Category Archives: About Deborah Levine

About ADR Editor-in-Chief

Newspaper Opinion Columns

QAnon, COVID-19 and conspiracy addiction – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

QAnon has gone mainstream. This fringe group’s theory that there’s a deep state dedicated to child trafficking, cannibalism, and anti-Trumpism is no longer under the radar. Some point to the successful Georgia primary of QAnon backer, Marjorie Greene, as proof. Others point to President Trump congratulating her and calling her a “Future Republican Star”.  While Vice President Pence tried to counteract Trump’s enthusiasm for QAnon, the fact that QAnon ended up on the front page of The Chattanooga Times Free Press tends to support the mainstream theory.

Continue reading QAnon, COVID-19 and conspiracy addiction – by Deborah Levine →

Newspaper Opinion Columns

Women, Votes and the $20 Bill – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of men granting women the right to vote, we should remember that it took two or three generations from the first women’s rights conference in 1848 until that right was granted. Women protested, picketed, and were imprisoned around the US. The disdain for these protesters was strong and anti-Suffragist protests were loud even in Nashville. Sound familiar? Not surprisingly, when the 19th amendment passed in Tennessee, it did so just barely, and was then contested. Fortunately, attempts to rescind passage were not successful and Tennessee became the deciding vote in passing women’s voting rights nationally.

Continue reading Women, Votes and the $20 Bill – by Deborah Levine →

Newspaper Opinion Columns

Racial justice is not political correctness – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

(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.

Continue reading Racial justice is not political correctness – by Deborah Levine →

Newspaper Opinion Columns

The Naked Athena – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

At 1:45am in Portland, Oregon, a naked woman emerged from the gas fumes and halted the onslaught of federal police in a militarized crackdown over objections by local leaders. Some call her The Naked Athena after the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare. Others called her Lady Godiva, a medieval streaker on a horse. Today’s unamed-as-yet nude protester did some ballet moves that had the police in retreat. Portland has long given legal status to naked activists, but I suspect that this incident was memorable even for them.

Some are labeling Athena as an “Antifa psychopath” and one more reason why federal troops should be policing Portland. Chad Wolf, head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) railed about Portland’s “violent anarchists”. But this hotbed of violent anarchy is actually a 12 block area of Portland’s 145 square miles.

Continue reading The Naked Athena – by Deborah Levine →

Newspaper Opinion Columns

Racial justice is not political correctness – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

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.

Continue reading Racial justice is not political correctness – by Deborah Levine →

Newspaper Opinion Columns

A new generation takes to the streets – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

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.
Continue reading A new generation takes to the streets – by Deborah Levine →

Newspaper Opinion Columns

Which racism and whose history? – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

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.

Continue reading Which racism and whose history? – by Deborah Levine →

Levine ADR articles, Newspaper Opinion Columns

To mask or not to mask – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

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.

Continue reading To mask or not to mask – by Deborah Levine →

Newspaper Opinion Columns

A COVID-19 Mother’s Day Gift – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Maybe you’ll get to hug your mom in person this weekend, but it’s likely that your Mother’s Day moment will be online or by phone. We’re not back to what we call normal and travel is still a luxury many of us don’t have. Especially if Moms are older and health-compromised. COVID -19 may have many of us disappointed over missing a warm embrace, but it should also make us plan the appreciation of the women in our families, and communities, more deliberately.

My daughter in New England announced weeks in advance that my Mother’s Day gift would be arriving soon. It doesn’t matter what kind of present she sends, I could feel her love bubble up through my cell phone. And she probably felt the mommy love I sent her way. We both know that feeling well. It just gets magnified thinking of Mother’s Day. Continue reading A COVID-19 Mother’s Day Gift – by Deborah Levine →

Newspaper Opinion Columns

Doom and Gloom or Rays of Hope – by Deborah Levine

Leave a comment

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.

Continue reading Doom and Gloom or Rays of Hope – by Deborah Levine →