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Episode Audio Link: https://podcast.ablackexec.com/episode/Weathering Racism: When Forecasts Turn Deadly for Non-English Speakers

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In this searing episode of Need to Know with Dr. Nsenga Burton, we dive into the dangerous consequences of xenophobic policymaking, starting with the National Weather Service's decision to stop issuing weather updates in languages other than English. Dr. Burton unpacks how this seemingly bureaucratic move is, in fact, a life-threatening act of exclusion that puts millions, particularly non-English speakers and communities of color, at greater risk during natural disasters and emergencies.

She connects the dots between political ideology and public safety, revealing how language can become a weapon when wielded by power systems. With a sharp critique and a call to action, Dr. Burton urges listeners to stay alert, informed, and proactive in defending the right to accessible information for all.

This episode is a wake-up call: when warnings don’t reach everyone, it’s not just policy, it’s violence.

▶︎ In This Episode

00:00: Introduction and Welcome

00:17: Xenophobia and Language Policies

01:07: Historical Context of Language in the U.S.

03:03: Current Administration's Harmful Policies

05:31: Impact on Public Safety and Health

07:46: Call to Action and Conclusion

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A Black Executive Perspective.

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Now presents need to know with

the award-winning hyphenated Dr.

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Nsenga Burton, Dr.

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Burton.

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What do we need to know?

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Dr. Nsenga Burton:

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Good afternoon and welcome

to Need To Know with Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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I am she.

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And today we are going to be talking

about, um, that person whose name,

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uh, we don't say so we're just gonna

say the number 45 or 47 and all of

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the things that have happened or

transpired as it relates, um, to.

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This kind of x xenophobia, xenophobia that

he has around people who are not white.

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So, um, one of the things, um, that

just recently happened is that, um, the

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weather service, and we know we've been

doing a whole bunch of stuff that's

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gonna negatively impact the weather

service anyway, but in this case, I

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wanna talk about the weather service,

no longer giving out information

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in languages other than English.

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So we have a nation.

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Um, English is not the official

language of the United States.

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We don't have an official language

because the idea behind the United

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States is that we have one country

made up of many different types

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of people, uh, before 45 and 47.

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And I would argue, um, even with

the founding fathers, if that's

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the term you wanna use, are people

who are, uh, now our ancestors.

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Were in play.

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This country was founded for people, um,

who wanted to have a greater idea, um,

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who wanted to realize democracy, right?

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They wanted to have certain

freedoms that were not afforded

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to them in other countries.

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They were able to come here and

practice their own, um, you know,

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whatever religious they had, um,

whatever, uh, belief system they have.

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Um, whatever languages they speak and

whatever culture they have, as long as it

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did not infringe on the rights of others.

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So, uh, we did that very well.

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You know, even with all of the

segregation, Jim Crow, all the other

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things, um, there were cities, um,

especially in cities, and I would say like

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if you look at places like, uh, Louisiana.

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North Carolina and so forth and so on,

even in the rural areas where you have

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a lot of, uh, cultural mixing, um,

during those time periods where people

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coexisted peacefully, they intermarried,

they did all things, um, and were

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able to really just be who they were.

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So there was no, uh.

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Reason to have an official language.

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Uh, and there still isn't.

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I mean, like if you look at a

country like South Africa, they

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have 11 official languages.

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Uh, well, a country that size

with the number of people that

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they have, that might make sense.

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They have cultural practices.

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They're very, very different

in many particular ways.

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Um, so that might make sense.

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Um, and even if we had an

official language here in the

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United States, it probably would

be Spanish or it should be, um.

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English and Spanish.

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Um, and depending on which part

of the, the country you live in,

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it could be other languages too.

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Um, so my point is in raising

this issue is that this whole.

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Attempt and, and they're pretty

effective in certain ways of this

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administration to erase people of color.

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Um, in general, I would say black

people specifically, 'cause that's

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what I'm watching most clo closely,

but people in gen, people of color in

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general, um, in this particular phase.

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And by saying, no, we're not gonna give

you information that can save your life.

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Your native tongue or in a language

that you may be able to speak

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or better decipher so that you

have a better chance of survival.

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It's just, uh, another form

of violence, uh, that this

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administration, uh, has put forth.

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And so the Trump administration

is being lambasted for a lot of

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things right now, but they are also

trumpeted, ha ha ha, pun intended.

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Um, because they inflict pain.

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On people.

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Right?

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It's a, it's a, it's a kind of a

trauma porn type of experience.

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We had it in 45, you

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We saw this already.

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We've experienced this already.

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How much pain can we inflict on people?

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You know, we're like, oh my gosh, can

you believe they're just ripping people

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out of cars and taking them in and not

even seeing if they're even citizens.

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And if they're citizens and they're

deported, is sent somewhere else

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and they find other citizens and

they're not even bringing them back.

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Can you believe that?

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Well, of course we can believe that.

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'cause they had children in cages.

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In 2016, 2017.

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But you know, our

memories are really short.

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We forgot about that.

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Oh, can you believe that?

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You know, more children are dying

of measles than ever before.

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It had been completely eradicated,

but since we've had this anti-vax

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movement that these poor little

kids are sick and they're dying.

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Yeah, we had over a million

people die with Covid.

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It was preventable.

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It was preventable.

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People forget that part about Covid.

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Oh, we had no choice.

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There was nothing we could do about it.

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Oh, there's plenty we could do about it.

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It never had to get here.

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It never had to be here.

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Um.

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And so when you think, I don't know

why people keep waiting for the best

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possible scenario to happen, it's

just not going to happen under 47.

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Part of their mission, part of

their goal, part of their identity

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is inflicting pain, right?

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It's a very violent

approach to leadership.

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It's like, how much violence

can we inflict on people?

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And you know, just because they're not

shooting people down the streets yet.

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I'm sure that will come because it

looks like that's where we're headed.

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But just, you know, a lot of people think

about physical, physical violence, but I'm

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talking about emotional violence, right?

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Or policies that you do,

um, that you enact, like.

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You can no longer do the National Weather

Service announcements in any L language

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other than English, even though we

have large populations of people that

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live in the United States where English

is not their first language, and so

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they will not know what is going on.

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Um.

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If they don't have their, uh,

closed captions on, if they don't

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have a television, let's say

they're listening to the radio,

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what if they're hearing impaired?

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Like, there's a lot of like scenarios.

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So instead of doing the least

amount that you can do, IE, we're

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only gonna do them in English.

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You should do the most right to make

sure you reach the largest number of

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people so that you know people now who

are surviving floods, dying in floods.

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You know, people are, are

surviving, some of them people

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who are dying in these tornadoes.

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Um, for some reason those people

are not getting the information.

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Some people, you know, we

see those people on the news.

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They're like, I'm just gonna board it up

and pray, or Good for you, or whatever.

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But if that's what you wanna do.

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But if you are someone who wants

to, uh, comply and to get out

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of these poor weather situations

and they're coming so much more

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frequently, so why would you do less?

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It's because you're a violent person.

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You, you're violent in nature.

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A violent person wants to remove

Harriet Tubman from a website.

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Um, when you're talking about the history

of the United States of America, every

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Harriet Tubman should be everybody's hero.

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Everybody, regardless of race, class,

gender, sexual identity, all things

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Harriet Tubman should be celebrated.

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So why you would remove her

and then have to be beaten down

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to put her back is beyond me.

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But I'm gonna stay on fo uh, on track.

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I want you to know what you need

to know is that the people who are

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in charge and that you sometimes,

um, give your vote to willingly and

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then those of us who don't, and then

have to live with the consequences.

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There are real consequences

to what you are doing and what

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you are not doing and what is

happening with this administration.

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And it goes beyond what you're

seeing in the headlines.

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You know, there's so much

stuff going on, um, and.

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You know, you could call it chaos

theory, depending on what, what

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theory you wanna, uh, use, um,

where there's so much going on, you

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don't know what to pay attention to.

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But do believe that any and all

opportunities they have to subjugate,

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oppress, demean, or cause pain to

immigrant groups, to people of color,

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they are doing it and they, they're

now using the weather service to do it.

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So I need you to know

that this is happening.

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So if you have someone in your life, let's

say maybe you are raised in a household

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where you are the first English speaker

in the household, please make sure that

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you're in contact with your relatives,

friends, family members, colleagues, or

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whatever, um, so that you can help them

be safe during these perilous times.

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I mean, to do this.

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Especially during the tumultuous time

between the fires and California,

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the flooding all over the country.

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Uh, it's just, there's no reason

to do this other than to inflict

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pain and harm, which is part of

this administration's motto, right?

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Their mission, their

their, uh, modus operandi.

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That is what they do.

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They inflict pain and torture, so.

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I need you to know that there's going

to be more types of violence coming,

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whether it's physical violence,

whether it's emotional violence, um,

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whether it's psychological violence.

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Uh, there's lots of different types

of violence, but violence is the word

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of the day and is the order of this

administration in any way, shape or form.

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So you have to stay abreast.

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You cannot tune out, you cannot

turn off, you don't have to march in

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the streets, but you do have to pay

attention and you have to make sure.

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Um, that you are staying abreast of

all of the changes that are coming that

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will affect you and those you love.

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And those of us who have empathy,

we may not know you, but we would

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like for you to be okay in these

types of weather circumstances.

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So tune in next Thursday to

another Need to know with Dr.

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NNsenga Burton.

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And of course you have

to tune into another.

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The award-winning a Black

Executive Perspective podcast with

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Tony Franklin, who was amazing.

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Um, and learn some more information

that you need to know in order

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to help you have a better life.

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I will see you next week.

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Bye.

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Thank you.

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BEP Narrator: A Black

Executive Perspective.