Deported veterans, poetry, and community roundtable

Welcome to the Qumran Report. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson, and I'm in the studio with my co-host, Earlene Anthony. This week, we will be talking about voices from the community with poet and author Tawana Green. Also in the studio visiting with us is Andrea Ross and Rick Johnson. But first, on the line from Mexico, I have Hector Barajas from the organization VanishedVeterans.org. Hector, welcome to the Qumran Report. Hey, welcome, Melvin. How's it going? Oh, just fine. Now, Hector, can you tell us about the organization? VanishedVeterans.org. Actually, it's Vanished Veterans is the name of the group. And it's .info, actually. That would be the website. VanishedVeterans.info is our website. Basically, what happened is, in 1996, the U.S. government started deporting United States military veterans to not just to Mexico, but to different various countries. Basically, for not having citizenship and having some kind of running with the law, either spending over a year or a month, or a year in jail, or catching a case which is considered an aggravated felony. But my roommate, he got deported for a $700 check for insufficient funds. So basically, what we're trying to do is get our rights as U.S. veterans back and be able to live in the United States. Currently, the only way we can return is upon death and have a full military uniform, full military honors and stuff like that. But only until you die. Now, can you tell us a little about yourself and how you, as an honorable discharge veteran who served your country, was deported? Myself, I served in the U.S. military for about six years, re-enlisted in 99. Basically, I also volunteered to be a paratrooper. I got an honorable discharge in 2001, caught a case in 2000. But actually, around the same time, I got out in November, and then I got a case in December. And then I was deported around 2004. I paid my debt to society, went to prison, and I was deported eventually for life. And right now, I'm trying to at least get some kind of benefits, and we started a deported veterans house here in Mexico. That way, whenever any veterans get deported, there's some kind of a program for them or somewhere for them to go. I even have Vietnam veterans that were drafted in Vietnam, and they're deported as well. So it's affecting a lot of different types of Arab veterans. I have Persian Gulf War veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan, peacetime veterans. There's all type of people that are being deported. Now, what is the problem with those veterans who serve in the military and receive an honorable discharge? What is the problem with getting deported? What is the problem with getting citizenship? You look like you would think that that would be automatic. Yeah, it's like there's actually a process for getting your citizenship. Everybody thinks it's automatic. And one of the things that was going on is a lot of the times, these veterans were being told by the recruiters or the chain of command that they were already these soldiers, right? When they were soldiers, they were being told that they were U.S. citizens, but there's a process that you have to go through. And some of them did apply for the process, but they didn't get it in time until they got out of the service and then they got some kind of charge and then they got deported. And some of them were under the impression right up until their deportation that they were still U.S. citizens. So it varies, but no, U.S. citizenship is not automatic. Now they have post-discount citizenship. That means if you die in combat, they give you your citizenship after you die. If you get deported, you cannot come back into the United States until you die. Then you get a plaque. But the United States government is saying thank you for serving your country and you have a funeral just like any other American would. Wow, that is subliminal. Now, can you talk a little about the makeup of the banished veterans? You began to talk about it a little, you know, the different wars that they served in. Yeah, basically, well, as far as you mean like what kind of veterans is it affecting? Yeah, you know, the Vietnam veterans, the Iraq veterans. Oh, yeah, it's going to affect. It's going to affect because of the, because of the, you know, or when, you know, that are the veterans that are still did not get their citizenship or still alive. It might even affect Korean War veterans, but I haven't ran into any of them. But it's basically Vietnam all the way down. I have confirmed Vietnam combat veterans, Iraq, Afghanistan. I saw one case of one World War II veteran that was going to probably be deported if he didn't get a citizenship because he was trying to get his retirement or something like that. Yeah. And then, but it did, they never deported him. He didn't have any, he was in, didn't have any type of, he didn't spend any time in prison or jail. So they expedited his citizenship. Now, what is the relationship between PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder and the crimes that got him deported? Oh, yeah, that's, that plays a big, a big thing. You know, when I was in, when I was fighting my case in 2008, I was in the military. I was in the military. I was in the military. I was in the military. I was in the military. I was in the military. And then, when I was fighting my case in 2001, there was a veteran's dorm that, you know, and basically a lot of, I saw a lot of guys that obviously had PTSD and they were in there for either drugs or violence. And you can't help but to think that a lot of the reasons that they were in jail was some, related to some form of PTSD. They either coped with drugs or, and different things. Death, PTSD is definitely something that plays along because of why these guys are dead. They're doing certain things. Now, now they have veterans courts now, which I think is great because they can now, they can, they can look at the PTSD and different things and maybe not just send them to prison. But, of course, for a believer, you know, if you commit a crime, you should do some type of time, but to deport somebody, I think is way too, too extreme. Now, let me ask you this. Have any women military veterans been deported? I got one lady that, that she's deported. But, I don't know. I can't really talk about her situation. Okay. Yeah, exactly why. But she's, she's, yeah, I got one female that's been deported. She served six years in the military. Okay. Now, for those who would like to know more about the organization Banished Veterans, what is the contact information? Okay. And basically, they can get a hold of me through Melvin as well. I know Melvin for, well, I know you have some history. Yeah. But they can also go to the website, banishedveterans.info. And contact me, contact me at 626-569-5491. Also, my email is banishedveteran at yahoo.com. Or just Google deported veterans and it'll lead you back to us. Okay, Hector. Thank you very much. Hector Barajas from the organization Banished Veterans. And I'll be back in touch with you. Okay, you guys take care. Thanks, Hector. Have a great day. Thanks, Hector. Okay, bye. Bye. Hector Barajas from the organization Banished Veterans. That's something else. You know, I think that's an issue that should be discussed. Amen. Now, I'm delighted to have with us in the studio poet and author Tawana Green. She's the author of the book Say It From the Heart, a collection of inspirational poems, and a CD entitled Every Day is Thanksgiving in My Heart. Tawana, welcome to the Qumran Report. Thank you. Now, before we get off into an in-depth interview with Tawana, I would like to play a selection from your CD entitled Family Love. The greatest gift God has given us is the gift of family. And I would like to share with you a poem that he gave me entitled Family Love. A united front of bonded love no thicker tie can bind a mom, a dad, a son, a daughter with a love a special kind. It takes a lot to raise a child and to keep a family together. It takes joy and love, a sense of sharing and respect for one another. It is said that blood is thicker than water and therefore the tie should be stronger. But it's the love that's given and shared with another that holds that bond much longer. Family is special. It's a sense of belonging, a lifetime of memories shared. A place in the heart that no one can touch, a remembrance that someone cared. Life is so fleeting, we mustn't forget our past and the time that truly binds. For our family and loved ones are part of the love. We are and should be first in our minds. It takes a lot to be a family. It's a commitment of love by all. It's not the blood in the veins of another that makes that common bond. It's the love that's shared that comes from the heart. And it is the greatest gift of all. Thank you, Lord, for my family. Thank you, Lord, for my family. Okay, Family Love by Tawana Green. Tawana, what is your motivation for writing that piece? What was your motivation? Well, family is a very important part of who we are. That's what God gave us. We came from family. And oftentimes we forget how close that bond is that God gave us when he created us through our family links and ties that we have. Sometimes there are orphans that don't know who their mom and dad are. But they're searching. They really want to know. They want to know where that tie is. And in my family, I have a very small family. I have a sister and I have a brother. And then there's me. And we're close-knit in terms of staying together. My mother and my father, they passed early in my life. And so, to me, I want to keep what we do. I want to keep what we do have as close as I can. Because God created all of us and gave us family love. It's hard sometimes because sometimes there are disagreements. And when families say, you know, I don't want to speak to you again. And we have to come back with forgiveness and the love that God has for us. And I just believe that family is a very powerful tool that God gave all of us when he created us. Yeah. Now, you started to tell a little about yourself. Can you tell us a little about yourself? How did you get off into writing, poetry, music, etc.? Well, I've loved the Lord all my life. My mother, she brought me up to love him. And she died when I was 16. So, my father had passed the year before. So, I grew up without them there into my adult life. And there was a lot of pain inside of me because of that. A lot of grief that it took me a very long time to get over. So, for me, writing was like therapy. And it helped me get through some of the pain parts of my life, the hard parts. And as I found as I wrote, the Lord would give me so many things to write. And they would rhyme. But they would also heal my soul as I was reading them or read back to them. And one of my family members came and found some of the writings. And he said, did you write this? And I said, yes. And he said, but this is, people need to hear this. I said, I'm not writing for other people. I'm writing for myself. I'm trying to get through this hard place in my life. And so, I went through some other hard places with my family and marriage and a divorce and different things. I have four sons and trying to raise them and just go through a lot of different things in my life. The poetry for me was therapy. But from the therapy, it grew into a place. It grew into a place of healing the pain. Four sons, huh? Yes. That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Now, let me ask you this. What is gospel music? Can you kind of give us a definition? What is gospel music? How do you define it? Well, to me, gospel music is sharing with others the life-changing, transforming power of the Lord through music and song. And so, what we do is we celebrate what He's done in our life. And the gospel part is the message of Christ. And when Christ comes in, He will transform, change and rebuild you, if you will allow Him to. You just have to believe. And when you're at a low, low point in life, for me, gospel became the light because Christ is the light. And when we move in Him and hear the music, it changes everything. It's the music that's the source of transforming our soul when we listen to it. It can be soothing and bring about a place of peace, or it can be upbeat and make you want to move your feet. But at any point, the music seems to—it sends a message to our soul. And the gospel music is the message of Christ. Nothing can beat that. When you get the message of Christ inside of you, it transforms. Okay. And when we're talking about Christ, the Messiah, Jesus, right there, the Anointed One, interchangeable term, Christ and Messiah. Now, is the Messiah, Jesus, supposed to be the center point of gospel music? Yes, He is. Okay. In what sense? Because He is the one who came with the love that God has for all of us and sacrificed Himself on the cross to bring us a peace and a love. And He bled and died and came back to show us what love looked like, what it's supposed to look like. He's the only one who literally gave His life and then returned from the grave, took the keys from hell, and gave us another chance in our own lives to live life the way He wanted us to live it. He is the Anointed One. Let me ask you this about gospel music, because it's just recently that gospel music began to move into the commercial stream, commercial music and all like that. What are your thoughts on gospel music moving away from the inspirational arena of church and the congregations and moving out here in the commercial world, you know, selling CDs, concerts, etc. like that? Well, the Word of God says, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me. And to be able to go out into the world where people don't even know about the gospel, about church or haven't been to church, they'll go out and they'll listen to music and they'll buy a CD or stop and listen to the lyrics that they're hearing before they'll go to church, and that's still reaching them. The message of Christ is still reaching them out in the world. And I believe that that's a good thing. We have modern technology today, and the gospel is supposed to go around the world. That's what God sent it to do. Beautiful. Now, what do you think about, what do you think it takes to get more young people involved with the church? I think it takes getting involved with who they are. I know when I was raising my sons and they were young in their teenage years, I had to get involved in who they were to keep them from getting involved in who the world was. With the gangs and the different things that were going on with them. And if we bring the young people, if we listen to who they are, give them a forum and a message and a place to come and share who they are, they'll do that. Because they have lots of creative energy, they have lots of things they could do, and they can be drawn in to the church. They could be drawn into a rally. They could be drawn into something that uses their gifts and their young talents and their young energy. And as they come in to something that is set up for them, they can be drawn into the gospel of Christ. Let me ask you this. It's very interesting. You're raising four sons. What's the biggest challenge of raising four sons in a community like Los Angeles where you have so much temptation? You know, you just make it so hard. You mentioned a few of the gangs and drugs, etc. What's the biggest challenge of raising four, especially four African American males, as opposed to males and females? What's the biggest challenge of raising four young men like that? Getting their attention and letting them know that you really and truly care about them. I had something called a car conference that I did with each of my children. What was the... It was where they would come and I would literally put them in the car one at a time when I would come in from work and sit and talk to them. They didn't like it at first. They were like, oh, why are you doing this? I don't feel like talking. I don't want to... But I would lock them in. Oh, you're going to talk forever? I'm hungry. And all of these things. But when they got through saying all that, I would... They would calm down and I would ask them, okay, how was your day? What do you want to do when you grow up? What happened today at school? They tell me now as adults, that that changed their whole perspective of knowing who they were and that somebody really did care because moms and dads are going to work and cooking dinner and going and doing things so fast, they don't have time to really hear what's inside of the child that they brought into this world. And someone else, everybody wants to belong to something, even if it's bad. They want to belong. They want to feel like they're family. And if the family they're in can't make them feel like they belong, they'll join somewhere else where they will belong, even if it's wrong. So for me to be able to sit down and talk to each of them as they grew up and they were going from... going into middle school, where I knew they were getting ready to go into a place where all the temptation was, where the gangs were, where the drugs were, where everything was. And I let them know before they went to that place how much they meant to me. And how much they had inside of them that God wanted them to do with their lives. And they were able to... they literally went past it all. Great, great. That's beautiful. Okay, let's take a break for our community calendar and then we'll come back with our roundtable discussion. This is the community calendar for the month of November. Every Tuesday from 5.30 to 8 p.m. we have the Veterans Community Theater Workshop. This workshop is open to veterans and non-veterans alike. The location is the Vortex 2341 East Olympic Boulevard, and that's in Los Angeles. It's near the corner of Santa Fe and Olympic. And the Metro Bus number 60 and 66 stops right at or near the corner. And for more information, the contact telephone number is 213-479-1764. And on Thursday, November the 8th at 7 p.m., Drama Stage Coon Run will be hosting the Arts Walk and we'll be at the Exchange. And we will be featuring musical performance by Oz Williams, sometimes known as Black Spinach. Also, we'll be having open mic and many other things will be going on. We'll have an art exhibit by a professional photographer, Ellen Fryer. She will probably include some of her work from the first annual Downtown Los Angeles Stand Down that we did earlier. For more information on this, you can contact 213-479-1764. And on Friday, November the 9th at 7 p.m., in awareness of Homeless Month, Drama Stage Coon Run Community Theater Workshop will be doing a performance of a stage play called Surviving the Nickel. And this play is written and directed by Melvin Ishmael Johnson. And we will be performing this at Ground Zero Coffee House, USC campus. The address is 415 Childs, that's C-H-I-L-D-S way, Los Angeles. And the entrance to the coffee house is near the corner of Figueroa and Exposition Boulevard. And this is a free event. And also, if you need more information, you can call 213-479-1764. And on Sunday, November 11th at 1 p.m., Drama Stage Coon Run has a community outreach program called DECOP. And this is where we give out hygiene kits and items to the community residents. This time, we will be doing winter hygiene kits, which will probably include items such as wool caps, gloves, and socks. And this will be at the Exchange, 114 West 5th Street, Los Angeles. Upcoming guests on the Coon Run Report, Monday, November the 5th, we will have Sean Huddle. He's from Food Not Bombs organization. Katherine Schofield and Vivian Nann from USC. If you have a community event that you would like announced on our show, send the information to DramaStage1 at yahoo.com. Attention, Earline Anthony. And the call-in number for the show is 800-893-9562. Now, back to our host. Okay, thank you, Miss Earline Anthony. Now, we're back with our other in-studio guests who will be joining us for our round table. Rayton Johnson, Andrea Ross, also the co-host, Earline Anthony will be joining in. But I'd like to read something from the Book of Isaiah, and then we will continue our discussion. It reads, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prisons to those who are bound. And that's Isaiah. And that's Isaiah, the 61st chapter, and the first verse also referenced in the fourth chapter of Luke, the 18th verse. And I want to get into our round table discussion of how can we get the church more involved with community issues like homelessness, gang violence, and prison reform, since that particular scripture from the Book of Isaiah was the, was the call to Messiahship that when Jesus announced his Messiahship, he read that particular piece of scripture, and it talked about the prisons and the captives, et cetera, like that. So let's start off with you, Tawana, and move around. How can we get the church more involved with community issues like homelessness, gang violence, prison reform? Well, we have to come out of the four walls of the church and go to where the people are. And take the message of the gospel. We can do that by sharing with, we go to convalescent homes on certain Saturdays and minister there. That's taking the gospel to those who can't come to the gospel. That's letting them know that they still matter. And I think letting people know they matter because we really do matter to God. And that would stop a lot of what people feel when they feel hopeless and helpless about their lives. But if we can take what we do know about the life-giving God, the loving Father, to them in love, they will come in because their spirit is drawn. And the Lord did say, if I be lifted up, I will draw them unto me. Okay. And also I want to keep in mind, I don't want to put all of this just on the church. See, because I'm reaching out, how can the church, these churches, these synagogues, these mass did, how can they get more young people involved in community issues like homelessness? You know, so many people laying in the streets now in the richest country, in one of the richest cities that you got here. Prison reform, got so many of our young people locked up in these institutions. Gang violence, all the young people caught up in these gangs instead of walking on campus, trying to get an education, training, for the future. So it's not just on the church that I'm talking about. I'm talking about all of these religious institutions who are supposed to be stepping up. So let me just move over to Andrea with your thoughts on how we're doing. Well, Melvin, I think before I alluded to the point that if each church would take it upon themselves to purchase a vacant building, a home, a house, an edifice of some sort, and open it up to the homeless people that sleep on the street every night, as you know, LA is the homeless capital. 80,000 to 100,000 people sleep on the streets of LA every night. 20 to 30,000 of them may be veterans that have served this country. And it's a total travesty that we have these statistics, but it's in reality. And churches, I feel, can do a lot more. One house with one church times how many churches do we have, synagogues, mosques, it's a staggering number. And if each one did a little bit, then a whole lot would get done. And that's what I feel that would be a good starting point. Let me also ask you this, because you're a veteran also, and we was talking earlier about the vanished veterans. What are your thoughts on that? Again, I will say another travesty in a black eye. 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Someone is laying down their life possibly for this country and then because probably of a mental defect due to their fighting in the war. Most of the time these veterans come back they do not receive the medical help that they need and they can only fail because they're not given the opportunities that they should be automatically given. A home when you come back, a job when you come back, etc. You serve the country so let's give them something back. Okay let's move on to Rick. Thank you sir. Well I want to concentrate seriously on the scripture you wrote anointing. Jesus said he has been anointed. That is and Jesus said those words he's reading it repeating the word from. From Isaiah. So I want to take on a personal note, an individual note. We all have been anointed if we believe in Jesus Christ to do these things. And he also says go behind prison. Remember those who are behind prison bars as if we were behind prison bars. I've never been behind prison bars but nevertheless there's a lot of injustice in the world so we got to go behind prison bars to correct that injustice. Now in California the prisoners need first of all rehabilitation but if we've seen a federal government, a federal government, a federal government, a federal government, a federal government in California and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South Carolina and South So they would be able to grow a family and they would have been rehabilitated. But right now we are not rehabilitating people because we got them going back and forth with a revolving door. So we want to stop that. So we want to first of all take care of their health, take care of their education, and also since they are a ward of the state on the inside of the state, so when they leave, the state got to keep those strings and retrain them. So they got to go to the employment development department as anybody else. And they got to be able to have their rights returned, be able to vote. We got a vote coming on very soon. So we got to be able to vote and participate in the community as a citizen. So it's an individual thing. We almost look for the prisoners, help the prisoners behind bars. Even if we got to visit them, we've got to send them a letter. Or if we got a campaign or a show like you're doing right here, Mr. Johnson, we have to do these things for the prisoners. Don't forget them because they have families also and we can start rebuilding our community. Okay. Any thoughts on what we talked about? Early on these honorably discharged veterans who are deported down here. Well, young lady, Ms. Andrea has said it. It's an oxymoron, actually. You got someone spending their life, putting their life on the line for our lives. You know, going away, going 3,000 miles to fight and get prepared to kill somebody or be killed. And then to come back home and not have a place to stay, a place to eat. So we got to understand. And we got to take care of veterans as we do take care of the prisoners. Because they're actually in our uniform taking care of our safety around the world. And it's a hard job. And if we don't take care of them continuously, we won't have anybody else volunteering. They're actually almost in the volunteer army right now. So we don't take care of them today. We may give a war in the future and no one will go. So we must take our veterans at all costs, especially those Spanish veterans. Who are going across the border. There's no reason they're one mile, ten miles away, across the border, wherever they are. And we got to look forward to helping those people. Because if they're going 2,000 miles across the world, we can go 20 miles and help them. Good point. Okay, Ms. Earlene Anthony, your comments, you want? I was thinking about the part you asked about what can we do to get a lot of the young people back in church. I remember back when I was young. I was four. I was forced to go to church. Even if mom and dad didn't go to church, I had to go to church. Someone would come by, a relative or somebody would come by and take me to church. And this was one of the things I remember about when growing up. And I also remembered many times in the church, teacher, pastor, or leader of the church was not living the life that he was preaching. And I also remembered many times in the church, teacher, pastor, or leader of the church was not living the life that he was preaching. And this took a big effect on me. I'm just speaking from when I was young. And I was looking at the pastor. And if the pastor erred, then I'd think, oh, you know, there's nothing to this. And it would really turn me off. And it was a hurtful thing. Because I felt that the pastor or teacher or the leader should be held to a higher standard than I. Because I was. I didn't know the Lord at that time. But I was looking to him. And whenever he, like I say, whenever he'd err, you know, it would discourage me. So I think a lot of times young people are looking and they want to see something different in the pastor that's standing up there and preaching teeth from the gospel of Jesus Christ. If they're going to do this, telling me how I should live, then they should. But also be accountable to live the same way and not just say, do what I say, do, you know, not do what I do, you know. See, and a lot of times this turned a lot of young people off. And they say, oh, it's nothing to this. Or they call a person hypocritical. So I think if the leaders of the church, mass G's, synagogues, whatever you want to call them, want to get the young people back in there. I think that they should. Live a circumspect life. Okay. Okay. Now we know that we got the presidential election coming up next week. Very important presidential election. Now I want to ask each one of you, if you could take a little time, if you could say something to President Obama, what you want out of the term coming up, if he is elected. What would you tell the president? Let's start off with Andrea and move around the table. Well, personally, I would piggyback on what I said earlier about helping the veterans and the homeless situation, the people that are sleeping on the streets. I had an occasion to travel across the country over the last two weeks and I looked at all that open space and land and land as far as the eye could see and wondered to myself, why is it that with all this pristine beauty, undeveloped, and all this beauty, there's no place for me? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? into consideration some type of program. And here we have, you would have people employed as construction people building these houses. I mean, this is a way of stimulating the economy and stimulating people back to work. Get some construction people, build some houses, put people in them, take people off the streets, train them to be construction workers. I mean, it's a cycle. And if I had an opportunity to talk to the president, this would be one of my focal points in conjunction with education for young people. Okay. So, Marla, what would you tell President Obama? Well, if I had the opportunity to talk to him, I would tell him something similar. His whole campaign strategy when he was voted in was, yes, we can. And he has done a lot. He really has done quite a bit in stock. Stopping the war and making sure that we have health care and the different things he has brought to our nation. But there's so much more that he could do if we were able to. If I was able to talk to him, I would want him to look at all the issues that we have on the plate. The people that creating more jobs, as she said, with places where they could build more housing. They could helping the young people. A lot of the programs for the young people in the schools have been cut. The budgets have been cut. And the children, they go to school, but there's no art programs. There's nothing to take them into a place of creativity that would keep them motivated to do things besides just walk down the street, you know, pushing their iPhones and their iPods. They do a lot of that. But there's so much more that could be created for them. I know when my kids were coming up, there were after-school programs. A lot of those things have been cut. So today we still need something to keep the young people motivated so they will keep going. Just walking down the street, pushing buttons will not give them a future. That would just stimulate their hands to do something when they could be doing something much more with their minds and the things that could be put in place. So if I talked to the president, I'd want him to do something that would give more creativity to our children. Give them a place to go and to create and grow them. Give them a place to go and to create and grow their minds that they have. And I would want to see him also work with a new plan for the homeless and building something that would take them off the street and give them jobs. And I believe he's in a position to come up with some plans that would do that and bring some diversity to our nation. Okay, beautiful. Rick. Thank you, sir. I think the first thing we have to do, if I'm going to ask the president a question, I would just take the historical perspective. Martin Luther wrote in October 34th, 1527, wrote about the 95 Theses. So there's things that we have to do to have a reformation right here in America. And first of all, I would start with food. I mean, food is killing us. Food, processed food, sugar, salt and sugar. These things are killing us. I think we need a reformation in food, how we feed now. People, Americans are dying real fast. And we are having all these diseases. Americans use 80 percent of the world's pharmaceutical prescriptions written by Americans. So it's too much medicine. So I think he's done a good job on that. But nevertheless, we got to attack the food because these kids are supposed to die before their parents. So if no one's going to take over, if I die, if my kids die before me, who's going to take over? Where am I going to have my great grandkids? So I think we need to start there. And secondly, if I be. Quickly, quickly here. We need to make civil rights. We need to make education a civil right. Everybody deserves an education. And it not depends on the real estate, but it's a national right. It should be a civil right because, you know, our safety is involved here. Our medicine is involved. Our health is involved. Our security is involved. So if it's a civil rights, then we can participate in the worldwide market. Now, we we only 300 million people. We got China with it. With. A billion more than we got. India has a billion more than we got. So these. So our field must be must do more. We must learn more. So hopefully the president can make civil rights education a civil right. Thank you. Okay. Beautiful. Arlene, what would you tell President Obama? If I could sit down with the president, I would tell the president to get back to his first love. I know he's you know, he's done a great job. He's doing a great job. But if he's a man of prayer, he say he's a Christian and his life should consist of being a man of prayer. He the decisions that he make may not be all the right decisions. But I know that the Lord will honor the decisions that he make being in that office. And I would just like to, you know, tell the president just to be a man of prayer because the thing that got him in there, we know what got him in there. You know, we can. We can look back. We know the Lord put him in there. Yes. And it was just his time. And I, I would just say, just be a man of prayer. You know, if you're Christian, don't be ashamed to stand up there and say that I'm a Christian. Just stay on your knees. Seek the Lord. Because a lot of the presidents, you know, this is what got them through seeking the Lord, talking to the Lord. Get up early in the morning. Talk to the Lord. Get some alone. Time. Talk to the Lord. Hear what the Lord is telling you. This is what I would tell the president to do. And I guess what I would tell the president is use those skills as a community organizer. When he was back there in Chicago, you know, in the community working with the grassroots people. And then work with these veterans. Do everything that you can. Absolutely. To help these veterans. If the veterans is good enough to provide leadership. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. leadership back in their community. Because you're missing a lot when you take these veterans out. Yes, sir. You can use them to help kill people and shoot up and all that kind of stuff. When you bring them back over here, hey, veterans should be at the top of the list as far as I'm concerned. Yes, sir. In terms of taking care. Totally. Yeah. Okay, let's move into our open mic section. We're going to do some poetry and spoken word for a while from Andrea and Tawana. First, Tawana, you up on the mic. What's the first piece you're going to do? It's a piece called Miracles Are Real. Because I've experienced so many of them and watched God do things that showed me how real he was. Okay. How real he is. That's right. Tawana Green. Miracles are powerful. They are powered by faith in the things we cannot see. It's knowing God will make a way when a way just cannot be. There were miracles in the days of old. And they happen still today. Because an unchanging God still reigns on high and continues to make a way. Yes, my. Friends. Miracles are real. Just ask me how it is so. Well, I've stepped out on faith and prayer. And miracles I have come to know. Look not with your eyes on what you may see. For God's power has no bounds. It transcends the realm of earth. And heaven. His awesome power still resounds. But it takes faith. Just mustard seed faith. And God can move any mountain in your life. So never despair. His love is still there. There is no reason to give in to earthly strife. Just listen. Just listen. Just hold on to his hand. Trust and believe. And oh, he will make a way out of no way. For his power transcends all. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And his love is there for you today. So trust and believe. My God changes not. He is the same God of yesterday today. Like Peter walked on the water. Step out. No matter what people might say. For miracles are real. They can happen in your life. Ask God for your miracle today. Because he truly bought miracles my way. He clutched clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch clutch a miraculous battle documented in Judges 6 and 7 in the Old Testament. And if you want to hear about a miracle, this is a miracle. Okay, Andrea Ross, Gideon's Army. Gideon's Army. I'm going to tell you a little story about Gideon. Gideon and his men, it was a band of 300 warriors who fought way back when. Out of 33,000 came his mighty tiny ranks, separated by the lap of a dog while at the water they drank. The Lord said, Gideon, with these 300, I'm willing to deliver the enemy into your hands. And he let the others go back, each unto their own land, armed with trumpets and victors. His tiny army stood wait. Looking down on many a night's soldiers deep in the valley where they lay. And it came about the same night. The Lord said, arise, go down amongst the host. And Gideon, if you fear to go down, take your servant, keep him close. And Gideon did go down. There was a man who told a dream. The interpretation thereof meant that he would prevail, it seemed. So he returned to his army. He divided them into three companies, put a trumpet in every man's hand, with the lamps on the glass pitcher empty. Look on me and do likewise, he said. As I do, so shall ye do. And they surrounded the camp. The glass broke when the trumpets blew. The sword of the Lord and of Gideon rang out twice throughout the land. And every man stood. His place while 250,000 Midianite soldiers, the Bible said they cried, they fled, and they ran. Now you may ask me, Andrea, these things, how do you write no? Well, you can look that one up in Judges 6 and 7. God Almighty and my pastor first told me it was so. I love to praise his holy name. Now that is a holy miracle. 300 against 250,000. And they cried, they fled, and they ran. And that is a miracle-making man, my God. Amen. Amen, amen, amen. All right. It's real. All right. It's real. Okay. Let's roll on with this open mic. Joanna, what's the second piece you're going to do for us? Okay. Okay. The second piece I'm going to do is one he gave me when I was going through a whole lot. I was going through a lot of things and was reaching for him just to know that I still mattered in this life. And it's called God's Masterpiece. His world is so beautiful. It just is. All of it is just beautiful to me. I look up in the sky, so vast and so blue. The majesty of the mountains in different shades of hue. The rivers and the oceans flowing from sea to sea. How glorious. What a masterpiece for all the world to see. How could anyone not see God? His evidence is a work of art. Master designer of everything. Everything. He created the soul of man. And he lives within each heart. If we could just look within ourselves, we would see his presence there. I know because I felt his touch. And I know he really does care. Of all God's wondrous creations. The animals. The animals. The animals. The animals. The animals. The flowers. And the trees. His most precious work of art. He let me know. Was when he created me. He said my soul was more precious than gold. And he taught me to look within. And see the gift of love he gave. And give that love. To all men. So believe in God. Seek his face. Remember the gift of love. Remember you. You are God's masterpiece. With all your earthly flaws. Because the God we serve. He is a God of love. of which there are no laws. You are God's masterpiece. Amen. All right. All right, so closing out our open mic, we're going to move back around to Andrea. What's this piece you're going to do for us, Andrea? This piece is entitled Strong as Steel and it's dedicated in this month of breast cancer awareness. This piece appeared in a novel constructed by Linda Coleman Willis called Breast Cancer Survivor Stories, the Trials and Tribulations to Triumph. And I was honored to have this poem on the first page of that lovely book. It comprised maybe 45 young women who have survived breast cancer and they honored me to have this poem on the first page, which is the only poem that appeared in the book. And it's entitled Strong as Steel. God made you strong as steel, solid as a rock, sturdy and structurally sound. Pillars of iron, concrete nerves, the family's foundation pressed firmly apart the ground. Unyielding, steadfast, able to last every avalanche, hurricane, thunderstorm, tsunami, monsoon, earthquake, blizzard and more before the end of every day. And yet you cannot deny there is a tender soft side that tempered that steel wheel that balances and keeps you there on an even keel because God made you woman strong as steel and that is so, strong as steel. Strong as steel. Strong as steel. Strong as steel. Strong as steel. Strong as steel. Strong as steel. So very real. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Andrea Ross. Beautiful. Okay, we still got a few minutes left. I want to go around and give everybody about a one minute closing comment before we close out. Let's start with Tawana and then we move to Andrea and then Earlene. Well, my closing comment is keep looking up. We serve God. We serve a God who is smiling down on you. No matter how low you go, God can reach you no matter where you are. You don't have to worry about what you lost, what you had. God can rebuild, renew and remake your soul, your spirit and your life if you just give him your heart because that's what he is working with, your heart. And he is. He is a God of love. Unconditional love. Keep looking up. Believe and reach for him and allow him to love you today. Okay, Tawana. Andrea. Well, Melvin, I would like to also give an homage and honor to God. Each and everyone has their own path they must walk. But if you let him lead the way, you will find that your days, your days, and your nights will be triumphant because this is a person that can do anything but fail. And he is a man of his word. If he says it, he means it. But it's incumbent upon you to have the faith and the belief that it will work. Because without that, you are doomed for failure. So if you just hold on to his unchanging hand, you will find that there is hope in the distant land. I'm going to leave it there. Poetically. Rick. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Melvin, you spoke about the spirit of the Lord is anointed us. He has anointed us. A lot of our veterans and people behind bars are going through depression, loneliness, anger, guilt, hopelessness. So we remember as you read that Isaiah 61 about the spirit of the Lord. There are some spirits that you can go to as those are fruits of the spirit, which is love, peace, joy, and peace. And I think that's what we're going to be doing in the coming years. So I'm going to read a little bit of that and then we're going to go through the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter and then we're going to go through the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. And I'm going to read the next chapter. off of them and look to him with the H I M the big H I M don't look to anyone else because you have your own path no one else is going to be able to save you it's about him so when I took my eyes off of the teachers the preachers the pastor the leaders then I began to realize that I myself had to worship him in spirit and in truth so take your eyes off of the people they're not the ones that you should be looking at but look at your own self through him now I would like to extend a special thanks to my co-host early in Anthony my Institute of your guests to Juana's green Andrea long Rick Johnson and on the line in Mexico Hector Barajas with vanish veteran you I will also like to do a special shout out to my brothers and sisters my brother Reverend Fred Johnson in Memphis who just had a birthday in September and my sister down in Greenville Mississippi dr. Haddon Johnson who just had a birthday October the 20th I like to a special shout out to them so please check out our past shows of the Coon Brown report on iTunes and Facebook and on the right hand side of the screen is the link to iTunes and Facebook and on the right hand side of the screen is the link to iTunes and Facebook and on the right hand side of the screen is the link to skit road LA and drama stage dash cool round on all thank you for tuning in to the Coon Brown report and from your host Melvin Ishmael Johnson made a peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family thank you very much you!