Category Archives: About Deborah Levine

About our Founder/Editor-in-Chief

DL Opinion columns

Racial justice is not political correctness – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

The giant earthquake over our African American history at Trump’s Tulsa rally was followed by a tiny spotlight on Native Americans who protested against Trump’s July 4th appearance at Mount Rushmore. The monument is on sacred Sioux Nation land, but National Guard troops fired pepper spray and arrested indigenous protesters.

Before anyone calls Sioux protestors left-wing radicals, marxists, and anarchists, understand that the National Park Service banned fireworks at Mount Rushmore because they caused wildfires and groundwater pollution on Sioux Nation land.

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DL Opinion columns, Editor-in-Chief

A new generation takes to the streets – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Should I laugh or cringe when reporters say that today’s protests aren’t new and similar protests go all the way back to the civil rights movement? They have now labeled those of us involved in the movement back in the 1960s as ancient history. First, it wasn’t that long ago in America’s 400-year history regarding race. Second, let’s be clear that I was very, very young.

I got a call from a high school classmate to come downtown and join a protest. Not sure that I’d get permission, I told my dad that I was going for a walk. It was hours before I returned home, but no one commented on my absence. I was busted the next morning when dad picked up the newspaper saw our protest on the front page with the caption, Pimple Politics. I held my breath as he turned purple, expecting to be squashed for life. But I’m forever grateful for his response: “How dare they insult you!” I suddenly saw my future as a leader and advocate for civil rights, women’s rights, human rights, and, in those days, for the end of the Vietnam War.
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DL Opinion columns

Which racism and whose history? – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

We all heard about NASCAR’s decision to remove the Confederate Flag. And the immediate resignation of a long time driver was all over the news. There were photos of the protest parade of trucks near Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway sporting Confederate flags. Most spectacular were the shots of a plane flying overhead hauling the Confederate flag and a Defund NASCAR banner.

Controversy over Confederate statues isn’t new and divided views over what the flags stand for have been around since the war between the states. That division can sometimes take center stage like four years ago in Charlottesville over the removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee. Given the uproar generated by the violence that erupted when white supremacists clashed with protesters, we expected permanent changes to our national culture.

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About Deborah Levine, Books, Teams & Leaders

Un-Bias Guide for Leaders

Un-Bias GuideThe Un-Bias Guide for Leaders is based on  Matrix Model Management System which involves the storytelling principles of cultural anthropology, the planning methodology of urban planning, and the team leadership of facilitation. The Un-Bias Guide is combination text / workbook customized for the workplace. The guide is an innovative tool for addressing unconscious bias and conscious choices.

Designed for team training in the workplace: business leaders, nonprofit administrators, and innovative entrepreneurs. CLICK at the bottom of the following short video to hear Deborah Levine share why the Un-Bias Guide is what today’s workplace needs.

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DL Opinion columns

To mask or not to mask – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I got a call from my cousin Lenny from a New York hospital telling me that they’d just admitted his elderly mother into the emergency room. He was upset because the hospital restricted his time with his mother as part of COVID-19 protocols.  But “Upset” didn’t cover his reaction to the receptionist not wearing a mask and neither a few of the medical staff. He made his objections loud and clear and took pictures on his phone. At that point, security was called and he got tossed out.  Picturing this kerfuffle over my aunt’s prone body, I’m taking the war over masks personally.

When I see headlines about North Dakota’s Republican governor Doug Burgum being on “brink of tears as he decries ‘mask shaming’, I’m horrified that the governor had to beg but encouraged that he had the courage to do so. It takes guts for a Republican governor to antagonize the anti-maskers when Biden says yes and Trump says no way. The battle’s begun in a presidential campaign fight to the political death.

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DL Opinion columns

Doom and Gloom or Rays of Hope – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

“Mom, It’s the end of the world!” That’s what I heard when I picked up the phone last week. She’d been told to go home and self-quarantine by the hospital where she works. All non-essential personnel for dealing with the coronavirus were told the same. A week later, she reported living nonstop in her pajamas, losing track of time, and grateful for not having killed someone. As for that end-of-the-world thing, I don’t think she cared one way or another. I wonder if it helped to hear me say she’s greatly loved.

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DL Opinion columns

For Coronavirus: distract, suppress and shift – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

The email cry for help came from a colleague whom I’ve never met in person, He’d been invited to give the invocation at the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast in Seattle, the epicenter of the coronavirus. My gut reaction was “Run Away! Run Away!” But I settled down when he wanted assistance writing his speech. I appreciate the power of words, especially in chaotic times, and they flowed from my brain to my computer and across cyberspace to help inspire calm, kindness, and compassion.

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About Deborah Levine

ADR Management Consulting Award

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Deborah Levine and the American Diversity Report Receives 2020 Chattanooga Award

CHATTANOOGA March 11, 2020 — Deborah Levine has been selected for the 2020 Chattanooga Award in the Management Consulting Services category by the Chattanooga Award Program.

Each year, the Chattanooga Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Chattanooga area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2020 Chattanooga Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Chattanooga Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Chattanooga Award Program

The Chattanooga Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Chattanooga area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Chattanooga Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

DL Opinion columns

Hate: Everything old is new again – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

DEBORAH LEVINEThe United Nations designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorated this week, to remember the six million Jewish victims and millions of other victims of the Holocaust. This Day marks the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a set of work-death camps in Nazi-occupied Poland. The hope is to confront hatred and make sure that we do not forget, ignore, or stay silent on the lessons of this history.

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DL Opinion columns

Swastikas and nooses: campus hate speech or free speech? – by Deborah Levine

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Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Never heard of UHBIOC? Think again. The initials stand for Uncivil, Hate and Bias Incidents on Campus (UHBIOC) and rarely a week goes by without an incident on campuses. CNN reported 5 incidents in just one week with swastikas and nooses on campuses in Georgia, Wisconsin, Alabama, New York, and Iowa. Now the big question for colleges is whether swastikas and nooses legally represents hate speech or free speech.

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