Dr. Heather Burton Exposes the Truth About Systemic Inequality

00:00:00 [Music] Ladies and gentlemen, you’re rocking with a goat giving you motivation for growth. Two toes down, he keep iter. He do it for the coach. That’s always the goal. Giving inspiration through information, providing liberation with conversation, giving fresh insight for elevation cuz he knows this is how we reach our greatness. And he riding with the people of all walks of life cuz we all can vote. So when one win, we all win. So we all end. This is how we build community. You dig? So tap in. I will do

00:00:32 it now. You want answers, we’ll break them down. The most informative place around. This is strategic moves with [Music] Kendall. This is strategic moves with [Music] Kowal. This is strategic moves with Kowal. [Music] Hey, what’s up everybody? You tuned in to another episode of Strategic Moves. I’m your host Ken Dao. This is a place where we bring art, culture, politics, and business all together. And we do it every Tuesday right here at 95.9 WOVU. And when I’m not shooting this podcast, I am the owner of Strategic Resources

00:01:16 where we specialize in political campaigns, government, and public relations work. I’ve been doing it for over 25 years. in this city and around this state and I want to make your next move, a strategic move. So, this program gives me an opportunity to do just that. I bring on some of the people that I met. We come on, we talk about some of our experiences and maybe there’s something you will get out of it that’ll help you in your life or your personal or your business life. So, if that sound like something you’ll be interested in,

00:01:43 all I need you to do is go ahead and tune in and be a part of the conversation by calling in to 2162710959. Or you if you’re watching us on our social media platforms, we need you to hit a like, give us a subscribe button and a notification bell as well so that you know the next time this program’s coming on. So, with all of that being said, we’re going to start going ahead and break this program down because we got a very good program today. We have some interesting people coming on that’s going to help us

00:02:14 through this whole process of our discussions today. We’re going to talk a little bit about DEI some more. We haven’t let that DEI. I’m still on this DEI kick. We’re going to try to make sure we milk this for as much as we can because it’s very important because there’s organizations and businesses and people out there who are being affected by this every day and is causing a issue in our community and we want to talk more about that. Um this weekend there were some protesters that took place. I

00:02:44 want to give a big huge shout out to Norm Edwards for what he and um Art McCoy and um that organization all got together and they were out protesting targets um this weekend and it was huge. They had a nice turnout out there. People showed up. I was very impressed by that. And also we had um people who showed up at the Tesla plant out there um not the plant, the Tesla dealership out on Mayfield. I live out in that part of town and going through there. They had the roads closed. They had so many

00:03:16 people out there protesting Tesla this week. So, we giving huge shout out to all the activists and community people that are out there standing up for what they feel is right. And we’re going to continue to support them in any way we can. Before we get started in our program, I want to give a shout out and introduce to our engineer and one of our engineers. I have another one. She’s a silent assassin. So we she she sits back and she engineers the program to make everything runs right. That’s DJ

00:03:44 Unicorn. And also I want to give a shout out to my video producer and he’s the producer of our podcast and help us get things going. That’s DJ True Latif Hughes. What’s happening, bro? What’s going on? What’s going on? Uh every day is a holiday, as they say. Today is a good day. I feel good today. Today’s a good day. Today’s a good day, man. I feel really good about today. You know, it’s a good day for a couple other people. I wanted to ask you, what if you went somewhere and you was only supposed to

00:04:12 be gone a week, but you wind up having to stay there for several months? Uh, what you mean? It depends on where I was at. I mean, you mean like where, you know, anywhere. I mean, if you went to Columbus, but you couldn’t come back to Cleveland for for eight, nine months, how would you feel about that? I It depends. If you told me I was on a remote island with some of the amenities and things I need, it’s different. You telling me I’m stuck in Columbus and I can’t get home. If I’m stuck anywhere, I

00:04:47 don’t want to be stuck anywhere. I don’t want to be stuck in this room and can’t get out, let alone in Columbus or anywhere. So, what where you getting at? Where you getting at? Well, the point is, uh, want to shout out the two astronauts that were stuck in space for nine months, but they’re coming home today. They went they went into space to the International Space Station on June 5th, 2024. And they was only supposed to be there a week, but they wind up being stuck there for nine months. But they

00:05:22 just sent up a a ship to grab them and they’re supposed to be landing um in Florida today somewhere. Um I think Cape Canaveral or you know one of those one of those spots. Yeah, one of those spots. So I just wanted to put that out there. If you was if you were supposed to only go somewhere a week and you wind up staying for nine months, how would you feel? That that’s my question for the day. For for any callers that want to call in and comment on that, well, let me know. Well, I can tell you right

00:05:51 now, if I was stuck in space for 9 months, I’d be purely pissed when I lay home. So, it it’s just bottom line. And I mean, really, really, really, really, really. I mean, I I would the words couldn’t even come out my mouth of what I would have to say to them folks when I got in there for keeping me up there that long and knowing y’all could have came and got me. I really I really have a problem. I mean, cuz I was like, I have a problem with that. A week to nine months, just space, man. That’s like

00:06:20 every day you looking for a ship out there. You like Danger Will Robinson out there. You staring out in space every day waiting to see a ship to come get you, man. That’s terrible. Like, hey, that’s terrible, man. You floating around out there, man. Just you just man, that’s terrible. I I big ups goes to that woman and that man who came out of that the United States owes them a great gratitude cuz that’s all we going to give them is a smack on the back and tell them good thanks for your mission

00:06:53 get some presidential honor please they ain’t going to give them nothing but a smack on the back and say thanks for your mission thanks for your service and going to keep them going terrible yeah it’s terrible that’s what I’m talking about it’s terrible they they should be rich beyond belief at least get somebody should come to them and hand them a briefcase that got at least a meal in it. Like, sorry for your a meal. At least at least a meal. They need to be coming to the landing place with that

00:07:21 briefcase. That’s what I’m saying. I mean, walking up to me like, “Mr. D, we your family is back there, but we want to give you something before you see them because we need a smile on your face.” That’s for sure. Yeah, cuz that’s I’m gonna be mad. All right, so we’re gonna keep going into our program today. I got a guest on my program today who’s a good friend who came in to our program. She came on to our show uh a year ago cuz we did a special on women cuz you know March is National Women Women’s History Month. Yes, it is.

00:07:53 That’s right. So, we did a special last month last year where we honored a a few women and brought them on to our podcast. Got an opportunity to talk with them and talk about some of the things they’re doing. the young lady who’s in here today, I found her to be very interesting because of the work that she does. And not only the work that she’s doing as a trade, but the extra steps that her organization goes through in order to not just help a person in their situation, but to try to really help

00:08:22 that person be able to not get in that situation anymore and to try to give them opportunities to do better. So without further ado, I’d like to introduce everybody to Miss Dana Acy. She is the owner of AC’s bails bomb. Donna Dana AC bails bombs. And Donna AC, welcome to the program. How you doing? Thank you. Thanks for the invite. Oh, we I’m kind of hearing your voice. Pull up a little closer to your microphone. Okay. Let me get you a little closer so we can Yeah, there we go. All right. There we go. So, how you doing today?

00:08:57 I’m doing pretty good. That’s good. That’s good. Yeah, I’m doing pretty good. So, tell everybody about the Bell’s Bondsman services and everything that you do there. Okay. So, my name is Dana Acy. I’m the owner of Dana Bellbonds and Insurance Services. So, we’re pretty much the only bailbond agency that has integrated full wraparound services for the community. And um it’s doing quite well. I’ve been doing this for about 20 years. And um over the last 6 months, I’m you know, I’m pretty proud of the work that we do

00:09:30 there. It’s grown. We’ve got some good exposure and some great partnerships. Some things that have never been done before are happening right now. So when you say wraparound services, that was one of the things that I found most interesting when I was talking with you u early. What are the wraparound services? So most of my clients when you get arrested it’s it can be a hardship on you and your entire family. So you know they have a lawyer that they may want to pay. They’ve already paid a bail bond and also how do you fix this? So,

00:10:03 we decided to get different partnerships for my agency so that people can get right into a money-making opportunity, some type of work opportunity, job, free school, trade school, so that they can um level up from this situation because, you know, if we believe in second chances, how can a person do it without that type of help? Mhm. And give me um some of the examples of some of the type of wraparound services and partners you have. So we we’ve partnered Well, it was really hard at first because when people see pending

00:10:40 case, open case, they weren’t really willing to give a lot of the um people that’s felony impacted a shot. They were just like, “No, no, I’ll move on to somebody else.” So they really needed somebody to tell their story a little bit better. So, I went and met up with different organizations, met up with their directors and just, you know, advocated for them to let them know like, look, this this these families really do need a second chance. They need a shot and they’re a great resource for your company. So, some of my um

00:11:11 partnerships might be uh towards employment. Um they are really good. They show up for me whenever I call them. They they’ve been taking care of all of my clients. Ohio means jobs. Um, Center for Employment Opportunities as well. They’ve been a great resource for me. So, a lot of them they were a little skeptical at first, like the they might be hard to place, but like I said, once you advocate the right way and let them know like these are families that actually want this, they want to take care of their families, you know? I

00:11:45 mean, it’s innocent until proven guilty, right? Let’s give a man a chance. Give a man a chance. So, let me ask you about that. What are some of the misnomers or or some of the s things that people uh um don’t understand about when they in that situation and needing a bail bondsman? Um well, first they’re wondering if they can afford it, right? Okay. You know, cuz you already know um we’re this is major Cleveland. Mhm. So, a lot a lot of us have our struggles out here and you know, whenever you get arrested, you’re

00:12:18 thinking it’s going to be hundreds or thousands of dollars and they’re thinking like, I don’t know if I can afford this. Like, what type of impact is that going to have on my family? So, first they’re a little they’re a little nervous about the price and um you know, then they find out how we can walk through this to make it work for your family. Then they feel a lot better. Mhm. Um a lot of people think that um they’re they won’t be able to get proper representation, you know, but you know, we help them.

00:12:49 I’m not an attorney. Okay. Okay. But we do give each family a consultation, a mini consultation, and let them know what the first few months of their life would look like so they’re not stressed. We don’t want families to be stressed out. Mhm. Stress just, you know, have a whole family going left, you know, if they don’t if they don’t get a handle on that. So, we want them to be calm so that they can be able to be productive in life. I know this was one of the questions I asked you before and it

00:13:18 comes down to paying that money back. We had that thing and you said, you know, when you have to go get Bubba and Mad Dog to go looking for him to go get that bells bonds money back. You said, Dana, you say it’s better for them to just turn their self in, right? And you’re saying most of the time they make a big deal out of it where it’s really not even a big deal, right? Yes. So some of some of these guys are scared. They feel like, well, is is my attorney working hard enough for me? And they’re thinking

00:13:44 like they’re getting nervous because maybe the attorney is not communicating with them the way they want it, you know, the way they want it to happen. And um I’m just like, you just got to relax and they’ll get stressed out and then boat and run. And I’m just like, man, you were getting ready to get probation and didn’t even know it. You playing around here, you know? So, I’ve actually had to uh calm people down and talk to him like, man, you got us out here working hard, running these streets, trying to find you, you know,

00:14:14 and you could you could probation and walked out the door, right? It went back to work, right? Exactly. which is the most important piece of why getting a bail bondsman and some of these things are important is because the sooner you can get back to work, the sooner you can try to pull those pieces together, the better off you are in all of these um situations you’re in. Correct. I’ve been Yes. And I’ve been finding, you know, one of the reasons why I do this is because I’ve been finding that uh you

00:14:44 gain better credibility with the judge if you are employed, you know. So all of the families that seek employment as soon as they get released from um prison or bail, you know, get bailed out, if they go and find something constructive to do as far as um trade school or uh a job, usually it works over well. Now your attorney has something to talk about in court instead of just you just showing up and you haven’t been doing anything for the last 6 months. Understand? You know, it’s respected. They’re like, “Look, this man is taking

00:15:18 care of his family. He was reporting um everywhere he needs to be. He’s checking in.” That shows a lot of dedication and respect and it goes it goes a long way when you’re trying to go through case negotiations. Hey Dane, I want to thank you again for coming on our program. I want to give you a moment to take a little final thought. Make sure you tell everybody what’s on your heart right now and as well as how they can get in touch with you if they were looking for more information. We want to be sponsoring

00:15:48 her again or reshowing her show again on our podcast and in there it’ll be all kinds of information of how you can get in touch with Dana Bale Bondsman and um she’s going to also give you information on how you can get in touch with her. So Dana, go ahead. All right. So you can find me at 5900 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. My phone number is 216-4108911. And please take advantage of our wraparound services. We do community engagement once a month at the Garfield Heights Public Library. Our next meeting is April 7th from 6:00 to

00:16:24 8. And there I have a partnership with the uh Kyhoga County Public Defenders Office to do expungements, give you driving privileges, and anyone that needs legal advice. And also I have a partnership with Cleveland Municipal Court in the neighborhood where they’ll be removing warrants. So there will be removing warrant blocks for anyone that needs help in the entire county. So thank you so much for having me on the show. That’s why Dana on here. She’s just not a bail’s bondsman. See y’all thought I just had the lady coming on

00:16:56 talk about bell. No, she does a lot for the community and she does a lot for her clients and the people that goes through there. So, please make sure you take um um heeds to all of the projects that she says she’s got going and make sure you make it out to all of her workshops. We’re going to make sure we leave some information here at the radio station and we’ll make sure we get that information out so people can get a handle on that and maybe take advantage of the expungement clinics and some of

00:17:21 the good things that she’s doing. Again, Dana, thanks for coming on our program. When we get back from the break, we’re bringing on our DEI expert, Dr. Heather Burton. She’s going to come on and we’re going to continue our fight for what’s right as it relates to DEI. We’ll be right back. Cleveland, this is your show, your topics, and your voice. Join me for what’s on your mind Tuesday on 95.9 FM Wu. Call in or comment on social media. Let’s make this conversation unforgettable. Streaming live at

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00:20:54 knowledge to action, from action to justice, it’s time to challenge, empower, and reshape the future. Dr. The Heather E Burden is here to drop the truth, ignite the conversation, and keep the movement alive. [Music] All right, everybody. Welcome back to Strategic Moves with Ken Da show where we break down and analyze things that make sense for the people. Now, today’s conversation is one that we’re going to talk a little bit about some of these corporate buzzwords that’s going out here. is DEI uh a support to commit to

00:21:29 fairness, but not now. It’s but now it’s under fire. We’re seeing businesses roll back DEI programs. Why? And who is it benefiting? So, today we’re going to drop that conversation and have that conversation with somebody who’s going to be a contributor to our program. She is a uh a professor and doctor of um studies over at Case Western Reserve. and she’s also a partner and a contributor to our program. Sorry about that y’all. I was just getting myself set up. A contributor to our program and she’s going to come on here and drop

00:22:03 some knowledge to us today about DEI and stuff that’s going on in her personal life and her own personal opinion about how she feels about all of this. So today everybody, let’s give a warm welcome to Dr. Heather Burton to the program. Thank you. I’m excited to be here, Kim. Thanks very much. Oh, we’re glad to have you here. Why don’t you pull up a little bit? I need to be closer to my mic. Oh, there. There we go. We want to hear you. And then Yeah. And so, you know, it’s interesting that you talked about uh me being a professor

00:22:30 at Case. So, I want to preface this by saying it’s me being a contributor for diversity, equity, and inclusion is that these are not the views of Case Western Reserve University. Uh that is my place of employment. But a lot of work I do outside of Case Western Reserve around this topic and other subject matters. So, I always want to preface that that this is not the views of case. Um, these are my views and and and the research that I do around diversity, equity, and inclusion. I appreciate you getting out.

00:22:59 That was the um disclaimer I was trying to say and she got it out better than me. So, I appreciate that. Thank you very much because we want to make sure we clear on that cuz we bought you on for your views and your opinions and that’s what we want to know. So, before we dive into all of that, um, Dr. Burton. Uh, why don’t you let us know a little bit about your background and who you are and where you come from? You from Cleveland? I am from Cleveland. Um, I am a unique Clevelander, too, because

00:23:24 I was I was raised on and have lived on both sides of Cleveland. And, you know, that’s that’s the unusual thing. You either east side or west side. Right. Right. Um, but I have lived on both sides of town. I actually started in Cleveland public schools, then went to Warrenville and eventually graduating from North Homestead. Wow. That is a roundup. I told you. I’ve been all over Cleveland. Wow. And so, um, I’ve lived just about in in most neighborhoods within Cleveland. So, yeah, I’m a Clevelander. And so, after you finished,

00:23:53 uh, your high school, you went off to college. Uh, give me the circle that leads you to Case. How you get to Case? Oh, so, uh, it’s a long circle. There’s a whole lot of things that go in that circle, but with case um, or how I got there. So I left high school and I ended attend I attended the Ohio State University who currently is under attack for diversity, equity and inclusion. Um one of the schools and the president has made a decision to dismantle the office but in that I um began my career really

00:24:23 when we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion from that broader perspective as a work study student at Ohio State. And so I worked in our office of minority affairs and then I also worked in our black cultural center. Okay. And so that kind of started that whole shift and really started that awakening or more I should say more mature awakening for me when it comes to advocating for the black community and being a part. And what I really like to always say as myself is I’m an educator. And so I look

00:24:50 for ways to educate. And so it started at Ohio State and I ended up with a double major in journalism and black studies and a minor in theater. And so I pursued the acting career for years uh as also while working on degrees. and then ended up um it with my M’s program at Cleveland State working with some great people who I learned a lot as well as I did as Ohio State working in minority affairs and so I worked in the office for for minority affairs at Cleveland State and then um pursued some other things did community outreach for

00:25:22 different organizations and eventually ended at the University of Akran uh working for TRIO programs and so those who are unfamiliar with TRIO it’s college access programs like Upwardbound Talent search and so um became a proponent of TRIO and still a proponent of TRIO and college access programs and from Akran I um went to Case Western Reserve and so ended up at Case being the director of a program or a grant a national science foundation grant to increase and advance women faculty and science and engineering as well as

00:25:54 underrepresented minority students in PhD programs. And so I like to say all of my work tied into what we identify as this umbrella of diversity, equity, and inclusion. And then fast forward uh in 2020, I ended up taking a position in case’s diversity, equity, and inclusion office. Wow. So at at at this point in time, Case still does have a equity and diversity DEI program or office because you’re still the head of it. As well, I’m in second. The head is vice president Robert Solomon. Gotcha. And so

00:26:25 as of today, 318 2025. Yes. Yes, we did. Okay. All right. Well, let’s dive into some conversation then cuz like I said, I ain’t bring you here for your job, so I ain’t going to mess with your job today. Okay. We leave in there. All right. All right. Let’s get into some of this other stuff. There’s companies like Target and quietly scaling back their DEI efforts and turning them into uh um just um getting rid of those. and become it’s becoming a trend across a lot of these corporations that are being

00:26:54 pressured by that. Do you see that as a stunner? Do you think that was something a PR thing they wanted to do all along? Do you think this DEI it seemed like they got rid of it so quick? It it seemed like they were just really waiting on a reason to do it. And I’m going to make this uh even add a little more to it. a lot of these federal companies, these it was a federal thing that Trump did and meant for government when he came into office and wanted to really change this DEI standard has really nothing to do with these private

00:27:26 companies. Correct. Correct. So what’s going on with that in your opinion? So I have a lot of opinion about that and and and when we think about it, especially when we think about corporations and corporate America is that ending diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that you had within your company was what you had planned to do all along. And so you only had it because of the hype of 2020 to say we support to this because and I think the other thing and I got to back up though is that most folks don’t understand

00:27:59 diversity, equity, and inclusion. And so they don’t understand what it is. But from Trump’s lens, he puts in this place of this being about merit-based and merit-based hiring and merit-based promotion and merit-based support. When we always when we know all we have to look at is the legislation policies that have come into play that deals with legacy hiring that deals with nepotism and in that who who succeeds who gets ahead is white males. And so when we talk about these companies pulling back

00:28:33 with diversity, equity, and inclusion, it’s an excuse to pull back from hiring and putting in position those who don’t classify as a white male. Now, in the words that I always like to use of Dr. Burtonism, I think it’s also a booty kissing move for companies to be aligned with Trump and when we talking about just economic and money stability for you. Because if these companies, most of them think about it, if we think about Target, if we think about Walmart, and you think about your employees, not only

00:29:02 within the stores, but your employees within corporate, is you have folks that fall under social identities that we identify as different, that we identify as diverse. And so you’re hurting your employees because what I always tell people is when you attack diversity, equity, and inclusion from this merit lens and from a hiring lens, what you’ve done now is you’ve put a fear factor in place that one, you’re going to be afraid to hire black people because you don’t want anybody to call on you. And

00:29:32 then you’re not going to look at them because you don’t want anybody to call on you. And so, you know, and this exactly what what the what Trump has done is put fear into the face of these companies and people uh to keep them from promoting and moving forward. And you know, and I got to say this real quick, Ken. Go ahead. Go ahead. Is that I use this as an example very often is that we often hear we want to hire qualified candidates, right? Mhm. And so what we usually put as a caveat, we want to hire qualified women and we want to

00:30:04 hire qualified minorities or qualified underrepresented minorities. My question is when was the last time you heard somebody say we want to hire qualified white male? And so in that we’ve already put quantifiers to say that there’s something wrong with black folks, brown folks, women when we put we want to hire qualified, but yet we’ll give mediocre white men a job in a moment without qualifications. And so it’s those type of things that also align with what these companies are doing is that these

00:30:36 companies out of fear are pulling back from diversity, equity, inclusion. But I still go back to I don’t think any of them were really supporting in the beginning anyways. It was just a buzz in 2020 to make us get some more sales. So this is what we gonna do. But now we gonna kiss the ring of the person that’s saying we need to pull back and so here’s our excuse to pull back. So what you think will happen to all of that money and investments that these companies said that they were going to invest in DEI? We know they didn’t spend

00:31:05 all of that money in that particular time. So when they roll that back, you imagine they rolling back all those resources as well. Well, here’s the thing that I question. Did they actually put the resources into it in the beginning? Wow. Yeah. And so I would be curious to say, let’s call them out. Let’s call them out on their budget. Let’s see what your budget actually did. Let’s look at the line item that you had for the support of diversity, equity, and inclusion. And what did you do? And then where is that funding going to?

00:31:33 Because there were many companies that promised resources and financial support in 2020 that never made good on those promises. That’s correct. That’s correct. And and so as a people and as a organization as such with this going on, you had organizations that are out here now boycotting, you know, so we talked about the steel yard um this weekend with companies boycotting Target, companies boycotting um Tesla um and organizations. how you believe the community can um these you think these boycots or anything is going to lead to

00:32:09 any kind of shakeup as it relates to this diversity and getting these people to roll back any of that doctor. I think there is potential for that and there’s potential for boycots leading to that, but the thing is consistency. And so what tends to happen is that we think things should change in five minutes and things didn’t start in five minutes, so they’re not going to end in five minutes. You know, for example, racism didn’t start yesterday, so it’s not going to end tomorrow. And so in that,

00:32:34 we have to be consistent in the boycotts, and we have to be consistent in staying with it. And so, uh, I I think what tends to happen very often is when we talk about boycots, we do it for one day, we do it for two days, and then we like, “Oh, I need some soap. I got to go to this. I need some clothes. I got to go to this store.” But the reality is the only way that it’s going to have impact is longterm. And so, as a people, we’ve got to be consistent. We can’t just sit at home and say, “We not going

00:33:03 to shop on the 17th, but we need to shop we not going to shop on the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th. um as long as it takes. I was listening before um this weekend I think it was and and the conversation was about the u Montgomery bus boycott. Okay. And the whole idea of did they think that it was going to last 300 plus days? No, not at all. No, not at all. But being committed to that time frame created the difference. And so if we don’t commit and really commit no matter how long the time, we still um you know,

00:33:37 we risk not making that the difference that we need to make. But that’s going to be hard for people when we talk about these communities that are are are food deserts. You know, we got all of these food deserts and places in the inner city and places like that that need some of these things that they need from these stores. And I think that’s the hardest part when we get into this boycotting and stuff. Uh the people I I’ll say it this way. Yeah. Our people now are much softer than we were back in

00:34:07 those days. Back in those days, people would have just went off and you know, like you say, they did what it did. They had to get in cars with a bunch of people to get to work. They got in the cars with a bunch of people. People ain’t going to let you get in their rides this time. You know, it’s that kind of thing. When people had to do what they needed to do as a people for us to come together, we did. Right now with the way we are and and the debate of folks just being soft, I’m going just call it for what I’m calling. They just

00:34:35 soft. We soft. Our kids soft. All of them. I raise we got right. Can we survive that, doctor? Do we have the fortitude to be able to withstand a boycott? I think we do have the fortitude and I go back I still go back that I think um and and and thinking of history is that for example I’m using the Montgomery boy Montgomery bus boycott as an example in most things when we think about statistics who are the people that actually do the work it’s the 10 it’s the 10% right it’s not the 80 it’s not the 90 and I think when we talk about

00:35:14 that we have to have that strong 10 that can push the needle and that strong tin that says consistent in doing this. I agree. I I don’t know if I use the language of soft but it is a different time and people are different when it comes to it. But you know my thing always and I say this very often is we’ve achieved so much that we forget where we have come from. That’s true. And until we go back and realize that history was not so long ago, um, one of the things I don’t allow my students to say is back in the day, they have to put

00:35:51 dates with everything because when you begin to put dates with everything, you see that we are not that far removed from the things that have happened historically. And and that and that’s what we got to get the community to understand. You two steps from reconstruction. That’s correct. And so we two steps from 1963 before the Civil Rights Act. And and I don’t think people I don’t think people are gathering that because all they see was in front of them right now and they like, “Well, I got this. I got my grits.

00:36:21 I got my eggs.” Um but but but you’re lucky if you got some eggs now cuz I don’t eat eggs so I don’t even know. So you don’t care, right? So I say I save on the $7 eggs. And for those of you who want to live healthy, if you cut out eggs, your cholesterol can drop very well. Oh god. But I I thought about it. I really did. I said, “Can I live without these eggs?” And I I that’s a whole another show. We’ll talk about that on all can live without eggs. But here was the thing. I didn’t think I could live without eggs, okay? Until I

00:36:53 realized that my stomach was sensitive to eggs because I used to eat like three eggs for breakfast, a egg sandwich. I could eat a spinach salad with eggs. Okay. But so it was a choice. You you you say I’m giving it up. Okay, that’s cool. But we we’ll talk about Yeah, we gonna do our egg show. Yes. Yes. So you was talking about the fact that, you know, people just doing what it takes in order to be able to get through that. And I think that’s something we’re going to talk a little bit more on. We’re

00:37:20 going to take a quick little break to come on back. And when we get back, we going to talk more with Dr. Burton. If you want to be a part of this conversation, all you have to do is contact us at 216-27109-59. Ask Dr. Burton anything you want. She’s open book. Call her right now. We’ll be right back. What’s up, Cleveland? It’s time to turn up the conversation. Tune in to the strategic radio show for your minds. Call in, comment, and connect on 95.9 FM wu.org and hit us up on social media. [Music]

00:38:04 Calling all caregivers. Saturday, April 12th, the Alzheimer’s Association in collaboration with Sigma Gamma Row is showing love to the amazing caregivers in our community with a free caregiver lunchon. Join us from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Fatima Family Center, 6600 Lexington Avenue for a day of appreciation, support, and connection. Enjoy a delicious lunch, capture beautiful family portraits, hear inspiring caregiver testimonials, and give valuable information on free community resources to help you on your

00:38:41 journey. If you or someone you know is caring for a loved one, this event is for you and them. RSVP today by calling Frederick Knuckles at 216342-567. That’s 2163425607. Let’s come together to uplift and celebrate our caregivers. Saturday, April 12th from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. See you there. This message was brought to you by the Alzheimer’s Association NWVU 95.9 FM. Our voices united, missiondriven 247. You were made to live a good life and that’s what I believe. You’re ready to take the next step

00:39:30 toward a brighter future. Whether you want to earn your GED, improve your reading and math skills, or prepare for the workforce, the Neighborhood Centers Association’s Aspire program is here to help for free. Aspire offers adult education classes designed to help you succeed. With flexible schedules, expert instructors, and a supportive community, there’s no reason to wait. Get the skills, get the confidence, get started today. Call 216-727-3825 or visit gcnca.org/aspire. org/aspire to enroll now. Your future is

00:40:02 waiting. Let’s go get it. For more information, visit gcnca.org/aspire. That’s [Music] gnca.org/aspire. This message is brought to you by NCA Aspire program and WOVU 95.9 FM. Our voices united. Missiondriven 247. You’re listening to the strategic moves with Kendall radio show. From knowledge to action, from action to justice, it’s time to challenge, empower, and reshape the future. Dr. Heather Eur is here to drop the truth, ignite the conversation, and keep the movement alive. [Music] All right. All right. We’re back. We got

00:40:52 two callers on the line and joining us in the studio is Rabbi Goldstein. He heard the conversation. It was getting so good he was like, “Man, I got to get in on this.” So, I let him come on into the station and he’s going to join the conversation. I had two callers on. We’re going to take the first caller. Come on. This is uh what’s on your mind Tuesday with Kenda. What’s going on? I don’t know if that There you go. Calling for me. Yes, you. Yes. Uh th this is my thought on the whole uh DEI thing. I think it’s a smoke

00:41:27 screen. Uh is this something that we should be concerned about? Yes, I agree. We should be concerned about that. But the real fight is on the pilgrimaging of the entitlement programs, social security, Medicare, things that people have paid for all their lives to get when they retire. These guys are trying to steal this right under our eyes, right in our face, but then they got us chasing this DEI stuff about them erasing African-American and minorities history. You can’t erase things that it’s already

00:42:07 it’s already happened. You can’t erase it. Mhm. You can’t erase the fact that Mega Evers served in in World War II and was an assassinated civil rights leader. You can’t erase that. But they can talk about it and they can get us out protesting these private companies that are in on the plot. So what’s your suggestion? I don’t have a suggestion. If I had the answer, Let me let me let let me I’m I’m going to clarify a couple things too because I don’t want it to be misconstrued to understand diversity, equity, and

00:42:44 inclusion as we talk about this and hearing your comment, caller. And really do appreciate your comment and what you’re saying is that I think it’s important to understand that when we talk about social security, when we talk about the programs that are being lost under the government is that those fall under the diversity, equity, and inclusion umbrella. So many folks want to identify and limit that diversity, equity, and inclusion is about history and just historical just the history of the country. But it’s not. It’s about

00:43:11 programs, it’s about policies, it’s about services that impact folks that fall under certain social identities. And so when we talk about social security, when we talk about the children, when we talk about the widows, when we talk about lowinccome, that all falls under the umbrella of diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I think that’s where the buzz of diversity, equity, inclusion has lost its understanding because we limit it to one perspective when in fact it’s much larger than we want to recognize. We got

00:43:39 another caller on the line. We’re going to take caller number two. Caller, you on? Uh hello. Go ahead. We can hear you. You’re on the air. Um yes. I was uh was interested. I was looking at going back to school to get a degree in DEI, but um at this point I know I don’t know if it’s a good thing to do that or should I wait for the administration to pass and then look at re-evaluating if DEI is coming back into play or not. What is your opinion on it? Go ahead, Dr. D. Yes. So, thank you. I I’m I’m so

00:44:13 excited that you’re interested in going back to school. That’s a great thing. Um, what I will say, and I tell DEI professionals this all the time, it’s not about the title of the work, but what skills are you learning? And so, as you think about programs and getting a degree or getting a certification, what are the skills that you’re learning under that particular program or certification? Because the thing about it is you want to have transferable skills. So, it’s less about the the the the title, but what are you learning in

00:44:40 the program? The other thing to think about though too is making sure that if you do go to a program currently that’s feature or that’s feature that’s um geared towards diversity, equity, and inclusion is that they’re not going to lose that program while you’re in the program based on funding and that sort of thing. And so you want to investigate how is this program being funded? Who’s responsible for this program? And what’s the longevity of it? All right. Thank you callers for calling in. Anybody else

00:45:09 you’d like to call in? You can call in at 216-271-959. That’s 216 2169 216 2710959 if you’d like to be on the call. We got Rabbi Goldstein walked in the studio and he was handing me something he wanted me to read and I said, “Rabbi, it’s too many words on that page for me right now, man. We in the middle. You going to have to tell us what’s on your mind.” So, go ahead, Rabbi. Good afternoon, Ken. Thank you. Uh, and doctor, I want you to know that last month I presented some of what I’m about to say at Casey Reserve. Uh, last month

00:45:42 I was a guest speaker there for the uh, social school of social uh, science with Dr. Wilks. Oh, okay. With with with Scott. Yes. We were having our black business expo that day. So, I missed you. Yes. All right. Uh but but um uh John Henry Clark in his book Restoring the African-American uh African Mind uh states in his book, the imperialism we’re fighting is not an isolated thing. It is a system. As revolutionaries from a a dialectical point of view, we should understand that we too should have a

00:46:20 system. You should have a counter system with a system an organization with with an organization, not simply individuals full of goodwill. And that’s what we do. When when we encountered I’m part of the civil rights movement, I was in core uh and and uh when we uh conducted the civil rights movement uh uh boycott in Montgomery, we had a plan, we had a system, we had an organization. We were not reactionaries. We were proactive. All right. And so we were we were we were able to sustain our boycott for 14

00:46:59 months. When it really uh hit their bottom line, we were consistent. And we as as people must learn that we can’t just carry out uh uh knee-jerk reactions uh to uh to uh adverse circumstances. And and and so if we can sustain, they’re talking about ending this boycott at Easter, 40-day, you know, fasting, so to speak. No, this have to go for 24 months, 14 months, 24 months, 25 months, whatever it takes, especially when we have the that other element having uh the dominance of all three branches of

00:47:44 the government. All right. So then we must come up with a concerted plan and be unified in what we do. Um I have a plan that as I told you Ken that we’ve been working on for more than two years waiting on um uh this the copyrights to come back that we will employ just as soon uh as that for the greater Cleveland area and then hopefully for the state of Ohio. But our plan is is is for us to be consistent and uh have longevity uh um and sustainability. You know, it it that goes back to and I used

00:48:26 the word soft before, but it it goes back to, you know, the civil rights and working um the struggle that one had to go through for the sacrifice. And that’s why I initially started off by saying if we’re strong enough now to do a boycott for 28 months, if it took that long or whatever. I I and and you’ll be so surp I was really excited to hear that uh when I got the email from Norm Edwards that he was going to do that excited in the fact that not because of what he was doing but just because of the fact that

00:49:04 we every I get these people everybody man just always on me because of some of the people I know and some of the things I do why they’re not doing nothing people are not doing this and there and my fight is some of this is on us. We’re waiting for people to save us and we got to save ourselves. So, I know Norm is one of the many people just over the years who did say something. So, I was really cuz when he said in the show the last time I asked said, “Norm, anybody protesting anything?” He said, “I don’t

00:49:32 know nobody doing nothing.” And I was like, “Wow, here we are.” But then he got the email that he was doing something and I was really proud about that. Then I was coming home. My wife called me and said, “Man, I’m going down the street to Mayfield and they got Mayfield blocked off because of the Tesla company down there and they’ve got they all over the place down here. Hundreds of people.” That’s happening and it’s happening in Lakewood and everywhere. So, I’m really happy to know that that’s going to happen. I just hope

00:50:03 that we have the strength within ourselves to be strong enough to take us to that next level. I want to ask you one last question, Dr. Robert Franklin in his book, Crisis in the Village states in his introduction, we are the leaders that we’ve been looking for. That’s correct. And that’s exactly true. And I just was going to add to the rabbi is I think what’s important and what’s the difference is there was vision, right? One of the things that has happened generationally is we’ve gotten in a generation where we see success.

00:50:32 And so we think that we, and I said this earlier, we think that we’ve achieved. We think that we’ve arrived. But the problem is we don’t know what true equality is because we’ve never seen it. That’s correct. But we live in a space of believing we have equality. And until we get in a position to say where do I what what would America look like if true equality was American was Americanized was America then we can place our vision towards that. This is what project 2025 did. Project 2025 said we want a white supremacy, white space.

00:51:08 And so this is our vision. And so everything that we doing is getting us to there. The problem with us is we have no vision in terms of being able to see what it looks like. I know that’s for another show, but it takes us. It takes us to the whole concepts of understanding integration versus separatism and everything else and what we see as a community. Well, Ken, you know me. Uh I come on next. All right. So, if you and the doctor wants to uh hang around and do black thought, you’ll be more than welcome. Well, we I’m more

00:51:40 than welcome. Thank you, Doc. Um thank you, Rabbi. I just got another appointment myself to do right when I leave and I think she has I have a meeting. But but I’ll hold you to it. Yes, she can hold you to that and come on your show to talk. How about next Tuesday then at 1:00? We’ll we’ll get it scheduled. All right. I and don’t go nowhere rabbit because I want to go one other thing that I wanted to talk to doctor before we wind out and I’m going to give her a final thought just real quick. This is something that came up

00:52:04 and this it gets to deal with di I’m going to talk about this on my podcast. Uh governor um not governor um Yoast, our our state attorney general. I believe he’s our um No, he’s not our attorney general. He is our David Yoast is our David Yost is he the treasur? He’s our No, he’s not our treasure. He is secretary of state. Secretary of State. No, he’s not secretary. Yo, so Yos is attorney general. Attorney General. That’s what I was right. Attorney General. I was right. Attorney General. All right. So, Yos wants the the

00:52:35 teachers union retirement system to sue Target. And they want them to sue Target because of Target’s stance on DEI. Your stance is that investors wants to sue Target because they believe that if Target would have disclosed to them that they were going to be investing in DEI, they would have never invested into Target in the first place. As a result of that, they’re suing because they said that Target um shares took a hit on the DEI market and even the school um retirement system took a hit of $5

00:53:21 million. The school system is saying, “Nah, it was a drop in the bucket. We’re not going to sue. We don’t want to be a part of that because we don’t believe in the DEI method in which you’re going.” But David Yoast is attempting to get that and that’s the new thing. So, I just wanted to throw that spin at you, doctor, because that’s a serious spin. And it’s a spin. And I think Did somebody say that? It’s a spin of entitlement, right? It’s entitlement from the perspective of a white man, is that I believe that I can sue because

00:53:52 had I known you were going to contribute or support marginalized communities, underutilized, underrepresented folks, I would have never supported that. Right. But when I when I was on board because I was getting backlash of 2020, then yes, I’m going to support. But now that there’s a drop in my entitlement, my money, my ability, then I’m going to fight against you. Doctor, I’m going to let you have a final thought on this thing and I’m going to do a closing thought. We’re coming to the end of the

00:54:22 show. Rabbi, you got anything you want to say? I want to say what you what we’re viewing in 20 uh in the 2025 uh process is the uh the operation of 21st century pirates. Dr. Burton, that’s a good analogy. I um I you know I just and I just think when we think about this and when we think about where we are you may not be able to move mountains but you can change stuff within your sphere and you can be committed and engaged to do the work and do what’s necessary and that may be that instead of going to Target instead of

00:55:02 going to Walmart you’re shopping from the list of black business owners you shopping at the local black business stores instead of buying your hair products s from the stores on every corner that is not us. You going to those stores that are us. And I think that that’s the thing that we have to get to and that’s the thing that we have to believe and keep moving forward and then get a clear understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion because when you really begin to understand it, you see how much falls under it that we

00:55:31 try to minimize it to one thing. Now we know the attack is against black folk. But when we understand the theoretical perspective concepts of diversity, equity, inclusion, we see that it impacts everything that we are and everything that we do. Dr. Burton is going to be on our program. She is a contributor and she’s going to be coming back to talk to us about a few more. What What are some of the things you want to talk about when you come back? We talked about that. Other than you wrote a book. I want to tell everybody

00:56:00 about your book before you leave. What’s the name of your book? I’m single and I love it or something like that. No, no, I don’t love being single. It’s called I’m single so what. But I always say it came from the lens of when people hear that you single the first question they ask is why why are you single? And so the perspective is I’m single. So what what is it your business? That that’s what it’s that’s more of the title and less about I’m single and this is where I want to stay. You can interpret it any way. Some

00:56:31 people may be single and they’re happy being single. But mine was, “Why do you keep asking me like there’s a problem that I’m single or that whatever, you know, cuz people always make accusations when folks are single that something is wrong with them.” Dr. Burton will be back. She’s a contributor. We’ll talk to her in a few more weeks. She’ll be coming back in our rotation and we’re going to talk about that and many other things that we have on her heart and on her mind. I want to thank everybody for

00:56:56 reaching out. We had a comment on YouTube. We gonna air that up on top and everything else. Anybody if you ever want to be a part of our YouTube program, please check us out on YouTube. That’s YouTube Kenda where we go Kenda unfiltered where we really get into real discussions and talk. Dr. Burton is going to be on one of those programs as well in the future. And any of our other YouTube programs, we got a new program that comes out every Thursday. So to everybody, I want to thank you for watching our program. And to next week,

00:57:25 we’ll see you. Peace. Break it down. This is where change happens. This is equity exchange with Dr.