Category Archives: DL Opinion columns

Newspaper columns by Deborah Levine for The Chattanooga Times Free Press

DL Opinion columns

July 4th: “Land that I Love” – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I love celebrating July 4 by singing the famous song, “God Bless America – Land that I Love”. Yesterday, I asked a young friend if he knew that song. He immediately started humming the tune and we ended up happily singing it together. Then I asked him if he knew who wrote it. He had no idea, but knew the song because “God Bless America” is sung at baseball games as a patriotic anthem. Irving Berlin, who wrote 1,000 famous songs, claimed that this great song is one of life-long gratitude. Not surprising since his Jewish family emigrated from Siberia/Russia and Berlin began his career singing for pennies as a kid on the streets of Brooklyn, NY.

Immigration these days is a topic of huge contention with plans to deport as many as possible in a short amount of time time as possible. Originally, those plans only applied to criminals, but that was obviously a marketing scam. Now, you can be deported even if you have no criminal record, have a job and pay taxes. And if you were born in America, but your mom wasn’t a U.S.citizen, you don’t have citizenship and can be deported. I wonder if that applied to Donald Trump’s kids with two of his wives who were immigrants without American citizenship when they gave birth. Should we discuss deporting Ivana Trump’s children: Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric as well as Melania Trump’s son, Barron? Get real!

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DL Opinion columns

Hot! and only getting hotter – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Summer has arrived and it’s hot! No surprise here, but we’re in a rare, dangerous heat wave. Correction, it isn’t a heat wave, it’s a heat dome. Tens of millions of people face a level 4 extreme heat risk. That’s the highest level of extreme heat, the deadliest weather-related hazard in America according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA). In the past, we have been fortunate to have access to this report so that we can plan for the effects of climate change. But you can now kiss that access goodbye.

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DL Opinion columns

Navigating Worries, Chaos with Community – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

It’s definitely “interesting” to go into the grocery store and see empty shelves that had been full of my favorite fruit imported from Mexico. But that pales in comparison to hearing that my sister-in-law is back in the hospital emergency room. Yes, we live longer, but the consequences aren’t so sweet. Then there’s the friend visiting family in Utah who thankfully let us know that he was safe after the shooting of a No King protester. I’m not going to worry about him, but there’s plenty of worry to go around. My step-daughter and her four boys live in Israel, just outside of Jerusalem.  She reported hearing the air raid sirens go off five times in one night as Iran and Israel entered what looks like a “full stage war” to achieve total victory. How do we manage this vast array of upheavals?

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DL Opinion columns

Dad Wouldn’t Approve of Big Parade – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press 

June 14 is a big day for me, one that is dear to my heart. No, it’s not the parade in DC that celebrates Flag Day and President Trump’s birthday. So I won’t need the nearly $45 million dollars that the parade for the army’s 250th anniversary will cost. And then there’s the $10 million for road repairs from dozens of tanks, rocket launchers, missiles and other military vehicles as well as 6,600 U.S. Army troops. My day will be relatively simple, commemorating my father’s yahrzeit, the Jewish anniversary of his passing. 

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DL Opinion columns

Antisemitism Knows No Bounds – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

After 2 Israeli Embassy staff members were shot and killed in Washington, DC, I got emails asking if I was OK. Friends sent prayers for my safety even though the shooting happened almost 600 miles away. The murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim goes beyond geographical boundaries. A Chicago man shot them “for Gaza” outside the Capital Jewish Museum. I won’t give his name because that visibility motivates copycat crimes as noted in my co-authored book, When Hate Grows March Down Main Street.

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DL Opinion columns

Instruct and inspire with our stories – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Are you thriving? Do you even know what that means? When I ponder the word “Thrive”, my brain immediately goes to Thrive #1: flourish and prosper as a successful entrepreneur. And then I go deeper and imagine Thrive #2: live a life of abundance, courage, and purpose. How to choose which Thrive during these difficult times when both versions are hard to come by? I couldn’t decide, so I was excited to see that Thrive 2025 was coming to Chattanooga. Both Thrives would be combined, something we all need. Continue reading Instruct and inspire with our stories – by Deborah Levine →

DL Opinion columns

Douse Fireworks; Embrace Laser Light Shows – by Deborah Levine

Originally published by the Chattanooga Times Free Press

The July 4th fireworks wonderful! We drove around the neighborhood to check out what’s happening. Folks down the street have been doing a family light-up every night over the weekend. And then was there’s Camp Winnie, one of my all-time favorites. Best of all, was watching the sky explode over the Tennessee River. Of course, we’re sad for everyone living near Canada where smoke from across the border forced some cities to cancel July 4 fireworks. I was grateful not to have their pollution levels – until I coughed and wheezed driving by a house surrounding us all in smoke from fireworks lit up in the driveway. Mother Earth whispered that our gratitude should come with a grain of salt, or saltpeter.

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DL Opinion columns

Libraries are treasures, don’t put them at risk – by Deborah Levine

(originally published in The Chattanooga times Free Press)

Public libraries are huge community assets. They not only house books, but provide educational programs, arts classes, computer access, archives, and more. Even in my childhood in Bermuda in the 1960s, the library was growing into an island asset. No wonder my grandmother donated her Encyclopedia Britannica to it, ensuring the education of future generations. But now, the federal government proposes defunding libraries, including a potential $435,000 to our Chattanooga library.  

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AI, DL Opinion columns

Take the ‘Age of AI’ seriously – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I didn’t take it seriously when a friend in the internet security business told me that AI is reshaping the world and our future. Surely that was an exaggeration. Or so I thought until I was recruited to speak about intercultural leadership in the ‘Age of AI’ during a 3-day virtual symposium for SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research). It was an honor, but also a vital opportunity to learn about AI from researchers and educators around the globe. 

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DL Opinion columns

Harvard and the Future of Universities – by Deborah Levine

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originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Reading the emails from Harvard president Alan Garber that accompanied my various 55th reunion invitations was enlightening. It looks like there’s a movement to take Harvard back to its origins in 1636 when Harvard catered to wealthy, White Christians. DEI didn’t exist then, or in the 1900s when Harvard’s president tried to suppress the number of Jewish immigrants like my dad. Fortunately, diversity became an asset with Harvard’s merged with the women’s Radcliffe College in 1967. The bans on Cliffies from campus areas like Lamont Library were lifted. Exciting! But an equitable presence wasn’t easy given the signs defacing library walls: “Cliffies Go Home!”

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