Smart Chronicles

In the episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Walter “Wally B.” Jennings.  Wally and I have been peers within the nonprofit world for over a decade.  He is one of the most supportive individuals in his field and he has helped to guide a generation of youth spoken word artists in Tampa FL.  He is a gifted storyteller who helps you find humanity in every situation.  See below for his complete bio.  

Walter "Wally B." Jennings is an ordained minister, published poet, spoken word artist, radio personality, community organizer, instructor and strawberry Fruit Roll-Up enthusiast! A native of Tampa, FL, he began writing poetry as an 8th grade student in response to an English assignment. His poems share and discuss common experiences from everyday life, ranging from: diabetes, marriage and fatherhood, youth empowerment, and self-determination. Wally does not use profanity or vulgarity in his work, to ensure his messages can be communicated in all mediums.

Wally B.’s poetical talents have allowed him to conduct over 1000 performances, workshops and mentorship sessions in the national spoken word community over his 20-year career. He is an award winning, 4-Time Finalist of the Southern Fried Regional Poetry Competition. Wally currently serves as a Poet Artist in Residence for Hillsborough County Schools and the Arts Council of Hillsborough County-reaching over 800 students and teachers per year.

Wally B. is one of the founding members of Back Talk Poetry Troupe (the organization responsible for Black on Black Rhyme) and founder of “Black on Black Rhyme-Tampa”, one of Central Florida’s largest and longest running open-mic poetry shows since September 2001.

He graduated from Florida A&M University (Cum Laude) in 1998 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics.

Walter currently serves as Program Manager for the University of South Florida Foundation- Diversity Initiatives and Scholarship Office, which provides support for the USF student community through philanthropic contributions.

He has been married to his wife, Charmaine for 19 years and they have two children: Charmione-17 and Simone-12.

In this episode 4, I interview a group of craft beer enthusiast. This group, who go by the name of Shades of Hopz, are a group of African American beer lovers. No, I am not talking about a group of people that sit around drinking beer just for the sake of drinking beer. In July, I had the pleasure of the interviewing 4 of the 5 members – whose Gov’t names are Janelle, Jon, Mal, Hank and Mike – speak about the enjoyment of breaking down the complexities of craft beer, diversity, inclusion, and breaking stereotypes (whether gender or racially based). They are among a growing populations of African American craft beer enthusiast and brewers.

It should be noted that like many other industries, breweries have been negatively impacted by COVID. In June of this year, amid the shaky economy and social unrest, over 1000 breweries (in 15 countries) agreed to support the Black is Beautiful initiative.

What is this initiative? Well, Black is Beautiful is a collaborative initiative to bring awareness to racial injustices. Recently, the members of Shades of Hopz partnered with local brewing companies Aardwolf and Main & 6th. One hundred percent of the proceeds are being donated to a charity that has a mission/foundation based on racial equality and justice. One hundred percent of the proceeds is going to impact the community.

This is part 2 of the panel discussion about the business of poetry.

On May 16th, I facilitated a conversation about the business of poetry. I was blessed to be joined by the following poets: Ebony Payne English (Jacksonville, FL), Matthew “Cuban” Hernandez (Los Angeles, CA by way of Jacksonville, FL), Dasan Ahanu (Raleigh, NC), Aslee Haze (Atlanta, GA by way of Chicago, IL), Joan “Lyric” Leslie (Atlanta, GA by way of Harlem, NYC), Dennis Amadeus (Tampa, FL), Taryn “Love Reigns” Wharwood (Jacksonville, FL by way of Miami, FL) and Tiffany Duhart (Jacksonville, FL).

The panel was open and honest about their experience as an artist and business person.  They gave real life examples of what drove them to become a top performer in their field.

In February 2020, there were 1.65 million black owned businesses up and running in the United States.  When COVID19 hit the United States in 2020, the numbers were almost cut in half to reflect 600,000 that were still in existence.  In this episode, I have a conversation with local educational leader, Dr. Standralyn Terry.  In June of 2020, Dr. Terry started an initiative to address the financial impact COVID19 has had on black owned restaurants in Jacksonville, FL (also known as DUVAL COUNTY).  The initiative, Duval Dines Black, visits local black owned restaurants to provide support through free advertisement but more importantly with dollars. When Dr. Terry started the initiative, she did not anticipate that it would take off so quickly in terms of popularity and support from all walks of life within the Jacksonville community.  In this interview, she walks you through starting a movement in a field that you were not trained but succeeding anyway.

In this episode, I have a discussion with Alexis Thomas concerning mental health. Ms. Thomas is an experienced & licensed therapist in Jacksonville, FL. Ms. Thomas discusses the importance of good mental health but also introduces us to tele-health therapy.

Introduction to the subject matter that will be covered on this podcast.