Deborah Levine has written an easy-to-read book, Going Southern, that will help the newcomers to the South and hosts avoid faux pas. It is intended for several audiences. First it is for “New Southerners, those expatriates coming to the South from other parts of the world whom she calls “internationals” and those transferring to the South from other parts of the USA. Secondly it is for Southern professionals themselves, now coexisting and working with the newcomers; thirdly, for those who may be returning to the South after being absent for a substantial time. I might add a fourth audience, namely those consultants and trainers like myself, whose vocation often includes assisting newcomers and help them settle in to a new environment and culture.
Continue reading Going Southern Book Review from Paris – by Dr. George Simons
LOGLINE
CHATTANOOGA, TN – The American Diversity Report announced today that founder and editor-in-chief, Deborah Levine, has received the distinguished ‘HerStory Award’ from the Women’s Federation for World Peace USA (WFWP), with chapters nationwide in all 50 states and locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, South America and the Middle East.
In the 1990s, I made my first trip to Bermuda in fifteen years. My family, once the mainstay of Bermuda Jews, were long gone from the island. The first whiff of salty sea air hasn’t changed but the airport is a jumble of construction. A short jog across the tarmac should end in a hushed wait for the appearance of a customs agent, sitting patiently on the dark wood furniture of the terminal’s old-fashioned waiting room. Today, official greeters wave us through a temporary cordoned maze to a terminal with a second story, a food court, and customs agents encased in glass booths. An electronically-enhanced steel band strikes an earnest rendition of “Island in the Sun” where a portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth once hung.