I’m trying to make a positive difference in American political life by investigating whether and how it’s possible to draw some Trump voters toward the political center. In November 2020, about 48% of American voters voted for Trump. Voting for Trump is a proxy measure for rightwing feelings and beliefs. Many of these beliefs are extreme. None contribute to the American Dream of fairness, equity, opportunity, equality, and compassion, or the Good Society. Do we want to live in a permanently ideologically divided country, with the risk of civil war?
Continue reading How I’m Trying to Make a Positive Difference – by Marc Brenman
Category Archives: Transforming
Projects that are making a difference, improving lives, and building communities.
How Will You Toast The 2020s? – by Martin Kimeldorf
Cocktail party discussions in the rambunctious boom years of the 1960s often ended in dark pronouncements for the next century. Upward trending population growth graphs collided with downward bar charts displaying resource depletion. A few brave souls uttered dark prophecies for the 2020s. They whispered about a world landscape filled with economic and environmental collapse. They claimed this would create a breeding ground for pandemics that would challenge our very survival.
America loves to terrorize and confine itself with a bipolar view of the world. The Ozzie-and-Harriet voices in our heads droned on with happy-talk. In George Jetson cartoons, we imagined escaping traffic gridlock in our flying cars. At the same time a Civil Defense doomsday voice commanded us to “duck and cover” beneath atomic mushroom clouds. Eventually Twilight Zone voices questioned these comedic survival tactics.
Continue reading How Will You Toast The 2020s? – by Martin Kimeldorf
Black-Jewish Dialogue April 2021
COMMUNITY ADVOCACY
Candy Johnson: Before becoming President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga in January of 2021, she served as a senior advisor to Chattanooga Mayor Berke. She led community-focused initiatives to create sustainable partnerships and external investments to advance the administration’s economic, racial and social equity agenda with the goal of improving community quality of life. Johnson also led the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Alliance in partnership with Bloomberg Associates and co-created the Styles L. Hutchins Black College Student Fellowship. A native of Clarksville, Tennessee, Johnson was the youngest member ever elected to public office for the Clarksville City Council.
Michael Dzik: Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga since 2001. Much of Michael’s work focuses on community relations, bringing together people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds to find common ground and understanding while building strong connections and friendships. Through programs such as the Jewish Film Series, exhibits, speakers, and multi-faith panels, the Jewish Federation works to connect all of our Chattanooga community.
CLICK for APRIL BLACK-JEWISH DIALOGUE
CLICK for Urban League Racial Equity Workshops
CLICK for “Why Black-Jewish Dialogue Now” & Links to previous dialogue sessions
Dialogue Partners:
American Diversity Report, Chattanooga News Chronicle, Mizpah Congregation, Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga, C.U.R.B. – Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda.
The DEI Future: Old, New and Maybe – by Deborah Levine
A Diversity Futurist’s Perspective
In my more than half a century dealing with diversity, I have seen multiple changes in the field of training, coaching, and consulting. COVID presents an unprecedented mountain of changes in the DEI field that merit an overview of the past, present and future. As much as I appreciate some of you giving me the title of Diversity Futurist, Diva, Matriarch and Fairy Godmother, I’m well aware of the many experts reading the American Diversity Report and welcome your comments on the future of diversity.
Continue reading The DEI Future: Old, New and Maybe – by Deborah Levine
Maybe Some Silver Linings – by Gay Morgan Moore
The world will long remember the past year! We were thrust into circumstances that will forever change us individually and globally. We know the results – over 530,000 dead in the United States alone, millions sickened, an economy in free fall struggling to recover, a severely challenged health care system, new medicines, new disease conditions, and trillions of dollars in government spending attempting to ameliorate the effects of this global pandemic. The list of negative consequences goes on. But are there some “silver linings?” Is there some good coming from this daunting and often frightening global challenge?
Continue reading Maybe Some Silver Linings – by Gay Morgan Moore
Black-Jewish Dialogue at Harvard – March 2021
March 2021 Black-Jewish Dialogue
Women’s History Month
March 2021 Black-Jewish DialogueWomen creating change as Harvard freshmen
in the 1960s and today.
in the 1960s and today.
Dianne Irvine Fleet: Former chief legal officer/ U. Of Louisiana system. Former Supervisory Attorney/US Dept. of Ed. Office for Civil Rights. Former Sr. Attorney/Harvard U.
Deborah J. Levine: Award-winning author. Founder/American Diversity Report. Former American Jewish Committee Executive/Chicago. Former Jewish Federation Executive: Rockford, Tulsa. Chattanooga.
Host: Rabbi Craig Lewis
The Jewish Federation, Mizpah Congregation and the American Diversity Report co-sponsor these monthly dialogs.
CLICK for MARCH HARVARD DIALOGUE
Dialogue Partners:
American Diversity Report, Chattanooga News Chronicle, Mizpah Congregation, Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga, C.U.R.B. – Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda.
CLICK FOR BLACK-JEWISH DIALOGUES AND PODCASTS
Black-Jewish Dialogue: February 2021
HISTORY, ARCHIVES & MUSEUMS
The monthly Black-Jewish Dialogues began in Chattanooga virtually in July 2020 and quickly spread across the USA and internationally. As our communities progress in understanding each other, we explore new topics each month. History is frequently an underlying theme.
Many thanks to our February Presenters:
John Edwards: Chattanooga historian working with the Bessie Smith Cultural Center and President of The Chattanooga News Chronicle.
Dr. Dana Herman: Managing Editor and Director of Research & Collections of the American Jewish Archives.
CLICK to hear the February Black-Jewish Dialogue
CLICK for background information and links to earlier dialogues
Dialogue Partners:
American Diversity Report, Chattanooga News Chronicle, Mizpah Congregation, Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga, C.U.R.B. – Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda.
Diversity and Speech Part 18: Hate Speech – by Carlos E. Cortés
Hate speech may be the thorniest point of contention between diversity advocates and free speech absolutists. Of course most people oppose hate and detest hate speech. But what should we do about it? That’s where disagreements begin.
Let’s look at hate speech from four perspectives. Legal: what does the U.S. Constitution say about hate speech? Behavioral: is hate speech merely speech? Aspirational: ideally, what would we want when it comes to hate speech? Operational: how might government hate speech restraints work in practice?
Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 18: Hate Speech – by Carlos E. Cortés
Greenpeace, Matriarchs, and Me — by Deborah Levine
I’ve always included articles on the environment in the almost 20 years of the American Diversity Report. When I considered doing an article on the iconic Greenpeace movement which started much of our environmental activism, I thought it would be an intellectual and historical project. But, my 93-year old Aunt Polly informed that Green-ness runs in the family. Greenpeace is just a cousin away, including one of the movement’s matriarchs.
Continue reading Greenpeace, Matriarchs, and Me — by Deborah Levine
The Changing IT Arena – by Sridhar Rangaswamy
2021 Cyberspace Trends
Many thanks to Deborah Levine, editor of the American Diversity Report, for assisting in sharing my work with the ADR. I’ve been part of IT field for a long time and have presented on Big Data, technology in education. I have also been part of Takelessons.com in teaching SQL.
I used to teach RDBMS for new employees in 1998, then taught in Oracle University on RDBMS, SQL in 1999-2003. I have taught also PeopleSoft University on the Workflow. And have taught as a Mentor for Cyber Patriot in the year 2019 locally in Summerville, SC. Let’s take a look at how IT has evolved and what’s coming up in the future.