, , , ,

BTU #366 - Race & Gender in the Military (Natasha Sistrunk Robinson)

, , , ,
“Today is a conversation I should have had 300 episodes ago. I chat with Natasha Sistrunk Robinson about race and gender in the military. ”
— Justin Nassiri

Subscribe on: iTunes | Stitcher | Google Play            Enjoy the episode? Review us on iTunes!

Why Listen:

Normally I start with a nice quote, reasons to listen to the episode. I’m not doing that today. Today is a conversation I should have had 300 episodes ago - its a conversation I wish more people were having more candidly. Today I chat with Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, where we spend the bulk of our time discussing race and gender and the role it plays in the military. It is an open, honest, and very imperfect conversation, and something I sincerely hope you take the time to listen to. With that let’s dive in to my conversation

About Natasha:

Natasha is an international speaker, leadership consultant, mentoring coach, and the visionary founder of the nonprofit Leadership LINKS, Inc. A graduate of the US Naval Academy and a former Marine Corps officer, she is the author of Mentor for Life and Hope for Us.

Selected Resources: 

Transcript & Time Stamps:

4:30

Thank you so much for coming on the show today Natasha.

4:40

I think having diverse conversations is going to be the thing that allows us to move forward as a country. So I want to thank you for having me here to have this conversation. 

From our background at the Naval Academy, we were taught to live by a set of values and principles. I think it takes those values and courage to have these conversations. We can’t allow our fear of these conversations to cripple us.

6:25

I really appreciate your willingness to come on our show because we come from very different backgrounds and I want to learn more about your perspectives and ideas. 

I’m Black. I was born that way and I’ll die that way. Because of that, my presence in a space is almost always as someone “different”. That was my experience at the Naval Academy. That’s been my experience throughout my career. Usually I’m either the only woman or the only Black woman in whatever room I’m in. 

I’d like to change that reality going forward. But in order to do so, I think we need to be honest about the reality that today we have very few people of color in leadership positions. 

10:05

How do you think your experience at the Naval Academy was different from mine?

I released my book Mentor for Life a couple years ago. With everything happening right now in terms of social justice in race, we want to expose as many people as possible to the ideas and thoughts of black authors. This book can be used in a book club, community groups, or at churches.

My interactions with people are very diverse. I graduated from the Naval Academy in 2002. Then I spent three years at Camp Lejeune. Then I went back to the Naval Academy as the Diversity Outreach Coordinator in the Admissions office. After that, I left the Navy and pursued various other professional endeavors. 

I recently had a Naval Academy classmate reach out to me who had read the book. She told me that she had regretted not getting to know me more in college. I believe the Naval Academy is a hard institution for everybody for different reasons. People joke that the Naval Academy is not a great place to be. It’s a great place to be from. My reality as a Black woman at the Naval Academy did make my experience different. 

My family is very patriotic. My mother was in the Army. My grandfather and uncle also served in the Army. On my dad’s side, I have three cousins in the military. If you love your country, I believe you have the responsibility to correct the injustices that you see. 

I also come from a community of massacres. There were people that went to my high school carried out a peaceful protest to segregate a local bowling alley. They ended up being murdered. We all know names like Martin Luther King and John Lewis. But there were so many other lesser known but extremely important civil rights leaders. They’ve inspired me and I brought that fight to the Naval Academy. 

I didn’t want my parents to worry about me and I wanted to be able to support myself. When I was at the Naval Academy, the perception was that the Black students there did not get there under their own merit. When I was applying to the Naval Academy, I received multiple full scholarships from other colleges. I had options. I chose the Naval Academy because of the career that I could have in the Navy. I wanted to graduate from college with no debt and a job. 

When I got to the Naval Academy, I was very focused on graduating. There was pressure on me to quit. But the people that put that pressure on me did not know me. But I came to the Naval Academy with a mission and that’s what I was going to do. The norm at the Naval Academy was white and male. That was my reality. It wasn’t easy but I was determined to graduate. 

25:50

What was more challenging for you at the Naval Academy - being a woman or being Black?

I think it was a combination of both. The reality of brown women in our country is that they’re invisible. When we have an Amaud Arbery or a George Floyd, that gets our attention. But the officers that killed Breonna Taylor’s still haven’t been charged. And that’s just the most recent case of violence against Black women. 

Black, brown, and indigenous women are ignored in our society. And if at any point they raise their voice or speak their frustrations, they are vilified. I think it’s important for us to consider why these women feel so frustrated and angry. 

When I was at the Academy, the closest friends I had were other Black women. It was because of those relationships that I was able to push through difficult times there. That was where the light was for me during my time at the Academy. 

Part of the unhealthy aspect of the Naval Academy atmosphere is how regimented your days and weeks are. After my mom died, when I came back to school, I was expected to just get right back into my exams and responsibilities. Frankly, that’s not healthy. But I had created a family and a community at the Academy that I was able to lean on. 

33:40 

One thing that stood out for me in your book A Sojourner's Truth was your story of the bowling alley in your town?

It was referred to as the Orangeburg Massacre. When we think about Civil Rights, we talk about Selma or Montgomery. Certainly those were important moments, but there were uprisings happening throughout the nation. 

I come from a college town in South Carolina. There are two colleges in the town. Students from those schools organized peaceful protests during the Civil Rights movement. There’s a bowling alley in town that was owned by a white man. He wanted to keep the bowling alley segregated. There were peaceful protests to protest the segregation of the bowling alley. SWAT teams descended upon Orangeburg to address the protests. Three unarmed young men were killed by highway patrol officers at the protests. A memorial was later placed at this location. I remember seeing that memorial growing up and being very moved by it. 

Throughout American history, we’ve seen Black people try to stand up for their own dignity. The answer that they receive is often “no”. They are accused of being violent and that what they are asking for is wrong. 

41:30

I’m really moved by this conversation because we have had such different experiences. You’ve experienced injustices that will never be a reality in my life as a white man. 

I’ve known many black men throughout my life. I’m familiar with their challenges and struggles. One of my godfathers growing up was a Black man that was the town Sheriff. He represented a police force that was from the community and represented the community. There was a mutual respect between the police force and the members of that community. Because of that, I didn’t have that fear of the police. I knew many police officers that were active in the community and doing positive things. 

44:40

How do you describe what you do for a living? 

I have my hand in quite a few things and I’ve come to get accustomed to that. My main focuses are in leadership and faith. Those two things motivate all the work that I do.

What I get paid to do is leadership consulting. My company is called T3 Leadership Solutions. I do mentoring and leadership coaching. I also do a lot of writing. I write articles, essays, and books. I do some public speaking as well. 

47:30

Have you always liked to write?

I’ve always loved to read. Growing up, I was always reading. I believe leaders are readers and readers are leaders. 

I went to the Naval Academy thinking that I would do something engineering related. But I realized I didn’t want to do that. So I ended up majoring in English. I really learned how to cultivate my thoughts by doing that. Years later, I was working at the Department of Homeland Security. My supervisor encouraged me to start writing a book. I’ve now published three books. 

50:30

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Everything you write does not need to be published. You need to know why you’re writing what you’re writing. I encourage you to journal and continually write. But you don’t necessarily  need to publish everything. 

I started a blog in 2010 called a Sista’s Journey. I had a goal that I was going to write posts 2-3 times a week. 

There’s a business side of writing too and you need to be comfortable with the business of publishing. There’s a lot of resources out there to help you through that process. 

53:40

Is there anything else that you’d like to share?

I think if we all want to move forward in this work, I want to offer a challenge to your listeners. When you have a table or a space, offer a space at that table who isn’t represented. I think some of the conversations we have about diversity today center on the idea that you have to give something up in order to help underrepresented groups. But you don’t. You just have to be willing to open that table up to new perspectives. 

As a Black female graduate of the Naval Academy, I don’t have the benefits of a Naval Academy degree that my white male classmates have. That’s very real. So when you have financial and social resources, think about those groups that may not have the opportunities you do. 

For those that want to learn more, I encourage them to go to my website.