Category Archives: About Us

About the American Diversity Report

Levine articles, Social Issues

Our Domestic Terrorism – by Deborah Levine

What happens in Vegas does NOT stay in Vegas because Domestic terrorism is a national issue. I often write about how  the byproduct of economic dislocation is an increase in violent attacks. When people feel they have little to lose, they lose their socialization and their humanity.  The result is a rise in domestic abuse and acts of violence on strangers, whether individually or in crowds. The anger and divisiveness that now permeate our culture take the phenomenon beyond the disenfranchised. Incidences like this attack on a concert in Las Vegas parallel the rise of  traditional terrorism and are symbolic of the desire to deconstruct society.

I cannot accept the explanation of mental illness which implies that this massacre is just a single individual with no takeaway that impacts the country. Nor can I accept that Las Vegas was punishment for criticizing Trump and not standing for the national anthem, as one religious figure is saying.  Neither denial nor incitement should be acceptable if we are to confront domestic terrorism in our midst.

Continue reading Our Domestic Terrorism – by Deborah Levine →

Authors R-Z, Go Green

Under Water and Drowned – by Yvor Stoakley

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The series of natural disasters that impacted Texas, Mexico, Florida and the Leeward Caribbean islands have raised some interesting questions about how we think and feel about other human beings.

How Should We Think About the Residents of Barbuda, Florida, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Texas? How should we feel about them?

Continue reading Under Water and Drowned – by Yvor Stoakley →

Holocaust/antisemitism, Levine articles

The Liberator’s Daughter Writes Post-Charlottesville – by Deborah Levine

 After my father’s eightieth birthday, he told me that he was transcribing his World War II letters for me. My father, the son of an immigrant traveling shoe salesman, went to Harvard, and was trained at a secret US military intelligence camp. He wrote to my mother when he was a military intelligence officer deployed to France, Belgium, and Germany. Assigned to interrogate Nazi prisoners of war, he saw more than one death camp in the process. His letters are now more relevant than ever.

Continue reading The Liberator’s Daughter Writes Post-Charlottesville – by Deborah Levine →

Authors R-Z, Healthcare

Coping with a Loved One’s Hearing Loss — by Katie Schwartz

Some of  us have extra-sharp hearing, and others begin to lose their hearing at different times. For the first time in history, 20% of those in their late teens and early 20’s are reporting signs of a hearing loss – a problem that will cause major challenges for commerce and industry. (One cause for this is loud music played through earbuds for too long.)  Presbycusis, hearing loss caused by age,  is another challenge, and often starts in the late 50’s or early 60’s. By age 65, one third of Americans experience this problem. There are simple, practical strategies that can help. Here are three taken from the e-book, “What did you say?”

Continue reading Coping with a Loved One’s Hearing Loss — by Katie Schwartz →

Authors A-H, Politics, Race & Ethnicity

Commemorating 60 Years of Civil Rights Law Enforcement at DOJ – by David B. Grinberg

In case you missed it, the month of September marks the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Division (CRD) of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The CRD, which opened for business in 1957, has a noble mission and rich history which has helped to effectuate equal opportunity for all Americans, especially African Americans and other minority groups.

“On September 9, 1957, President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, creating the Civil Rights Division,” according to DOJ. “The 1957 Act was the first civil rights law passed since Reconstruction, and was a first step leading to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act the following year, and numerous other civil rights laws enacted in the years since that are enforced by the Civil Rights Division.”

Continue reading Commemorating 60 Years of Civil Rights Law Enforcement at DOJ – by David B. Grinberg →

Authors R-Z, Teams & Leaders

Harrity Pledge and D&I Challenge – by Mauricio Velásquez

An Interview with John Harrity, Managing Partner, Harrity & Harrity, LLP

At a recent Association of Legal Administrators, Washington, DC Chapter meeting – John Harrity, Managing Partner and Diversity Partner of Harrity & Harrity was on a panel and presenting his firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Journey.  Harrity and Harrity, LLP is an Intellectual Property Firm boutique based in Fairfax, VA, experiencing high growth.  He explained their commitment to Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) and said, “We believe that the ‘practice of law’ is advanced by a more diverse legal team – with diversity of background, upbringing, education, and perspective comes quality legal innovation.  At Harrity & Harrity, we are committed to The Harrity Rule, a supercharged version of the Rooney Rule that shows our firm’s commitment to D&I is not window dressing or smoke and mirrors.”

Continue reading Harrity Pledge and D&I Challenge – by Mauricio Velásquez →

Levine articles, Music, theater, TV, dance, Of Women, Race & Ethnicity

Interview with Kim Wayans: Comedian & Advocate – by Deborah Levine

Kim is a key member of the Wayans clan that created TV’s In Living Color. The ten Wayans siblings grew up poor in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. Elvira, Kim’s mother, was a homemaker and social worker who took the kids everywhere, no nannies, and no babysitter. Their father was a supermarket manager and the Jehovah’s Witness in the family. With no background in the entertainment business and little money, the Wayans’ success is an unlikely story.

Continue reading Interview with Kim Wayans: Comedian & Advocate – by Deborah Levine →

Authors R-Z, Education, Transforming

Making Dago and the World A Better Place, One Child at a Time – by Brett Weiss

DAGO, KENYA

In 2009, I spent about two weeks in the tiny village of Dago, Kenya and came away determined to do what I could to improve the lives of these hard-working, incredibly kind but extremely poor people. I decided I wanted to make the world a better place, one child at a time. Most of us think about how we can make the world a better place but we all struggle with just how to do it. The challenge is daunting.

Dago is a village in southwestern Kenya of 3,000 people where the average family income is less than $2 per day. They live in tiny mud huts with no plumbing. There has been no electricity but this year the school, orphanage and a few homes have obtained limited electricity.  AIDS is a major problem and most people will have little to no medical care in their life. Average life expectancy is early forties. Most clothes are hand-me-downs from charities and food insecurity is a major problem. The average person has only four years of education and few have ever gone to high school because the government does not pay any of the costs of high school.

Continue reading Making Dago and the World A Better Place, One Child at a Time – by Brett Weiss →

Authors A-H, Social Issues

Exorcising the disease of “perfection” – by Terry Howard

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How about a show of hands from those of you out there who consider yourselves perfect?

Humm, not a single hand went up. Maybe you didn’t hear me right, so I’ll cuff my ears, kick the volume up, italicize, capitalize and repeat the question; HOW ABOUT A SHOW OF HANDS FROM THOSE OF YOU WHO CONSIDER YOURSELVES PERFECT?

Continue reading Exorcising the disease of “perfection” – by Terry Howard →

Authors I-Q

US Territories and the North Korean threat – by The Rev. Dr. John Pawlikowski

Listening to the national news programs of late as they report on the intensifying threat from North Korea has raised my ire.  Much is made about the future potential of North Korean weapons to hit major population centers of the USA such as Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angles as well as South Korea and its large contingent of American military personnel.  Without question all Americans need  to share this concern.  But mention is rarely, if ever made, of the even greater and current threat to the Pacific regions of Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas and American Samoa.  Parts of Alaska also fall into this category.  To me it seems that we value the lives of those Americans less than those of us living on the U.S. mainland.  We have little sense as a nation of the apprehension currently felt  over the North Korean threat by our fellow citizens in places such as Guam.

Continue reading US Territories and the North Korean threat – by The Rev. Dr. John Pawlikowski →