The Scoop with Tanya Flanagan

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Tanya Flanagan 0:19
Good morning, and thank you for joining me for the scoop with Tanya Flanagan, I'm so happy you decided to wake up and start your day with me here on the scoop, where we talk about life, joy, funny moments, trending topics and so much more. We promise to keep you in the know and find out what you know. So let's get started. You

Tanya Flanagan 0:47
Good morning Las Vegas. Good morning Nevada. Thank you once again for tuning in to 91.5 to join me here on the scoop. K, U, N, V, I am delighted as always, to welcome wonderful guests to the show. And today is no different than any other. As we usher in the month of September, we are now heading into the cooler temperatures. We think, I think we had a pretty good week. Was pretty pleasant. I enjoyed the moments when I was outdoors this week, and I hope you guys had a great Labor Day. I want to say thank you to all the men and women in our country who labor that we honored and recognized on this past holiday. But as we move out of summer slowly toward fall, and it still feels warm, I'm excited to heat up the studio this morning with my wonderful guest. Dr Tricia Braxton, Hello there. Hello there. Let's set things on fire. Yes. How are you? You know

Tricia Braxton 1:38
I'm doing well. I'm doing well, it's, it's been a day. What you get

Tanya Flanagan 1:45
up at like 3am and it's crazy about 7am I mean, what has already happened? Yeah? Is it the continuation front? It's a

Tricia Braxton 1:55
continuation day. It's the continuation, right? That's when life is heavy, yeah? So sometimes you just have to have your Woosah early you do, and

Tanya Flanagan 2:04
that's it, and it's okay. Do you remember to meditation

Tricia Braxton 2:07
I do? Oh, my goodness, I do. I appreciate meditation. Meditation can take place for me in different at different times and in different settings. And so meditation, the idea of being centered, or finding your center and being grounded, allows me to be still and think of nothing. And I can tell you, it's it has taken time and practice to get to that point where I will close my eyes and take out all of the the color of the room and just think of of a color. And usually that color is is a black or darkest blue. And then I'll visualize the word empty. And that's my focus point, empty. And so in this black space, dark blue space, obsidian, like the universe I imagine it would be. And then having this thing that's floating in space, I'm not thinking of anything else. And then the mindfulness comes through. You know, the typical mindfulness activities, right? Which is, if you're sitting down, what are you sitting on? If your feet are planted, how do you feel? Where are your feet? How do your feet feel, if your hands are planted on your body, do you feel your fingertips? If you are lying down? Do you hear your breath? And it's little actions, activities like that, that help me get into that meditation of just being, just being. Sometimes you just have to just be. So that's what meditation ends up being, for me, an opportunity to just

Tanya Flanagan 4:14
be. I do appreciate that. I mean, it's the ability to slow yourself down, let's qualify who you are, and then come back to that, because I really didn't tell anyone who Dr Tricia Braxton is, but that was quite the introduction some of what you are about. Yes, many hats.

Tricia Braxton 4:35
I have many hats. I have many hats. Well, first, I am a mom of two beautiful young women and I, as a parent, I feel that I'm more of a steward. I'm here to assist guide these other people to follow their journey. I'm a Dave. Daughter of Mel and Lillian Braxton, my father passed away in 2022 Thank you. Both of my parents have have definitely impacted my my world, my journey, and in different ways and positive ways. And my father, you know, he, I guess he started the family profession in law enforcement. You know, after he left Navy and was getting his footing in a career, he chose the police department. And, you know, this was in 1969 the year I was born, and I still have his patrol books. His patrol it is a patrol patrol book, where, as police officer, you have to write down, you know, when you start your tour activities that have occurred lunch, you know it's being accountable of where you are, right until you write this down in this patrol book. And I have the patrol book that he had when I was born. He has his entry, you know, with my birth date. And in the entry he wrote, you know, going to the hospital, you know, not sure what to expect. And there was a code for, you know, leaving, leaving post and, and he actually went to the hospital, this sergeant, the day I was born, you know. And he was just such a proud dad and that whole thing, you know. But to have that in his patrol guide. Patrol book is really cool. My mom, you know, my mom has had this amazing career with policing. She was one of the presidents of the police something called the police women's Endowment Association in New York, and she championed and pioneered a lot of a lot of advocacy for women in law enforcement. You know, during the time that she joined, it was 1972 and she took a, I think, the first police officers exam prior to that, it was a police woman's exam and a police men's exam. And so she and five other women who took the police officers exam, who were accepted into the academy. And and she tells us, you know, talks of stories of women not being able to be promoted because they were pregnant, and being pregnant was considered an illness. And, you know, all of that stuff, amazing.

Tanya Flanagan 7:40
How that you say that we've evolved over time. My original career is journalism, and so when you go into older newsrooms where the paper is still like maybe in the original building, and the modifications have been made to the building to accommodate it, you realize there aren't restrooms for women. It's simple things that we every day take for granted, because now it's it's in hers. Accommodations. Everywhere you There are buildings from really, really old professions that go back and stand the test of time, and you see how separated or nonexistent the presence of women was, or how it was barely coming on the scene, because you see where the restrooms, or something like that, you know the restrictions, where they were right, and how things have changed, how you have to rent. I remember going to Washington and going into the Capitol building, or state building, one of the buildings, it was so hard to find a restroom. It was super hard.

Tricia Braxton 8:45
And was it? Was it far?

Tanya Flanagan 8:49
This was in like 19, like 2020, 2017, or 18 or 19 or something. And it was prior to covid, but it was just really because women weren't there. So the building is old, like these buildings are historic, and women weren't there. So with the onset of women coming into the space, they've had to retrofit the building to accommodate a space for women that before there were only men in the entire building,

Tricia Braxton 9:26
right? And these changes aren't made because of altruism, right? Because someone thinking, Oh, well, you know, maybe we should consider this, that and the other. No, every accommodation, every, every, and I don't want to think of it as an accommodation, necessarily. It's a

Tanya Flanagan 9:40
push toward the change, right? There's a big push here. We are now So, and this had

Tricia Braxton 9:46
to be some, some sort of advocacy, right, and, and, and filling, filling. What did

Tanya Flanagan 9:52
it, what was it like? So, the first woman's elected to Congress, or whatever, right, or, you know, to Senate. And at the point that you. This election happens, this inclusion occurs. Now, what? Now, what? Yeah, because now, at the time people traveling, there was quite task, you know, we this, we've evolved from the car to train, right? No, I don't know, but at any rate, it just made me think about that the most random thought, but yet, but not random, but relevant thought of who we are and where we've come so Exactly. And it also made me think of a question when you were talking about your mom, because you do do a lot in your work in the community, and you're an elected representative, yes, I am so for the State Board of Education, yes, and it meant, when you were talking about your mom, I thought, what it must feel like that your life like, because there's a like the seed or the thread of servant hood, right? Servant leadership, servant sacrifice. You can call that a number of things, but your mother's decision in life to do what she did for a career, and then you having that influence on watching your mom evolve, how that has influenced your life, to now be an elected representative yourself, and to be rooted from what as I know you in education so deeply and being so deeply concerned with how people absorb information, churn it and then turn it out. And whenever I see you in any space and people say, Well, who are you? Your lead in is always first that I'm a mom like that is the greatest response, despite the 3 million hats, right? That particular one is your greatest responsibility.

Tricia Braxton 11:51
It really is. I value that role. I am honored by that role. I take that role very seriously, it is a gift, and I see it as such. And it's not lost on me that, in addition to my daughters watching what I'm doing, maybe not paying attention, I think they're not paying attention at the moment, but they're watching what I'm doing. So are other young people right? The influence that we have, you know, it's, it's something to not take, not take lightly, you know. And so in talking about my mom, you know, and her influence on me, my dad has been, or had been an amazing advocate, an ally, you know, before the term ally was coined in the way that it is now, you know, and him encouraging my mom to join the

Tanya Flanagan 12:54
police department, and even in that time, because that's right, women were very much encouraged to stay home with their children and to lead you know, our country was very much built on that nuclear concept of husband and wife, stay home, moms, men worked. Our economy was driven to support that lifestyle. I mean, I really think it was from everything, from houses, what they cost, to appliances to just everything was built around sort of this nuclear for most people, not always for people of color, because there was a struggle, and there was so much inequality, right and in the country, but there was this American Dream served up as This nuclear picture, nuclear family picture, but I mentioned education. So reading. I assume reading is near and dear to your heart.

Tricia Braxton 13:47
Reading is near and dear to my heart, but so is accessibility and defining what education is. You know, here's another inspiration from my dad, who went from policing to education. By the time he retired from New York City Police Department after 21 years, I think, in service, he had two master's degrees, and both were in education, which led him to become a teacher, special education teacher here in Nevada. So when they retired, you know, we went to where folks will go, place where there's no state income tax. And I appreciate stayed in Nevada for that part

Tanya Flanagan 14:30
that led me slide that in, yeah, you know,

Tricia Braxton 14:34
and, and

Tricia Braxton 14:35
so as we need to look at economy diversification,

Tricia Braxton 14:39
that's saying that's the same. But what led them here, the noticeage income tax and being able to utilize his degrees, right? And so working through CCSD and and he always had this, he always had this idea, right? Not, not really an idea, but this, this thought that anchored him. Of like, grounded him in the classroom because he understood the system factors that affected families, that affected people in the everyday right? In law enforcement, you respond when things are not so well, not when things are going well, right? And so how would that affect that kid in the classroom? You know? So you weren't just teaching the kid, you were engaging with the parents, indirectly and sometimes directly. You were engaging with the neighborhood, indirectly or directly, because of that one kid sitting in the class. And so that's the perspective, the mindset that he brought with him as he, you know, embraced his new role as as a teacher, you know, and then educator, when he became an assistant principal, and so forth. So, so that education piece has always been a part of of my family, right? I would say that if I could say two professions that my family, now extended family, have been about it. It's either law enforcement or education, and having aunts who've trailblazed led the way for higher education as well. You know, it's always been the same.

Tanya Flanagan 16:14
It's a defining dichotomy for communities of color, because we look at the parallels, or not, between law enforcement and education, right? The rift of random conversation with my dad last night as I saw a man on the corner, and it was late, and I'm a woman, and sometimes if I'm by myself, I'm hesitant to, you know, got to be careful you're alone. But he was just outside a grocery store. Was going to give him money, and it wasn't positioned to where I could do it without that felt safe in a way. And I remember asking my dad, what do you think people are homeless? And he said, because they either didn't spend their money Right, right, or manage their money, right? I was like, that's an interesting concept. Like it was just so simple to him. Somewhere along the way, it was like his answer was, like, it's the management of life. There's the responsibility like having nothing, like literally having nothing and eventually getting the opportunity. I didn't necessarily agree with him that it was this simple, but I was like, I could see the value in feeling like no matter how bad it has, no matter how bad your past is, or where you came from, whatever your hardship might have been, abuse, your parent didn't stay grew up, poor, forfeited education, like there's trauma. At some point, he's like, I didn't have anything either. But at some point I had to make the decision to latch on to what I could and to pull myself up and to keep working.

Tricia Braxton 17:57
I can understand that, but I would like to interject with the idea of mental health, right? Mental health and how we how mental health is addressed in society, and how people have access to resources, you know? And I talked about education. And what is it about education? Is it about being educated? Well, let's define it, right? And then, you know, what's the equal playing field? Does everyone have access to the type of education that would be useful? And what type of education is useful? Education isn't always, you know, going through grade school and then going to college. You know,

Tanya Flanagan 18:38
question for you in this? Yeah, it's as we look at this. Because you're in this space, right, and we're looking at it, and we're in such different times. I think that answer I got from that person was so simple, because the time, the era, was so simple. Now so much that when we're looking at it, at life, there's so much to manage, because mental health is a real conversation, and that was exactly what I interjected when it came to me,

Tricia Braxton 19:15
yes, and it's always been an issue. It's just, how do we prioritize, right? You know, and so there are issues to consider, whether it's, you know, autism, ADHD, things that we have identified now, right? It's not that these things have just come about. They've always been there, but now we've identified it as a thing. Now, right? How How are we going to prioritize what's needed to allow society and individuals in it to be productive? Are we going to diversify? Are we going to consider that there are no norms? Do. We speak in a very normative space, normative space being a norm of, let's say, clearly, there's a nuclear family, you know, parents at home and and the kids having access to this, that and the other. And are they able to, you know, hold themselves up by the bootstraps. But in reality, we each have our things to deal with, and we're doing what we can to manage I'm speaking extremely generally, but that's just to say that there are so many system factors in our in our tangle web of life, right? You know that impact something else that will create an experience for someone. You can have two people, and you know, from the same neighborhood, one person, because of whatever issues that are thrown their way, they're able to excel and do well and become that millionaire, that's great. And there might be an assumption, okay, well, because they have their all this money, that things are going well, maybe not, maybe not. And then you have a person who you know for all purposes, um, whatever it is that that got them into this situation where they are unhoused, and there are no assumptions. But what I've learned is that there are, there should be no assumptions about why a person is not at the same point as the next person, because every person has their journey. Every person's journey is as unique as their fingerprint. And, you know, I've come across folks who will say, Well, you know, if, if I, if I work hard, then XYZ is owed to me, because I've worked

Tanya Flanagan 21:55
hard. It's interesting language. The ODE part in there is the Yes, obviously the word that jumps out. But no, I think that, um, you know, this is a area that can be very tangled and because, but what I love most about what you said is that make no assumptions about how any one person's journey has gone, because you really don't know, yeah, what the you can think you see someone who looks perfectly together. And underneath the surface, there could be so much trauma, so much or someone who looks like the picture of exactly what you think you want someone to turn up like, and you have no idea what's gone on in that journey to allow them to arrive. Dr Tricia Braxton, folks just talking about various aspects of career life and things that have contributed to where she's arrived as one of our State Board of Education representatives, and so we've talked a bit about education and influences and life choices and parents and the role that parents play in shaping the lives of children, role her parents played in shaping her life. I do these segments just what I kind of call man on the street, just to allow the opportunity to get to know people in a way that you don't, especially when they're on a campaign trail, knocking at your door and handing you a piece of literature and trying to explain to you everything that they stand for at least the top five that should make you go to the ballot box and choose them that I want to say, thank you. We have a little bit more time in the show. I want to make sure people are able to find you if they want to, would like to get to know you better. So social media, if you want to share handles or contact points, I can do that. You can, you can do that.

Tricia Braxton 23:42
Okay, yes, so folks can contact me through my website. It's Tricia Braxton for nv.com they can send me an email, you know, and that's through the website. Everything is through the website. I'm on social media, Tricia Braxton for envy.com. Everything is Tricia Braxton for envy.

Tanya Flanagan 24:07
I thought that was that's pretty, you know, easy. It's clear

Tricia Braxton 24:11
and and it's Trisha. It's spelled like Patricia, but without the P and the A. Inevitably, folks want to put an S and an H in my name. I get that. That's okay, but don't and then Braxton, you know, common spelling, Braxton, the number four envy, you know, but let me just say this. Let me just say this. Gotta get this out that you know, success means different things. And whether a person goes through college or goes into the military, becomes an entrepreneur, or, you know, a journeyman with, with some of the wonderful experiences that we have, right? You know, the union work, if we, you know, if we had union work, Vegas wouldn't be where it is today, where it. Is without, I mean, seriously, you know, you know, but, but all of this gave it not to Labor Day when the show started. So exactly all of this is important, and you can start out doing one thing, have one profession and end up doing another, as long as you're intentional about your journey and being mindful, sitting still, finding your silence and knowing that there's no perfect script

Tanya Flanagan 25:26
not to life because you don't know what one day is going to bring, yeah, versus the next. And you just all I can say to people, all I would say is, life is built on opportunities, and the best way to face an opportunity is to be prepared, and the best way to be prepared is to spend each day trying to be the best version of yourself that you can be, and trying to grow the best version of yourself that you can grow. Because if you have done the due diligence, hopefully, when the knock comes, you are ready to open the door and walk through that door of

Tricia Braxton 26:01
opportunity. That's right. I mean, you don't compare your journey to anyone else's.

Tanya Flanagan 26:06
You are your own unique bird with this last couple of minutes, sometimes I'll do a fun thing where just rapid fire, few questions, oh, I'm gonna, like this unexpectedly, get to know little things about you, you know, like Morning or night, okay? Night, mountains or OCEAN, Ocean. Favorite color, purple. What are you listening to these days? What's in your ear?

Tricia Braxton 26:30
Favorite music, spa music with sounds of

Tanya Flanagan 26:33
flute, spa music. That is what I did not expect. Book, our favorite author.

Tricia Braxton 26:40
Oh, wow. Let's see. Let's go with book. There's a book that I just finished reading, and it's hope. It's not Audacity of Hope. It's inspiration for I should know this. I should just said it was your favorite. I know clearly it's not I

Tanya Flanagan 26:54
just finished it, clearly not my favorite, not her favorite. Yes, it is. Maybe it's becoming by Michelle, it's becoming anywho, um, what else did I want to know on the fly? Hip hop rap, hip hop rap, jazz or gospel or old school.

Tricia Braxton 27:13
Oh, that's tough rock or or country, country or, Oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna have to go with old school. Old school RMB, yes, old school R B, okay, right. Got it, yes.

Tanya Flanagan 27:30
Well, folks, that's a little bit about Dr, Tricia Braxton. Trisha Braxton for for nv.com you can learn more about her. Thank you for tuning in once again to 91.5 jazz and more to the scoop with me. Tanya Flanagan, I look forward to talking to you again next week. Stay safe and have a great week, folks. Thank you. I want to thank you for tuning in to the scoop with me. Tanya Flanagan, and I want to invite you to get social with me. I'm on Facebook and Twitter. My name is my handle, T, a n, y, A F, l, a n, a G, A N. You can also find me on Instagram at Tanya almayse Flanagan, and if you have a thought, an opinion or a suggestion, don't hesitate to shoot me an email to tonya.flanagan@unlv.edu Thanks again for joining in. Stay safe and have a great week. You. I.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai