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 happy to be talking to you today because hey, I'm above ground. Um, so any day above grounds. My grandfather used to say, um, who he also said he was on borrowed time on somebody else's time, um, and he lived into his nineties. But, um, anytime that a, a day above ground is better than any other day that you could have. So I'm happy to be here. Um, celebrated, uh, Memorial Day, as you know, that was founded by African Americans, formerly enslaved African Americans who wanted to honor Union, union soldiers who had, um, been left in the unmarked grave. And, um, that kind of started this whole thing. It was known as Decoration Day. So wanted to give you just a little bit of history as we were all. Not all of us, but many of us were celebrating on Monday and celebrating those who have, uh, passed away, um, in, uh, battle, um, and in honor of our, uh, country. So, uh, it's. Always interesting to me, um, to kind of look at the, uh, juxtaposition between that and, um, what is actually happening now, uh, because we have someone who, um, some call a draft dodger, um, 47, um, but you know, who definitely has not served any time, uh, in the military. Somehow in, uh, evaded that although he could have served many times, um, in the military, even when he was drafted, allegedly, um, but somehow, you know, was not, uh, did not have to serve. Um, but when we think about what's happening in our world today, especially as it relates to veterans and the many veterans that have been displaced, uh, they have been put outta their jobs. Um, and. I find it also fascinating that so many veterans supported this president, um, because he is not someone who has military service and he has, um, be be, he has said some awful things about those who have, including, you know, calling folks losers. I mean, he was horrible to John McCain. I mean, horrible. I mean, horrible to John McCain, um, when he was running for office and to other veterans of note, um, he has just not treated them well publicly. He has not spoken well of veterans publicly and he just basically calls them losers. And, you know, he was, don't be mad at him 'cause he was smart enough to, to not go to war. And because he didn't have to do that, and that because of his, you know, uh, magnetic personality, he is able to attract, um, you know. Uh, supporters who are veterans, uh, despite the fact that, uh, he has said these horrible things, uh, and, you know, cut funding, he did that in the first, first term, um, to, uh, veteran causes. Um. Veterans make up a large portion of the unhoused community, which people don't like to admit, but it is true. Um, because we are not good to our veterans. I can say that. 'cause I come from a family of veterans. Um, and you know, once you're out, you're pretty much on your own and then you, it, it's up to you to go get what you have been. Um. Offered or which you have earned, I would say you have been or you have earned. Um, it's also always, it is often a complicated process to get those things, whether it's the GI Bill, whether it's help with your housing, you know, all of the things. Um, and so I. As we think about these holidays that are coming up, you know, we think about Memorial Day, we think about Independence Day. For some of us it's Juneteenth. And I just wanna also say real quick, I know Tony's like wrap it up, land a plane. But I do wanna say this, that Juneteenth was not something that was celebrated by all African Americans in that throughout the country. Now all of us are from Texas, Louisiana, um, and you know, neighboring states. And so we did not. Uh, have the Juneteenth experience, if you will. Um, and I only really learned, learned about Juneteenth, um, when one of my line sisters, who's from Texas, um, was celebrating when we were in college and I was like, well, what's Juneteenth? So even making that a national holiday as if it was going to appease all African Americans, um, many of whom, and I would say the majority of whom do not celebrate, did not celebrate Juneteenth, um. Is is interesting, but what I wanna talk about is the hypocrisy of this democracy and the hypocrisy of this president, um, and how he pretends to care about this particular population of veterans, military population and does not, um, whether he's firing the joint Chiefs of SHA staff because he was black. There's no reason to fire him. Um. Other than the fact that he was black and calling him a DEI hire, undermining all of the great work that he had done over the course of his career. All the people he had helped, all the lives, he had saved, all the strategies he had put in place to keep America safe, um, under, uh, presidents of different, uh, political parties. You know, he wasn't just a a, an appointee, um, by a democratic president. He served under, um, Republican presidents as well, so. When you have that kind of person in office, when you see what is happening to veterans, when you. Do a bait and switch, right? Oh, we're just gonna go after the blacks knowing full. Well, you're gonna go after the veterans because they actually are protected by DEI. That is why when you apply for jobs, they have this section and you know, it's like, what's your race? What's your ethnicity? Are you a veteran? Do you have a disability? All of that is the DEI section. So it's not just black people like y'all like to pretend, or Latinx people like you, like to pretend It's also veterans. And the reason that we have these safety nets in place for veterans because it's hard for them to transition back into society, particularly those who have been in battle, um, they have lots of challenges and issues that have to be met and they have to be handled. Um. Innovat that is, um, kind and thoughtful and intentional. And then sometimes their jobs are so specific when they're in the military, it's hard for them to transition back into the j the work workforce here, um, back, you know, when they come to the United States, um, because the specificity of the job. Does not allow them to align their qualifications and skills, um, with jobs that are available in the market. And so sometimes they have to apply. That's what we call application. You all want to call it a handout, but really what it is, is looking at what they have accomplished, achieved, and learned, and know and mastered. Um, in the military and how we can transfer, that's what we call transferable skills. Transfer those skills to the current workplace so that we can get them employed. Um, and of course, if you can think of anybody who's deserving of being employed, it certainly would be someone who has served in the military. So, um, and that's worldwide. You know, um, you know, many countries require you to serve in the military in order to maintain your citizenship. Um, and uh, so I say that to say what you need to know is sometimes. Which you're seeing is not lining up with what is really happening and that we have to be mindful of people who are selling us one thing, but really doing something else. Um, and so that is, oh, we love veterans. Veterans, they're my greatest supporters. Veterans love me. All of these things. I'm gonna do things to help veterans. And then you look at what has happened and what is happening to veterans, uh, under this particular administration. You know, they have really been disenfranchised. Uh, they've been displaced. Many of them had jobs in the federal government because that was a place, a soft landing spot, if you will. Um, for veterans. Many of them have, uh, have had their whole division shut down. Um, they've been made to leave. Uh, they have taken jobs and the jobs no longer exist. Um, after uprooting their entire family, things of that nature have happened. So I want you to pay attention to what is actually happening versus the rhetoric or the speaking that is happening. You know, do you really care about me? When everything that you are doing, and I won't say everything, but a lot of what you are doing is going against me. Pell Grants, for instance, that is going against veterans as well. Um, elimination of the education department that is going against veterans as well, because a lot of, um. Students and what we call non-traditional students are actually veterans. These are people who go to and serve and then they come back and go to college and they are in need of help and assistance and all of the things. So, um, I just encourage you and, and what I need you to know is that you should look at people's actions and think less about their words. People will tell you this, and we know this in like relationships, we get this in friendships, but I want you to think about this in politics. You know, because, oh, I don't trust politicians, I don't trust politicians. But then you wanna put everything behind this one particular politician over one thing. You could be a racist, right? You could be a sexist, um, you could be anti-establishment, you could be an anarchist. There are lots of reasons why you might support this candidate, this particular president, but really look at what is happening to you. Um, and to the, your community and I would say communities, 'cause we're always connected to other communities. Right. Um, and see if that aligns with what this person is saying to you during these important dates. Um, and our history and in our present. Um, and also during, um, their time in office. All right, so tune in next week, uh, for another need to know with Dr. Nsenga Burton and definitely check out the award-winning, A Black Executive Perspective podcast, um, with Tony and Chris. They are amazing hosts. They have wonderful conversations and they talk to really interesting people. Have a wonderful day and I will see you soon.

A Black Executive Perspective.