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 welcome to Need To Know with Dr. Nsenga Burton. I am she. I am co uh, coming to you today once I get my words together, um, to talk to you about, um, our current climate. What you need to know about what you can do to create change. I've been alarmed at the, uh, number of people who really have given up, um, and have said, oh my gosh, this is what it is. I can't believe where we are now. There's nothing that can be done. And to those people who are losing hope and faith, I would just want to encourage you that change is slow, but it is. Sure. So there's always some, and that's something I got from my mother, Beverly. Um, but there's always something that can be done, and I know a lot of people are feeling trapped. Um, because they're in corporate positions or they have, they're just blessed to have a job in this particular climate, especially when, um, black folks are being targeted for eliminations. Um, I mean, we even have this public, uh, debacle with, uh, you know, Lisa Cook who is standing her ground and like, no, you do not the authority to fire me. I'm not going anywhere. Um, and the appeals court is, uh, uh, and the courts are upholding her position. Um, so I, I just say, you know, there are examples around the people who are standing up and who are winning, um, against the current regime. And so, um, I just encourage you to find those examples in your everyday life. And then to also be creative in the ways that you can support. So what you need to know is that it's not always taken to the streets. Um, it's not always marching, it's not always protests, but you know, um, you know, you can do targeted. Boycotting. So for example, even the target boycott that has been very impactful and effective and targets are actually closing in some areas. Um, if you had said that to us, you know, two years ago, somebody, uh, black folks are gonna boycott target and they're gonna start closing stores, someone would've said, that's crazy. It can't be done, it won't happen. Target's, you know, too big of an organization or corporation and all of the things, oh, there won't be enough impact, blah, blah, blah. Uh, but it's happening. It's being done. Change is slow, but Sure. Alright, so you have to make sure that, um, you are doing something and even if you're in a job where you can't have a public opinion, for instance, where you think you're gonna have a public opinion, um, then. You can look, um, out into, you know, society, the news or whatever, and find examples of people who are really making things happen. They're creating change. And it is slow, but it is. Sure. Uh, and so there are different ways that you can participate in fighting back, whether it is deciding to not patronize a particular business because they have made their politics. Public. Um, for example, you know, uh, you may not want to support the NFL anymore because they have said repeatedly that politics don't have a place in, uh, sports. We know that to not be true historically and otherwise, but repeatedly when it comes to black people and our voting rights and our human rights and all of that, um, there's no place for it. Um, but then when it is, uh, in service to some of the. Patriarchal, I would say patriarchal and white supremacist ideals that they like to the owners like to uphold. Then um, they change it and they do different things. Um, and so, you know, they. You might decide, you know what I'm done with NFL. I'm not gonna buy any more merchandise. I'm not gonna be a season ticket holder anymore. I'm not gonna watch the games. In fact, I'm gonna counter program. I'm gonna watch something absolutely opposite too. Um, NFL uh, football. Now you might have to find something to do Thursday, Sunday, and Monday nights, but, um, you will be able to create some kind of change in that way. Affect some kind of change, and it'll help you mentally as well. Um, you can also give to organizations, you know, we're still finding out now about all the black celebrities and non-black celebrities, white folks too, who were giving money to progressive costs back in the day that you would not have known about. Um, unless you read their biography, memoir or a family member hadn't said, oh yeah, you know, prince used to give, you know, a million dollars a year to such and such or whatever. You can quietly give money to organizations. Um. And you can give them in, give it in different people's names. You don't have to give it in your name. You can give it in somebody else's name so that people aren't, uh, aware that it is actually you who's doing the giving. Um, but you can give to progressive causes. You can give to, um, you know, various organizations you can support, uh, local journalists, you know, independent journal. Um, you know, a lot of journalism now is corporately owned, but a lot of it isn't. So you can, um, support your independent black newspaper, um, and donate money. A lot of them have nonprofit arms. Uh, you can give money to their foundations and things of that nature. Um, so you know. I know money is tight. So there are other ways that you can, you know, fight back. Um, and there are other ways that you can participate. Um, you can organize, you know, small groups. It can be just you and your friends, you and your family members where you strategize about, you know, what do we want to do, you know, with our local school system. I think it's fascinating that, um. You know, white supremacists feel perfectly okay with going to school systems and saying that we have to have this and they, you know, remove books and do all this kind of stuff. Um, but what about us? Why can't we co, uh, organize and say, actually, actually we need to have these things too. So this is what we need in our schools. Um, and organize as well. So there are lots of things that you can be doing on a, a smaller level, um, that will have maximum impact and it might take a little longer. To get that influence out there, um, or to get the changes, or to see the changes that you wanna see. But it can happen. But you don't have to sit here and stew. You don't have to sit here and be like, oh my God, my life is over. We live in a white supremacist regime. We are in the United States. It's foundational to the United States. I was just telling my girlfriend today on the phone, uh, one of my friends, I said. I mean, it just feels like it did when I was a kid. I thought we had moved past it, but I was like, well, damn, we are back in, in, uh, Virginia. Like I feel like I just, it was when I was a kid. I'm, I'm, I'm. Disappointed that that's where we are, where I'll be like, oh my gosh, we've gone like completely back to where it was when I was a kid. Um, but it is what it is, you know? But we haven't, we didn't stop, we didn't quit. We just kept going. Um, and if our ancestors had quit and stop, we wouldn't be here. I mean, literally the plan was for us to be disposed of as, uh, unneeded property. I mean, think about that. The fact that we're actually here is like amazing. So, I don't know. I find joy in being, uh, a living testament to resistance. Um, I find joy in being a symbol of, uh, our people's liberation, uh, just by, by virtue of breathing. It's just like, oh, we're here. We're not even supposed to be here. Um, I mean, I just, I find joy in that every day and, um, I think you just have to figure out how to find joy in these times. Um, so maybe it's turning closer to your family. Uh, I've been watching a lot of comedy. Comedians are brilliant. They just are spot on with a lot of, uh, their, their comedy. Some of it has nothing to do with politics. Some of it has everything to do with politics, but a lot of it doesn't. And it's just funny. And so sometimes that's how I escape. I just watch comedians. Um, during 40 five's, first term, I went back and watched all the kind of, uh, old school sitcoms I used to love like soap. Um, I remember I, I, I watched that. So, um, I just need you to know that this is not the end. It's actually the beginning. And you can figure out how to make this work for you and in what ways. And so I'm not saying that you turn off your emotions. I'm not saying you can't be disappointed. I'm not saying you can't be sad. Um, you should be feeling all of those things. Uh, but what I am saying is you gotta decide what you're going to do to get through this. And there are ways that you can contribute to the cause. You know, other than marching and protesting and fighting, uh, or falling into the trap of going up against the MI military and the police, which you cannot win. Um, and I'm not saying that because, you know, um, I'm always the person like, we can always do it. No, it's, it's set up that way. So how are we gonna do that, um, differently? How are we going to fight back in a way that is productive and constructive and works for us? You know, this whole idea of a radical left does not exist in the United States. If you know anything about world history, I don't even know what they're talking about. I don't even think we have liberals in the United States. I don't think we have progressives like really, honestly. But, you know, I can't say that too often out loud. 'cause then they call me like a communist or a socialist or all the other words, and I'm not those things either. Um, but I was like, we definitely don't have a radical left here, so you can just go ahead and relax about that. Doesn't exist. Aint shit gonna happen. Not the United States not even ready for a radical left. Have no idea what that is. Um, so, uh, but you can think about the ways in which you can participate in making the change that you wanna see. So whether it's, you know, not supporting a company, um, and telling other people like what this company is doing, fact based. Fact-based, not conspiracy theory, not what you heard. Do the research and find out from legitimate sources what it is. 'cause we get it wrong sometimes, but fact-based. Um, and maybe you're that person, you know, where people can come to and say like, Hey, I heard this is going on. You know, if they don't have the skillset, is this true? You know, I'm, I'm that person in my family. I'm like, can y'all. Use Google or um, pay me. I usually charge like about $400 an hour for these services. But okay, lemme go ahead and look this information up that you can find. If you spend two hours doing it, let me do it in 10 minutes 'cause I can do it right. Um, but yeah, you know, fact-based information, you know, figure out what it is that you can do. If you got a little extra coins, send it to people who need it. Organizations that are doing this work every single day. If you're tired of seeing, you know, uh, corporatized news. Support your independent, um, news organizations, you know, your local news organizations, um, send them, you know, even if it's just $25. Right. You know, um, one of the things that I did, uh, was I stopped going to Starbucks, uh, for a myriad of reasons, but also because of the cost. So I added up how much money I spent would've spent at Starbucks over the year and donated it to. Progressive cause, right? So that's something you can do. Like it takes discipline, but you can do that, you know, it's like putting money in a jar or something until you give it to your mountain. Go buy what you want or get what you want. Um, so these are just ways to be creative, but what I want you to know is to not give up. To not give up. We need you here. We need you in the struggle. Um, we need you in the joy. I mean, you know, I think it is revolutionary and I'm not the only person. There's scholars who've said this. There are activists who said this. Um, there are people that you, where, you know, rest is revolutionary, you know, um, choosing to take a nap is liberation. It's liberatory, right? It, it liberates you. So, uh, all of those things matter too. And it. You don't have to fall for the, oh, we're just gonna be dancing and doing our fans. You know, that's just code for, we're doing other things too, and it's not for you to know what we're doing. Right? It's not different from our culture, what you know, that's how we got outta slavery codes. All right, so whenever you see somebody doing that, throwing that fan, that's like a sign. That should be a mental sign for you to go write a check, go donate some time. Um, you know, at your school's kid, at your kid's school, you got an extra couple hundred dollars. Put it on the lunch bill. So the kids who aren't gonna get free lunch anymore won't be hungry. Right. Every time you see that, go give some money to your local, uh, elementary school to make sure the babies aren't starving. Be like, I got extra $50 this week. Instead of playing the lottery. Put it on the tick, put it on the kids. All right. So, um, join us next week, um, for. Need to know with Dr. Nsenga Burton and of course A Black Executive Perspective podcast. Also, I can't let the day go without shouting out. Black Theater Day, today's September 17th Black Theater Day. So celebrate your local theater, your black theaters right? Give them money. Go sign up and go see their shows. Take your classes to their shows. Go take a acting class. Support, support, support. Um, promote the shows you outta town. That's okay. Tell 10 of your friends to go anyway. Um, but you know, that's what I'm talking about, making a difference. Um, make a, make a decision. Um, but join us next week and we will see you soon. Um, but stay up, stay informed and please, whatever you do, stay here. We need you A Black Executive Perspective.