Jessie. Thank you very much. So happy to see you out this evening on our 11th annual poetry recital here at Baby Watt and Branch Library. We are going to have an excellent show tonight. There are many talented poets in our audience and we cannot hear some of the, cannot wait to hear some of the talent that we have. Some of the people who will be speaking our spoken word tonight. I'd like to introduce Larry Ware who has been our host for the last 11 years. He is also an advocate for the Baby Branch and helps get many things here for us in this community at this branch and I'm so thankful to have him as part of our community and he's also a very well-known local poet in his own right. He'll do some poetry tonight as well. So please without any further ado welcome Larry Ware. Thank you very much for the wonderful introduction there Linda. Linda, let's give her a great round of applause. She's doing such a wonderful job here in a staff. And also let's give our cameraman Dave. He does a wonderful job as well. And before we get in the program it is a customary that we pay tribute to those who are not here this evening to share this moment with us and we wish those who are shut in and sick well and I'd like to make a special dedication to a good friend of mine of over 30 years. Henry Clark the former California Heavyweight Champion who passed away just recently and we sent our condolences to his family and we're going to get the program underway right now and I would like to introduce our this is going to be a spectacular night I can feel it. Our first poet is going to be Patrick. Let's give Patrick Johnson a great round of applause. Good evening everybody. First poem I like to do is called spiritual resurrection. I close my ears to all external sound and listen to a voice within. I was amazed by what I didn't hear anymore. Outside criticism no longer interfere with my thoughts or affected my senses. People who sat in judgment of me became silent observers. Yes I sat and listened to the voice within my soul. Thus it dawned on me that peace must come from within. Yes the fear of what others would people think or how they would react was of no consequence to me. A healing process had begun which gave me a new sense of awareness. Inner peace, self-acceptance and a conscious free of guilt. I was important. My thoughts were important and my actions were consequential to how I viewed them. I had experienced a spiritual resurrection. My life became my own and I loved it for being so. Thank you. The next point I like to read is called do you read me over. Not long after the death sentence I had received was lifted and I was exonerated I decided a change would be necessary in order to prevent myself from being victim to the same circumstances that had impaired me before. Not allowing anything to persuade my thinking or intrude upon my concentration. The first thing I had to do is to develop my thought perception to a strongest possible degree. This would eliminate, this would enable me to block any and all irrevolent, unuseful conversation that only served to diminish my mental state of well-being. This would also shield me from unwanted pain and misery that people tend to impose upon you when they fail to communicate their thoughts properly.  I will not serve as interpreter of senseless illogical words that that's inflicted by ignorance and stupidity. You have to know what you're saying and say what you know. All be as a sigh. Be aware. All information not intelligently thought out before being transmitted will be blocked to ensure against miscommunication. All clear signals containing valuable information will be properly interpreted and be responded to in the same fashion as it is transmitted. Thus eliminating all forms of communication. Do you read me? Over. Okay our next poet is gonna be Craig Cohen Jr. Let's give him a great round of applause. I'm Craig I'm 16 and I just turned 17 a couple of days ago actually the night and my poetry today is gonna be basically around one issue and that's about tobacco because as many of you know if you look at if you go in if you this neighborhood is known for having a lot of different problems in the neighborhood and one of them is tobacco so I'm just telling you this is a whole theme of my poetry today. The first piece it's called transnational tobacco corporations. To shorten that it's TNTs and I'll use the word TNTs so I just want you to know what that means okay. All right it's like this. Tretry against the races of man and all his new sons and daughters never understood until after our deaths none can be turned aside. Ignoring our safety none can deny are these larcenist TNTs our own butchers all from our wealth all from our wealthiest clans of man creating cancerous objects to be sold to kids completely overriding righteous laws for profit I hope it should not be deemed worthy. The next one is is is named camo new ports and Philip Morris. Cancer in and amongst my people a new method of euthanasia of euthanasia of euthanization laboriously sold to Africans native sons of Africa enslaved woe to the families of smokers people's parents otolsans families one one ration of strength the heart and souls of our family. People need to help stop this infection caused by larcenist ill spreading spreading poisons people who view money over people's lives and rights ruled by IR field malignant souls whose names are Morris Reynolds and some others. This is my last one it's I kind of wrote today on a bus here because it was I kind of got inspired it's called what what I did today what I did today today I did something strange I have done something that might be illegal. I went out and put warnings on craft in the Bisco these warnings they say that tobacco is wacko that it is dangerous to kids and adults alike and that craft in the Bisco are owned by the TNT's who lie and cheat and bribe and steal all to make a really big profit.  Thank you. Okay our next port is going to be Abdul Azim. Let's give Abdul a round of applause. The name of my poem is called I am an African boy stolen from Africa. I am an African boy stolen from Africa. I wonder if I can be free from Shaitan. I hear that Shaitan is the most wicked. I see with my Lord sees. I want to touch the freedom. I am an African boy stolen from Africa. I pretend to be nice to mean people. I feel sorry for Africa. I touch freedom. I'm still a slave. I worry about mom out in the college fields. I cry when I see my people wet. I am an African boy stolen from Africa. I understand the riches of my people. I say what is my real purpose on this earth. I dream to be free. Run away. I try to run away but I get caught and then I end up getting wet. I hope I don't get caught next time. I am an African boy stolen from Africa. Let's give Abdul a round of applause. Let's give Abdul a round of applause. All right, all right. Okay. Our next poet, me and this gentleman, we go way back. It is indeed a pleasure to be here. First time celebrating this 11th anniversary with us. Let's give Bernard Williams a great round of applause. Do this little musical poem I did. I put it together about last month. I represent an infinity group founded by one of our local playwrights. You probably know Miss Mary Lee Booker. The music behind it was put together by Carolyn Joseph, who's also a local around here who does a lot of community work. So they kind of inspired me to put this little thing together and I'm going to give it a go and I hope you guys get the message. The name of this piece is Who's the Blame? We should be aware of what's destroying our brotherhood, our welfare. Kids hanging out in one corner, adults on the other. What's up with this?  Then we point the finger at them when they smoke, drink and fight and hang out all night. But you have to admit how many of us grown-ups are doing right. Let's show them that we can do better by doing less negative teaching and more positive preaching between me, between you. There's got to be something, something better, something better for us to do. Oh yeah. There's no fame in this game.  Please God help us, help us please, because we're wrong. Stop this fussing and cussing. Let's wake up, not fake up. Let's fess up and clean this mess up. People, let's use these opportunities. And save our communities. There's no fame in this game.  God please help us, help us please, because we're all the blame. Please God help, help us please, because we're all, we're all the blame. Let's give Brother Williams another great round of applause. That's all right. I like that introduction. I'm going to do one poem right now and do a later. I'd like to dedicate this to my family right now. Hard is heavy, but I'd like to dedicate this to my family. It's entitled Love is Life. Love is life and life is so very, very nice. When the atmosphere is pleasant and thoughts are peaceful, life for living is like a warm and beautiful feeling touching me, touching new.  As the wonderfulness of the day settles in, a lovely lady places a warm and very sweet kiss on my lips. My heart has been touched and blessed. This beautiful feeling created by me and you was made to be shared. Always remembering the beautiful days of summer. Love is what we make it and may it always be something beautiful dear in our hearts. Love is me touching you. Love is you touching me. Love is being in touch with each other's feelings. Love is giving, sharing, and caring. Love makes too hard singing harmony. Love makes wedding bells ring. Love brings rain to the flowers and trees and helps them grow beautiful and tall. Love is you and me and a family together. Living for the love this beautiful life has given us. Love is life. Thank you. Thank you. Our next poet is going to be, this gentleman here is a genius. I look at the artwork around here spectacular. When we first came in here last week and I looked, and the first picture that caught my eye was this one here. I'm looking like, wow, this reminds me of Harlem Renaissance. The film were back in the day and you see all the great poets from all over the world, the different centuries. This gentleman here, it is indeed a pleasure to have him as a poet this year. I would like to introduce D'Alo. Let's give D'Alo a great round of applause. I would like to do a tribute to a painting, to one of my paintings. Chinese poet, Li Bai, a 7th century Tang Dynasty poet. The 7th century of the Tang Dynasty represent China's golden age in art and literature. So here's my dedication to Li Bai. Home sickness on a quiet night. Underground before my bed is spread the bright moon. But I take it for the forest. When I wake up, it is the first sight. I look up at the bright moon in the sky as I find my head to each side. That's the Li Bai. There is one victory. I will not swallow it by any labor. So safe.  When I woke up, I looked into the dark port. A single person was seen. I missed the ball. I asked myself, what season is it? Restless. The royal chatter is in a great way. Moved by its song, I sang again to song. As the morning is there, I feel my own cup, noise in the city, waiting. And when my work is over, all my senses are gone. Poet is going to be Shani. Shani. Let's give Shani a great round of applause. I have two poems that I want to recite. The first poem is called The Eyes of the Mind. And it goes like this. The path of my mind's eye is wrapped around time. Times of growth sedated by thought. An abundance of memory creating a warm and cozy place of your own atmosphere. Only to be recalled at your convenience. The eyes of your mind replay back past times in full view and full color. As if actually seen with your eyes, but eyes become blind when mind speaks. It demands full attention from every part of you. Your mind is a gift from God, the magical mysteries of vision and memory. Giving the ability to dive in and out of time, unconfined. Mentality can lock you up and throw away the key. Well, you want to come up here?  That's it. I haven't seen this book in about a year, so I have to really like it. Okay, and this one is entitled Mentality.  They're so far away from reality. Can't even comprehend this word called morality. Anything this world has to offer, they swallow. Only in a shallow pool do they wallow. If that pool even tries to get deep, to shelter they run, then back to sleep. Sleeping hard with eyes wide open, while their spirituality remains shattered and broken. When the struggle of our people has long been forgotten, they think that the only struggle was in picking cotton. The contributions of our people, they give it no thought. On the auction block of the devil, they've been bought. Invisible shackles from head to toe. Wherever the devil leads, they will go. He makes the wrongfulness of the world seem so right. So that the mentally confused mistake him for the light. In their eyes, he is a star that shines so bright. If you even think about pulling them away, be prepared for a fight. A fight of the righteous and of the wicked. Now is not the time for you to just kick it.  Thank you. That was beautiful. Let's give her another big round of applause. Okay, our next poet is going to be this young brother. He's been on our program several times. He's a regular. Let's give a gifted young brother too. Let's give a brother Jesse Wilder a great round of applause. Let's give it up for Jesse. Good evening, y'all. I guess y'all can see him sort of like giddy, because all these black folks and white person, you know, we're all together here, you know, it's a good atmosphere. I like this. I have two, and they're both sort of somber, but you have to read more and sue them. The first one's called A Man Outside My Window. There is a man outside my window. Outside he has been, though it's 12 degrees below zero. He has an S on his chest, symbolizing the bravado of a super negro. But he cannot be a hero, you know, like the many we grow up with. Superman, Batman, God. This man stands roughshod, wrinkled in the gas. A ghost amongst the living, sifting through timelines to discover a hidden past. Through plate glass, I see his face as an hourglass. Even Steven, even Steven Wonder could see it. The life in his eyes, you'd have to see it to believe it. He's old but authentic, a bit augmented, but I can see this as intended. The storm has relented, relinquished tranquility, but his soul is stuck in struggle, almost cemented. Being close to him can't prevent this, only make life a little more bearable, make life a lot less terrible, make one's reflection in the mirror a miracle. Outside my window, there'd be a man from long ago. His hair is matted and nappy, but still able to grow. He yearns to speak, but his mouth is slow to open, and I'm hoping his words are great enough to know then I can maybe swim vast oceans of wisdom with them. He is frostbitten, his lashes stutter. They remind me of a loved lawn lover, torn between the arms of a known love, and the legs of another. Another thing has come to mind, but I shan't bother. Must not deviate from the matter at hand, the visual complacency of both the window and the man, who has yet to utter a single syllable that I should under or over stand. Yet I am fascinated to no end, smitten with the river of curiosity flowing within. He's been through hell like comprehend and words cannot begin to say all the feelings which I feel, but then explicit descriptions of him are as fleeting love letters to the wind. This gentleman, invading my very personal private space, cannot be a friend or is he thrown off guard? My defenses are weakened, beaten down to create me a sense of fragility, which before was a mystery. Before me looking be dragged and be dazzled and beyond words stands a man, unkempt, unclean yet hopelessly beautiful. Fearsly in sight, but where snowflakes fall around him, blanketing his peaceful body in a white pure and colorful, running to the window to let him inside, he disappears and I am left with doubt and frustration and anger and tears. Crying madly, sadly left with nothing more than a simple remembrance of my father, the man outside my window. Thank you. All right, this last one is called slavery fighter. Ignorance is my daughter's muse. She attacks the streets full throttle with an angst one can't diffuse. Please excuse all the ill-advised metaphors and anger I must use, yet in order to thwart the evil endeavor, I must command the language of the sad song blues. See, I fight for emancipation from slavery which still exists, so I adorn boxy myths when it's time to hit sin strips, split in lips with numerous lashes of my flaming hot tongue whip, flipping the script on all who oppress, slipping through unequal loopholes in the contract of black and white while I address the minority press and stress the significance of freeing oneself and true happiness, lest we end up freedom-lessed, suppressed and emotionless in physical arrest. Yet it is time that we come our greatest, most challenging test and I must profess that our situation as a people has seemingly become semi-hopeless, fruitless as my brother and my sister shout at their father's funeral which is surreal, for the thought of death is only a figment of the imagination. Ignorance is my daughter's muse.  I realize now that each and every being is victim to lies which blind and confound the eyes offering ignorance a reprise. It disguises its motives and strong arms its way into our lives and promises to never leave our side. So we must compete with it and destroy it and we must act promptly, intelligently, seek higher ground all the while eluding the hands of danger disrupting the follicem horrors of oppression and go on to question the power that is.  Thank you. Let's give a round of applause. Man, that's some heavy stuff.  That was great, brother Jesse. Our next poet, this gentleman, this is his first time participating in our program. Let's give Erwin L. McJunkins. Let's give him a great round of applause so he can come up and do some poetry. All right, come on, please. Thank you. I appreciate to be here this evening. I'd like to open up with a poem that I did a few years back. It's called Corinthians. I'm a poet. I come from a distant star in another realm. I come bearing a gift given to me in another place in time. I'm a poet. Playing in the sounds, magicians swirl around. Dancing on rainbows, the sun sends down. I'm a romantic metaphor, skinny dipping in the warmth of a rhapsody. A romancer whose metaphors you've heard before. And I come to you writing the crest of a comet hurled here from a distant star in another realm. I have traveled over continents of space and time through galaxies of infinity. I'm a poet. I'm a poet. I come bearing a gift given to me in another place through galaxies of infinity. Bearing only a gift given to me in another place, another time. I'm just a poet.  A cherub embracing the innocence of childish laughter. I come heralding trumpets of joy born of a voice from a distant thunder. For I carry cradled in the bosom of my heart a sacred gift. I'm just a poet. I come assault bursting on the horizon like a burning sphere cracking the dawn. I come assaulting the future. Being yet always becoming till time will have no essence. I come to you without selfish want but to share the greatness of this glorious gift nestled in the cradle of my chalice on the on the altar of my tabernacle. A gift warm as a summer's day as pure as the first breath of spring. More precious than fortunes of palace treasures. I come to you before the winds turn my mess excuse me. I come to you before this marvelous jewel is it will heal the wounds of human suffering. The pains and angony of despair will no longer prevail. The desolation of life will cease for it will bring peace and harmony to a tumultuous world. I'm only a poet. I come from a distant star in another realm. I come to you bearing a gift given to me in another place and time. I come to you before the winds turn my vessel to sand. Before my footsteps wash away in the evening of some forsaken shore. Before my journey with the inevitable midnight writer I am merely a poet.  I bring you a gift to cherish forever. I come to you like a song in the morning. Thank you. I have a song I've been wanting to sing.  Love in its glory tells a story. All ears should hear.  If only the if only the notes will come. The melody is in harmony we create. I have my style you have yours. Let's rejoice in the beauty of difference. All flowers aren't the same. They blossom in love and wither away with time. And before they blossom in love and wither away with time. So before we leave this realm let's share a moment. The footsteps we make are the steps we leave behind. And since we've got to believe in something let's believe in love. Yes humanity I have a song for you.  The definitive note is you. The melody is in harmony we create. Remember love in its glory tells a story. All ears should hear. So let's rejoice in the beauty of our difference. Spangling this lifetime like stars in the night that others might sing spring times of our song. That's pretty smooth there man. The love man. Alright Dr. Love is in the house. Alright I'm going to do one more poem and then introduce our next poets. This is a title poem to one of my plays that I wrote. Initially it was the splendor of ghetto suave expressions of a sweet rapper and I just changed it to simply sweet expressions and it goes hey there lovely lady warm beautiful sweet tender sexy sincere and all of them kind of nice things you even more to my heart lady love I've searched all of my life looking for your kind of loving tenderness this beautiful and real oh what is all this sweet love I feel I see it in your eyes I see your love looking through the windows of my world and your smile is a warm and wonderful reflection of the love that's in your heart and when I look into your eyes I find myself saying my goodness alive your lips sure look tasty I'll bet y'all very sweet lady how my chance is very good I hope I'd be proud to be your suave lot baby anytime all the time day and night then we can share the beauty and pleasure of evening walks dance strolling through the park stop under a palm tree dancing in the moonlight so we can kiss and hug and whisper sweet somethings as a warm and lovely summer breeze strums strings from the sweet strings from the tender summer leaves baby you and me together sweet melody magic as our hearts dance in celebration of the beautiful beginning of our love affair hearts touch on this lovely day sweet love smiles now let us listen to the sweet of the falling rain beautiful music to our ears sweet music for our hearts as we dance to love let me do another one because there's I mean that's inspiring to see so many young people here and I want to dedicate this to our young people this is one of my favorites it's entitled young America we need the light people of the world please listen to me I am the youth of America and as the beauty of wisdom unfolds and uses the tools of knowledge and time to begin shaping around our character and personalities let the hands of wisdom hand off the batons of knowledge as generation after generations run the eternal marathons of life let them run into the beautiful horizon spreading the righteousness of life the master plan the way the great creator meant for to be today's youth are tomorrow's leaders let them be groomed and endowed with the eternal fires of wisdom and life as it become knowledgeable with and equipped with the tools to build taking leadership roles today preparing us for tomorrow's world as they positively and constructively affect the qualities of life exerting the necessary direction leadership and guidance so that there may be a better world today and tomorrow for all of us to live in as their thoughts for progression pyramid to the sky touching the sun life source of energy as hearts of desire become inspirational sensations may the wings of life take them in the picture perfect flights as they quest for the dreams of their heart as they endeavor span the universe taking them near and far have no fear my friends for the wings of life will take your hearts and minds of interest journey beyond beyond let us not complicate life's constructed process and become a society of hybrid thinkers trying to rule the universal airways of communication true we need the super minds as the eternal fires of our love desire and inspiration in our hearts that make this world grow thank you thank you our next poet is going to be Leonville this is going to be his first time so let's give a Leonville a great round of applause there first my poem was very short and I just happened to find it but I like to set this poem up and tell you a little story my job sometimes required me to be stationary in a spot and I get a chance to observe the public and the other day I was parked out in front of the library I worked for Project Reed and I got a chance to kind of check people out going by and I happened to see what I call an elderly statesman I happened to see a giant it was a senior he was well dressed maybe six three walking down the street very gray but very distinguished looking very dignified and he had a smile on his face and he made me think about the giant men that were in my family when I was a young kid these were great big giant men who took care of us who many of us know if it weren't for them and for what they had to endure we wouldn't be here today and so looking at that giant I began to realize that we had forgotten about these giant people these men who were six feet tall but to us they looked like they were a hundred feet tall these men who got up in the morning and when it was cold it was much colder because the world that they were working in the world that they were living in these men that gave so much for us to be here today so the next time you walking down the street realize that you may have just stepped in the footprints of a giant a giant that got in here so it was very difficult finding a poem so I found something I thought caught my eye because it reminded me of a good time and a time when these giants were in my life and this is by Lucy Clifford and it's called Good Times my daddy paid the rent the insurance man is gone the lights are back on Uncle Bruce hit for a dollar straight and they is good times, good times my mama made bread grandpa come over everybody's drunk dancing in the kitchen singing and dancing oh these are good times good times, good times oh children think about the good times we're doing our green on us here our next poet is going to be Cynthia Carter Cynthia Carter in the house okay alright I'll do another poem and then we'll go round robin okay this this poem here like coming up once again seeing Dr. King's picture there and what it means to have peace as reflected in some of the earlier poetry tonight this poem was inspired out of Dr. King's vision to see not only peace here in America but peace throughout the world and for people to open their eyes their hearts and minds and develop as long best as possible despite the social and economic condition that touch us and it's entitled and I was telling brother Diallo like this looking at the pictures like look at the pictures as I recite this poem out of the midnight blue as a gentle breeze tames the turbulent winds and the pouring rain then as the rainy clouds parted upon all of the people of the world then eyes of the sky opened and gave us a beautiful day in the sun then people open their eyes with the profound respect for life then people open their hearts and gave love that filled other people's hearts with appreciation for life then people open their minds the reservoirs of wisdom and poured golden knowledge into the mainstream of society as hearts of love and rhythm with life get ready to set sail just as ships of friendship will sail carrying the cargo of love, trust unity, brotherhood, friendship and understanding the rages and seas that mellowed down from the love touch ways tranquility and sweet serenity is the music we hear somewhere someone has said and done something beautiful I've touched upon every shore as my desire to rise to the golden heights inspiration elevated my heart and I sought above every mountain I spoke of unity for all mankind and the skies were peacefully filled in fire in rain in darkness in times of a storm in times of uncertainty I know that there'll be sunshine because somewhere someone has said and done something beautiful thank you I've got Gil Scott Herron over here now let's get Gil Scott Herron back up here again brother Jesse Wiley brother Jesse come back up and do some poetry let's give him a great round of applause I don't want to get on you guys nerves and whatnot but I would do one but I really want to share that's okay with you guys the first is it's called Sentiments yeah to your queen a tasty wonderful delightful avrodesiac of life and love with romantic interludes hidden in between these are my sentiments exactly these are my expressions of desire need and much sought after emotional bliss kiss with intellectual thought provoking terminology full of spirituality really these are my sentiments hopeful romance filled visions of mirth joyful and contemplative words wealthy with the riches of innocence sentiments mine fondly tuned instruments of virtue and imagination galore picture perfect classical arrangements of subjects and predicates designed to expose I to all yes these sentiments are mine they are divine and meaningful elevated thought higher than heaven's plateaus of forever synonymous with beauty and strength and spiritual hearts my sentiments are exactly like God's because I am a God within a God within God and God is love above every other sentiment man may discover really my sentiments are respectful yet sometimes impatient impractical statements of a lover there are other sentiments like the many I hold they are bold interpretations of the magic which I possess and must control I seek to nurture self in order that I may nurture how I feel yet my thoughts are true or true or true really my sentiments are for real my sentiments exactly and uh finally I wanted something by it's not mine it's by this cat named Malik Yousef from Chicago um and it's called uh Trouble Won't Last but I'm saying here I am say line and praying that I am laying something hot cause baby it's cold outside and even when it's not baby shorty's ask me what the deal is now listen so they mom in them cause they know what they talking about like real is I say what shorty desire be what real is and when I first came to her I was still wet behind the ears so I was just the name to her I heard older castley claim to her and say they spit game to her if they never put a name to her so I call her desire like so many street calls that I did for for promises little brothers did this for and little sister sacrificed their heads for even street wise vets wind up dead for see she will attempt to straight pimp you you'll scream freak the world but soon go limp too she proclaims that my steve was way off the rack I had style but it was the catty I am lack with the gangsta white walls and a diamond in the back I asked her was she white or black she said neither one or somewhere in between plus she was mean and had been seen in places where cats got big faces has made some trade in freestyles for free bases I knew that my best friend was meddling but I continued peddling but I got arrested before I got rich trying to make some scratch like a trigger finger that itch she told me she called me an ambulance if I ever called her a witch I tried to be online but the matrix had a major glitch she said my style could never switch I was her nigger for life she said I probably but they could pronounce us man and wife told the script I attempted to flip flop flip flop and the back was known in the back seats thank you thank you brother rap let's give our brother jesse a great round of applause enjoy your young brother rap our next poet is going to be this is her first time participating with us so let's give her a warm welcome Bernie Sanders is going to come up and do some poetry so let's give it up for her I didn't really write it out most of my poetry is unwritten because it keeps rewriting itself I always know the title and it just keeps rewriting itself and it changes with time and I came to the conclusion that I know I don't write alone thoughts come and thoughts just go and I don't perpetuate the thought at all so I know I don't I don't write along one of my favorite title is how deep the silence and I chose that for tonight because it is one of the things that really launched me out like a star from another place and I feel just like that and I believe we're all stars and we are all stars from another place but how deep the silence you know no noise until you have depth with silence silence will teach you what you think you may never have heard there is no silence in silence silence has all the information there is and until it becomes your teacher and it does select you you do not select it how deep the silence within silence will come answers to all of your questions and questions that you have never even asked how deep the silence within silence come many many of those that have gone before my approach to Christ was did you really die did you really leave us with all the sorrow every year to go through every year to rebirth your death and in the silence I heard maybe I did and maybe I didn't but all you know is what you've been presented with how deep the silence and I ask God do you have brothers and sisters did you ever cry do you ever get tired hearing our problems how deep the silence and the response was I am all there is and you are all I am because we are many nothing exists until something has gone before and before it includes everything that is in silence within silence you will hear and feel with your body and with your eyes you need to know words to hear sound and Stevie Wonder can attest to that believe me with no words you can hear light with no words you can hear color you need no words to hear anything that exists with no words you can walk and never be hit by anything how deep the silence because within silence once you have been gripped in silence you will know there is no such thing as no noise because in silence the biggest noise will come and you may never ever want to go into it again once you ever get out of it because how deep the silence is everything you ever wanted to know the other one I will do and it is just the title because it always writes itself and it is just called fear nothing because within fear F E A R there is the word ear E A R and within the ear you hear everything there is nothing to fear when there is fear turn around and go right into it and once you embrace it you will do a dance that you have never done before there is nothing to fear because within fear is the ear and with your ear you hear everything and everything there is to hear will make who you are so whenever you fear turn around and face it and merge with it because there is nothing to fear alright let's give her a round of applause brother Bernard Williams he is going to come up and do another poem for us let's give him a great round of applause I just had this little short poem I was just fumbling through my bag and I had this one little poem this short poem and it's called looking for love I got up this morning looking for love I looked up I looked down I looked all around moments later with no luck I began to frown then I thought what good would that do to turn this smile upside down when you came by I began to focus on you your company was good but still that didn't do when you left you blew like a cold wind then I thought to myself just like love from the heart love comes from within brother Williams break off another temptation walk yeah a little temptation walk here tonight brother brother Patrick Johnson on coming do some more poetry so let's give it up for the Patrick alright I wrote this poem while looking at the woman that raised me and having watched her age over the years and I said boy I bet she sighed a lot when she looked back on some of her memories and some of the people and some of the good times she was born around the turn of the century so I could only imagine what what some of the thoughts may be I wrote this poem and it's called long oh how I longed for yesterday the days of way back when life was carefree fun was around to be had most of which turned out to be sin oh how I yearn for those yester years when I was just a kid I could almost smell the food on the stove who's left that could season or fry a chop like dear old mom did oh how well I can remember going fishing with dad's old cane pole walking back home carrying my catch boy that was some fishing hole yes those days may long be gone but for me they'll always be there to sit and look back on to look back on when I sit and stare I sigh when I long that's long I like to do one more since everyone's doing these love poems I guess I'll do one too it was the the first poem that I did was actually a love poem it was called star of my life the heavens are filled with millions of stars how will I know which star you are is my star near or is my star far how will I know which star you are I feel the warmth of your rays shining on my soul will I find you my star before I grow old oh star of my life will you twinkle and give me a clue or must I spend my lifetime in search of you although you are far I know you are there to see you my star is all that I care to see you my star and to know you exist for the first time we meet we shall share a kiss oh star of my life will you twinkle and give me a clue oh star of my life I live just for you thank you everyone our next poet is going to be uh Luther Vandross uh Luther in my house uh our next poet is going to be uh Sonny uh Sonny's going to come up and do some more poetry and bring down a file down I'm just going to read this one this is um this is called conscience call this is one of the first poems that I wrote it's and here it goes it's this is your conscience calling you I've been trying to reach you but I haven't been able to I don't know but it seems like you've been avoiding me I realize that you have an extremely busy schedule and haven't been able to get in touch with me but I was hoping that you could take out a little time to hear what I have to say first and up most you know I have always been here and will always be there for you I can show you ways that you can instantly become at peace with yourself you can travel to places unconceived by the naked eye visit ancient kingdoms sit in the lap of the comfort of your ancestors the keys are in the pocket of your soul take them out and use them you may use them to their fullest capacity me being your close friend I have always tried to help keep you out of situations doomed for a disaster by penetrating the truth through your mind I will never stand back and watch you destroy yourself that is a promise that I shall keep you indefinitely when your thoughts are clean and clear I feel rejuvenated and refreshed when your thoughts are unclear and unclean I get irritated and can get very bothersome I get irritated and can get very bothersome I just want you to keep in mind that I care a lot about you and I want you to be the best that you can be what have you got to lose it doesn't cost anything remember that I am always here when you need me I'll talk to you again later goodbye as you know this my little son is kind of getting on my conscience right now so let me go back okay our next sport is gonna be brother Erwin L. Johnkins he's gonna come up and do a couple more points for you so let's give him another great round of applause again it's good to be back it's good to be backy this is called Wailing on the Wawa when the Wawa wails west in on ritual rhythms for a soul celebration west winds blow east and the Duke brings his keys along with a quarter of conjuremen to sit in a set you know the kings Curtis and Coltrane Satchmo, Louis and Lee and Jimmy the dead don't die they just rest a while and Ebo princesses dance around the blood of chickens to tams and bones while Emojo goddess caresses the air with a poem and we boogie bojangles on the downbeat when the Wawa wails bluesy notes fall like dew drops of dino singing the difference of dream days and somewhere on a ghetto hill mangled in the middle of a city screaming Buddy and Belinda take time from the pains of society citizenship to see how many sapphires make up a night counting the diamonds it holds and for a while and for a while the whispers of honeydew are softly unspoken after all isn't that what this thing called life is all about and we boogie bojangles on the downbeat the Wawa wails when babies scream from rickets and rat bites from bullets ripping through the guts of youngbloods dancing in the streets from youngsters going into old zones when serpents shoot venom into their veins pacifying their will to live it wails words of hope to men and women hex out behind iron bars for preaching the gospel according to liberty it wails over the body of fallen comrades hoping they did not die in vain but the alpha and omega stands as a mainstay symbol of faith for us to keep on keeping on and we boogie bojangles on the downbeat it wasn't finished I'm sorry when wisdom wails on the Wawa nations of men will rise to the cry while chrysler cries crisis through winds of a guru the true poets will see their work come to bear fruit when voices sing the truth of their prophecies and deaf ears will hear them for people will see truth as knowledge and freedom will blow in the winds and it will touch the lips of all tongues and will boogie bojangles on the downbeat yeah when the Wawa wails wisdom the tar baby will no longer be a Dutch treat and diplomatic thieves will run babbling in the streets and chrysler will cry for by their sorceries all nations were deceived but the deception of these serpents will prevail no longer the truth the evil that lurks within their souls will fall cause wisdom will be well in the hearts and minds of men and women when merchants lose their greatness for they were the power and glory excuse me I'm sorry but when wise men wail the Wawa will be a merger of new nations of crosses with stars and crescents Shango, Dambala and Buddha are united in the mansions of my father's house peace will be on the horizon crescendoing love throughout the land then the pharaohs will abdicate their thrones and will boogie bojangles on the downbeat can I read one more this is called my wish for 2000 I'm not a thug I'm a poet I'm a homeboy of San Francisco I was born in Hunters Point raised in the in the fulmore and Lakeview now I'm living in Lakeview I was raised on fried chicken black eyed peas collard greens red on some weekends we piled into the old Buick and went to a a restaurant in Chinatown I watched my parents go through the I watched my parents go through the tumble dry times of a marriage the 40's 50's and 60's weren't easy years for an African-American family my daddy put in his years as a chipper at the naval shipyard my mother worked for the shipyard and retired as a worker for the naval shipyard for the naval post office like I said the 40's 50's and 60's weren't easy years for a black man and woman trying to raise a family trying to make it in this fair city of the Golden Gate my parents raised my parents raised us five kids at 1244 Oakdale Building 22 Section E four girls and a boy I also have two more brothers in Bescogee, Oklahoma I remember exclaiming with pride the joy of admiration that I had a big brother this is when junior came to see the family after getting out of the army we in fact had a small army of our own my mother and father loved us with a special kind of love I remember my mother holding me in our arms as a baby she called me Mr as a child we worked together on community projects in the 60's she gave me my first collection of Shakespeare in a Webster's dictionary she wanted her son to be somebody I remember in the evening after work my father would sit my father would sit in the big chair and sing gospel hymns out the window I'd sit between his legs and we'd watch baseball games and Jackie Gleason one Sunday while the girls were playing my father sat me on a stool and taught me the whispers of frying chicken but like I said those weren't easy years for a black man and woman they loved each other they loved us but they fought during those times it was hard for a black man and woman to love each other to during that time it was hard for a black man and woman to talk to each other the first time I saw a grown man cry was when my mother left my father she loved him but she couldn't stand for him he hit her I'm telling you I'm not a thug I'm a poet I've graduated from high school and graduated with a and graduated with a bachelor's degree and yes I've performed on the stages of this fair city as an actor I've had I've had I've had I've had epileptic seizures that kicked the shit out of me memory wise but my only wish in life is to love and be loved if there's junk in that well then too bad I've got a song in my heart and rhythm in my soul I've I've lived in apartments and third rate hotel rooms with a writer's block and considering suicide with fear as my best buddy I've been I've been the butt of some new wave joke but I'm telling you now I'm not a thug I'm a poet like Martin Luther King I too have a dream I would like to be internet smart act play music and write and write poetry and plays and direct and direct plays I would like to have my master's degree and be and be business smart in the community no I'm not perfect but tell me in the in the realm of humanity is there such a thing as perfection let's give it up a round of applause and once again thank you for coming out this evening and celebrating our 11th annual Bayview Annie Wadden Poetry Cytals celebrating our national poetry month and once again it's a pleasure to be your host again and we'd like to thank our cameraman Dave for doing a wonderful job we'd like to thank Linda Bricks-Burden for such a wonderful job and I would like all of the poets to come up here and I'd like to personally thank you all Bernard Williams Abdulazim Sonny Craig Cohen Junior Patrick Johnson Jesse Wiley Diallo Leonville Ernielle McJunkins Jesse Wiley Precious gotcha again thank you again until we meet again next year thank you and good evening alright thank you for all coming out there's food and refreshments


Being an entrepreneur can be tedious and tiring because of the many activities involved. To excel in entrepreneurship, you need to be versatile and be able to manage resources and to communicate with your staff, prospective clients and existing clients. The lack of the ability to stay organized and adequately manage time is one reason why many entrepreneurs do not last in business. Thanks to technology, many applications have been created to reduce the stress encountered in entrepreneurship. In this video, I will be showing you 9 of these applications which every entrepreneur should have on their phones. If you are an entrepreneur or an ambitious person, we specially invite you to join our motivational channel which was designed to give you daily inspiration so that you will have the strength to pursue and achieve your most important dreams. We call this channel Hunt TV and you can join in the description box. 1. Evernote This excellent application was initially developed primarily as a note-taking application but over the years it has evolved into an essential app that does not only allow note-taking but also allows organizing, managing and archiving tasks. It was designed by Evernote Corporations whose headquarters is Redwood City, California. Evernote will enable you to type text, draw, scan photographs and export web contents. As an entrepreneur, trying to juggle all activities can be tiring. Nonetheless, Evernote makes organizing easier with its great features such as note-taking, checklist, voice notes, attachments, saving online resources, web clipping, creating tables, setting reminders, syncing, sharing and recovering deleted notes. 2. Mint This is a free online personal finance application that offers a variety of financial planning and tracking tools. Mint was developed by Intuit to help people to budget track transactions, make categorization and remember bills. To get started with Mint, you have to sign up and connect your financial accounts to the Mint account. With Mint, entrepreneurs can easily track their credit cards, the loans and investments. It is easy to use the software with navigations such as overview, bills, budgets, transactions, reports, goals, investments and various ways to save. With the aid of categorization, the application automatically designs budget categories to operations as they come in. There is also a feature that allows you to roll unspent or overspent funds over to the next month. In addition to the budgeting function, it's the goal-setting aspect that enables you to set either a short or long-term goal. Lastly, the investment feature shows you a graphical and easy to understand report of your portfolio. Indeed, this application is loaded to make entrepreneurs' financial activities easy. 3. Fast budget This is an application that helps you keep your personal, family and business finances in check. Fast budget application has an overview page that is customizable and enables you to visualize your flow of money at a glance. This application allows you to create and modify your account and impute your credit cards which can use over 90 different currencies. The fast budget calendar helps to keep track of day-to-day profits made and also money spent. It's customized charts summarize compact information to aid easy view and allow reminder setting of repetitive transactions when required. The fast budget application operates on a free premium model and is available on Android, iOS and the web app. 4. Calendly It is well known how hard it can be trying to set up a meeting with a colleague. Calendly comes to play and helps let you schedule meetings without having to send emails back and forth. It is free online software that helps in scheduling appointments quite quickly and also allows you to invite others to access your schedule through your Calendly links. As an entrepreneur, Calendly makes it simpler for you to set up at heart meetings and for your employees or clients to get access to you. It also has the feature that allows you to view your event settings as well as edit them. You can furthermore view other upcoming events and the iOS enables you to receive messages and notifications as regards your scheduled activities. This application has various subscription plans. There's the free basic plan, the premium at $8 and the pro one at $12 and the application is currently available on iOS. 5. Todoist This is like most task management applications only that unlike the others, it enables you to see concrete progress and productivity. As growth continues you receive Todoist's calmer points which in turn unlock eight available levels. Though it doesn't seem to offer much more than a small gratifying view, it can be a source of motivation.  It also makes essential information available to others. Todoist has a free version, a premium version at $3 and the business plan which costs $5. Todoist is available on Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and as well as web browser extensions. 6. WhatsApp Business Over the years, WhatsApp has grown to be one of the world's most used messaging applications in over 104 countries of the world. WhatsApp business started in January 2019 with a small business owner in mind. This application makes communication with customers comfortable but its features such as automating, sorting and quickly replying messages. The business application allows you to list important information about your company and a catalogue where you can showcase your goods and services. It also shows statistics about when messages were sent, delivered and read and offers messaging tools that allow you to send customized messages and responses to customers. A dimensions data study revealed that 56% of customers would instead message customer service than speak to them on the phone. Successful businesses understand that for them to be exceptional they have to be on the platforms that their customers prefer, one of which is WhatsApp Messenger. WhatsApp also allows the transfer of visual and written documents and both voice and video calls. 7. Jandi Jandi is a cloud-based enterprise communication and collaboration application which offers group chats and messaging for teams in a workplace. It also aids cooperative file management and quick search for files and messages, messages and data encrypted and stored as AWS to ensure that every data is safe. Jandi allows for integrations with work apps such as Dropbox, Trello, GitHub, G Suite and Jira for workflows to be smooth across the team. The application makes communication, file sharing and quick feedback comfortable without the use of emails. Jandi is similar to Slack. However, Jandi is a cheaper choice at $5 compared to Slack's $6.67. It likewise has a cracked version. Jandi has been made available on the web, Windows, Mac, Android and iOS and is working with over 200,000 companies in Asia and across the globe. 8. Wave The Wave application offers its invoicing, accounting and receipt scanning software to small business owners on the web at absolutely no cost. There are no fees, hidden charges or monthly fees for its variety of extraordinary features like unlimited income and expense tracking, capturing receipts even when offline and the ability to switch and run multiple businesses in one account. This app shows you a list of your invoice, including current statuses, which you can create, edit and delete, a list of your existing customers profiles where you can add and remove details and a list of your current products and services which you can edit. Wave also allows you to make payment setups that can enable you to send and receive money. Wave can be used on your web browser or downloaded from the Android Play Store or the iOS App Store. As an entrepreneur, the Wave application will enable you to track almost every aspect of your business. 9. Spark The main reason for the creation of this application is to make people love email again. This mobile application is essential for persons who find it hard to organize their emails. It is highly recommended for entrepreneurs as not only able to have specific emails prioritized intelligently by its system but also allows for a combined emailing experience. It has edge-cutting features such as smart notifications to reduce noise, smart inbox to show important emails first and also email superpowers to allow you to fly through the inbox and reach zero inbox. Other tools are available to enable collaboration with others. This application can be used for free or on a premium for $6.39. It is well received on the Android platform and also on the Apple platform. An iPhone, iPad, Mac and even Apple Watch. All of these applications have varying ways to help you boost your business. When you incorporate them into your business and personal life, you will be surprised how productive you will be. Your entrepreneurial journey just got easier. And just before you go, watch other videos on YouTube. If you are an entrepreneur or an ambitious person, we invite you to join our motivational channel. The objective of this channel is to give you daily inspiration so that you will have the strength to pursue and achieve your most important dreams. We call this channel Hunt TV and you can join in the description box. We love you.


Lucky's taste better. Cleaner, fresher, smoother. Lucky's taste better. Cleaner, fresher, smoother. For Lucky's strike meat, lime tobacco. Richard tasting, lime tobacco. Lucky's taste better. Cleaner, fresher, smoother. Lucky strike, lucky strike. This is Don Wilson, friends. When you buy a pack of cigarettes, are you sure they're going to be really fresh? You can be if your cigarette is Lucky Strike. And one big reason why is the carefully controlled moisture content of Lucky's fine tobacco. The makers of Lucky's know that if the tobacco is too moist, your cigarette will burn too slowly. Or if it's not moist enough, will taste dry. So Lucky's moisture content is constantly checked during every step of their manufacture. That's important, friends. Because smoking enjoyment is all a matter of taste. And the fact of the matter is, Lucky's taste better. Cleaner, fresher, smoother. Why? First of all, because they're made of fine, naturally mild, good tasting tobacco. Who doesn't know that L-S-M-M-T, Lucky Strike means fine tobacco. And then, Lucky's are made better to taste better. So friends, if you want your next cigarette and everyone after it to taste better, be happy. Go Lucky. Ask for a carton of better tasting Lucky Strike. Lucky's taste better. Cleaner, fresher, smoother. Lucky Strike. Lucky Strike. I'm starring Jack Benny with Murray Livingston, Rochester, Dennis A. Bob Crosby and yours truly, Doc. Ladies and gentlemen, around this time of the year, an annual activity takes place in homes throughout the country. Spring cleaning. As we go out to Jack Benny's home in Beverly Hills, we find Rochester busy with his chore and his friend Roy helping him with the work. You take the bottom and I'll take the top, Roy. I got it, Rochester. Where shall we carry it out in the yard? No, Mr. Benny might see it there and make us bring it back in. Let's carry it over here. Okay. There, place and burn it. Okay. Man, Mr. Benny sure hates to turn loose of his Christmas tree. How long could he keep the one from 1952? This is it. Hey, Rochester, this is the first time I've seen you since you came back from New York. Did you have a good time there? I sure envy you, going to New York, seeing Broadway with all those wonderful shows. Did you see tea and sympathy? Huh? Did you see tea and sympathy? My friend, when I go to New York, I'm not looking for either. I'll do it. Hey, Rochester, Mr. Benny's violin is on the piano. Shall I dust that too? Well, I don't know. Do you think you might drop it? Of course not. Then let me dust it. Rochester, maybe Mr. Benny doesn't play so good, but you shouldn't take it out on the violin. It might be valuable. It could be a Strativarius or a Guinerias. Do you know what kind it is? No, how can you tell? Well, the maker's name's always on the inside of the violin. You can see it by looking through these holes. Let me see. Yep, there it is. What does it say? The Tap Boys. Good morning, Rochester. Good morning, boss. Hello, Mr. Benny. Oh, hello, Roy. How'd you sleep, boss? Oh, pretty good. Is my breakfast ready yet, Rochester? I'll go fix it now. You know, I'd like something a little different this morning. I was planning something different. I'll fix you some eggs, Benedict Canyon. Rochester, you mean eggs Benedict? I mean Benedict Canyon. The grocery truck had a wreck there this morning. I'll fix you breakfast. Say, Roy, you and Rochester really have the place looking spick and span. Oh, thank you, Mr. Benny. Hmm, the front door. Excuse me, Roy. Oh, hello, Dennis. Hello, Mr. Benny. Come on in. Thank you. I came to say goodbye. I'm joining the Air Force. The Air Force? Off we go into the wild blue yonder climbing high. Look, here they come, Zooming to meet our thunder. Dennis, why this sudden decision to join the Air Force? Well, yesterday I was walking down the street and I saw one of those posters with the finger pointing at it and said, Uncle Sam needs me. Oh, he does, eh? Well, Dennis, if our armed forces are in such bad shape that Uncle Sam needs you, I'm moving to Tasmania. Now, while I'm packing, let me hear the song you're going to do on our next Sunday show. Yes, sir. With impossible schemes, you can lie and raise your honor to a hundred and five. I'm so busy that I haven't got time to compliment you on your singing, but you have without a doubt one of the finest voices that I've ever heard. Hurry up. I've got to get down to the recruiting office. Dennis, forget about enlisting. You don't have to. Now, you did your duty during the last war when you were in the service. Yeah, you're right. I put in a couple of years in the Navy. I was on a battleship for six months, a destroyer for eight months, and a submarine for three months. Dennis, I didn't know you had submarine duty. Yeah, that was exciting. Sometimes a submarine would stay submerged for days at a time. Boy, was that tough. It was? I'll say they never let me inside. Well, I'd better go now. You're turning blue again. Goodbye. If he should survive to 105, it won't be my fault. Silly kid. Most people think I don't like him, but I love when Dennis comes over. Always makes me feel so good when he leaves. Sometimes he does. I'll get it, Rochester. Hello? Hello. Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Bieny? Why, Mr. Kitzel? Mr. Kitzel, it's nice hearing from you again. What can I do for you? Nothing. This time I wanted to do something for you. I want to invite you to me and my wife's wedding and your boys' party Saturday night.  Which one is it? The 13th. Number 13. Isn't that unlucky? What was so fortunate about the other 12? Well, I'll be glad to come to your party, Mr. Kitzel. Wonderful. And Mr. Bieny, it's going to be a masquerade. Everybody is supposed to come as a famous movie star. Oh, that's a cute idea. Who are you coming as, Mr. Kitzel? William Holden. I see, because he won the Academy Award. Uh-huh. And my wife is coming as Audrey Hepburn.  No, William Holden. Well, who's going to be at the party, Mr. Kitzel? Well, let me see. There's you and me and two more of my friends, my wife and her immediate family, 60 people in all. Mr. Kitzel, your wife has that many relatives living here? No, they're coming from Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, New York, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, and Boston. All at distance, just to come to a party. Two of them are coming in from Tasmania. No. Yes, time to lay out and waving. Lay out? Well, it certainly sounds like a lot of fun, and I'll be there. Thank you very much, Mr. Kitzel. You're welcome. Goodbye. Yeah, it's a cute idea having a masquerade party, and everybody comes as a famous movie star. I wonder if it would be hammy if I came as me. Oh, well, I better go in and eat. Say that breakfast looks good, Rochester. I kept everything hot for you. Oh, that's fine. Well, I'll say goodbye now, Rochester. We're all done. That's right. Thanks for helping me, Roy. Oh, wait a minute, Roy. I'd like to give you some money for coming over and helping out. Oh, that isn't necessary, Mr. Benny. No, no, Roy, I want to give you something. What do you think is fair? Well, I don't know. Let me see. You came over here at eight this morning. It's noon now. That's four hours. What would you say to three dollars? Three dollars? Well, do you think that's fair, Rochester? No, but grab it. All right, here's five dollars, Roy. Oh, thanks. Goodbye, Mr. Benny. So long, Rochester. Rochester, I want to ask you something. What business is it of yours? How much money Roy gets? Mr. Benny, when you make as little as I do, you've got to borrow from somebody. You, not him. Me? Yeah, let's all go in the living room where the piano is. Look, Rochester, we want to surprise Mr. Benny on next Sunday's show, and we have an idea for the commercial. And we want you to sing with a quartet. You can sing, can't you? Anything but soprano. Cusing. There you are. Let's see. Oh, and shall we? One, two. I get so lonely when I dream about you. Can't do without you. That's why I dream about you. If I could only put my arms about you. To life where you were there. We'd better taste them lucky. A lucky strike is made of wine. Baby, ma. Oh, baby, ma. Oh, baby, ma. Oh, baby, ma. Now, we better be running along. So long, Rochester. Goodbye, Mr. Wilson. So long. If there are any phone calls for me, I'll be in the library. I'm going to read for a while. Yes, sir. Gee, I haven't read a good book in a long time. Look at the ones on this shelf. They've all been made into great pictures. The Cain Mutiny by Herman Wolk. The High and the Mighty by Ernest Gann. From Here to Eternity by James Jones. From Here to Tijuana by Ali Khan. See what else I have. It takes all kind by Marie Zoloteau. Oh, look, here's that new book that Frank Remly wrote about the orchestra. The Seagrams Around Us. Say, here's a new one that looks interesting. The Secrets of a Psychiatrist. I think I'll read this one. I better move that lamp over here. There we are. Now, let's see. The Secrets of a Psychiatrist. Chapter One. Excuse me, Doctor. Yes, Nurse. Mr. Jones is waiting outside to see you. Which Mr. Jones?  No, no, Doctor. The one who thinks he's a refrigerator. Oh, well, send him in. And get me my dark glasses. Every time he opens his mouth, that light inside hurts my eyes. Now, please hurry, I have a busy schedule. Yes, Doctor. You may go in now, Mr. Jones. Hello, Mr. Jones. Ah, hello, Doctor.  Yeah.  I want you to go home and sit in the corner and say to yourself, I'm a man. I'm a man. Until you're positive, you are not a refrigerator. But, Doctor, I know I'm a refrigerator. How can you be so positive? You can be sure when you're a western house. Oh, well, you certainly fooled me. With that uniform on, I thought you were General Electric. He didn't like my joke because he left my office as a musician, a drummer named Sammy. This poor fellow believed he was a Saint Bernard. He always tied a keg of brandy around his neck and went out looking for people lost in the snow. This in itself wasn't so bad. But when he found them, he would rob them and drink the brandy to celebrate. I don't understand why Sammy thought he was more like a Mexican hairless. Are there any more patients, Miss Mitchell? No, Doctor. Do you mind if I leave for the day? No, you may go. Oh, just a minute. Yes, sir. Miss Mitchell, I want you to know that you've been a great help to me. I've never gotten where I am without you. Thank you, Doctor. How long have you been with me? Seven years. And what am I paying you now? A dollar an hour in car fare. Gee, that's not good. Gee, that's not very much. It is when you consider I live in Tasmania. Which were immediately. But our wedding had to be postponed because I received an urgent call to fly to Mexico and see a patient who was badly in need of my services. I flew down their arriving late in the evening. I stopped in at a restaurant and had a dinner consisting of chili con carne, which I washed down with a big glass of tequila when I snored and set the drapes on. A few days later, he returned to me. Have you taken my advice? Sheen. You've gone horseback riding every day? Sheen.  Sheen. How do you feel now? Sore. Sore? Sheen. Obviously crazy with the heat. Are you happy, dear? Oh, yes. Just think, on Saturday, I will become Mrs. William Jackson, PhD, B-A-L-L... Darling, that's pronounced pit-bubble. We made our preparations, and I was blissfully happy. The morning before, the one suddenly the door opened. Doctor, put down that pin. Now, tell me, what seems to be your trouble? Well, my husband is away for long periods of time, and I get so lonely. Oh, baby, my... Doctor, isn't there anything you can do to help me? Well, I'm getting married at seven o'clock tonight. Oh. I'll pick you up at a quarter to eight. Doctor, what about your honeymoon, your wife? Oh, she'll make out all right. I give her a dollar an hour in car fare. Now, supposing we... Ah-ha! I thought I'd catch you here. My goodness, it's my husband. But he's wearing a uniform. I'm General Electric. The fire starts every minute of the day and night. There's no end in sight for the terrible destruction caused by these fires unless you do something about it. Here's what you can do. Check all of the electrical equipment in your home. Make certain it is safe. Don't smoke in bed. Be sure that every match, every cigarette is out before you retire for the night.  Thank you. But first, a word to cigarette smokers. 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Good afternoon again everyone. Good to have you back from your break and back for the last session of today's first academic events. So I've been a president of the Naval War College, now your Naval War College, for a little bit over a year. I have no idea where that year went. It has gone by incredibly, incredibly fast. It's also been an incredibly enjoyable year. It has been a whole lot busier than I ever thought it could have been. I came from an operational job to here, and I remember back there thinking, Newport, it's away from Washington, D.C. It's an academic institution. This is going to be nice, and the pace has been a lot, lot busier than I thought. But at the same time, the last year has afforded me an opportunity to read, and think, and discuss, and reflect to a greater level than probably almost any other time in the 30 years before I got here. And that has resulted in a truly a personal and a professional, incredibly rewarding journey for me. And what I wanted to do was to discuss with you one of the insights that I gained as a result of that journey, and that's specifically this, that there is an operational imperative. There is a warfighting imperative that we view ourselves, that we view our Navy as a profession. Now, I want to make a couple of comments before I kind of unpack that statement. The first is that the last thing in the world I want to do is kind of come across as Charlie Brown's teacher up here. Purely focused on kind of like this more abstract piece of the professional argument. But I am convinced that there are real, practical, operational implications of the concept of professionalism, and that it's not just important. It is absolutely vital that we have explicit discussions about that topic. So the second point I'd like to make before I kind of jump into it is that this discussion is, it is less about trying to correct any significant deficiency that we have today, and it's much more about setting conditions for success for the future. So our institution, our Navy, it has been largely successful, and in some cases exceedingly so. But as we've discussed in the two previous lectures, the world is changing at an increasing rate, and that VUCA acronym rings very, very true. It's clear to me that what has been successful in the past isn't necessarily going to prepare us best for the future. And so this discussion and similar discussions on leader development are, again, less about trying to fix a big hole that we've got today, but much more about looking to the future and trying to ensure that we are best prepared for the challenges of the future. And then third, I would just like to upfront, I'm going to be using the term Navy almost throughout the presentation today. In fact, for the rest of the year with y'all here, but with absolute respect for our joint counterparts and our international partners, I hope you'll be able to just translate in your own mind. When I say Navy, think your service. When I say US, think your nation, and your nation's service. Okay, so with that in mind, back to this this insight over the course of this year, again, that there is a war fighting imperative that we think, that we view, that we see ourselves as a profession. So, you know, we mentioned it earlier today, and I would imagine that a good portion of you in the audience today are familiar with the fact that over the last several years, there's been a pretty significant discussion on the topic of professionalism. Chairman Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he has been a long time proponent of this concept and has expressed his concerns over a need to renew a sense of profession across the military. And over the years, I have read multiple articles on professionalism in Joint Force Quarterly and in other professional military journals. But frankly, none of them resonated with me. I remember getting introduced to the concept of the profession of arms in a session training at the Naval Academy, but for almost my entire career, what the word professional meant, it connoted almost specifically technical or tactical competence. If we were describing someone as professional, it meant that that seal was really good at their job. They were a good operator. Or it meant that that sailor, they look sharp. They are professional sailor. It looks like they represent the Navy in a very, very good way. And when I read the Navy ethos, and I see the word professional in there, it looks just like an adjective that's just describing a sailor in the Navy ethos. So it just didn't resonate with me. But over the course of the last year here, as a result of multiple significant discussions with some really, really smart folks, some of which you have heard today. Discussions with Re-Admiral Peg Klein and her team in the Pentagon. If any of you all have worked with Admiral Klein, she's now the secretary's special advisor in military professionalism. She was put into place by Secretary Hagel and is now continuing on in that charge with Secretary Carter. But with her team and then with Joint counterparts across. And as a result of all of those discussions, I tell you there's a new sense in my mind of how important the topic of professionalism is. And I got to find out exactly where I was going to go next as it just went, yeah, here it goes. So let me walk you through kind of the key essence of that insight. And let's go to the next slide, please. So through those conversations, here is what I have come to understand. Our Navy has a dual character. It is both a military department that is organized as a bureaucracy. And at the same time, it is an organization that is recognized as a profession. And it's in this dual character that our challenge as leaders in the Navy, that's where our key challenge resides. And let me walk you through a little bit of what Martin Cook talked about earlier. So if you've had any of the academic studies on either of these two things in the past, you would probably know bureaucracies originated out of society's need for efficient routine work. And that focus on efficiency drove organizational structure that places an absolute premium on centralized command and control. Strict adherence to optimize standard operating procedures. And kind of compliance-based or rules-based behavior. Professions, on the other hand, were originated out of society's need for the expert application of specialized knowledge. And in order for that knowledge to be effectively applied on behalf of the client, professions were granted autonomy. They're granted autonomy based on trust that the profession will execute that knowledge, exercise judgment, and exercise that knowledge consistent with the shared values with the ethic of that profession. So this dual character of the Navy is very, very important. The strengths and the attributes of both the bureaucracy and the profession are absolutely necessary for the Navy to execute the wide variety of tasks that it has to across the globe every single day. But as leaders in the Navy, it's our challenge to ensure that the overarching characteristic is and remains that of the profession. And here's why. A bureaucratic organization will not succeed on the battlefield. Only a professional organization will excite. And one more. So as we've been talking, the operational environment, so from a Navy context, that operational environment on the water, below the water in the air, the operational environment, it is volatile, complex, dominated by ambiguity and uncertainty. And so success in this kind of an environment, it requires so much more than simple tactical competence. It requires that competence to be employed with great, it's not the right word, judiciousness, it requires judicious employment of that tactical competence and it requires it to be executed in a decentralized manner. Next build. At all levels, tactically, operationally, and strategically. And the key enabler of the decentralized employment of that expert knowledge is trust. Next slide. Trust left and right within the military formations, trust up and down the military formations, and trust between the military and the nation and the civilian leadership in which it serves. Next slide. Trust is largely absent from a bureaucracy. In fact, bureaucracies are designed to operate effectively in low trust environments. But trust is the central characteristic of a profession. So next build and next build. Trust in a profession is built upon each member's core identity being associated with that of the profession, and each member's actions being guided by that ethics that is shared across the profession. So there's an operational imperative to thinking, to seeing, to being a profession because only it will provide an identity that engenders the trust that is necessary to succeed in a complex operational environment. Next slide. Thanks. Thanks. So this updated concept of professionalism has significantly improved my thinking about ethics. So I don't know what your experience has been, but over the years, especially as a military member, I was always a bit confused when we started talking about ethics. I didn't know if we were kind of going back to, I went to a parochial school when I was growing up, and I didn't know if we were going back to notions of right and wrong, as studied back in parochial school. I didn't know when we talked about ethics, if we were focusing in on kind of the sometimes mysterious branch of philosophy known as ethics. Or most recently, whether we were referring to that annual training and that list of dos and don'ts standards of government, standards of conduct for government employees. So it was always a bit confusing for me. I now see ethics through the lens of professionalism as members of the maritime profession of arms. So our ethic now becomes simply that body of guidance that steers our actions. It includes not only laws, regulations, and policies, but also our Navy's values, our culture, and our aspirations. Our ethic guides us to always act in a manner that is consistent with the profession's values, and as a result, it reinforces trust within the profession. Our ethic, next slide, guides us to also always act in a manner that supports the value of the nation and the civilian leadership that we serve. And as a result, it enhances the trust between the military and that leadership and our nation. In a complex world, our ethic helps us to understand not only what we can or what we must do, but more importantly what we should do, and does so always from a perspective of enhancing trust, both within the organization and external to it. So this idea of being a professional is truly renewed in me. This framework for thinking about the profession of arms and the professional of ethic, it has clarified and refined my thinking. It has created and reinforced a mindset that has positively influenced my decisions and my behavior. And the Navy ethos, when I read it now, it has new meaning for me. And as I reflect on years gone by, I am absolutely convinced that if I had had this framework for thinking about the profession of arms, I would have been a better leader and a better naval officer earlier and throughout my career. I do know now that I am better prepared for future challenges as a result of this framework. And one more build. So it's this impact on thinking, decision making, combined with this notion that there is a practical operational impact to this notion that has made me a true believer in the chairman's call to renew our commitment to the profession of arms. Now the tension between the bureaucratic and the professional characteristics of our organization, it is only going to grow greater as we move into times of fiscal pressure and begin to move away from sustained combat. But every single day, we have a choice in how we see ourselves and how we think about ourselves. So as you embark on this year's intellectual journey, I ask that you make renewing your sense of professionalism a key component of your studies, your reflections, and your discussions. Make a conscious effort to let the framework of the navy as a profession drive your vision, your thinking, and your decision. We're going to be a better navy for it if you do. So that's the key discovery over the course of the first year here at the War College. I'm looking forward to more discoveries in my mind as I proceed on this intellectual journey with you on year number two here. We're going to pause for a bit of a question and answer session. But before we do, I'm going to highlight you have a professional obligation. You have an ethical obligation for someone in this class to ask an incredibly meaningful and insightful question. And I get to be the judge of that. And we're going to lock the doors until someone does. But seriously, it didn't quite come out as smoothly as I wanted to present it to you today. But in all sincerity, what I wanted to get across to you was the fact that truly what had been a theoretical abstract concept, or one that was mostly just relegated to kind of scholarly articles within the military for me, it truly has new meaning for me. I would encourage you to seek and try to find that same sense of clarification in your own mind because I am convinced that the professional identity is going to engender trust within our organization and only with that trust will we be successful to fight and win against near peer competitors in an age of precision strike, should we be asked to do so. Okay, so for anything that Alinda said earlier or Martin Cook or I just laid out, comments, questions or feedback, costing it out to you, somebody's got to be first. Admiral, good afternoon. Congratulations. Well done. Lieutenant Commander Adam McClellan, United States Navy, the senior class. We've talked a lot about the development of the notion of a professional military or the military as a profession and if we look at the other professions, of course, they have codes of conduct, an internal regulation mechanism, but one thing I think you also see is something of a distinct separation from the rest of society. If you think about attorneys, not anyone can walk up the street and be an attorney. You can't walk up the street and be a physician, right? There's a very distinct separation between those who are of the society and those who are of the profession. And so are you concerned at all that this development and the focus on professionalizing the military separates us in some way from the rest of society? No, so if I've got a concern about separating from society, it probably has to do with everything from just demographics and what's happening with the composition of the military and less about the concept of professionalization. My sense is that you don't become a professional simply by joining the military. There needs to be a conscious professionalization effort to become a member of it. Earlier today we talked about personal ethics and professional ethics and the importance for all of us to think deeply about the sources and the nature of both of those ethics, where you get your guidance from when you're deciding actions, and to understand if the degree to which those ethics overlap. And if they don't overlap, where don't they overlap? Why don't they overlap? And what are the operational or professional implications of them not overlapping? And it sounds to me as I think about that statement that I just went off on a tangent that doesn't directly answer your question. So really to circle back to it, now I'm not that concerned about that an emphasis on professionalism will drive a larger kind of wedge between us and them. If there's a proper emphasis on them, society and our civilian leadership, trusting the military to execute with its capabilities consistent with our ethic, which has to be aligned with our nation's ethic. Over. But thanks for that. Sir Major Lushenko, the junior course. Folks at this college such as Martin Cook have talked about the rise of lethal strikes and drones and specializing warfare indeed resulting in potentially an unhealthy degree of autonomy. They have termed this to be immaculate warfare as well as potentially post heroic warfare. What are the implications of such specialization on the profession of arms and your assessment as well as the professional ethical obligation we have? So I'm not familiar with that conversation. So tease it out for me just a little bit. Is the idea that the specialization almost dehumanizes the actions and makes it too clean and mechanical? Yes sir. So I don't have any some of this is just coming out. I think my first thought is that so my very limited and second hand experience with those that have been involved in say strikes, especially remote strikes with drones, is that there is something that far from it becoming so clean and mechanical. There is something inherently human about it. In fact, the operators of ISR capabilities that are then called on to strike are in many cases they become incredibly familiar with the objects of attack. And instead of dehumanizing, they have almost superhumanized the objects of attacks. If I've got a kind of a concern along those lines, at least within this realm of it, it's almost that we need to be making sure that as technology continues to advance, and we are able to understand even more about our enemy before we strike them, that we are building in place the moral, the ethical, the intellectual, the emotional resiliency to ensure that our warriors are prepared to not just execute but execute the next day and the next day and the next day. So there's probably a piece of this that's not associated with the drones where you get into purely autonomous things that do make it very mechanical. And frankly, I'm just I don't know that I would offer a salient thought on that on that piece. But these are good questions for us to be thinking through. And I'm motivated now by both of these questions that when we're talking about ethics, we clearly have moved away from the list of do's and don'ts. And we're talking about those things that help us make right decisions and and face a very challenging and uncertain future. Good on you, sir. Peter Deppa in your media course. What do you think are the biggest impediments to having the military become a professional organization versus reverting back or to a bureaucratic organization? Yeah. So so right now, I've never framed this answer in the way you've asked it. But what comes to mind really are two driving factors. The first is going to be the fiscal environment that we're going to be facing. And the second is the influence of technology. And so on the first, I think that in terms of the fiscal environment that we're going to be operating there is going to be an absolute drive towards efficiency and efficiency will drive us towards things that may not be the most effective, but certainly the most efficient means of getting things done. And that will allow the the bureaucratic characteristic of our military to kind of start dominating the thinking. And in the face of that, we will have a responsibility to ensure and back up for a minute, we should all recognize bureaucracy is not necessarily a bad word. There are strengths to bureaucracy that are that are phenomenal. And there are attributes of bureaucracy that when applied in the right context are the absolute right thing. But that's not always the case in terms of developing the military prepared for the challenges of the future. So I think one pressure is going to be this increasing fiscal pressure that's going to drive a bureaucratic mindset and we got to guard against that. And then the second is just this notion of technology is making it very, very easy for all in the chain of command to be seeking more and more information. And it will take a very deliberate and conscious attempt by all those in the leadership to create and sustain a culture that will be prepared to execute in a decentralized manner. Because again, only through decentralized execution will we be able to prevail in a complex, complex operation environment as opposed to a simple or complicated one. Admiral, I'm Alexander Hamilton with the Department of State. Great name. Thank you very much in the in the senior course. And I was wondering what your thoughts were on how we can as future leaders in our respective agencies and branches help instill a sense of professional ethics in those underneath us, the lower-ranking NCOs, officers, whomever, especially there. I think it was Professor Martin or Professor Kirk referenced how we're all here because we live this life. We have embodied this sense of service. How best can we best instill that sense of professionalism or professional ethics in those that are looking at just doing a couple of tours, maybe not re-enlisting, maybe not taking that next overseas assignment or what have you, what are your thoughts on that, sir? My first thought is to ask you if you got paid by our leader development experts to tee that softball up for me. Did everybody heard the question? I'll give you the quick answer and then I want to kind of give you a longer answer. The quick answer is a conversation like this with those in your charge and not just once, but a steady drumbeat of conversations about what does it mean to be a professional and as you're reviewing the last week's actions or perhaps the next week's actions or that day's actions, having very explicit discussions about what would the bureaucracy be telling us, what would the profession be telling us and having a very explicit discussion on when you let either of the characteristics dominate the decision-making and why? But it is, it's truly, it is taking the concept out of the abstract, making it practical and making it part of each and every day experience. A quick tangent there, there were truly two key discoveries and in my time over this last year I tried to offer the one about this operational imperative of the concept of profession of arms. The other one has been about leader development. Throughout my entire career I have always recognized how important leader development was as an officer, but I saw it only as this ancillary part of the job.  I didn't study it in college. When I was a lieutenant and I had two lieutenant JGs working for me in a SEAL platoon, you know, I was struggling to rise to the team CO's expectations of a platoon commander, much less worried about professionally developing these JGs underneath me. What would I have to offer them? But I tell you, over the course of this last year as we've worked hard at trying to operationalize the Navy leader development strategy, we've got a strategy but as we conceptualize how we are going to operationalize it and then do it, the point that has just resonates with me now very, very strongly is it's leaders engaging leaders. It's not a schoolhouse solution. It's not waiting for another program to be developed. It's not a new course. It is simply the single most and highest return on investment strategy for improving leader development in the Navy is simply having leaders talking with subordinate leaders about leadership, about ethics, about professionalism as a routine course of business and you do not need to be a subject matter expert in order to stimulate a meaningful and productive conversation about leadership. Just simply raising it out of the kind of implicit into the world of the explicit will have a significant positive impact on those juniors. So I think I would offer to you it could start as easy as a steady drum beat of conversations and making the concept of professionalism explicit instead of implicit. Thanks for that. Okay, going once, twice. Okay, we will close out with a thought that I love my job but I would love to be in your seats right now. I would love to be heading off into a 10 months of an academic adventure or finishing up if you're here from one of the other trimesters. It's going to be a great year consistent with what we've been trying to say all day long. Please, when you leave here, don't flush what you've heard here today. Find some time tonight before you go to bed to reflect on the key messages that you've heard here today and renew a commitment to action those messages over the course of the next 12 months, 10 months. And we'll see you around campus. Have a good afternoon.


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