CTRL THE NARRATIVE

UC has a problem. Six years after eliminating the SAT and ACT to look progressive, math grades are failing across the system. Three thousand faculty are demanding the test back. One regent said voting to drop it was a mistake. But here's what nobody's talking about: the data shows UC is doing fine by most metrics. So what's the real story?In this deep dive, Tonya McKenzie breaks down what happens when institutions control the narrative without controlling the outcome. Why did elite schools bring the SAT back while UC is stuck in political theater? Who actually benefits from a test-optional admissions process? And why are working-class families the ones paying the price?This isn't about the SAT. It's about power, narrative control, and which students actually get heard.If you don't control the narrative, the streets will and it will not be in your favor.CTRL THE NARRATIVE on Substackhttps://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com/Join the YouTube membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29DL9XdZwmhHms7-2HlaGQ/joinWant help building YOUR speaking platform? The CTRL the Mic program takes you from invisible to influential in 8 weeks: https://share.hsforms.com/1jy8RVHoLStS-1cmHgIBvTg1hcfcFollow Tonya McKenzie on Instagram: @TonyaMcKenziePR#CTRLtheNarrative #HigherEducation #SATDebate #StudentSuccess #NarrativeControl #EquityInEducation #UniversityCalifornia #CrisisCommunications #BrandStrategy #EducationJustice #StudentAthletes #UniversityAdmissionsSubscribe to the CTRL the Narrative Newsletter: https://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5164451187916800

UC has a problem. Six years after eliminating the SAT to look progressive, math grades are failing across the system. Three thousand faculty are demanding the test back. One regent said voting to drop it was a mistake. But here's what nobody's talking about: the data shows UC is doing fine by most metrics. So what's the real story?

In this deep dive, Tonya McKenzie breaks down what happens when institutions control the narrative without controlling the outcome. Why did elite schools bring the SAT back while UC is stuck in political theater? Who actually benefits from a test-free admissions process? And why are working-class families the ones paying the price?

This isn't about the SAT. It's about power, narrative control, and which students actually get heard.

If you don't control the narrative, the streets will and it will not be in your favor.

Subscribe to CTRL THE NARRATIVE on Substack

https://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com/

Join the YouTube membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29DL9XdZwmhHms7-2HlaGQ/join

Want help building YOUR speaking platform? The CTRL the Mic program takes you from invisible to influential in 8 weeks: https://share.hsforms.com/1jy8RVHoLStS-1cmHgIBvTg1hcfc

Follow Tonya McKenzie on Instagram: @TonyaMcKenziePR

#CTRLtheNarrative #HigherEducation #SATDebate #StudentSuccess #NarrativeControl #EquityInEducation #UniversityCalifornia #CrisisCommunications #BrandStrategy #EducationJustice #StudentAthletes #UniversityAdmissions

Less than 1% of commercial pilots in America are Black women. Captain Nia Gilliam is one of them, and on September 11, 2001, she was in the co-pilot's seat on the runway at Newark Airport, cleared for takeoff as smoke rose off the Twin Towers.On this episode of CTRL the Narrative, Captain Gilliam joins Tonya McKenzie to talk about her new memoir, Cleared for Takeoff, covering her path from a Chicago childhood inspired by Bessie Coleman to becoming the first pregnant pilot at her airline, a postpartum depression fight, and the full reinvention that followed when flying stopped feeling like the whole answer.Captain Gilliam co-founded Sisters of the Skies, the nonprofit growing the pipeline of Black women pilots in the US. She has been featured by CBS News, the Essence Disruptors Series, and Marie Claire.Order Cleared for Takeoff: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/799075/cleared-for-takeoff-by-captain-nia-gilliam/Subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss an episode. Drop a comment. And for the deeper dive, head to Substack: tonyamckenziepr.substack.com✨ Ready to stand out, speak up, and show up? Subscribe + hit 🔔. It’s time to CTRL THE NARRATIVE.SUBSCRIBE: https://substack.com/@tonyamckenziepr SandAndShores.com | @TonyaMcKenziePR on socials | [email protected] #CTRLTheNarrative #CTRLtheMic CTRLtheRoom #TonyaMcKenzie #Communications #Leadership #Storytelling #PublicRelations #SportsMedia #WomenInAviation #BlackWomenInLeadership #CrisisAndReinvention

Erika Bryant spent 20 years producing transformation for television: Iyanla Fix My Life, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Real Housewives of Atlanta. She's conducted more than 20,000 interviews and directed her first film, Always Lady London. This year, she turned the camera on herself.On this episode of CTRL the Narrative, Erika joins me to talk about her new book, Doing It Scared in Love & Relationships, drops September 9 as her 50th birthday gift to herself. We get into fawning, the addiction to giving, why receiving is the hardest skill for powerhouse women, and why she refuses to call herself a relationship expert. This is testimony, not theory.If you don't CTRL the narrative, the streets will, and it won't be in your favor.ORDER Doing It Scared in Love & Relationships https://square.link/u/6g3Cvy7hCONNECT WITH ERIKA BRYANT Instagram: @ebryant22 Iron Orchid Media: ironorchidmedia.orgCONNECT WITH TONYA MCKENZIE

Substack: CTRL the Narrative Instagram: @tonyamckenziepr

Website: sandandshores.com#CTRLtheNarrative #DoingItScared #ErikaBryant #EmmyNominated #BlackAuthors #SelfLove #LoveandMarriage #[email protected] #CTRLTheNarrative #CTRLtheMic CTRLtheRoom #TonyaMcKenzie #Communications #Leadership #Storytelling #PublicRelations #SportsMedia

This week Tonya McKenzie breaks down the 5 biggest narrative battles from the weekend: The Athletic's investigation into Dianna Russini and Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, the SEC's lawsuit against Lane Kiffin and LSU over ex-NFL players, Trump's pre-blame midterm strategy, the Chainsmokers' crisis communications failure after 14 fans were hospitalized in San Jose, and Pablo Torre's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into the LA Clippers salary cap scandal.

If you work in PR, crisis communications, sports media, politics, or brand strategy, this episode is your Monday briefing.

🔗 8-Week Speaker & Media Training: https://share.hsforms.com/1jy8RVHoLStS-1cmHgIBvTg1hcfc

🌐 https://sandandshores.com💻 Subscribe to CTRL the Narrative on Substack

#CrisisComms #PRStrategy #SportsMedia #NarrativeControl #CTRLtheNarrative #MediaTraining #NFL #Midterms2026 #Chainsmokers #LaneKiffin #DiannaRussini #PabloTorre #Clippers #TonyaMcKenzie

As a former FBI Special Agent, President Obama's first nominee to lead the TSA, and Deputy Director of California's Office of Homeland Security, Dr. Erroll G. Southers witnessed American counterterrorism and national security from the inside. Now, in his new book Inside the Castle Walls: An American Journey Through Espionage, Counterterrorism and Government, he's telling the story that matters.

On this episode of CTRL THE NARRATIVE, we're going deep on:

• What he saw that made him write this book
• Why national security professionals are worried right now
• The real cost of ignoring constitutional principles in government
• What's missing from the public conversation on counterterrorism
• How trust in institutions gets broken (and if it can be fixed)

Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote the foreword. And he's ready to talk.

Order the book and follow Dr. Southers: InsideTheCastleWalls.com

Subscribe to CTRL the Narrative Newsletter on Substack: https://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com/

#NationalSecurity #CounterTerrorism #FBI #Government #Espionage #Leadership #CTRL

When a self-proclaimed minister teaches men to be financial providers while his own wife alleges domestic violence behind closed doors, that's not relationship wisdom. That's a grift.This is the story of Yahdan Yada, the Atlanta-based wellness influencer whose public persona as a generous, providing husband collided with private allegations of abuse. We're breaking down the narrative manipulation, the theology of entitlement, and why influencers who build empires on their personal lives are always one truth away from collapse.Welcome to 🚨 GRIFTER ALERT 🚨. A new series where we call out the creators, coaches, and alternative-facts folks who sell one story and live another.SUBSCRIBE to the channel and drop a comment below. Tell me who the next GRIFTER is. Who's the Influencer, Pastor, Doctor, Coach, or content creator you see right through?CTRL the Narrative on Substack: https://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com/I'm the Chief CTRLer.

Follow Tonya McKenzie on Instagram @TonyaMcKenziePRSand & Shores: www.sandandshores.comContact: [email protected] you don't control the narrative, the streets will. And not in your favor.Subscribe to the CTRL the Narrative Newsletter: https://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5164451187916800

Hip hop turned 53 this year, and author, rapper, and Master of Divinity student Cellus Hamilton says it was never "just music." On this episode of CTRL the Narrative, we dig into his new book, Let My People Flow: Hip Hop and the Black Prophetic Tradition, which features an introduction from Dr. Michael Eric Dyson.

We talk about the direct line from Scripture and the songs of enslaved Africans, through blues and gospel, into modern rap. We break down the cypher as a truth-telling space, the connections between hip hop and the Psalms and the prophets, and why faith and Black music have never actually been separate.

Guest: Cellus Hamilton

Book: Let My People Flow: Hip Hop and the Black Prophetic Tradition

Website: https://cellushamilton.com/home

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cellushamilton/?hl=en

Subscribe for more.

Comment your take.

Full written breakdown on Substack: https://tonyamckenziepr.substack.com

Stephen A. Smith Got Called Out by NABJ for His Pattern of Disparaging Black Women. His Response? Attack the Organization Instead of Reflecting.

Tonya McKenzie, Chief CTRLer and 20-year communications strategist, breaks down what his reaction actually reveals about his character, his leadership, and why this is a masterclass in NOT controlling your narrative.

When your own community holds up a mirror, you have two choices. Reflect or fight back. Stephen A. chose wrong. And the cost of that choice is way higher than he thinks.

Watch the full breakdown of ego over accountability, strategy over substance, and what real narrative control actually looks like.

Subscribe for weekly breakdowns of media, narrative, and the power dynamics nobody else is talking about. And join us over on Substack for the deeper strategic analysis.

Subscribe: CTRL the Narrative on Substack

The SAVE plan is dead, PAYE and ICR are on the clock, and the government just capped what parents and grad students can borrow. On this episode of CTRL the Narrative, The Student Loan Doctor joins Tonya McKenzie to break down the July 1, 2026 student loan overhaul, what it means for your monthly payment, your PSLF timeline, and the mistake that is about to cost thousands of borrowers real money.

Subscribe to CTRL the Narrative for weekly episodes on media, money, and the moments that shape your reputation. Read the deeper dive on Substack: CTRL the Narrative — tonyamckenziepr.substack.com

#StudentLoans #PSLF #StudentLoanForgiveness #CTRLtheNarrative #SandAndShores #ParentPLUS #StudentLoanDoctor