Category Archives: Advisors

Advisory Council

DL Opinion columns

Stop ignoring sexual misconduct – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I was amazed when Biden, just before his end as president, declared the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. About time! Did you know that 85% of UN Member States already protect against sex and/or gender-based discrimination in their constitutions.  And recently, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women asked Biden to ensure the ERA’s role. So exciting! But I have no doubt that there will be push back and legal challenges echoing our century-long fight for gender equality. 

Continue reading Stop ignoring sexual misconduct – by Deborah Levine →

Advisors, Authors A-H, Politics

A plea for more “Howard (and Harriet) Beales!” – by Terry Howard

Howard Beale had finally reached his breaking point. He was not going to take it anymore. Beale is a fictional character from the film Network (1976) and one of its central characters. He is played by Peter Finch who won a posthumous Oscar for the Beale role. 

Here’s an excerpt from his advice for folks to do during those tumultuous times:

“I want you to get mad! I don’t want you to protest. I don’t want you to riot. I don’t want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you’ve got to get mad.  I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out and yell, ‘I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!’ 

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Gender, Sports

Renewing Diversity #6: Trans Talk – by Carlos Cortés 

“Can we finally stop talking about trans sports?” read the headline in the February 11, 2025, Los Angeles Times.  Of course this was followed by a column talking about — you guessed it — trans sports.  So the answer is no, we have to keep talking about trans sports for the same reason that people keep climbing mountains: because they are there.

 Four years ago I ended my ADR column on trans sports by positing that “the case of transgender female athletes may pose one of the ultimate tests for diversity advocates because it requires the difficult weighing of competing legitimate equity concerns, with no simple win-win solution in sight.”  I illustrated that conclusion by positing two hypothetical situations.   

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DL Opinion columns, Holocaust

Remembering the Holocaust and learning from it – by Deborah Levine 

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I was honored to be interviewed by a university’s Holocaust and Genocide Education Center for International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I’ve worked in Holocaust education for more than 40 years, starting before I learned that my dad was a US military intelligence officer assigned to interrogate Nazi POWs. I did know that he’d been a soldier in World War II because as a kid, I found an old photo of him in uniform. Always a curious little critter, I asked, “Daddy, did you kill anyone in the war?” He answered, “No, but I slapped somebody once…the Nazi said that Hitler was great, but should have killed more Jews.”

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DL Opinion columns

Chattanooga’s Helping Hands Reach Ukraine – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

My brain was numb even before that White House meeting with Zelensky, Trump and Vance (Z,T, V). My brain cells started to explode days earlier when Trump declared Russia’s invasion was all Ukraine’s fault. And when Trump mentioned World War III, I was suddenly back in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the Cold War almost went nuclear. Thankfully, the Soviet Union dissolved into 15 independent countries, including Ukraine which definitely doesn’t want to be re-colonized by Russia. So, now what? 

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Of Women

I’m Deeply Sorry: My Letter to Six Women – by Terry Howard

I decided to offer a different approach to Women’s History Month 2025 before the celebration ends up on the chopping block by the Trump administration joining African American and other monthly celebrations. 

Now whereas the mind immediately goes to “past” when it conjures up the word “history,” or perhaps “history makers” in the future, my angle in this narrative is to zero in on current history in the form of an apology to women. So this letter of apology is to you “Bernice,” “Rita,” “Evelyn,” “Francine,” “Rosa,” “Alexzandria,” your loved ones and others who depend on each of you emotionally, spiritually and financially for the devastation that’s interrupted your lives.

I’m sorry, deeply sorry. I’m also embarrassed and enraged.

Continue reading I’m Deeply Sorry: My Letter to Six Women – by Terry Howard →

Advisors, Authors R-Z, Gender

Misgendering: Is It a Big Deal? – by Julia Wai-Yin So

I live in New Mexico—a liberal state where people respect each other’s gender identity.  It is also a state where everyone, including the members of TNG (transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse) community enjoy the privilege of publicly sharing their preferred gender pronoun or personal gender pronoun (PGP). At any given professional meetings, it is a common practice that people would introduce themselves followed by their PGP. I, on the other hand, rarely mentioned my PGP. I am not a member of the TNG community.  At the same time, I do not see the need to announce my PGP. To me, my gender is no one’s business. If I want others to know my gender, I will introduce myself as such and let others know. As for addressing others, I will respectfully ask when unsure and honor their individuality and dignity. 

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Black-Jewish Dialogue, Levine articles

Let’s Revive Black-Jewish Dialogue – by Deborah Levine

Celebrating Black History Month at Mizpah congregation brought together members of Chattanooga’s Black and Jewish communities with the synagogue’s “Intriguing conversation”. These conversations are facilitated by Jed Mescon, a well-known media figure here in Chattanooga. Jed’s February interview was with John Edwards III, founder of The Chattanooga News Chronicle, our prominent African American newspaper. The flier announcing the event described  Edwards as a civil rights hero who uses the typewriter to ensure that people of all colors enjoy the rights and freedoms that we often take for granted. 

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Advisors, Authors R-Z

“EYES AND EARS WIDE SHUT”: THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING – by Mauricio Velásquez

I have always specialized in hostile or militant audiences but from time to time even I have to step back and pause for a second.  Current events are always “fair game” in my workshops; it is what makes my sessions current, electric and never boring.  Recent moments of truth in my sessions lead me to pen and update the original article I wrote many years ago.  The rash of horrible racial injustices (some say pattern) of Ahmaud Arbery to Breonna Taylor to George Floyd to Amy Cooper to Jacob Blake had erupted into a national conversation about racial injustice, white privilege, inequity, diversity, inclusion, and more.

Comments like – “I don’t care about BLM – Black Lives Matter, I am trying to run a business” or “White Lives Matter” or worse “White Lives Matter More (WLMM)” when people mention “Black Lives Matter” have led many to the politicization and polarization of these horrible atrocities and these acts continue a horrible pattern of racial injustice.  You have to go back to “Rodney King had it coming!” and “Trayvon Martin, who cares.”  Today, you must be a “liberal” or a “conservative” – ouch!  

Continue reading “EYES AND EARS WIDE SHUT”: THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING – by Mauricio Velásquez →