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Combining Reason and Empathy in 2024 – by Deborah Levine

Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Whether you resolve to get more exercise, learn new skills, or avoid doing stupid stuff, January has us thinking about the future. I began 2024 with good works, donating piles of clothing at Goodwill in Eastgate Mall. Driving there, I realized that the process begins with gratitude and humanity. That means being grateful for those who have come before us, who gave us life. We remember that we’re not only their beneficiaries, but also their legacy of how they made a difference.

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Stranger Politics Shopping at Walmart – by Deborah Levine

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Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

As I was leaving my neighborhood Walmart yesterday morning a total stranger stopped in front of me and announced, “The Biden family is living off millions while the rest of us are poor!”  He just stood there waiting for my response. I smiled sweetly and said “ You mean poor Trump – forced to live at that Mar-a-Lago place and living off all those contributions folks send him because he’s such a nice man.” I continued my sweet smile and the gentleman, confused, finally walked away and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was disturbing to have a perfect stranger approach me like this. I worry that given the wild ride of this 2024 presidential election, I need to prepare myself for a tidal wave of such strangeness.   

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Tackling Bias and Diversity Benefits All- by Deborah Levine

 (Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press) 

I hesitated going into the banquet room at the Chattanooga Convention Center for the 2023 Diversify Conference hosted by our Chamber of Commerce and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBSTN). The last time I attended this conference was before the pandemic when I delivered an inclusive invocation. My friend and colleague, Ron Harris of BCBSTN, demonstrated unconscious bias by asking us if we thought he could slam dunk a basketball. We all laughed since Ron is definitely “vertically challenged”. Our biases were immediately visible.

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From punked to pummeled – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Over the weekend, Trump assured us that he had illegally leaked information that he’d be arrested on Tuesday by Manhattan’s Attorney General regarding hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.  He wasn’t. A team spokesperson agreed that no such information was received, but rushed to justify Trump’s announcement, saying it was “rightfully highlighting his innocence”. As usual, truth wasn’t the point. The past Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele explains, “former President Donald Trump used a well-worn page from his playbook to punk everyone over his expected indictment.”

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Murdoch’s mess: Fox News, lies and defamation – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press. 

I’m transfixed as the Fox News circus unfolds with the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit by voting machine maker Dominion against ringmaster, Rupert Murdoch, and his son, Lachlan Murdoch. We’re now told that the Murdochs and their carnival acts like Tucker Carlson all knew that claims of a stolen 2020 election were fraudulent. Yet they spread the lies that led to the violence of Jan. 6, with Carlson now perpetuating that date’s bunch-of-tourists theory. And we Americans are stuck with the divisive mess. Maybe if we’d paid more attention to the Murdochs’ history, we’d have halted the Fox circus before it fueled our culture wars.

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Climate debate shows no signs of subsiding – by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

I rather liked the 80 degree weather in our winter, but not fond of the storm warnings last week. I’m delighted that Chattanooga dodged any tornadoes and really sorry for the folks who didn’t, including those in New Jersey a few weeks ago. New Jersey? Not exactly part of tornado alley! But then, weird weather is becoming the new norm. Cars floating in a river through a city’s downtown and icicles on Southern California palm trees. Oy! What’s going on here?

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Chronicles of the asinine: new entry – by Terry Howard

My three granddaughters are, respectively, age 12, 5 and 3. They are also Black and beautiful. I start with that as a link that to what I’m about to write about; something personal, very personal.

You see, I’m ticked off to report that we have still another addition to the umpteenth volume of our “You can’t make this stuff up folks” collection, our chronicles of the asinine. Our latest entry comes from Caldwell, New Jersey courtesy of some “racially nearsighted” dude by the name of Gordon Lawshe. 

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Love Will Come to Me Tomorrow by Mykyta Ryzhykh

Love Will Come to Me Tomorrow

Kherson

She will prick with thorns

She will breastfeed

Love does not know what we call love

She will look for her name everywhere
She will be the life of all
Love will clear the heavenly stars from mines

She doesn’t know what the future is
She doesn’t want the future to come
Oh Love, we’ll all suffocate without you
in the electric sky of wires

 

Image Credit: Sunflowers [wallpapercrafter.com] and Abrams tanks [pngitem.com]

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CELEBRATE AND ACT ON BLACK HISTORY MONTH – by Deborah Levine

published originally in The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Honoring Black History Month often comes with events that tell African American history through arts and culture, which resonate across cultural boundaries. For example: the National Center for Civil and Human Rights will display jazz music that “inspires movements, evokes revolution, and lightens troubled spirits.”

Corporate celebrations may elevate Black artists, creators, entrepreneurs through storytelling, content and products. But as memorable as these celebrations are, they may be considered once-a-year, check-the-box events.

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Social Media Insanity – by Deborah Levine 

(Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press)

I was transfixed when Elon Musk first took over as Twitter’s CEO. It was like watching a massive highway car pile up as folks headed for the hills as Musk cried, “No, we’re not dead!”. I was tempted to exit, but was persuaded to stay and fight the good fight. So when the GOP first tweeted their intent to tear apart Hunter Biden, I responded, “How about the $2 billion Kushner got from the Saudis… Are you going to investigate that?” The support was beyond anything I’d experienced from Twitterers. 

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