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 hope all is well in your world. Today I'm going to be talking to you about surprise number 47 and his mandate or edict to remove all traces of slavery. From the Smithsonian Museums and for those who have not visited them Smithsonian before, when we talk about the Smithsonian, we always say the Smithsonian Smith Smithsonian. But there are many Smithsonian museums in the district of Cobi. Um, and so there are lots of different museums. So he is not just talking about the African American national, African American, um, museum. Um, the National Museum of African American History, uh, culture and history. He's not talking about just that museum. He's talking about many different types of museums that have, um, exhibits or information about slavery, um, that are a part of this. The Smithsonian Institute, which is what it's referred to as. Um, so what's interesting about that is, um, that he has threatened them, uh, saying he's going to do the same thing. That he did with the colleges and universities and basically bankrupt them or defund them, um, uh, if they don't remove slavery, um, from the historical institutions. And of course, in my mind I was like, how do you remove. Something that was so foundational to the building of the u of the establishment, the founding of the United States, um, and really the world. You know, if we think about the Atlantic slave, uh, Atlantic transatlantic slave trade, uh, if we think about that, then um, we're really thinking about the world. We're talking about lots of different countries, um, that were impacted by that and lots of different countries. Who, like the United States built their political economy, um, and, you know, in, in, in terms of us, became a world power based on, um, the economy that was created, uh, and tied directly to, um, the slave trade. Uh, and so, you know, this is. People were thought of as property. This is why we were able to be insured. A lot of the companies that you love so much and that you are brand loyal to, um, participated as well. Um, and so when you know slaves were crossing the Atlantic and they were either jumping off or being murdered, um, for money, right, because the ships were, uh, insured as well as the bodies because they were per. Property at the time. Um, a lot of money was made off of that, um, and established us as a world power. Uh, which of course, if, you know, history is one of the reasons why the Civil War happened. Because, you know, they keep saying it was about land, but we know it was about property. Um, and not just land like slavery. 'cause that was a big form of property and that is how, um, many people, um. You know, made their money and establish their wealth and power pol politically and uh, culturally and socially. So it's astounding to me that someone who would rise to the President of the United States twice. Um, and actually lived in Washington DC and lives in a house that was built by slaves. I'm sorry. It's not funny, like, funny, funny. It's like ridiculous, funny. Know so little about history, um, or care. So little about history and about our history and that's not all the black history is. Right. We are so much more than slavery. We know that. Um, so, you know, to our little conservative brethren is like, oh, we talk about is slavery. Uh, actually we don't talk about it enough. And the Smithsonian museums are one of the places where you can actually learn about it from an educational perspective. Um, uh, but you know, the assault on education continues and this is just the next venue, right? How to erase black people, uh, black contributions. And people think of slavery. I'm not sure why as something bad, but. I was like, there would be no United States of America without slaves. Like enslaved people. That's what we call us now, right? Enslaved people. Without the slave economy, there would be no use the United States of America. So I am proud to be descendants of slaves in the MI United States. We literally built the, the strongest, um, country in the world. Um. All of the things that have happened here, um, for us, a lot of it has been horrendous, but a lot of it has been great and we have, um, survived and we have thrived in spite of all of the ways, um, that this country has not really given us our proper due. You know, whether we talk about it financially, culturally, educationally, none of it. Um, but still we know that we, we know what we did. So you can go ahead, do what you wanna do. Like I keep telling you, you don't wanna leave it up to me to educate my daughter about the United States. I think it's coming. It's better coming from other educators 'cause I'm a career educator. Um, so I don't mince words. I don't. You know, um, you know, people talk about age appropriate sharing. I don't really know what that is 'cause I'm like, the truth is the truth. It is what it is. And I think kids are much more resilient and have much, um, empathetic, much more empathetic than adults are. So I would like for. People to stop projecting what they might think or how they respond to it onto children, uh, as if they are not able to understand, um, how things happen and how we grow from them and how we learn from them, um, and how we hope that they don't happen again. Um, even though we're seeing, seeing some things happen here in the us. So what I need you to know is. That this assault, um, on our institutions is not just, um, about the institution. I know that we put in that people are corporations here in the United States. Um, but you know, institutions are made up of people, they're made up of people's stories. They're made up of people's identities. They're made up of people's histories. And so this assault, um, which was talked about in Project 2025, I don't know, I don't know if y'all are watching the tracker, but we're over to 50% Mark now, so. Still got almost four years left. Um, before we get to the end of that project, 2025, which will basically leave the United States, um, decimated, um, the government and all of its institutions decimated. That includes your children. Right. That includes your children. All those lovely abolitionists y'all like to talk about when they bring up slavery that you were related to. Yeah. They're they're gonna leave too. They're gonna be outta the history books. All right. Um, all the people who gave money and were part of the Underground Railroad and all that, they're gonna be gone too. Uh, all of them multiracial. Um. Partnerships and collaborations that took place in order for slavery to end all that's gonna go away too. So we're not the only ones who are gonna be erased. Um, and we were in all those positions as well as in, uh, a, a position of servitude. So what you need to know is that. Something you probably should have known is that it is up to you to really teach your children what you need, the what you want them to know. We have to pass down, um, our history and culture, uh, and we have to tell our stories and our truth, and we cannot rely on, um, I won't say you can't rely on the government because you can. Um. When you were dealing with, um, sane individuals who don't, who understand the history is not an indictment of, um, individuals. It's just really, uh, an archive of things that happen so that people can understand people's context and stories and all of that. Um, but you know, if you, you can't rely on the fact that. People who are in positions of power, who are sworn to represent everybody's interests will do so thus, and so, um, and this happens at the federal level, state level, local level. It is up to us to educate our families, educate our children, and let them know, um, the beauty of our legacy and what has happened and the horror of it, and how we have really, um. Um, through resiliency, commitment, and lots of hard work and lots of forgiveness have been able to thrive and survive, um, in spite of it. And so what you need to know is you have to tell the stories now, um, and you had to do it anyway because, I mean. We weren't getting them in textbooks and classrooms anyway. You, you don't even get that information until you go to college and you have to major in certain, uh, in certain subjects in order to get it there. Um, but you know, I digress. You know, we have a Ivy League president who. Clearly never went to class. So I mean, he doesn't know what happened at school, um, at any level. So, um, but making all the decisions, um, and people are allowing him to, so, um, you need to know that you need to do the work. Which we should have been doing. And if you haven't been doing it, 'cause I know many of us have already been doing this work, um, continue to work with your students, continue to work, um, in your church groups, continue to work in your civic organizations and make sure that, uh, black children know that Yeah, we are more than just slaves. We already. Know this. Um, also know that, um, the amazing contribution that we made, uh, to this country, to the foundation and development of, and success of, and the empowerment of, um, this country, um, and not allow, you know, other people to mandate, dictate, take away, um, you know, which truly ours, and that is our legacy and our history, and we can't be erased. So keep trying. I encourage you. I just think it's a valiant effort. It's so, um, interesting to watch. Um, as, uh, you know, 47 tries to erase black folks, um, from jobs. 'cause you know, outta the 350,000 unemployed, most of us are black women. Um, and you try to erase us from society and now you're trying to, um, get us out of the Fed. 'cause, you know, we're holding line there trying to make you, um, make sure you don't break the law again. Um, but, um, you know, we we're, we're not going anywhere. This is our country. We actually built it. Uh, we are not immigrants. Many of us, um, black Americans are not immigrants. Um, so, you know, I like to tell my colleagues. Uh, when they start getting into those, uh, you know, immigrant Olympics, I say, unless you can count back 13, uh, generations, we can't have a conversation. So until you can do that, we're not having a conversation about my identity and I don't care about yours. I'm just, I just want you to have all of the rights of a human being. That's it. So, um, hopefully we'll get back to that. Getting, just having human rights, just, you know, little human rights. Um, particularly since civil rights are now just, um, being. Decimated, uh, by this administration and with the approval of many Americans. So, tune in next Thursday to another fantastic episode of A Black Executive Perspective with Tony Tidbit and Chris. Um. Who do an amazing job. It's award-winning. It's an award-winning podcast. It's a must listen to. So, you know, just hang in there. Don't, don't get in despair. Keep moving. Stay positive and more importantly, stay informed. See you next week. A Black Executive Perspective.