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.
Healthcare

Wellness Resolutions for Mature Women – by Deborah Levine

Wellness Resolutions for Mature WomenI recently enrolled in MBSR (Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction) course at Chattanooga’s Mindfulness Center, along with several other mature women. One of the items on my mindful To Do list was to attend a wellness panel co-hosted by Chattanooga’s Jewish Federation and Hadassah, a women’s organization with decades of involvement in healthcare of Israelis and Palestinians and who’s hospital in Israel saved my own life years ago.

The panel’s focus was on self-care for a longer, healthier, and more active life for mature women. The panelists included Cady and Ed Jones, the dynamic daughter-father co-owners of Nutrition World, a wellness center providing supplements, yoga, reflexology, acupuncture, and other holistic services. Also on the panel was Nicole Berger, a physical therapist with decades of experience from pediatrics to geriatrics, and Lisa Schubert, an occupational therapist and teacher who specializes in ergonomics.

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Uncategorized

The World Interfaith Harmony Week

Annual UN Observance Week: Feb. 1-7

The World Interfaith Harmony Week was first proposed at the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2010 by H.M. King Abdullah II of Jordan. Just under a month later, on October 20, 2010, it was unanimously adopted by the UN and henceforth the first week of February will be observed as a World Interfaith Harmony Week.

The World Interfaith Harmony Week is based on the pioneering work of The Common Word initiative. This initiative, which started in 2007, called for Muslim and Christian leaders to engage in a dialogue based on two common fundamental religious Commandments; Love of God, and Love of the Neighbour, without nevertheless compromising any of their own religious tenets. The Two commandments are at the heart of the three Monotheistic religions and therefore provide the most solid theological ground possible.

The World Interfaith Harmony Week extends the Two Commandments by adding ‘Love of the Good, and Love of the Neighbour’. This formula includes all people of goodwill. It includes those of other faiths, and those with no faith.

The World Interfaith Harmony Week provides a platform—one week in a year—when all interfaith groups and other groups of goodwill can show the world what a powerful movement they are. The thousands of events organized by these groups often go unnoticed not only by the general public, but also by other groups themselves. This week will allow for these groups to become aware of each other and strengthen the movement by building ties and avoiding duplicating each others’ efforts.

It is hoped that this initiative will provide a focal point from which all people of goodwill can recognize that the common values they hold far outweigh the differences they have, and thus provide a strong dosage of peace and harmony to their communities.

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Editor’s Note: CLICK for ADR New Beginnings Proclamation to have your city join our World Harmony Interfaith Month.

Wellness Podcasts

Laverne McKinnon: Managing Stress

Dealing with Stress & Anxiety During the Holidays and Every Day

Laverne McKinnon

Laverne’s mission is to help people manage stress & anxiety and cross their finish lines. She is a champion of underdog and underserved stories, and the people behind them. As a film and television producer, a leadership and personal coach, a certified grief counselor, and a professor at Northwestern’s MS Leadership for Creative Enterprises program, Laverne is dedicated to showing us how to find and use values to overcome stress and live a fulfilling life. See  her website for more information: LaverneMcKinnon.com

CLICK to hear Laverne’s podcast

Workplace Strategies Podcasts

Yanique Woodall: Promoting D&I in the PR Industry

Yanique Woodall
Yanique Woodall

Yanique Woodall is the Head of Brand Communications, Product Innovation PR, and Social Impact Communications at Home Depot. Additionally, she serves as Treasurer for the PRSA Foundation, an independent, charitable organization committed to promoting diversity within the PR industry. Woodall graduated with her masters in corporate & public communications from Seton Hall University and serves as an adjunct professor at George Washington University.

CLICK to hear Yanique Woodall’s interview

DL Opinion columns

Don’t Underestimate Putin’s Threat – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Ukrainian-born Comedian Yakov Smirnoff jokingly said Russia’s secret police, the KGB, stood for Kiss Goodbye Your Butt. That was decades before another comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, became Ukraine’s president. But Zelensky knows there’s nothing funny about Russia’s annexation of the eastern part of his country. Fortunately, we have helped guard against further Russian encroachment. So what was Trump thinking in using our aid as a pawn in this political chess game?

The Russians have never been muted in their aggressive global reach. From Vietnam to Cuba, the United States and the former Soviet Union wrestled in a Cold War. As the Soviet Union, Russian invasions included Poland, Ukraine, Latvia and what became the communist republic of Eastern Germany. A relentless dictatorship from czarist times to the present, the number of people who tried to escape Russian rule are legendary.

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Arts & Culture Podcasts, Music, theater, TV, dance

Carol Potter: From Screen & Stage to Therapist

Carol Potter: From Screen & Stage to Therapist With a screen & stage career spanning over 40 years,  therapist Carol Potter is best known for her role as Cindy Walsh in Aaron Spelling’s Beverly Hills 90210, among many other Hollywood credits.  She has also been seen on stages in New York, including the original Broadway production of Gemini, Los Angeles, and regional theater.

A Harvard graduate, she became a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist in 2001.

Click to hear Carol’s podcast

Levine articles, Religious Diversity, Social Issues

Living and Dying – by Deborah Levine

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When an anniversary falls on Yom Kippur, the most solemn holy day of the Jewish calendar, thoughts of living and dying take on cosmic proportions.  Fortunately, it’s rare for the two milestones to collide given the differences between the secular and Jewish calendars. Both are celebrations, but Yom Kippur which ends the New Year’s ten Days of Awe, is a sacred time when the celebration of life is combined with contemplation its finite nature. This year, I have a double dose of introspection and my mind sought the path separating living from dying and wandered from wonder and gratitude to mourning and humility.

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Levine articles, Religious Diversity

Policies, Faith, and Calendars – by Deborah Levine

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When the Jewish New Year arrived, I got many questions about faith and calendars from Human Resource departments. They wanted to know why the holiday occurs on a different day each year according to our secular calendar. And they asked about food associated with the holiday. Offering the traditional apples and honey for a sweet New Year was the easy part. Explaining the timing was the real challenge.

What should I write about religion and religious calendars in these contentious times? I know that many organizations and companies would prefer that the issue of religious diversity would disappear. But every year, thousands of religion-based lawsuits claiming a “hostile or offensive work environment” are registered with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).

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