G-2LCWV30QZ8 Reflections and Intentions for 2025: Insights from Dr. Nsenga Burton - TonyTidbit: A Black Executive Perspective

Episode 200

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Published on:

2nd Jan 2025

Reflections and Intentions for 2025: Insights from Dr. Nsenga Burton

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In this episode of 'Need to Know,' Dr. Nsenga Burton discusses the importance of being thoughtful and intentional as we welcome the New Year 2025. She emphasizes the need for reflection and accountability, touching on political, personal, and professional aspects. Dr. Burton also addresses the disappointment and buyer's remorse surrounding the new presidency, the mental and social impacts on Black women, and the broader implications of political ignorance and misinformation. As she advocates for self-preservation and critical thinking, Dr. Burton encourages viewers to choose joy, happiness, and wisely selected circles of influence for a better 2025 and beyond.


▶︎ In This Episode

00:00: Introduction and New Year's Reflections

01:02: Buyer's Remorse and Political Concerns

02:10: The Role of Black Women in Civil Rights

04:21: The Importance of Critical Thinking and Expertise

06:18: Personal Reflection and Choosing Joy

08:53: Conclusion and New Year Wishes

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Transcript
BEP Narrator:

A Black Executive Perspective now presents Need to Know

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with the award winning hyphenated Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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Dr.

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Burton.

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What do we need to know?

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Dr. Nsenga Burton: Good

afternoon, and thank you for

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joining Need to Know with Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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I am Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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I am she.

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Uh, today it is actually New Year's Eve.

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I'm not sure when you'll see this

episode, but it's New Year's Eve.

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And so one of the things I want

to talk about today is being

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thoughtful and intentional as

we move into the new year,:

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Um.

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Part of being thoughtful and

intentional is also reflecting.

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And when we reflect, we need to

reflect over the past year and many

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more probably in most cases and take

accountability for what we may or may

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not have done that is going to impact

the:

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It can be professional.

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It can be political.

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Or what have you, because I'm

talking on this particular show.

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1 of the things I do want to

talk about is I'm seeing a

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lot of buyers remorse already.

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And our next president hasn't

even been our next president

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has not even been inaugurated.

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Uh, yet he hasn't been installed,

so there's been no inauguration.

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I got to get my words together.

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But, uh, he hasn't been installed

yet as the 47th president, and

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there's already buyer's remorse

based on what has been done.

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You know, whether it's cabinet

appointments, whether it's things that

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he's been saying on his social media

platform, um, whether it is the mass

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deportation that is going to be coming.

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And for some reason, some people

thought that they were talking

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about other immigrants of color.

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So, um, I just want to say that

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rough year for a lot of people.

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Um, and that is unfortunate.

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Uh, those of us who will be on the

right side of history and remain

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on the right side of history, um,

we'll have a tough time as well.

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But at least we know that we did

all that we could in order to

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prevent this from happening, i.

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e.

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some of the negative and horrible

things that will be happening to our

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fellow citizens and non citizens.

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Um, you probably have been hearing from

a lot of people, um, in addition that,

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you know, black women who have often

been leaders and champions of civil

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rights in many regards and certainly,

uh, in the last 25 years, um, are taking

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a step back because our rights and our

needs are not being met and we don't

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feel like the time, attention, uh, and

energy focus strategy that we have put

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into really Making intense social impact

on our communities, and that includes

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the world community are reciprocated.

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Um, you know, when we fight for civil

rights, we want to rights for everyone,

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not just our own group when we want

people to do better and have better pay.

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It's not just for us.

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We want it for everyone.

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We want people to have voting rights.

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It's not just for us.

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It's for everyone.

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And so when you see that being

parsed out, and then even people.

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I'm trying to shame you about certain

issues, um, and voting against you and,

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uh, you know, a candidate who looks like

you, um, because of really misinformation

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and disinformation and an inability to

strategically think, um, You know, it's

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disheartening and it's disappointing,

but we will be taking a step back.

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So what's great about that is

that we will be getting our

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weekends and our evenings back.

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We'll be able to pour more into our actual

into our families and our communities.

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And when you look out for yourself,

as those of you understand, you can

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make sure that your community is

together instead of worrying about

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and making sure that everyone has

everything they need, particularly

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when your needs are not being met.

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Cared for, thought of, or supported,

you know, for example, voting rights,

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for example, DEI, um, all those things.

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So, uh, I think you'll,

people will feel it.

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Um, but you know, it is what it is.

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And, and.

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We have to do these things for self

preservation and, you know, this

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is going to go a long, long time.

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People keep saying, oh,

it's only gonna be 4 years.

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It's only gonna be 4 years.

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It's going to be a lot

longer than 4 years.

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The ramifications, because if you

actually listen to critical thinkers,

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if we actually listen to our educated

class, who we have somehow demonized,

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you know, people who know things like

even meteorologist, one of my friends

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is a meteorologist, and he was saying,

you know, that people keep sending

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him stuff from people who are just,

you know, Sitting in their house,

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looking at the sky and telling him

that this is what's going to happen.

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He's a trained scientist, a meteorologist.

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He has spent his entire life doing

this work and yet and still, you

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know, he has to convince people that

he knows what he's talking about.

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It is fascinating the

world that we live in.

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Um, in such as the case for

politics, you know, there's such a

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thing called political scientists.

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They study and do this stuff all the time.

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Historians.

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People who do these things all the

time, scholars, people who dedicate,

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you know, 12 to 15 years of study

before they actually then begin teaching

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and learning and researching and

continuing, um, all of these things.

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And for some reason, these folks have been

demonized while other folks like sexual

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batterers and people who had a terrible

1st term as president have been lionized.

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So a lot of that is rooted in

what we know is racism, sexism,

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misogyny, all the things.

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Um, and, you know, we are realizing

that there's very little, um, that

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with all of the major work that we have

been doing, it has made very little

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impact, um, on the ability of people to

think for themselves, um, to actually

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see everyone as human and, uh, being

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and deserving their full humanity.

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And so, you know, it'll be what it is,

but I do want people to really take

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the time to reflect, reflect and think

about, um, which you can do better.

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Um, what you did wrong.

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Um, that might have had some

negative results for you.

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Um,

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think about, um, you know, your circle,

like, really, like, people who are in it.

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Um, and, and that's professional.

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It's your personal, it's your

spiritual, whatever circle you want

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to work on for those people who are

in it, you know, try to find people

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who want to be like you and not

necessarily be, try to find people who.

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Value all of you and not only parts of

you, like the parts that can help them get

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to where they want, where they don't think

they have to reciprocate that for you try

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to find people who are thankful and have

some level of humility when someone helps

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someone else or really does something

for someone else other than themselves.

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Um, I think we're just entering a

time where, you know, a lot of people

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have just decided it's going to be

chaos and awful and unruly and people

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are crazy and people just talking

and saying whatever they want to say.

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And that's probably true, but I've decided

and I hope many of you decide to join

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me that that's not going to be my 2025.

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That's not going to be my 2026.

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I'm not going to engage.

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I'm going to spend my time reflecting

and making the changes I need to make

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in my personal, professional, spiritual.

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life, uh, in order to thrive, uh, well,

you know, the house is burning down.

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I'm going to be playing the

piano as the Titanic sinks.

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So I join you and choosing joy,

choosing happiness and choosing

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wisely in terms of who you spend

your time with and the organizations

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you work for and with and the people

you engage with whom you engage.

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I know with is a dangling preposition,

sorry to all the scholars out there.

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I know they don't care

about us, but I know.

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It's probably just every time I said

with like that, at the end of the

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sentence, it just was like this to you.

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I know, I know.

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Um, but it really just to be

more thoughtful and intentional

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and critically engaged so that

you don't make bad decisions.

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That have ridiculous

ramifications for millions of

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people, uh, in 2025 and beyond.

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All right.

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So with that being said, I would

love to say happy new year.

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There's no S on it.

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Just want to put that out there too.

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I know there's no value in knowing

that there's no S in it because

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there's no value for education.

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Um, it's happy new year.

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I wish you a wonderful new

year, and I hope that you get

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all that your heart wants.

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And I certainly hope you get

what you deserve in:

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BEP Narrator: A Black

Executive Perspective.

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