The Chavis Chronicles

Dana White, the senior managing director of Encore, next on "The Chavis Chronicles."

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We're so honored to have Dana White.

Welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles."

Thank you for having me.

Dr. Chavis.

It's an honor to be here with you, so thank you.

You're from Virginia.

Mm-hmm.

So, tell me about your upbringing in Virginia and the historical context of your family.

I was born in Charlottesville, Virginia.

My dad was from Charlottesville, my grandfather.

My grandfather, Randolph L. white, was actually a card-carrying member of the National Negro Publishers Association.

He started the Charlottesville-Albemarle Tribune back in 1954, about a week after Brown vs. Board, but he actually was born on a plantation -- the land -- the same land that his people were owned, about 15 miles from Charlottesville.

And he started as a farmhand.

He went on to be a janitor.

He left Virginia because Virginia didn't educate past the eighth grade.

He went to Ohio and got his high school diploma and then became a janitor at UVA hospital.

And because of a decision of -- and actually of a Jewish doctor, a colonel who came in at UVA and knew that my grandfather could read and write and a high school diploma, he made my grandfather the head of housekeeping, which meant my grandfather hired most of the blacks in Charlottesville.

And from there, he married my grandmother, who was the first black registered nurse at UVA.

Wow.

And they set a path and sent my father to Howard, where he met my mother at Howard and married her at Howard.

And I am here before you because of all of those people.

And I'm just privileged Well, that's a great family legacy.

So, Dana, you know, you've reached such heights as the first African-American woman to be press secretary of the United States Department of Defense.

Yes, sir.

And Secretary James Mattis was secretary of defense, and it was the greatest honor of my life.

So, you worked very closely with Secretary Mattis -- General Mattis?

Yes, indeed.

We -- We did everything.

I was one of the only people, I like to say, who could actually argue with him and win.

Secretary Mattis was an extraordinary leader.

He's an extraordinary man.

And his commitment to this country and his commitment to the people who serve this country every day was inspiring.

And so to have the privilege -- you know, my grandfather served as a buffalo soldier -- to have the privilege to tell their story, I can't tell you how much that meant to me, because literally, I am four generations from a plantation to the Pentagon.

Well, that's -- Again, that's a great American story.

Absolutely.

Your success, your trajectory -- how did this evolution start?

Did you -- Were you always in public relations?

You know, I started -- You know, I went to the University of Chicago.

I got my degree in Chinese history, and so I -- Wait, wait.

Chinese history?

I did.

Chinese history.

What led you to -- a black woman from Virginia studying Chinese history?

Well, you know, that goes back to my grandfather a little bit, too.

After my grandfather passed away, and we still ran the newspaper, I knew that it would be hard to run a newspaper.

Just for the record, what was the name of that newspaper?

The Charlottesville-Albemarle Tribune.

And we still ran it.

We ran it for over 50 years.

The oldest black newspaper -- run black newspaper -- in Virginia.

And I thought to myself, "There are a billion people sitting in China, just as quiet as they could be."

And I thought, "If I know something about those billion people, as I'm looking to be employed for the next 50 years, that might get some notice."

And I thought, "Let me learn about these people and learn the language."

And I went to Chicago and fell in love with the archaeology, which helped me fall in love with the language.

And I embraced it and I learned it.

And I also was very fortunate to also study in Korea and have a scholarship to study in Korea, which was very fortunate, as you know, because later on I went on to work for an iconic company of Korea and the world -- Hyundai.

Yes.

When I first met you, you were not just working for Hyundai but you were the highest-ranking African-American woman in the whole automotive industry.

Absolutely.

And you had landed that position.

I did, and I had a wonderful boss, Jos Muoz, who I had worked with at Nissan.

And I've always treated every opportunity that I've been given as a privilege, because someone has put faith in you to do something.

And so I always -- I carry that with me.

My grandfather taught me that no matter what you do, you do it to the best of your ability.

And I have just been privileged and blessed to have those opportunities.

How long were you at Hyundai?

I was at Hyundai for about three years.

My mother is getting older, and she's wonderful.

She also ran the newspaper after my father -- my grandfather's passing.

And so it was just time to come back and be close to her.

So, tell us your current position.

I am the head of global strategic advisory at a consulting firm called Ankura.

And what that means is, I help people handle crisis.

I help them figure out, "When the things go wrong in the world operationally, politically, what do I do?

What do I say?

How do I take care of those issues?"

And it's a holistic approach because as we both know, the world has gotten more complicated.

Information moves faster.

It is not enough to call the editorial boards of The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

You have to respond.

And that's what we do.

Where is Ankura based?

Is it in Washington, D.C., is it Virginia, or is it in Maryland?

It is based in New York, but we have our offices on K Street, but we have offices in Riyadh, we have offices in London.

We are a global firm, over 2,000 personnel around the world.

Wow.

And you're in charge of all this global outreach?

Absolutely.

But what I see myself is, is a problem-solver.

And something also I learned working with the military, it's that mission-oriented mindset.

"Let's solve a problem.

Let's bring people together to solve problems."

And that's how we get things done, and that's how we move forward.

Do you think our nation is, in the context of the global situation, moving in a positive direction, are we standing still, or are we moving backwards?

What is your analysis?

I'm going to tell you, I have a lot of hope, because America, one thing what's missing is people don't read their history.

I mean, we have to remember, we fought a civil war in this country.

A man was beaten to death in the well of the Senate.

America is a topsy-turvy, controlled chaos.

But one of the problems, I think, is that we have failed to teach our generations of their responsibility to this experiment, this miracle that is America, because it is a miracle.

How can we get more people to understand the importance of strengthening the democracy by civic participation?

Number one, we need to bring back civic education.

Number two, we need to talk about what your responsibilities are, around the dinner table.

One of the things in my family, and one of the things I miss most about my father, who passed away about 10 years ago, is my father always engaged me on politics.

He wanted to know what I thought, how I thought, and what I thought the outcomes were.

We have to engage children early about things.

I personally, I made my niece, 14-year-old niece read "Democracy in America," and then I've taken her to Tocqueville, to the Chteau de Tocqueville.

We have to infuse our young people with understanding the blessing and the gift that has been given to us.

And if we don't do that, then this falls apart.

America is controlled chaos, but people have to understand the rules of the game, and you have to fight the good fight and then you have to move on.

You mentioned the importance of history, the importance of teaching civics.

You know, there's a big debate about public education.

How -- Should we really tell young people the truth about the Civil War?

Should you really tell young people the truth about the transatlantic slave trade?

Should people really know what really happened in Vietnam or what is, like you said, going on right now in the Middle East?

Just comment a little bit more how important learning from history is.

So, as you know, I'm from Charlottesville, and I was actually at the Pentagon when everything happened.

And then the secretary actually called me.

We had just gotten back from Andrews, and first I was signing on my mortgage that very morning.

And I get a call from the secretary, and he says, "Dana, I'm sending the National Guard into Charlottesville."

And I'm like, "What -- What are we doing in Charlottesville?"

And I had seen the Robert E. Lee It sits right by the public library.

And I was so disturbed by the images of that day and the tragic loss of that young woman over pure stupidity.

But the other thing that I realize, having grown up in Charlottesville and in the South, is white supremacists are not new.

It's like the world woke up and said, "Oh, my goodness, there are white supremacists."

I grew up next door to people who -- who hung the stars and bars.

I knew that that existed.

Stars and Bars -- that's the Confederate flag.

The Confederate flag.

Just what I wanted to put in.

I knew those people.

And make no mistake, my father went to segregated schools.

My parents -- Children that I went to school with, their parents went to segregated schools.

So it was a part of -- I knew what that was.

But what we failed to learn from Charlottesville was, "Why do you have 18- to 30-year-old white males harkening back to Robert E.

Lee?"

And what I will tell you, if my grandfather had gotten up on that day and he had seen a bunch of white supremacists fighting a whole lot of white people -- and, oh, by the way, our family friend, the sheriff, was a black man -- America has changed.

My Charlottesville has changed.

White America has changed.

And I think we fail to understand, if you don't understand history, even the parts that are ugly, then you can't learn from it.

Robert E. Lee was wrong, but he is a part of our story of why we are Americans.

Mm-hmm.

And I don't think people appreciate that.

And I am grateful for the totality of our story, because it's brought me here today.

And to sit here with you, and you are a part of that history.

While we are nonpartisan, I do want to emphasize the fact that you're one of the few women in the Republican Party where, as an African-American woman, they really respect you, not only because of your military service, but you bring all this diverse background -- worked in Korea, working for corporate America.

How do you continue to push forward, in terms of the future, given all of your credentials and given the very important people that you've met in your own career journey?

I see my role as I have been given so many blessings, and when I look at my life, I know that God has had his fingerprints all over it, and I feel a deep responsibility.

I think about my grandfather every day.

I think about the people who came before me every day, and I have a responsibility to them, because they ran as far and as fast as they could.

And it's my responsibility to pass that baton -- not to examine the baton, not to compare the baton, but to take the baton and run.

And I am passing that to my nieces.

And I was telling them -- I said I used to get excited about going to Philadelphia when I was their age.

I got nieces who have been to Europe twice.

We have to run the race we have been given.

I feel like I have been so privileged that it is not for me to wonder or complain about anything.

Is everything fair?

No, it's not.

Has it always been easy?

Was the Pentagon always easy for me?

No, it was not.

But I was given an opportunity.

And it's not -- And it's my opportunity.

And what am I going to do with it?

And that's all I focus on, because I have so many people in my past who did it.

And how dare I -- How dare I do anything but keep going?

There are so many young people in our society who are not just hopeless, but don't see opportunity... Mm.

...to change their socioeconomic situation.

What message would you give to young people today, particularly in communities that are underserved, those communities that are impoverished, and where hopelessness seems to be seeping back in?

I'm going to tell you something my grandfather used to tell me.

You will never rise above the company that you keep.

Mm.

It is very important that if you have a vision for yourself, that you need to find the people.

The secret of my success is not that I had everything, but I could see people that had things and had accomplished things.

And I went to them and I asked questions.

Here's a basic Comms 101 -- everyone loves talking about themselves.

You go and ask someone, "How did you get there?

What was your path?"

Ask the question, and don't be afraid.

And another thing, don't put limits on God.

You don't know who He may be sending to help you.

And that person might not look like you.

Like I said, my grandfather, the trajectory of his life, and thus my life, was because there was a Jewish doctor that came in and recognized his talent.

He could have been a janitor for his whole life, but instead he became an inventor who sold a patent to the Navy.

He became a publisher.

You know, most people don't know that there was a time in Virginia and a time in my home state of North Carolina where Jewish physicians were barred, wouldn't let them in the medical schools.

Not only were blacks barred, but also Jews.

I think there's been an underappreciation.

And because of unappreciation, people don't advocate the historic relationship between blacks and Jews in America.

Yes.

Your grandfather certainly had testimony of how developing these relationships across racial lines, across ethnic lines is beneficial.

Absolutely.

And people don't know the "Green-Book."

They wouldn't publish it.

It was Jews who published the "Green-Book" for us.

For our audience, during segregation, African-Americans could not find a place to sleep, for hotels and travel.

That's right.

And so the "Green-Book" was an amazing publication that showed people from the South to Detroit to Chicago to New York where to stay And you know, most people don't know that the "Green-Book" was published by Jewish publishers.

Absolutely.

And I feel like people don't understand.

I've learned so much about the ethos of Judaism.

And when there is injustice, they show up.

I learned about Julius Rosenwald, and I feel like the man has haunted me because my grandfather -- The Rosenwald Schools.

The Rosenwald Schools.

And I could see, because of your research for this show, for me, there were times when my grandfather didn't go to school, and then he does.

And then his chil-- And of course, my father did.

And you can see his relatives and his brothers and sisters.

And as they get younger, they're going to school.

He appreciated those Rosenwald Schools.

And I think it's so important that we remember, every step of the way, they've been with us in this history.

And it's so important to acknowledge, because, like I said, we don't do anything, we don't achieve anything as Americans if we don't do it together.

Thank you.

That's very important history that you're reciting, that we need to recite over and over again.

I believe in repetition of truth.

Yes, sir.

You need to hear it more than one time.

And like you said, you need to pass the baton on to the next generation, but make sure they understand the baton.

That's right.

You know, it's just not a relic of the past.

So, let me ask you this question just to shift gears, because of your background in communications, because your background in public relations, community relations.

We now live in a digital age.

Mm-hmm.

Can you talk about how innovations in technology have expanded our understanding of the global community?

The thing that technology has done, it has shortened the window in which you can deal with a crisis.

So, now more than ever, you have to have principles, not politics.

What are your principles?

Because if I understand your principles, then I understand where you're going.

Politics change, things change, bills change, members change.

But what are your principles?

And because of technology, you don't have time to get to the editorial board of The New York Times.

You don't have time.

It is out there.

It is on X, it is out there.

It is on IG, and your reputation... Instantaneously.

Instantaneously, and you're gone.

need people to understand that doesn't exactly sound right.

You need people to just question a little, "I know who Dana is.

I know who Dr. Chavis is, and I see this, but there's something not right."

And if I can buy you just enough skepticism to get the truth out, then that is worth its weight in gold, because you have seen it.

Between AI, between hackers, between interference, market caps evaporate in hours over something that isn't even true.

And again, generationally, if you're 50 to 60 years old, sitting in a C-suite, you're like, "Well, what do we do?"

Sorry, you don't have time to talk to someone at The New York Times.

It's done.

That's your market cap, and your shareholders are calling.

What are you going to do about it?

So, having a proactive perspective, not being afraid to answer the questions, you lead your narrative, you tell people who they are.

You tell people who you are, straight.

People are desperate for authenticity.

As much as technology has changed, the human mind hasn't, and nor has the human heart.

That just sounds like a campaign speech.

Have you ever thought about running for elected office yourself?

You know, when I worked for Senator McCain's campaign -- John McCain.

John McCain, a great American and another great boss.

I have been truly blessed with incredible leaders.

That is a hard life.

And one thing I always admired about him is, I was with him when his campaign imploded.

I had actually written a speech for him for the floor.

It was my first time.

But what I learned is, it is really, for me, I want to make sure that the right people are representing us.

I want to make sure that the right principles are being showcased.

I want people who show the best of us.

That's why, again, I am so honored to have served in the voice of the United States military, because they are our best and brightest.

I have been on our silos, and you have 18-, 19-year-olds, and people -- and sometimes our young generation gets a bad rap.

But I can tell you that there are young people... It's important.

...who are doing great things, and they are wonderful.

And they get up every day and they think about, "How do I do better?

Not for myself, but for my nation and for people who may not appreciate me, people who don't -- who aren't thinking about me.

But I'm here because I'm committed to the principles that I must protect, that this country was founded on."

Dana White, today what gives you your greatest hope for the future?

I have two wonderful nieces who are going to do great things, and I have instilled in them the same values that my grandfather instilled in me -- to be smart, to show up, to be courageous, to be prepared, and to remember you're not entitled to anything.

My family -- My family, we used to say, "The only thing you're entitled to is to stay black and die.

That's it.

You've got to work for it."

And so I hope that I've encouraged them, and I hope that they remember that, so that they take the baton that I've had and they run as far and fast with it as they can.

Dana White, thank you so much for joining "The Chavis Chronicles."

Thank you so much for having me, Dr. Chavis.

For more information about "The Chavis Chronicles" and our guests, please visit our website at TheChavisChronicles.com.

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Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following... At Wells Fargo, we continue to look for ways to empower our customers.

We seek broad impact in our communities, and we're proud of the role we play for our customers and the US economy.

As a company, we are focused on supporting our customers and communities through housing access, small business growth, financial health, and other community needs.

Together, we want to make a tangible difference in people's lives.

Wells Fargo, the bank of doing.

American Petroleum Institute.

Our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental, and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry around the world.

Learn more at api.org/apienergyexcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to ensuring your money, health, and happiness live as long as you do.