The Audacious Journey of Dedra Tate: Triumphs and Trials in the Music Industry

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Are you ready to embark on a musical journey like no other? Brace yourselves as we illuminate the path of Dedra Tate, a music industry titan who has lent her prowess to leading labels and artists across the globe. From MCA to Motown, Biv 10 Records to Flavor Unit, Dedra's impressive repertoire is truly a testament to her resilience and creativity. We unpack her bold coming-out story, the patriarchal hurdles she surmounted, and delve into intriguing celebrity news.

The second act of our engrossing narrative delves into the intricacies of Dedra's rise to the top. Not one to shy away from challenges, Dedra's innovative strategies and relentless networking paved the way for her ascent in the music industry. But what happens when the very fabric of the industry starts to evolve? We tackle the streaming era's implications, exploring its double-edged sword - a boom for independent artists, yet a pitfall for larger labels.

In our final act, Dedra's multifaceted career further unfolds, revealing her accomplishments as an executive producer and director of special events. We touch upon her stellar work with Unlimited Contacts, her associations with esteemed organizations, and her commendable effort towards Black Health Matters. We also highlight her involvement with the Hip Hop Museum and Education Programs, and her audacious approach to success on Sanya On-Air. Prepare to be inspired. This is a journey through Dedra Tate's life - a testament to her audacity, her tenacity, and her unyielding commitment to her craft. Tune in!

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Episode Transcript

Sanya (00:07):
This is not a video.
When I was coming out, we hadto go outside the city.
We had to go travel, go out oftown, beat down doors.
This was the first time Billhas ever gone on this set.

Dedra (00:19):
He said here comes the token, this is not a video.
And out of my mouth I said Fyou, this is not a video.
This is my real story.

Sanya (00:36):
This is who I am.

Dedra (00:38):
I built myself off a dream without a man's help,
without a basketball player.
Particularly, the patriarchalbox says white, cisgender males
have to find for us should behow we define ourselves.
That's what they were saying onthe street.
I didn't say it.
That's what they were saying onthe street, the streets, the

(00:58):
avenues and the bulletin.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
You're now tuned into anotheramazing edition of Sanya Onay.
I'm your host, sanyaHudson-Payton, and how do I sort
of feature in every single show?
You guessed that I have anothergreat show for you, but before

(01:20):
I tell you about today's guest,I need you to do me a favor,
just a little favor.
It'll cost you $3.99.
All I need you to do issubscribe to every Sanya Onay
streaming platform.
Sanya Onay streams on Spotify,iheartradio, itunes, amazon

(01:41):
Podcast, google Podcast you nameit.
Sanya Onay is there.
Also, if you're watching thison YouTube, not only hit the
subscribe button, but also hitthe notification bell.
Just a little bell.
It looks like this.
It goes like that way everytime I upload an all new Sanya

(02:01):
Onay celebrity interview,unpacking their pivotal moments
and milestones, you'll be thefirst ones to know.
The notification bell lets youknow every time there is an all
new Sanya Onay celebrityinterview.
So today's guest Today's guestis an unsung icon by the name of

(02:24):
Deidre Tate.
Now let me tell you something.
This woman has been the powerbehind some of the world's
leading music labels.
Let me tell you about some ofthe record labels that she's
worked with and lead.

(02:44):
As a matter of fact, mca,motown Bif10 record you know
Bif10, that's with MichaelBivens of New Edition and BBD
Queen Latifah's Flavor Unit, andshe's also been a producer for

(03:04):
television and film.
A lot of times you see thesepeople in front of the cameras,
you know, singing the songs,rapping the lyrics, acting out
things and television and film.
She's that person behind them.
And those are the people thatwe don't really well, you don't.
Those are the people who aren'treally given a spotlight too

(03:27):
often.
And when the world doesn'tspotlight people, I wonder how
do they receive their flowers?
Do they want to give it tothemselves?
You know, just buy some roses,go to 1-800-FLOWERS and say from
Sanya to Sanya, is that howthis happens?
So I just wanted to make surethat Didre Tate understands that

(03:53):
we see you, boo, I see you andI want you to see her too.
So she's going to be joining usin just a few moments Before we
bring in Ms Tate.
Why don't we get into the latestcelebrity news?
This is not even on here.
Oops, she did it again.

(04:15):
Britney Spears, that is,britney Spears is back in the
news, but this time she isn'tdancing scantily clad with
knives on social media.
Oh, no, no.
She has a new book that is soonto be released and it's called
the Woman and Me.
Now, mind you, the cover of thebook.
She ain't got no shirt on her,maybe not.

(04:39):
So a part of the book.
She is talking about her ex,justin Timberlake.
She is spilling the beans, thesecrets.
She said that back in the dizzy, when they were dating and
Justin Timberlake was still thelead singer of the group in Sink

(05:00):
.
There was a time when JustinTimberlake met Genuine, the R&B
singer, riding my pony, mysaddles waiting, okay, all right
, so, anyway.
So when Justin met Genuine, heput on his black scent and he

(05:22):
started talking to Genuine using, let's say, urban vernacular,
like foshies, foshies.
So Britney was saying that hejust wanted to act black.
He wanted to be a part of theculture.
So bad, ms Britney Spears, msBritney, claudine Spears Well, I

(05:47):
don't know if Claudine is herreal name, but don't you look
like a Claudine from the SouthFried pickles and pig feet.
So Britney, claudine Spears, weknew this girl.
The community knew this.
When Justin first appeared,remember, when he had the corn

(06:08):
rolls going back and thecommunity was saying he's trying
to be black, and everyone wassaying no, he's not.
But we knew, we knew.
Why is it that it ain't a thing?
Until they say it's a thing, Idon't get it.
How many times have you spokento a person who isn't a part of

(06:33):
the black community, who isn'tblack?
Let's just say that person whoisn't black?
And when they talk to you, theytry to talk to you as if they
are part of the culture.
Let me give you a quick story.
So over the summer I went to Iwouldn't really call them
friends, we're becoming friendsLike we own some property

(06:55):
together and they invited me totheir penthouse For July 4th
weekend to see the fireworks,amazing penthouse overlooking
all of New York City.
Loved it.
They're rich, they're filthy,filthy rich.
So anyway, so me and the restof my black family go over to

(07:17):
these white people's house athome and you know I brought some
rosé from my favorite vineyardin the Hamptons and they were
serving dinner and they hadfried chicken and cornbread and

(07:38):
collard greens.
I don't eat any of that, I'mslightly pescetarian, more on
the vegetarian side.
And their daughter looked atthe plate and said, mommy, what
is this?
And the mother said that'scornbread.

(07:59):
Just try it, you'll like it.
And then they started playingsome rap music and I looked at
my daughter and she looked at melike what, what?
And the raisins and the potatosalad is going on.
And I looked at the rest of myfamily and they were like, oh,

(08:24):
I'm going to be the best.
And they felt as if the onlyway they could relate to us was
to tap into one layer of theblack experience, as if that
defined us all.
Back to Justin Timberlake.
That's what he tried to do.
He wanted to be relatableinstead of being himself, and he

(08:45):
wanted to be a person that wasas good as they feel, as if they
can go into different rooms andbe that culture.
But, darling, when we go intocertain rooms, we can't take
this off ever.
We are not allowed, even if wewanted to.
So I'm excited to hear abouteverything else that Brittany

(09:07):
Claudine Spears will berevealing, because if she is
doing anything, like JadaPinkett Smith, who just released
a book, she's going to revealall the secrets so her pockets
can go ka-ching with the booksales.
If you people don't know thisby now, I don't get it.

(09:31):
I don't get it.
I wonder if I'm ever going toget to a place where I'm just
going to share some dirty, dirtysecrets just to sell a book.
Well, they do.
That's what happens in thiscelebrity space.
Everything is so salacious andI don't get it.
And I was going to share anotherstory that I had a conversation

(09:53):
with some record labelexecutives as to how certain
music is just allowed to bepublished and why they sign
particular artists that aretrash.
I'll save that story foranother episode, but time to be

(10:13):
going to purchase the book theWoman and Me from Brittany
Claudine Spears.
I'm not interested, so let'sget back to sign your name so we
can talk about Deidre Tate forthe culture.
Okay, stay tuned.
But let me tell you, deidre,I'm really excited to have this

(10:36):
conversation with you because Ithink the world needs to see
more unsung legends and heroessuch as yourself.
You've navigated through thisindustry in such an amazing way
as a woman of color and I thinkthat it's about time that your
story is heard.
Let's start from the beginning.

(10:57):
Okay, your time at HowardUniversity.
Now we know that today, collegeis viewed a little bit
differently, sort of like a bigbusiness.
When you decided to apply andattend Howard University, was it
a decision that you knew wouldlead directly into the music
industry, or was it a decisionbased upon what your parents

(11:19):
told you to do?

Sanya (11:21):
So actually my story in the entertainment industry
started in high school.
My sister and I both had acolumn in the Amsterdam news,
which you know is the largestAfrican American publication all
four years of high school,called Tomorrow's Generation.
So we interviewed everybody,from Michael Jackson we went to
every single concert in limos.

(11:41):
We had fan mail from prisoners.
Believe me, we were.
It was crazy and you have toremember, when I graduated from
high school I was only 15, goingon 16 years old.
This is like between the agesof 12 and 16 years old.
So I knew that I wanted to majorin journalism, but because I
had already had a column in theAmsterdam news which people that

(12:03):
graduate from Howard try to geta starting position there.
That's when I decided to majorin broadcast journalism.
I only applied to two schools.
One was UCLA and one was HowardUniversity, and my parents are
both bison.
They met there, fell in love,had my sister and there was
nowhere else.
They were going to let me go.
They were like you could go toUCLA if you want to, but you'll

(12:25):
only be coming home during thesummer.

Dedra (12:28):
But you know, I don't want to just glaze over that,
because that is no small feat asa high school student to write
for the Amsterdam news.

Sanya (12:37):
Yes, how did that happen?
So my godmother, Audrey JBernard, who is close friends
with both of my parents, sheknew that we love to write and
we always went to all of theconcerts and we always threw
parties.
I have been like my entirefamily has been throwing parties
all of my life since I canremember.
So we used to promote eventsand she was like you know what
you girls should do, a columnthat you know with interesting

(13:00):
things for teenagers.
So that's why we called ittomorrow's generation.
It had our pictures on thereand actually, when I went to
Howard, every single one of myarticles is on microfiche in the
founders library.

Dedra (13:13):
Wow, yes, Wow, that's huge.
But you know what?
Every conversation that I speak, that I have with successful
people such as yourself, theyalways tap into their social
capital and how they were ableto enter rooms because of people
who knew them.
And I'm so glad that youmentioned that, because we don't

(13:34):
understand the importance of asocial capital Right and being
surrounded by like mindedindividuals.
So, okay, so high schoolwriting for the Amsterdam news,
now you're a student at HowardUniversity and you graduated.

Sanya (13:48):
Yes, Go ahead.
Yes, so I made you in broadcastjournalism because I originally
wanted to be the black BarbaraWalters.
But during the time that I wasin college they launched MTV.
It was a brand new network backthen and my father at the time
was the head of marketing andadvertising for black enterprise

(14:09):
.
So I was like, dad, do you knowanybody at MTV?
And this is what I, whenever Ispeak to people, I tell them
networking nepotism and followup.
Nepotism is a word that blackpeople do not use enough and do
not take advantage of enough.
I immediately called my dad.
I was like what context do youhave?
And he said actually one of mymentees is an account executive

(14:31):
at MTV.
So do you know?
My parents, for graduation, sentme on a vacation to Europe.
I was in Europe and traveledaround and when I came back I
had an interview lined up at MTVwith two to account executives.
Because Barbara Britain, who isthe person that was my first
mentor and my dad's mentee, shemade arrangements for me to get

(14:52):
an interview to get into the adsales department.
So that's how I got my foot inthe door and I knew I didn't
want to stay in advertisingbecause my goal was to be in the
music news and in the creativearea.
So I just kept my eye on thosepostings and I made friends with
human resources.
And when a position becameavailable in talent relations
because I had worked in ad salesI knew that every time one of

(15:13):
my bosses wanted to wine anddine, somebody take them to a
concert or people wanted tickets, you had to submit ticket
requests to do the talentrelations department.
I was like that's thedepartment I want to be in and
that's the department I made itinto.
Wow.

Dedra (15:28):
You mentioned, you know, having a mentor, yes, nepotism
these are all keys to success.
And what a lot of people don'tknow is that I've been in
education for over 20 years andfor the past I would say eight
years, it has been a primaryfocus for me to create social
capital for high school students, marginalized high school

(15:51):
students, because white peopledo it all the time.

Sanya (15:54):
Right.

Dedra (15:54):
And it is about time that we understand that that is
definitely a strategy that worksin order to get into spaces
that were never created for us.

Sanya (16:03):
Correct.

Dedra (16:04):
I mentioned that.
So when did you like?
Okay, so MTV, talk about yourexperience working at MTV.
Did you like it?
Did you hate it?

Sanya (16:12):
Yeah, so I absolutely loved it.
I was one of a handful if itwas even a handful of black
people at the time.
This was in 1984.
This is when Martha Quinn, jjJackson these are all of the the
VJs that were on there I wasworking at MTV when, when
downtown, julie Brown came toaudition, when they were doing

(16:33):
auditions for the host of ClubMTV.
So that was during the time andI ended up in talent relations.
And then my next mentor was SamKaiser, who was my boss.
He came over from AtlanticRecords and he was the head of
marketing and talent relations.
I ended up working for MTV atotal of three years, but when
he was leaving to start a labelwith Elton John called Uni

(16:54):
Records, he actually challengedthe executives at MTV to ask
them what were their plans forme, because I told you I was
like the only African Americanin that whole creative floor.
And he said that if they lethim out of his key man contract
so that he was able to hire me,that he thinks that I would have
a, you know, better opportunityof moving forward.
So they did that and he wasable to hire me because he

(17:17):
shouldn't have been able to hireanyone for a one year period
after he left the company whenhe decided to leave.

Dedra (17:23):
I'm sorry the Wi-Fi went out.
Can you repeat what you justsaid?

Sanya (17:27):
Yeah, you hear me?
Yes, you're frozen, though I'mfrozen again Now.
We're both frozen.
Oh no, I'm still moving.
You're frozen, though You'refrozen you.

Dedra (18:46):
Okay, wait, give me one second.

Sanya (18:50):
Yeah, you have to kick yourself out.
You know I produce shows onscreen.

Dedra (18:55):
That's exactly what I had to do.
I'm in this whole differentspace and we're kind of getting
used to the, to the wi-fi whichgoes in and out.
But you know what I did hearfrom when we were disconnected?
You, you were able totransition to a whole new space,
even though you were only oneof the few African Americans in

(19:19):
that space, working on MTV.
What did you do?
That made you stand out wheresomeone said I'm leaving and I'm
going to take you with me.
What did you do?

Sanya (19:28):
So I did something very specific when I was still
working in ad sales and I wasapplying for that position.
So it was the hot that's thehottest department at MTV to
work at.
So everybody and their motherand these that includes like
hundreds of privileged whiteyoung people that are straight
out of college whose parentsknow everybody that's in the

(19:48):
building already.
So what I did with myjournalism background, I created
a book called Deidre Tate andwhy and I researched my boss and
I knew that he commuted to LongIsland.
I found out everything abouthim and I wrote a little book
and put that cover on there.
I had articles that I hadwritten for the Hilltop at
Howard, all of the one sheetsthat I wrote for the salespeople
at MTV Like every single thingthat I have produced on my own

(20:12):
or for other people I put inthere.
And then I handed it to him atthe end of my interview and I
said I know you're living inLong Island and you're going to
have a long train ride, so ifthere's anything, I have an
answer for you.
I've made something for you.
And when he saw that DeidreTate and why, he was like, oh,
you're hired.

Dedra (20:26):
Wow, I love it.
And this is what I encourageyouth to do, because, once again
, I prepare them for internshipopportunities, enrichments,
expanding their social capital.
And I'm telling them wheneveryou are in the face of an
employer and you are hired,don't just do what is written
down on paper the roles andresponsibilities and the

(20:47):
expectations.
Create something different andnew and present it.
Make yourself stand out.
So I'm glad that you droppedthat gem, because a lot of
people just think that they haveto stick to the script, and I'm
so glad that you stepped out onfear and innovation and you
just made a name for yourself.
So MTV, uni.

(21:08):
What was next after that?

Sanya (21:09):
Well, while everything in my career has been like a
series of connecting the dots.
So when I was working at UNI,uni was owned by MCA Records.
We happened to be on the samefloor because UNI was like a
small boutique label within theMCA system.
But on our same floor was theMCA Records Black Music Division
.
So one day I'm riding up on theelevator and there's somebody

(21:31):
saying hold it, hold it.
So I hold the elevator and thisman looking fly comes on.
I can tell I don't know who hewas, but he gets on the elevator
and he said I said what flooryou're going to?
And he said eight.
And I said oh, some of mine,it's my first eight.
And he was like really, whereyou going?
I said I'm working at UNI andhe was like there's black people
at UNI and I said that's howthey got the name, I'm the only
one there.

(21:52):
And he busted out laughing andthen when I got off the elevator
we walked in and he was likeI'm going to come find you later
.
I had no idea it was GeraldBusby, the CEO of MCA.
So he just looked for me on thefloor, came to my office and he
was like tell me about yourself.
We just started talking and hewas like I can't believe it.

(22:12):
I am really so impressed I wasshowing him the work that I was
doing because even at UNI Icreated a little newspaper on my
own and this was back in thedays of cutting, pasting,
photocopying and thendistributing to everybody.
It was called UNI tombs.
We had like Eric B and Rock Kimwas the first rap group that I
worked with, but other than thatwe had all pop groups.
But I would cut out the littlepictures from Billboard, put the

(22:35):
chart position that we werelast week, this week, and it was
like a little Bible for everyartist that was on UNI and I
would distribute it to everysingle person on the entire
floor, which were all peoplefrom MCA.
So he was like you're the onethat's been doing those UNI
tombs.
And then, the first opportunitythat came up, he sent me on a
trip, told me that during thattrip I went to Jamaica, took

(22:56):
some of my friends.
He was like you're going to geta call around three o'clock
every single day.
Somebody's going to be on theother end to interview you and
when I came home, I wasannounced as the new Northeast
Regional Director for MCARecords.

Dedra (23:08):
Wow.
So you were ready.
Whenever the opportunity ispresented itself, you were ready
.
Where does that fearlessness?
Where does that innovativespirit?
Where does that creativity stemfrom?

Sanya (23:19):
It comes from both of my parents.
So my dad he's like the unsungmayor.
Everybody, I think, in New Yorkknows Bob Tate.
So my father not only graduatedfrom Howard with a business
degree, he was in the military.
Then he worked for amazingcorporations and he decided to
start working for BlackEnterprise and then from there

(23:40):
he was at Ebony and Jet,actually during my junior and
senior year high school, beforehe started publishing his own
magazine, which one you probablyknow of, that's still around
Black elegance.
I think they changed it to Blacknoir, but he had Black elegance
magazine, bell magazine andSpice magazine, which was like a
competitor of Right On.
My mother, on the other hand,was the flyest brainiac you

(24:02):
would ever want to meet and sheis our hidden treasure, like the
movie Hidden Treasures.
She was an IT person.
She was one of the first femalevice presidents at a bank, a
chemical bank, doing programmingwith all white men, exactly
like the movie Hidden Figures.

Dedra (24:20):
So you know, I know that some kids, when they come from a
household where both parentsare very, very successful,
sometimes they are fearful tostep into their own greatness in
fear that they won't measure upto their parents.
Did you ever experience thatfear of not being enough?

Sanya (24:37):
No, because they never put that pressure on us.
A lot of people that have thosehigh-powered corporate parents,
they put so much pressure ontheir children that they're
afraid that they're not going tomeasure up to them.
We never had that.
We traveled the world withDance Theatre Harlem.
We were creative.
We were with Dance TheatreHarlem and then another company
called the Harlem Children'sTheatre Company traveling all
over the world.

(24:58):
So we were always well-rounded.
My mother took us everywhere wewere in the Girl Scouts.
She exposed us to the theaterand then when we did the article
, you know, when we had AlColumn in the Amsterdam News, we
were exposed and around so manypeople and we were always
around celebrities because theyhad a lot of friends like no
pointer and different peoplethat would come like to out some

(25:18):
house and play like just in themiddle of the floor at their
parties, just do jam sessions.
So we were never jaded.
It's kind of like we grew up inthat fun environment and we
were always just encouraged todo what made us happy, and music
was what made me happy.

Dedra (25:34):
I love it.
You mentioned a keywordexposure.
Exposure is so important foranyone growing up.
I always encourage the youthtap into the options, because
once you tap into the optionsyou now have choices to make
your decisions on.
So I'm glad that you hadoptions as a part of your early

(25:56):
beginnings, because then youwere able to navigate into
different rooms because you hadalready been in different rooms.

Sanya (26:02):
Correct.
You have to do that and Ialways, when I speak to young
people, I always tell them Idon't care how old you are, have
a business card.
That business card can justhave if you're a student.
It should have when you'regoing to graduate.
But if you're not a student,just have your email address or
something with your social mediaso that you have something to
show that you're professionalwhen you're speaking to people

(26:24):
and greeting them, becausenetworking is like 80% of the
battle and then you have to havethe 20% has to be backup 80% is
the battle and 20% is thebackup.
Yeah, but you know thisgeneration.

Dedra (26:39):
Do you think that business cards are still
essential?

Sanya (26:44):
Absolutely.
Now it's a QR code.
I have one myself the dot card.
So when people are just likethe last card you'll ever need
and that's a great plug for thembecause they sponsored an event
that I produced but when I pullout that dot card, the young
kids are the ones that's like yo, where'd you get that?
And I'm like, if I don't haveone on me to give to them, I
tell them the order.
If they're only $20, you canput all of your information,

(27:06):
including your they're alwayscash appings, zelling, doing all
kinds of financial transactionsall of that information stored
on there with your picture.
You could design the pagehowever you want and it loads
just like a regular contact, butin like 10 times the power.

Dedra (27:21):
I'm going to do that with a few students that I work with
.
I think that that is veryinnovative, especially for this
new digital space, because whenI talk to kids they're like, oh,
nobody's carrying businesscards.
But now to introduce this newera of a business card, I think
that they would be more likelyto tap in.
Yeah.

Sanya (27:39):
And it's called the last card you'll ever need, cause you
just need one and you just letpeople scan that QR code.
There's also another free onethat I've scanned of some other
people that forgot the name ofit, but it's a QR code that you
can actually pull up on yourphone.
That's similar and it has thesame information, but I just
still like the effect of pullingout a card.

Dedra (27:58):
Right, right, right, I love it, I love it.
And then you know I may bemissing the timeline or, you
know, reorganizing it, but youalso worked with Bif 10,
entertainment with MichaelBivens.
How does that happen?

Sanya (28:13):
So remember I'm going back to connecting the dots
Jerry Busby, who became mymentor and hired me over at MCA
records.
In a year he took over Motownfrom Barry Gordy so he bought me
over to Motown with him so Iwas handling video like MTV
already had a great relationshipthere and also promotions,

(28:34):
record promotions.
So after a couple of years Iwas at Motown a total of eight
years.
But after five years because ofthe success cause you know, we
had boys to men, another bearcreation, michael just in
general, had a productioncompany where I worked with all
of those groups and helped breakthem in the number one markets.
So when they had his, when theydecided to give him his label,

(28:56):
gerald and Michael Bivensdecided that they would name me
the general manager.
So I kind of skipped over a lotof positions and create to
general manager of his boutiquelabel and we were still within
the Motown family.
So I did that for another threeyears.

Dedra (29:12):
Amazing, but I want to ask you a question just related
to the current space of themusic industry today.
So I know, like success,success today when it comes to
record sales is measured uponstreams.
We didn't have that back in theday.
Do you like how that hasevolved, how artists are now
measured based upon the streams,or do you think we should go

(29:32):
back to the old recipe?

Sanya (29:34):
So I think it's a double-edged sword, because
there are people that are nevergoing to get the opportunity to
get that record deal at a majorlabel, so all they have is the
streams and their ownmarketability and then putting
themselves out there and gettingthe likes and the shares and
everything that's needed to makeother people see what they're
not seeing.
Then, on the other hand, ifyou're at a label and you are

(29:57):
not keeping up to speed, you'regoing to drop down on the totem
pole, so it like can workagainst you, depending on if you
have a label deal or if you areindependent artists.
So I personally think thatright now the climate is best
for independent artists becausethey're able to make more money.
There's a lot of ways that theycan start monetizing even from
one record without even havingto go in debt with the record

(30:19):
label deal where they're goingto be paying all of these other
producers and studio timepromotions.
People like myself.
I used to tell Bobby Brown andall of my artists whenever they
were like I want another limo, Iwant this, okay, but you know
that's recoupable, that's theword.
You need to look up Everysingle dime I put on this credit
card because you think thatthis is all free.

(30:40):
It's all getting deducted fromevery dime that you make.
Yeah.

Dedra (30:44):
Yeah.

Sanya (30:44):
I always try to teach that to my artists too, and let
them know that they are actionslike.
You may think that you'regetting over.
You're not getting over becausethat's going to be coming out
of your check and when you getyour payment you're going to be
looking like what happened to mymoney.

Dedra (30:57):
Yeah, so did you find you know your experience working in
the music industry with all ofthose artists?
Did you find that that was aheart lesson for those artists
to learn about managing theirmoney?

Sanya (31:07):
So you know what it seems like, especially in a group
situation.
There's always that one memberthat is all about the business.
And I can tell you MichaelBivens was that person in New
Edition.
I worked with New Edition sincetheir Andy Hartbreak album.
When I first got hired at MTVthey actually I mean at MCA.
They actually announced my newposition during the holiday

(31:30):
party, which was also the AndyHartbreak album release party.
So I've been working with themsince then, still friends with
all of them to this day, andended up working closely with
Michael.
But Michael was always the onethat stayed behind that wanted
to know how do you read?
What are these charts?
What does this mean?
What does that mean?
And then Gerald poured so muchinto him, which you see in the
documentary that he has at nowthe hustle of at 617.

(31:53):
Mike Bibb got to put in a plugfor that.
He really was a sponge.
And that's the same thing withlike Nate, from Boys to Men.
There's like in a groupenvironment if you don't have
that one person, it's not goingto work out well for you and
it's not going to work out wellfor your group, because they are
the ones that are when peoplesee someone's paying attention
and reading the contracts andlike they are kind of getting it

(32:15):
.
You can't get over on thosefeet.
Right, right, right, rightentertainment business.
But it is a business ofentertainment and the business
is first.

Dedra (32:25):
That's a good statement that you made.
So you know you mentionedworking with Michael Bivens, bif
10 entertainment.
Were you surprised to receive acall that they wanted you to be
a part of his documentary at617?
What is it, Mike Bibb?
What's the name of thedocumentary?

Sanya (32:40):
It's called the Hustle of at 617, mike Bibb.
So at 617, mike Bibb is hisInstagram handle.
You know it's just his hustleRight, but I was Michael and I
were fricking frack for years.
For years he was the CEO and Iwas his number.
I was his right hand.
So you know, for all of thoseyears that I was there, we had,

(33:03):
you know, all of our artiststhat we put together on our All
For One, one For All album,which was the kickoff where we
had about 50,000 groups aboutthat in the documentary.
And then we had our firstrelease was Subway, which was a
quartet out of Chicago.
We had 702.
Of course, we recently lostIrish and previously had lost
Irish, but when I was there andwe signed them, there were four

(33:26):
members, so both of the twinswere actually in the group when
I was still at Bibb 10.

Dedra (33:31):
Wow, yeah, you mentioned the group 702.
I just had Mila on my show afew weeks ago, and Rest in Peace
, irish.
What is your fondest memoryworking with the group 702?

Sanya (33:46):
My fondest memory is flying to Las Vegas to tell them
that they were signed to Bibb10 Records.
And I went with Todd Roussa,who did A&R, and we were at
their family's house and there'slike a bunch of kids, you know
all of the kids are there.
Their parents were there, theirsister and her boyfriend or
they might have been married bythen.

(34:07):
That were their managers at thetime and I think that was the
greatest thing actually goingout and letting them know that
they had a record deal.

Dedra (34:14):
Wow, I love it.
I love it when people get joy,giving joy to other people.

Sanya (34:20):
Absolutely.
I think that's why people don'tdo it enough.
I do it all the time.
If I see something on socialmedia that I'm like, oh my God,
that's fly.
I'll share it immediately.
Or I'll make my own entire postabout it and then big them up
and tag them and tell people toshare it, because it's not
always great to tut your ownhorn and people.

(34:41):
They don't want to do that, soit's great when other people
share it and help you celebrateyourself.
Wow.

Dedra (34:47):
You know now, it explains why you're so successful.
I mean, you have all theingredients that don't even.
It's not even led byselfishness.
It's all in service ofsomething or someone else.

Sanya (35:00):
Yeah, service is key, yeah.

Dedra (35:02):
When you enter life in service, I find that those are
the most successful people thatI want to be around.
But let's talk about you arealso the general manager of
Queen Latifah's flavor unit.
Talk about that.

Sanya (35:17):
Yeah, so I would.
While I was running Biv10, asgeneral manager Gerald signed
Queen Latifah to Motown, so Itold you we were all in the same
building so I would always seeLatifah and Shaquem, her partner
, and then we would.
I was always at all of the NBAAll-Star games.
So I think I had a monopoly fora good 10 years straight with

(35:38):
my artist singing the nationalanthem, no matter what label I
was.
And it was because of myrelationships, because I have
really strong relationships.
The name of my independentcompany is actually called
Unlimited Contacts Inc.
Which I hijacked from my dad,but that's what I have unlimited
contacts and their contactsthat are strong and that have
stood the test of time.
So one of my BFFs, leah Wilcox.

(36:02):
She's the head of play andtalent relations at the NBA for
years.
So I always had differentpeople that were performing
there.
So one time I had another BearCreation out there, michael
Boyce-Tamen.
Boyce-tamen was going to besinging the national anthem and
I ran into Shaquem in front ofthe hotel and I was giving out
like CD singles of another BearCreation's new single or

(36:22):
something and he was like Ireally like your style, you out
here hustling, and I wasn't evenout there with another Bear
Creation.
I was there with Boyce-Tamen butI was still promoting all of my
groups.
So he just always rememberedthat.
And then he called me likemaybe a year or two later and it
just so happened that I wasgetting ready to have to
relocate to California almostfull time for Biv10.

(36:46):
I was basically living out at ahotel there because I had just
bought an apartment and I wasengaged so I really didn't want
to move to the West Coast.
So that opportunity, when theyasked me to be the president and
general manager of Flavor Unitand that I would have the
opportunity to work not onlywith record labels but with
management and helping themtransition from management into

(37:07):
records, that was an opportunitythat I could not pass up and I
was able to stay on the EastCoast.

Dedra (37:13):
Was there ever any opportunity that you had to give
a hard no to?

Sanya (37:19):
Yes, yes, yes, that's been more recent.
That comes back to all money'snot good money, exactly.
But you know that people try tooffer me money and no, I'm
going to pass, or theirreputation if it's not a person
that has a really goodreputation, because I also do my

(37:41):
research.
So you know, fool me once butyou're not going to fool me
twice.
And you may have fooled otherpeople, but my degree is in
broadcast journalism,investigative reporting, so I'm
a find out and do my researchbefore I even go there.

Dedra (37:53):
Okay, you're not a journalist.
Like a Porsche from thehousewise.

Sanya (38:02):
When I want to find something out, I'm going to find
it out.

Dedra (38:06):
I love it.
But you know, when you build upsuch a repertoire, a resume
that you have, you have theprivilege now of saying no and
you know people have to work toget to that point and I love
that.
We tapped into, you know, likea condensed version of your

(38:27):
timeline, but it really justshowed the evolution, like I
said, of you, the unsung hero.
You also dabbled in film aswell, correct?

Sanya (38:36):
Yes, and that started back to connect the dots.
While I was at Flavor Unit thecompany shifted when Latifah got
a call to be in the movieChicago, so that kind of first.
She was in a film called LivingOut Loud with Catherine.
Sada Jones actually sent a hugething with like 100 roses to
the office begging her to take arole.
And so she did that movie.

(38:58):
And then she started singingjazz.
She was a jazz singer in thatmovie.
So we ended up shifting anddoing an entire album of cover
songs.
So we went.
We had to put our whole the unitproject, which all of these new
groups that we had just signed.
They were all rap artists butwe were piggybacking all of them
off of Latifah to get them intoradio, you know, to get

(39:18):
airplayed, to take them into therecord pools, because people
are not just going to take awhole bunch of new artists.
So we had to shift the focusactually of the whole company
because of Latifah's success infilm.
And then it just shifted and westarted Flavor Unit Television
in film and the first thing thatwe did was produce the Vibe
Awards.
That was one of the firstthings.
We partnered with Vibe Magazineand CBS with Jack Sussman at

(39:43):
the time and I was thesupervising producer for that.
So that's how I started doingTV.
And then, because of the successof that, I really started
meeting a lot of directors and Ifell in love with this one
director, jerry Lamoff, who hada project that was a passion
project called Blackout.
At the same time, shaquem wasgetting ready to start producing

(40:04):
a comedy called the Cookout.
So I met with him and I toldhim that I wanted to produce
Blackout underneath Flavor UnitTelevision and Film, and I also
wanted to sign Jerry to FlavorUnit Management.
So he said that he wasn'tinterested in doing dramas.
So I restructured my deal and Iwas able to give Flavor Unit a
first ride of refusal so I couldstill work there.

(40:26):
And then I also was able tomanage Jerry.
That's when I started UnlimitedContacts and I was also able to
go raise $1.2 million toproduce Blackout, which starred
Jeffrey Wright, zoe Saldana,melvin Van Peeples.
It was an amazing all-starensemble and it was just a great
first entree into the world ofindependent producing.

Dedra (40:48):
The audacity of you to be so bold, to be so no, seriously
to be so bold and to be sofearless in a space that wasn't
really created for Black women.
Was it hard being in spacesthat were initially built for
White men?
Was it ever a time where therewas an uncomfortable situation

(41:10):
where you had to really showyour presence as a Black woman?

Sanya (41:14):
So I think it's not even just White men, because you know
the most segregatedcorporations are music companies
.
There's a completely separateBlack music division than there
is the regular pop division.
The pop division gets all ofthe money.
So that's a whole other battlethat you don't even get to until
you reach a certain level.
So in my instance it was moreof the Black men and men in

(41:38):
general that were the onesgetting the promotions and, you
know, moving far ahead than mostof the women in the industry.
But I think I was reallyfortunate because I had some
great mentors that were verypowerful and whenever I sought a
position I was able to get thatposition.
So I think I moved up and I wasable to be in those rooms

(41:59):
because I was really like one ofthe fellas.
Any of the guys in the industryyou talked to they know I was
hanging in the outspots.
I could drink them under thetable, all of that stuff, and
still get up and get my recordsplayed in the morning, wow.
So we had to go as a promotionperson.
You had to be up for themorning show and you had to be
up till Vaughn Harper, the quietstorm, then take him up to

(42:22):
Harlem after I was spotted.
Hang out up there, right, soit's not time to get in the
shower, throw your clothes onand start it all over again.
So you know, as long as youwere able to do your job and you
had great relationships, Ithink that that, coupled with
having great mentors that hadpositions of power, is what kept
me out of feeling that I wasever being passed over, because

(42:45):
it actually worked in my favor.

Dedra (42:47):
Got it.
Got to stay connected to theright people.

Sanya (42:50):
You have to have allies.
You have to have allies, youhave to have mentees and you
have to have somebody that youlook up to.
That you can still learn from.

Dedra (42:58):
So true, so true.
So you know what I'm thinkingof is your name was in rooms
even when you weren't in thoserooms.
Once again, it speaks magnitudeto your audacity.
So print music, tv and film.

(43:19):
What's the first love?

Sanya (43:22):
My first love.
If I had millions of dollars ofdisposable income, I would make
movies all day.
Really I would.
What type of movies would youmake?
Independent films, allindependent films.
I would find those directorsthat have those passionate
stories that are untold.
They are unsung heroes andthat's why I go to all of the

(43:43):
film festivals and that's reallysomething that I enjoy, because
you can tell your own storywithout a filter.
Yeah, anytime you go to a moviecompany.
So I wouldn't even want to bethe president of a major studio.
Too much pressure.
You have to chop up people'sstories.
We've been there, done that.
When I was managing Jerry, wehad a project that was called
Kidnap that we started out withLionsgate.

(44:04):
Luckily, we were able to getmultiple checks because they
loved the script.
We thought they were going toshoot it, but then they did a
deal, I think, with LL, and theystarted producing all of those
projects.
Then, after LL, was Tyler Perry, so then it was a wrap, because
now they had all of theircontent that they needed.
But in the meantime we had gonethrough four rewrites with
different writers.

(44:24):
Jerry was no longer the writer,but that's why I also mentor and
speak to a lot of youngfilmmakers and tell them that
they need to keep their nameattached to their project in
every area possible.
You need to be the writer, youneed to be trying to be the
producer.
Tell them you want to direct,you make as many connections and
as many tentacles as possible,because if you do go into a
major company they're going tostart cutting away at those

(44:47):
tentacles and you want to beattached to something.
So even if they bring inanother writer, it's going to
have to say original story byblah blah, blah and your name is
going to be on there and youare going to be associated
forever with your project, aslong as you make sure that you
stay into time and you come upwith the creative ideas.

Dedra (45:05):
That's another gem.
So if you had that disposableincome where you could create
films let's assume righttomorrow you are about to create
some content for the big screenbecause you want to fill a void
, what void in the film industrywould you fill?

Sanya (45:26):
So I am a huge, huge horror fan.
I also like tear jerkers, butnot love stories, but tear
jerkers that are reallyemotional.
I love comedies.
I actually love every type offilm, so I think I would produce
across the gamut.
As long as it had a connectionwith the audience and if it
connects with me, I would wantto make it Got it.

Dedra (45:49):
So it was a no brainer that it's not even the
culmination of who you are, butwhere you are currently in this
space.
You know your own company,unlimited Contacts, the years of
building your social capital,allotting yourself with
like-minded individuals.
Now you have the contacts.

(46:09):
Talk about Unlimited Contactsand what it does.

Sanya (46:13):
So Unlimited Contacts is actually I've had my company, so
it was originally.
It is my dad's company name,right?
So I started publishing.
He was under Unlimited Contacts.
But then, when I was going tostart managing Jerry and
producing films on my own, I wastrying to think of a company
name and all I kept thinkingabout is Unlimited Contacts,
because that's really who I amand what I have and it's an

(46:36):
extension of being Bob Tate'sbaby girl.
So I was like dad.
I called my lawyer up and hetold me that I can register
Unlimited Contacts in New Jersey.
He didn't have it worldwide.
So I was like, would you mindif I use the company name too,
if I could get my own federal IDnumber?
And he was like no problem.
So that's what we did.
So we actually still partner ona lot of events.

(46:58):
So we both are UnlimitedContacts but we have different
federal ID numbers.
So underneath that banner Iproduce TV, film and events.
So I started doing events andthis goes back to another type
of networking.
I'm a member of Jack and Jillof America and I'm also a member
of the Lynx Incorporated.
So one of my Jack and Jillsisters and one of my Lynx

(47:21):
sisters became my number oneclients when I was doing
consulting and that wasproducing their events, and from
that I now actually am theexecutive producer and director
of special events for BlackHealth Matters, producing some
of the largest health summitsacross the country and virtually
.
So all of that came fromconnections and it's all still

(47:42):
underneath my wheelhouse and weinvolve celebrities, we have
many concerts, I mean, and I'mable to utilize all of my
contacts, so I love it.

Dedra (47:51):
Wow, wow.
I am in awe of everything,because I love to see us in
positions of influence, ofchange, of creativity, of
audacity, and you've managed totap into all of those important
pillars and people.
Looking at you, I'm hoping thatthey walk away with some huge

(48:14):
takeaways, because everythingthat you said was so
inspirational and so aspiringfor anyone, even myself.
Black Health Matters and youmentioned that briefly is one of
the events that you produce,and Black Health Matters is very
, very important and dear for me.
Talk about that specific eventand the purpose of it.

Sanya (48:38):
So Black Health Matters is actually the largest
communications company for BlackHealth and Information.
They started out with thewebsite.
Their website has, I think,200,000 pages of content on
every type of disease state.
And when I came on boardRosalind, who is one of my link
sisters, rosalind Young-Dandelshe founded Black Health Matters

(49:00):
in 2012, which is one yearbefore Black Lives Matters.
So people that think that BlackHealth Matters was modeled
after that that is not the case.
She had already.
Her company was in existencefor a year.
She started it as a result ofthe Affordable Care Act and was
so excited that Black peoplewere going to be able to have an
opportunity to get medicalinsurance and coverage.
But they didn't really know howto navigate the system.

(49:22):
So that's when she startedBlackHealthMatterscom and from
that grew the events.
So she brought me intoproducing an event right before
quarantine.
It was going to be a hugehealth summit and expo at the
Riverside Church in Harlem andthat's when COVID hit.
So we quickly did a quick pivotand we learned about a company

(49:42):
called VFairs.
I studied and trained withVFairs for three months to learn
how to produce these hugevirtual events.
I'm actually going to be aguest speaker for an event as a
success story of Black HealthMatters relationship with their
virtual platform.
But the team's based in Dubaiand so the time difference
didn't even matter.
I would wake up at 4 o'clock inthe morning and I would learn.

(50:04):
I learned how to build the wholeback end of the system, how to
do the front, and then westarted bringing in community
partners.
I started out doing everythingby myself.
I now have a team of six peoplethat work on my events team,
and BlackHealth Matters has nowgrown from four people to over
30 people in five differentstates, and we produced events
all over the country.
We even did a global summitthat was in London, which was

(50:30):
virtual, and now we're justbranching out and we're now
doing.
I'm leaving on Wednesday to goto the National Panhellenic
Conference to produce two eventsfor them.
Those are called Super Weekends.
That's when we partner with onepharma company and we focus on
one disease state.
This one's going to be hearthealth.
So we have a dinner that wecurate with all of the health
leaders and the heads of thefraternities and sororities.

(50:53):
We bring in all of the topdoctors from that area and
hospital systems and then we dodinner with a conversation about
heart health in our communities, and then we follow it up with
a huge summit the next day.

Dedra (51:05):
I love it.
You know, as you were talking,I'm just like you are always in
service of others, helping themsoar.
Who helps you soar?

Sanya (51:15):
My family, my family, and then I have a lot of very, very
, very, very, very spiritual.
So I wake up, I have my prayer,both they go with me everywhere
.
I wake up praying that my eyesare open and I give thanks and I
think that because I'm thankfuland grateful and humble, I
really just want to be able tolove my family, make sure we all

(51:38):
are good, pray for everybody'shealth, and then they support me
with everything that I needFrom day one being in this
business.
I was not married until I waslike 35 years old because I was
an absolute worker holler.
But when I did have my son, Iwas like 37.
And I was at the peak of mycareer and traveling.
So my mom came and moved in soshe could take care of my son

(52:00):
while I traveled.
I have always had the bestsupport system and they always
just lift me up and make surethat I stay grounded and that
I'm the same Diedra from theBronx when I grew up, when I was
little, before we moved toManhattan.
Oh, you're from the Bronx, Iabsolutely am from the Bronx of
875 Morrison Avenue in Soundview.

(52:22):
That's where we grew up until Iwas going into the seventh
grade and then it was likesomebody put the hood over our
head and knocked us out andmoved us to 79th Street, between
Columbus and Amsterdam, in adoorman building.
Oh, you thought what hashappened.
We couldn't believe it.
There was no more black people.

Dedra (52:41):
Yeah, you went from black to black.

Sanya (52:43):
Oh my gosh, we had doorman.
We were like what in the worldhappened, and my parents did it
while we were away at summercamp.
When we came home, we no longerlived in the Bronx Wow.
But I have always maintainedand connected with my people in
the Bronx.
I still have my best friendsfrom kindergarten, first grade,
second grade, fifth grade.
We are all still thick as these, and I'm also on the advisory

(53:07):
board for the Universal Hip HopMuseum that's coming up in the
Bronx in 2024.

Dedra (53:12):
Yes, I did want to mention that and I'm so glad
that you reminded me, because weare definitely celebrating and
just overwhelmed in a good waywith the 50th anniversary of hip
hop.
So the museum in the SouthBronx you said is scheduled to
open in 2024?
.

Sanya (53:27):
Yes, it was slowed down a little bit because of COVID, so
originally we were supposed tobe opening in 2022.
Then, when we saw thateverything was shut down and it
was hard to get parts and buildit out, that's when we came up
with the idea for the pop-up.
So that was just closedrecently.
So the original concept for thepop-up was going to be a

(53:48):
two-year plan and every sixmonths we were changed to the
next decade of hip hop with whatwas featured inside the museum.
So it's now called the Hip HopMuseum.
It's been rebranded from theUniversal Hip Hop Museum and so
that is thhmorg.
You can go there and seeamazing things.
We actually have an activationgoing on right now that's
traveling around the countrywhere people can see what

(54:10):
they're going to be in store forwhen they come to the museum.

Dedra (54:13):
So when the museum opens, where will it be located in the
Bronx?

Sanya (54:16):
It's right at Bronx Point , across from the Bronx Point
market, yeah, yeah, yeah, whichis further down from Yankee
Stadium and it's the anchor of anew housing development that is
a combination of luxury andlow-income housing.

Dedra (54:32):
That area is changing honey.

Sanya (54:34):
Yeah, and they just did the ribbon cutting last week.
Nice For the departments, andthat's Rocky Buchano.
He's our executive director andchief leader.
He has led this vision for many, many years and it's just an
honor to be on the team that'shelping bring it to fruition.

Dedra (54:53):
Nice, nice, nice.
Well, just so you know my workwith schools, I'm primarily
based out of the Bronx, eventhough I don't live in the Bronx
.
But just looking at readingscores, math scores and where
they land, I said they needadditional support and
additional help and resources.
So I'm here in service as wellin the Bronx, yeah, so which

(55:13):
school are you at?
On the campus of John F Kennedy.

Sanya (55:17):
Oh, ok, that's one of a couple of my friends went to
John F Kennedy.
Really, I'm actually part of abook called Women Behind the Mic
.
We have an entire program thatis tailored for schools.
We've been to several otherhigh schools in the Manhattan
area and we actually come inwith a program to teach them
about different opportunities inthe music industry.
They can set up internships,mentorship, everything.

(55:41):
So you should definitelycontact me about that.

Dedra (55:43):
Yes, I definitely will Like.

Sanya (55:45):
I'm having an information session tomorrow when we bring
some of the featured artists, sothe book features 22 unsung
sheroes of the music industrythat help develop and make a lot
of the household names.
People know stars but youwouldn't know their names.
So that's why LeJoyce Bookshireand Michelle Joyce came up with
this concept for this book.

(56:06):
They featured 22 women.
They're getting ready to haveanother installment of it, but
we do traveling tours and webring everything right to you.

Dedra (56:15):
I'm definitely going to reach out to you after this to
see how we can introduce you toour school, because what I'm now
challenging one particularschool is to really address the
deficit and boys of colorapplying for enrichment
opportunities.
That is a conversation thathasn't been addressed.
I'm going to address it becauseI'm the known disruptor.

Sanya (56:38):
Yeah, I think you have to be, or everybody needs that
little bit of disruptor.
Stuff's just not going to getdone.

Dedra (56:45):
It just won't get done.
This has been an amazing night.
Prior to having a conversationwith you right now, I ended a
conversation with the legendaryMelba Moore.

Sanya (56:57):
Oh yeah, Didn't she just get a star?

Dedra (57:00):
Yes, she did For the one on the same yeah.
She did and she attributed toKat Williams.
So I love to speak to legendssuch as Melba Moore, such as
yourself, unsung heroes that theworld just needs to really,
really know about, people behindthe mic, behind the stage, such
as yourself, who really pushedartists to the forefront, but

(57:22):
you're the reason for theirsuccess.

Sanya (57:24):
But with Melba Moore.
She actually was in front ofthe mic, but she still was.
She still was the person thatfound and discovered all of
those artists that were on her.
I'm really good friends withMelissa Morgan and several other
artists and producers thatworked for their label and I
know what a force she was inbringing all of that to fruition
.

Dedra (57:41):
Yes, and just hearing her story about how she lost
everything and came back, so I'mfull.
I'm full.
Her conversation, yourconversation.
I can't wait until I launchboth of your conversations
because everyone needs to hearfrom the both of you what's up
next for you, deidre?

Sanya (58:00):
So right now I am getting ready for Usher.
I'm going to finally take alittle vacation and go to Vegas
and catch one of his last shows.
Right now I'm talking about thePiki Palmer.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
I am just so looking forward tohaving some downtime because I
just realized that I still havelike six vacation days with

(58:21):
Black Health Matters that I needto take by the end of the year.
So I was like, oh, and I waslike I'm going to go see Usher,
so I just took that whole trip.
I'm looking forward to thedowntime so that I could
re-energize, because theNational Panelinic Conference is
the last big event that I'mproducing this year for Black
Health Matters and at the top ofthe year we'll be starting back
up again.

Dedra (58:41):
Love it, love it.
So all of the work that you'vedone.
What legacy do you want toleave the world with?

Sanya (58:50):
So I think I want to leave a legacy that the way you
show up and the way that youtreat people is the way that
you'll end up being or havingthe legacy that you want, which
is to have been a view withrespect, known for helping
people, known for giving peopleopportunities, known for not

(59:12):
just giving them the opportunitybut nurturing them through the
process and always being therefor them, having long-lasting
relationships and connections,because that's really important,
because a lot of people canmake a connection and then burn
a bridge in the same day.
So I think that the fact that Ihave my best friends since I was
a little girl but I also amstill friends with every single

(59:34):
artist that I have ever workedwith I can get them on the phone
, I go see them Still evenanother band creation who were
little boys I go see them andhang out with them.
We're drinking shots now when Igo out and play.
They grow them and I still seethem as little boys, but they
grow them with kids and families.
But that's the type of personthat I pride myself in being,
and I also have helped a lot ofpeople, hired a lot of people

(59:57):
and meant a lot of people.
So that's really what's mostimportant, all while maintaining
a strong family bond.

Dedra (01:00:03):
I love it Absolutely.
Love, love, love, love, love.
I'm full Show over damn it,love it.
Ha ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha.
Deidra, I'm telling you I'mgoing to be in touch so we can
talk about your program.

Sanya (01:00:17):
Definitely definitely do that, because we have a whole
curriculum.

Dedra (01:00:21):
Good.

Sanya (01:00:22):
Yeah, good, good, good.
I'll continue with LeJoyce andMichelle and you will be in
capable hands and they will hookit up.
We could be in the Bronx in notime.

Dedra (01:00:30):
You got it.
It's already a done deal,deidra.
You keep being the person thatyou are the audacity, the
boldness, the courageousness,the fearlessness and the beauty.
Thank you so much for blessingthis space and continue
blessings to you, my sister,because you are absolutely

(01:00:52):
amazing.

Sanya (01:00:53):
Thank you, sonia.
It's been wonderful and I wantto shout out my girl, cordelia,
for hooking the door.
Yeah, Cordelia always makes bighappen, oh okay, I'm like where
are we making big happen today?
She's actually about to get abig award.
I'll be there to support herfor that as well.
I'm not surprised.
And she has a movie that justgot accepted into a film
festival, into the ManhattanFilm Festival her first

(01:01:14):
documentary.
So I'm so proud of her.

Dedra (01:01:16):
About the LGBTQ community is it?

Sanya (01:01:18):
It's actually about her family dealing with COVID.
Oh yes, she has the trailer upnow.
It's really something I didn'tsee that.

Dedra (01:01:28):
I'm going to take a look at it, and I also wanted to talk
to you offline too, just aboutthe Black Health Matters,
because I'm headed to SupremeCourt before 2024, suing two
major hospitals here in New YorkCity for the negligent
treatment of my mom, and that'show she and that's how she died,

(01:01:48):
so I'm on my way to SupremeCourt.
The case was Wow.

Sanya (01:01:53):
So I wish you luck and sorry to hear that.

Dedra (01:01:55):
Thank you so much.
I'm a disruptor and I lovedwhen you spoke about Black
Health Matters, because wematter.

Sanya (01:02:02):
Yep, we have to do.

Dedra (01:02:04):
And we step into these hospitals, when we step into
these doctor's offices, theyneed to understand that we are
human too.

Sanya (01:02:12):
Yeah, so Black Health Equity is something that is
super important, and also beingknowledgeable about all of the
things that can affect AfricanAmericans that we don't even
know about.
So go to blackhealthmatterscom,click on there and look up rare
diseases, lupus, everythingthat affects us, some stuff I
had never even heard of.
Yeah, like multiple myeloma.
I had never heard of multiplemyeloma.

(01:02:34):
Now I'm completely familiarwith it.
Hattr, amyloid doses these arethings that affect African
Americans at an alarming rateand there are ways to treat them
and people that are not lookinglike us.
When you go in their offices,they don't even know to look for
that.
So if you have a doctor that'stelling you they can't tell you
what's the matter, you need tobe able to look up some of those
symptoms.
Go to Black Health Matters,make yourself knowledgeable and

(01:02:56):
attend our summits.
Watch the videos.
Everything is out there onlinefor free.

Dedra (01:03:02):
There we go More information, additional
resources, tap into it, people.
This has been a conversationworth sharing with everyone.
Deidra, once again, thank youso much and continue blessings.
Thank you, have a good one.
Okay, bye-bye.
Omg, when I told you all thatthis was going to be a powerful
conversation, did I lie?

(01:03:22):
But did I lie to you?
Did I lie Once again?
The evolution of an unsung hero, deidra Tate.
We mentioned, or we ran througha condensed timeline of her
history.
Who, in the Bejezies, is a highschool student writing for the

(01:03:45):
Amsterdam News?
If you don't know about theAmsterdam News, it was based out
of Harlem in New York City,right off of 125th Street in
Amsterdam.
You better research it becausethat was hard.
I remember when I wrote myfirst book and I would go to the
Amsterdam News just looking forwrite-up, some sort of coverage

(01:04:06):
.
It was very, very, very, verydifficult so to know that she
was still in high school, and itwas all because of her social
capital, her social network andnepotism.
Her father was in the industry,knew certain individuals, put
her in the right rooms, she gotinto the rooms and she didn't

(01:04:28):
rely upon her father.
She was innovative.
She had the audacity to be bold, to not stick to the paper that
said here are your roles andresponsibilities.
She said I am a black girl, oneof few, how can I stand out?

(01:04:48):
And she did things theunconventional way.
I think that, when it comes tothe black experience, we always
have to be unconventional.
We cannot subscribe to thestrategies, the steps, the
blueprint that is outlined andgiven to us because it ain't for
us.
So have the audacity to befearless, to be bold.

(01:05:13):
Every single conversation, everysingle celebrity guest that I
bring to you on Saanje on Airhas a high level of audacity, a
high level of boldness, anelimination of fear.
So please tap into that,because you are worthy.
And that's what I have to say.

(01:05:35):
I'm full, I'm done, I'm goinghome.
Okay, this has been anotheramazing edition of Saanje on Air
.
Make sure that you subscribe,make sure that you hit the
notification button if you arewatching this on YouTube, and
I'll see you again for moreSaanje on Air celebrity
interviews unpacking theirpivotal moments and milestones.

(01:05:56):
Take care Smoochies, dolls,background music, playing, 흐흐.