All posts by Editor-in-Chief

Deborah Levine is Editor in-Chief of the American Diversity Report. She is a Forbes Magazine top Diversity & Inclusion Trailblazer and an award-winning author of 15 books. She has been recognized by the Women's Federation for World Peace and the TN Economic Council on Women. She was featured on C-Span/ BookTV and her published articles span decades in journals & magazines: American Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Public Management & Social Policy, The Bermuda Magazine, The Harvard Divinity School Bulletin. A former blogger with The Huffington Post, she is now an opinion columnist with The Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Know history so it will not have to repeat – By Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I thought of this saying on Jan. 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day: “History repeats itself. So you might wanna pay attention.” A comment from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum resonated with me: “As we are witnessing an alarming rise of antisemitism around the globe, it is more important than ever for us to recognize the critical lessons of Holocaust history as we commemorate the victims and honor the survivors.” At the same time, there is growing noise about the “Holocaust Industry,” which asserts the American Jewish establishment exploits the memory of the Nazi Holocaust for political and financial gain and to further Israeli interests.

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Gloria Feldt Podcast: Gender Parity

  Gloria Gloria Feldt is Cofounder and President of Take The Lead, a nonprofit organization providing training, coaching and cohort building, inspiring role models, and thought leadership to individuals and organizations, with the mission of intersectional gender parity in leadership. Gloria is the author of 5 books and former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She is a Forbes 50 over 50, angling for 80 over 80.

Hear Gloria discuss:

  • Why she started Take The Lead?
  • What will it take for women to reach parity in leadership positions, power, and pay?
  • What is the necessary, fundamental mindset shift about power.
  • How are women engaging that shift towards gender parity in leadership?

CLICK for podcast

COVID Extremists Unite – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I freaked when I saw this article online, “The Covid extremists can’t bear that nobody is listening to them”. I’d just recovered from Covid and then, something called Covid Rebound. Having escaped Covid for years, and been thoroughly vaccinated, I thought I was safe. I complained to my daughter, the doctor. After briefly expressing sympathy, she said, “You’re old! Be grateful for those vaccinations. Otherwise you could be dead.” 

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STEM Women Storytellers – by Deborah Levine

Women GroundBreakers Storytelling

The push to attract women to STEM education and careers is gaining steam, but the impact is questionable. Young women have ample cause to be discouraged given the decrease of the number of women professionals in many STEM fields. Bucking the trend, efforts to encourage women to embrace STEM have increased dramatically. Those efforts span the country, including in Tennessee where Chattanooga’s Women GroundBreakers Storytelling featuring women in STEM.

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Hate and the cost of silence – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Many quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. were posted on line this week. A fellow Chattanooga colleague got my attention with, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”  Then I got an email from a synagogue buddy asking me why Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) was being silenced and suggested that I write about this for my TFP column. Interesting coincidence! But I was busy mailing a DEI book that I’d written. Holding the book in one hand, I picked up an unmarked envelope mailer only to find that there was something already in it. And that’s when coincidence became weirdness. 

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How Rosie triumphed over us all – by Deborah Levine

I’d just driven into my parents’ driveway. I was time to pick up my toddler from the babysitting grandparents.  And there was my little 3-year-old Rosie, rocking back and forth on her rocking horse without a care in the world. The horse squeaked and groaned on its springs, far too annoying to be allowed in the house.

Continue reading How Rosie triumphed over us all – by Deborah Levine

Let’s bag the ultra-processed food industry – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

If you’re like me and get what seems like 7 million reminders to do things better, you know that this is a self-improvement month .My inbox is full of suggestions for getting in shape, losing weight, eating better …you name it.  Watch the news and you’ll see reporters give tips on what diets to follow to help you live longer and healthier. Ironically, those reports are interspersed with ads for the Ultra-processed food” (UPF) you’re being told to avoid. The processed food industry is spending big bucks to promote their UPF yummies containing high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar. Having learned long ago that UPFs contributes to my chronic inflammation, I’m determined to counteract the 14 billions of dollars spent annually marketing this crap.

Did you know that about 73% of our country’s food supply is ultra-processed and are about 52% cheaper than less processed alternatives. Further, of all the advertisements related to food or drink, almost 80 % were junk food ads. We’re being played!

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Combining Reason and Empathy in 2024 – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Whether you resolve to get more exercise, learn new skills, or avoid doing stupid stuff, January has us thinking about the future. I began 2024 with good works, donating piles of clothing at Goodwill in Eastgate Mall. Driving there, I realized that the process begins with gratitude and humanity. That means being grateful for those who have come before us, who gave us life. We remember that we’re not only their beneficiaries, but also their legacy of how they made a difference.

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TEACHING GUIDE: Untold Stories of a WW II Liberator

Untold Teaching Guide This Teaching Guide accompanies the documentary: Untold, Stories of a Word War II Liberator.  The Guide includes excerpts from the documentary’s letters as well as discussion questions for students and additional resources. It also includes section on the Nuremberg Trials and on newspaper journalists accounts of Holocaust death camps.

Untold: Stories of a World War II Liberator proves that there are always new truths to learn and new heroes to celebrate when studying the horrors of the Holocaust. This work is arriving at a critical time; as the voices of survivors and liberators pass, those who teach history are confronted with increasingly loud cries of distortion and denial. A resource such as Untold allows students to both learn about and humanize the Holocaust.”
~ Dr. Rich Quinlan: Director, Holocaust and Genocide Education Center
Chair, History Dept./Saint Elizabeth University

“Deborah Levine’s work continues to be of utmost importance for students of all ages. The specific story of ‘UNTOLD’ must be told today and forever, so that the words ‘Never Again’ never lose their meaning!”
~ Avi Hoffman: CEO, Yiddishkayt Initiative, Inc.

“Many liberators such as Levine’s father kept their experience largely secret So the publication is an important resource for Holocaust education and research…and a very readable introduction to the journey of the Jewish community over the past century”
~ The Rev. Dr. John T.Pawlikowski: Founding member of the US Holocaust Center, Prof of Social Ethics/Catholic Theological Union

Note: Also available are Deborah Levine’s memoirs: The Liberator’s Daughter and The Magic Marble Tree,  upon which the documentary is based.  They include the wartime letters with eye witness accounts.

Finally, diversity programming is beginning to include faith – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I could barely contain my excitement a few days ago when the Chattanooga Times Free Press published this article, “Businesses face calls to include faith in diversity program”. Do you know how many years I’ve been promoting the idea of competence in religious diversity? It began over 30 years ago when I created the DuPage/Chicago Interfaith Resource Network and got a call from the county’s police chief. DuPage County had acquired an amazingly diverse population as it developed into Chicago’s technology corridor. And law enforcement officers were struggling, especially when there was a death, like someone run over on the highway. Apparently they were asking all the loved ones if they should call a priest and were offending everyone who was not Catholic. Would I please wear a pager 24/7 so that they could call on me to help them with the correct language?   

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