A Black Executive Perspective now presents Need to Know with the award winning hyphenated Dr. Nsenga Burton. Dr. Burton. What do we need to know?

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining Need to Know with Dr. Nsenga Burton. I am Dr. Nsenga Burton. I am she. Uh, today it is actually New Year's Eve. I'm not sure when you'll see this episode, but it's New Year's Eve. And so one of the things I want to talk about today is being thoughtful and intentional as we move into the new year, 2025. Um. Part of being thoughtful and intentional is also reflecting. And when we reflect, we need to reflect over the past year and many more probably in most cases and take accountability for what we may or may not have done that is going to impact the 2025 year and that can be personal. It can be professional. It can be political. Or what have you, because I'm talking on this particular show. 1 of the things I do want to talk about is I'm seeing a lot of buyers remorse already. And our next president hasn't even been our next president has not even been inaugurated. Uh, yet he hasn't been installed, so there's been no inauguration. I got to get my words together. But, uh, he hasn't been installed yet as the 47th president, and there's already buyer's remorse based on what has been done. You know, whether it's cabinet appointments, whether it's things that he's been saying on his social media platform, um, whether it is the mass deportation that is going to be coming. And for some reason, some people thought that they were talking about other immigrants of color. So, um, I just want to say that 2025 is probably gonna be a rough year for a lot of people. Um, and that is unfortunate. Uh, those of us who will be on the right side of history and remain on the right side of history, um, we'll have a tough time as well. But at least we know that we did all that we could in order to prevent this from happening, i. e. some of the negative and horrible things that will be happening to our fellow citizens and non citizens. Um, you probably have been hearing from a lot of people, um, in addition that, you know, black women who have often been leaders and champions of civil rights in many regards and certainly, uh, in the last 25 years, um, are taking a step back because our rights and our needs are not being met and we don't feel like the time, attention, uh, and energy focus strategy that we have put into really Making intense social impact on our communities, and that includes the world community are reciprocated. Um, you know, when we fight for civil rights, we want to rights for everyone, not just our own group when we want people to do better and have better pay. It's not just for us. We want it for everyone. We want people to have voting rights. It's not just for us. It's for everyone. And so when you see that being parsed out, and then even people. I'm trying to shame you about certain issues, um, and voting against you and, uh, you know, a candidate who looks like you, um, because of really misinformation and disinformation and an inability to strategically think, um, You know, it's disheartening and it's disappointing, but we will be taking a step back. So what's great about that is that we will be getting our weekends and our evenings back. We'll be able to pour more into our actual into our families and our communities. And when you look out for yourself, as those of you understand, you can make sure that your community is together instead of worrying about and making sure that everyone has everything they need, particularly when your needs are not being met. Cared for, thought of, or supported, you know, for example, voting rights, for example, DEI, um, all those things. So, uh, I think you'll, people will feel it. Um, but you know, it is what it is. And, and. We have to do these things for self preservation and, you know, this is going to go a long, long time. People keep saying, oh, it's only gonna be 4 years. It's only gonna be 4 years. It's going to be a lot longer than 4 years. The ramifications, because if you actually listen to critical thinkers, if we actually listen to our educated class, who we have somehow demonized, you know, people who know things like even meteorologist, one of my friends is a meteorologist, and he was saying, you know, that people keep sending him stuff from people who are just, you know, Sitting in their house, looking at the sky and telling him that this is what's going to happen. He's a trained scientist, a meteorologist. He has spent his entire life doing this work and yet and still, you know, he has to convince people that he knows what he's talking about. It is fascinating the world that we live in. Um, in such as the case for politics, you know, there's such a thing called political scientists. They study and do this stuff all the time. Historians. People who do these things all the time, scholars, people who dedicate, you know, 12 to 15 years of study before they actually then begin teaching and learning and researching and continuing, um, all of these things. And for some reason, these folks have been demonized while other folks like sexual batterers and people who had a terrible 1st term as president have been lionized. So a lot of that is rooted in what we know is racism, sexism, misogyny, all the things. Um, and, you know, we are realizing that there's very little, um, that with all of the major work that we have been doing, it has made very little impact, um, on the ability of people to think for themselves, um, to actually see everyone as human and, uh, being and deserving their full humanity. And so, you know, it'll be what it is, but I do want people to really take the time to reflect, reflect and think about, um, which you can do better. Um, what you did wrong. Um, that might have had some negative results for you. Um, think about, um, you know, your circle, like, really, like, people who are in it. Um, and, and that's professional. It's your personal, it's your spiritual, whatever circle you want to work on for those people who are in it, you know, try to find people who want to be like you and not necessarily be, try to find people who. Value all of you and not only parts of you, like the parts that can help them get to where they want, where they don't think they have to reciprocate that for you try to find people who are thankful and have some level of humility when someone helps someone else or really does something for someone else other than themselves. Um, I think we're just entering a time where, you know, a lot of people have just decided it's going to be chaos and awful and unruly and people are crazy and people just talking and saying whatever they want to say. And that's probably true, but I've decided and I hope many of you decide to join me that that's not going to be my 2025. That's not going to be my 2026. I'm not going to engage. I'm going to spend my time reflecting and making the changes I need to make in my personal, professional, spiritual. life, uh, in order to thrive, uh, well, you know, the house is burning down. I'm going to be playing the piano as the Titanic sinks. So I join you and choosing joy, choosing happiness and choosing wisely in terms of who you spend your time with and the organizations you work for and with and the people you engage with whom you engage. I know with is a dangling preposition, sorry to all the scholars out there. I know they don't care about us, but I know. It's probably just every time I said with like that, at the end of the sentence, it just was like this to you. I know, I know. Um, but it really just to be more thoughtful and intentional and critically engaged so that you don't make bad decisions. That have ridiculous ramifications for millions of people, uh, in 2025 and beyond. All right. So with that being said, I would love to say happy new year. There's no S on it. Just want to put that out there too. I know there's no value in knowing that there's no S in it because there's no value for education. Um, it's happy new year. I wish you a wonderful new year, and I hope that you get all that your heart wants. And I certainly hope you get what you deserve in 2025.

A Black Executive Perspective.