES: You may use up to 5 sub-titles.
  • QUOTES: Do not begin your article with a quote.
  • URL LINKS:  You may embed links to websites in your content, but no e-mail addresses for security reasons.
  • BIO: Include a short profile in the third person at the bottom of article: 50-100 words. No live links, italics / bold fonts, emails.
  • PHOTO/GRAPHICS: You may submit up to 2 visuals as jpeg attachments in e-mail submissions. No personal head shots. Credit the owner/creator – you must have permission for use.
  • Read our Disclaimer – You retain copyrights.

3. RULES: SUBMISSIONS NOT PUBLISHED

  • NO profanity or hate speech
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DL Opinion columns

Justices, Come Experience our Climate – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

It’s always a pleasure to go to Miller Plaza, listen to the music and watch folks set up stalls for a festival. The activity this past weekend began at 5pm so I got there a bit early to watch them get ready. Everyone setting up looked happy even in the intense sunlight and a few kids even hopped, skipped and jumped around. I admire these younger folks doing their best with a temperature over 90 degrees. Us older folks are especially vulnerable to these heat waves and even standing in the shade made me sweat like mad. I’m thinking that climate change deniers and Supreme Court justices should stand with me. Maybe a little heat exhaustion would have them promote laws and projects to protect us.  

Continue reading Justices, Come Experience our Climate – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

“Path to the Presidency” at the library – by Deborah Levine

(originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Our middle-aged kids came to visit us and we wanted to do something special with them. But with the temperature in the mid-nineties, none of us could tolerate being outside for long. Fortunately, Chattanooga has wonderful opportunities to have fun indoors with full-speed air conditioning. Given our long-time fascination with political artifacts, we were eager to check out the exhibit, Path to the Presidency, hosted by the public library’s Local History and Genealogy Department and presented by the Robert L. Golden Institute of Art and History.

Continue reading “Path to the Presidency” at the library – by Deborah Levine →