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.
Transformation Podcasts

Podcast with Veteran George Eshleman: The Keeper

The KeeperGeorge Eshleman is a veteran who inspired the upcoming film THE KEEPER which is based on his real-life experience hiking the Appalachian Trail while carrying 363 military name tapes from military members who committed suicide to raise awareness.

 

Hear George discuss:

  • What inspired him to hike the Appalachian Trail to promote veteran mental health awareness…
  • How he dealt with his own depression…
  • What it was like working with Co-Directors Angus Benfield and Kendall Bryant Jr. and the cast…
  • What we can do to address the rising rate of suicide among veterans.

The KeeperCLICK for podcast

Levine articles

Mothers Day: Matriarch Training – by Deborah Levine

Mothers Day is a great American traditions, but I’m not sure I like it. Unhappily, I have a really big problem with these days because I don’t have the goods. My mother and grandmother who were such loving figures in my life are gone. My father, who I take after in so many ways, is gone, too. I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself.  My children live far away but will no doubt call or send a card. I’m grateful for their love but I would really like to call my own parents. Just knowing they were around made life balanced and feel more secure.

Continue reading Mothers Day: Matriarch Training – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns, Editor-in-Chief

Broadway songs for our sanity – by Deborah Levine

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originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

We live in a time of chaos and raging hate. How do we survive? The Arts can help and we should turn to them. My dad read poetry non-stop when serving as a US military intelligence officer during World War II. He said that’s how he kept his sanity dealing with the horrors of war. Dad summoned the Arts generations ago, when we moved reluctantly to American and us kids were heartbroken leaving Bermuda behind. He took us to art galleries and art museums and, fantastically, to a Broadway theater to see the musical, “West Side Story”. Wow! Maybe this America thing isn’t so bad!

Continue reading Broadway songs for our sanity – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

Holocaust education is necessary now more than ever – by Deborah Levine 

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Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

When I was invited to give a webinar for Echoes and Reflections, an organization in partnership with Yad Vashem (The World Holocaust Remembrance Center), I freaked out. This was Big Time and I better be good at it. Reviewing my documentary: Untold, Stories of a World War II Liberator and my dad’s wartime letters, I was reminded that not long ago, I made a similar presentation at a Chattanooga high school. A student told me that she wanted to hear “both sides of the story”. I wondered what she was seeing online, and knew that these archival documents are still relevant today, and Holocaust education is even more so.

Continue reading Holocaust education is necessary now more than ever – by Deborah Levine  →

DL Opinion columns

Inter-generational education needed now – by  Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

All too often we look at the elderly as outliers to society, and the presidential election is embedding in our minds that being old is a non-starter. It’s getting harder to look at an elderly person and feel that you’re experiencing a great moment. Instead, they’re recipients of our sympathy, and objects of charity. That’s why funding Social Security is the only political issue focused on seniors. And that’s women who want to advertise products or be newscasters on TV face-lift themselves silly. The value of being a senior citizen is fading. 

Continue reading Inter-generational education needed now – by  Deborah Levine →

Levine articles, Social Issues, USA Culture

Tracking our Terrorist Destructors – by Deborah Levine

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I used to write about terrorist destructors in the U.S. every spring. My articles began with the domestic terrorism of the Oklahoma City bombing more than thirty years ago on April 19.  That’s when I became the community/media liaison for Oklahoma’s Tulsa Jewish Federation. It was shortly after the bombing destroyed the Murrah Building and so many lives were affected. I felt compelled to investigate what led to the deadliest bombing, prior to 9/11, on our native soil.  The violent hatred that I saw has not only continued, but has expanded globally, and now, it  encompasses the entire year.

Continue reading Tracking our Terrorist Destructors – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

International Women’s Day: Past and Present Converge – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Don’t be surprised that I love March, Women’s History Month. I was in the first Women’s Liberation March down Manhattan’s 5th Ave. in 1970. Betty Friedan led the march with NYC providing a permit for using just one lane of traffic. The 50,000 turnout was massive and Betty led us into the full width of 5th Avenue, startling law enforcement. I remember tripping over traffic cones meant as barricades. Unfortunately, some barricades seem to last forever. 

Continue reading International Women’s Day: Past and Present Converge – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

Finding the joy in a world gone to the dogs – by Deborah Levine

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 ( originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press)  

With the news being so depressing and alarming these days, is there any relief? There’s Russia and the murder of Putin protester Alexei Navalney, and the Middle East mess. Then there’s the US with 2024 having the second-highest number on record of mass killings and deaths to this point in a single year. Last year ended with 42 mass killings and 217 deaths. I’m guessing that the final numbers for 2024 will be even worse. My brain hurts and I’m sure that I’m not alone in looking for a ray of sunshine. 

Continue reading Finding the joy in a world gone to the dogs – by Deborah Levine →

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Janet Rutkowski Podcast: Artist and Curator

Janet RutkowskiJanet Rutkowski is a Brooklyn-based artist with a studio in Barryville, NY.  She’s a self-taught artist whose work spans over 35 years and primarily works in steel, although during the pandemic, she created hundreds of works on paper entitled Quarantine Compositions. Janet is also a curator and currently has a large show in celebration of Women’s History Month entitled: Behind The Mask. The Art of Women Welders. It features 29 women welders and over 50 works of powerful art, as well as one of her large scale pieces.

Here Rutkowski discuss:

  • The inspiration for her work
  • The role of women in the current art world today
  • The current show that she co-curated featuring women welders for Women’s History Month.
  • Her numerous projects and events  (CLICK to visit her WEBSITE )

CLICK for the podcast

DL Opinion columns

Is it just another day on the internet? – by Deborah Levine

(originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press)

My first reaction to the hacking attempts on my website was to wonder about the motivation behind it. Were the multiple failed login attempts related to the emails I just sent out  announcing an upcoming event about “Serving our Diverse Communities”? The event’s purpose is to highlight and honor those who serve and have them share their expertise. So, given its diversity element, could the motivation behind these attempts to mess with the back end of my website be at least partly political? 

Continue reading Is it just another day on the internet? – by Deborah Levine →