Category Archives: Transforming

Projects that are making a difference, improving lives, and building communities.

Authors I-Q, Social Issues

Civil Rights: A Most Righteous Hangover – by Ashok Panikkar

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How Outrageous Successes of the Civil Rights Movement Weakened Minorities
and Destroyed Liberal Society  

The Nineteen Sixties promised a new chapter in US history, with the election of a young charismatic President, John F. Kennedy. However, the perfect storm of the Vietnam War, multiple assassinations (JFK, RFK, MLK, MX), the Cuban missile crisis, and continued segregation in the South, turned it into an extremely turbulent decade. Taken together, the failures of the Reconstruction (1865–77), Brown v Board of Education (1954), and President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, shattered America’s self-image as “The City Upon A Hill”, destroyed faith in the political system, and forced the nation to question its foundational assumptions.  

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Books, Holocaust, World War II Documentary

TEACHING GUIDE: Untold Stories of a WW II Liberator

Untold Teaching Guide This Teaching Guide accompanies the documentary: Untold, Stories of a Word War II Liberator.  The Guide includes excerpts from the documentary’s letters as well as discussion questions for students and additional resources. It also includes section on the Nuremberg Trials and on newspaper journalists accounts of Holocaust death camps.

“Untold: Stories of a World War II Liberator proves that there are always new truths to learn and new heroes to celebrate when studying the horrors of the Holocaust. This work is arriving at a critical time; as the voices of survivors and liberators pass, those who teach history are confronted with increasingly loud cries of distortion and denial. A resource such as Untold allows students to both learn about and humanize the Holocaust.”
~ Dr. Rich Quinlan: Director, Holocaust and Genocide Education Center
Chair, History Dept./Saint Elizabeth University

“Deborah Levine’s work continues to be of utmost importance for students of all ages. The specific story of ‘UNTOLD’ must be told today and forever, so that the words ‘Never Again’ never lose their meaning!”
~ Avi Hoffman: CEO, Yiddishkayt Initiative, Inc.

“Many liberators such as Levine’s father kept their experience largely secret So the publication is an important resource for Holocaust education and research…and a very readable introduction to the journey of the Jewish community over the past century”
~ The Rev. Dr. John T.Pawlikowski: Founding member of the US Holocaust Center, Prof of Social Ethics/Catholic Theological Union

Note: Also available are Deborah Levine’s memoirs: The Liberator’s Daughter and The Magic Marble Tree,  upon which the documentary is based.  They include the wartime letters with eye witness accounts.

Authors A-H, Go Green

Uncovering the Green Truth: The Role of Espionage in Environmental Politics – by Ainesh Dey and Jhanvi Jain

The Geo-strategic Premise of Environmental Espionage – Abstract

In current times with the rise in environmental crises like global warming, deforestation, and wildfires in the geopolitical scenario, it becomes imperative to collaborate and cooperate with other nations to find solutions to such crises at the global level. However, with every nation’s ulterior motive being involved, sharing environment or resource-related information can prove to be hazardous for the various nations and states especially in the international sphere.

The larger relationship between environment-related information, global partnership, and the possibility of espionage then becomes intertwined. Moreover, this delicate intertwining of these seamlessly connected dynamics of international relations, yet the divergently different motives with which each nation-state might be cooperating highlights the transition in international relations, the changing nature of espionage and the need to keep pace with these spaces.

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Politics, Social Issues, Trends 2024: Divisive World

2024 Trends: Healthcare at Risk – by David Grinberg

Despite its overwhelming success, Obamacare remains the target of relentless partisan attacks. Donald Trump is again vowing to end the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, during a potential second term as president.

“Obamacare is a catastrophe,” Trump recently said at a campaign event in Iowa. The twice impeached former president also wrote on his social media platform: “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare.”

But terminating Obamacare, assuming Trump wins the presidency again, would decimate healthcare for about 40 million Americans for no good reason. These citizens in need of affordable healthcare had been locked out of the private insurance system for decades based on discriminatory reasons — including socioeconomic status and preexisting conditions, which disproportionately hurt minority groups the most.

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Academic Articles, Authors I-Q, Trends 2024: Divisive World, War

Peacebuilding: Growing Strawberries on Coconut Trees – by Ashok Panikkar  

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The Nature of Peace and Peacebuilding in a Collectivist and Illiberal World

This article was originally published in Beyond Intractability 

The only reasonable prediction we can make about the 21st century is that we don’t know what’s coming our way — except that it will be bad.

While triggered by the Israel/Palestine situation, this article is a critical reflection on the role of ‘peacebuilding’ (my umbrella term for all non-adversarial dispute resolution processes) in the 21st century.

To understand why the peacebuilding field has failed to live up to its lofty ambitions, we have to unpack the world we inhabit today. After the heady optimism at the end of the Cold War, the conflicts of the new century have forced Westerners to rethink their short-lived assumptions about abolishing war, making the world safe for democracy and capitalism, and world peace. Hence, I won’t give you a two-point off-ramp for Russia, a five-point plan for the Syrian embroglio, or a seven-point approach for the Israel-Palestine mess. Of course, we should try to make the world safer. However, our attempts should be rooted in hard-nosed realities, not skewered by wishful thinking.

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Social Issues

Honoring MLK Words of Wisdom – by David Grinberg

10 Quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.
that Resonate Today

America again pauses to honor the monumental life and legacy of civil rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK). The annual MLK Day national holiday is an opportune time to ponder some of Dr. King’s timeless words of wisdom and their immense influence on the nation more than half a century later.

Like other giants of American history, MLK showed that great leadership begets great communication (among many other things). His powerful message about the critical importance of racial justice, equal opportunity and economic empowerment  connected with diverse demographics of every race, gender, age, color and creed across the country.

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Advisors, Authors I-Q, Go Green, Trends 2024: Divisive World

New Climate Inflection Point in our Axial Age – by The Rev. Dr. John Pawlikowski

In my contribution to American Diversity Report at the beginning of 2023, I argued that we are living in an axial era where fundamental structures of human society are undergoing profound change. As we enter 2024, I would maintain with others such as former Senator John Kerry, now the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Issues, that the final communique from the recent COP 28 conference in Dubai may represent an axial moment.

Special Envoy Kerry believes the Dubai decision to commit to a movement to eliminate the reliance on fossil fuels by the global community (as well as methane gas) signals a  fundamental shift in the way we provide power for the human community. Such a wholesale shift in the generation of necessary power throughout the world, if successful, would represent a fundamental reordering of our life together as a global community. It would insure the sustainability of our planet and firmly implant the right to a the right to a healthy environment for all living creatures proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2023.    

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Levine articles, Race & Ethnicity, Religious Diversity Kit, Social Issues

A Jewish Perspective on MLK – by Deborah Levine

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raceIt was an honor to share my perspective as a Jew and diversity professional at Chattanooga’s MLK interfaith service commemorating The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  That event was years ago but my passion for diversity is a lifelong  legacy from my father, a US World War II military intelligence officer whose letters describing Naziism reside in Cincinnati’s American Jewish Archives. Having dedicated decades to tikkun olam, Hebrew for ‘repair of the world,’ I resonate to this day to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s words, “Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”

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Academic Articles, Authors A-H, Social Issues, Trends 2024: Divisive World, War

Reimagining Indian Intervention in the Israel-Hamas Conflict – by Ainesh Dey and Diksha Gupta

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India’s Non-Linear Engagement in the Region: 
Abstract

This article delves into the broader geo-strategic positioning of India against the backdrop of the brewing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

As the Israel-Hamas conflict rages on, India’s dehyphenation policy calls for valuing independent relationships with Israelis and Palestinians on their merit.

 As reflected in her latest statements in the UN Security Council, India unequivocally hit upon the need for the resumption of direct dialogue and the overall de-escalation of tensions.

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G 100 Women Leaders, Levine articles

TN Chapter of G100 Women Leaders – by Deborah Levine

Inter-cultural Dialogue for Equity

I’m honored to be the Tennessee State Chair of the Inter-Cultural Dialogue Wing of G100 Women Leaders / All Ladies League. I hope to bring together women making a difference in our state. It reminds me of when I founded the Women’s Council on Diversity and the Global Leadership Class more than 20 years ago. Let’s go again: Crosscultural boundaries Locally & Globally – Instruct & Inspire!  (Let me know if this interests you.)

G100 is a huge action-think tank that comprises 100 wings/sectors, led by 100 Global Chairs  like Dr. Aurora Martin who is Global Chair/Inter-Cultural Dialogue and Advisors like Global Advisor/Inter-Cultural Dialogue Shon Abegaz. The Chairs further nominate 100 country chairs in 100 countries for global reach and impact. Country chairs, like Monica Jaramillo who is the USA Country Chair/Inter-cultural Dialogue,  then foster communities of 100 members directly or through further distributed leadership of region/state/city/district chairs.

G100 is a powerful Group of women leaders and achievers from all walks of life who wish to give back and move us all forward as architects of the future. It’s a league of luminaries of eminence and excellence including Nobel Laureates, Heads of States, Ministers, Businesswomen, Philanthropists, Investors, Entrepreneurs, CEOs, Corporate and Community Leaders – like me.

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