1
WORDS CAN FEEL LIKE A COZY BLANKET FRESH OUT OF THE DRYER. Other times they are a piercing pin prick to the heart. They often shroud us like a chrysalis with a rigid exterior, delicately maturing us from the inside out. Words have power, but even more intriguing is the per- son who possesses the power to use words in a transformational way. Hank Stewart, nationally-acclaimed inspirational speaker and poet, is keenly aware of this power and the impetus that words can have on a person’s destiny. Slightly distracted initially by interruptions to congrat- ulate him on his successful Love Jones Sunday open mic event, he sat with me unreservedly to discuss this very topic. He explained that in mo- ments of inspiration, he is thoughtful in arranging the words of his poems, always seeking to guide readers and listeners to new emotional heights and spiritual levels. “I want my words to resonate with people,” he said transparently. “Sometimes poetry is so deep that it’s hard to catch the metaphors,” he continued, “I want people to get [my poems] and enjoy them.” If ever Stewart needed confirmation that he was accomplishing this goal, the evidence would be his five books of poetry, two novels, five CDs, and countless live performances with audiences that have included celebrities, politicians, and iconic figures. He was a featured perform- er at Riverdale’s Spoken Word and Touch of Jazz Festival at Town Cen- ter Pavilion in July. He’s performed at the Trumpet Awards, the Essence Music Festival, and in May of this year at the 102nd annual Congressio- nal Club’s First Lady’s Luncheon in honor of First Lady Michelle Obama. Equally important as his words of poetry are Stewart’s words of com- mitment to the communities that he supports through his civic service. He launched The Stewart Foundation with co-founder Gwendolyn Ma- son, a youth leadership development foundation supported by a staff and 200 volunteers, established as a proactive resource for addressing pressing societal issues, engaging youth in consciously operating within their potential, and mapping their success into adulthood. His authentic- ity was evident as he shared stories of successful young adults whose lives were influenced by their involvement in the Foundation’s career, wellness, and life skills programs during their formative years. Hav- ing already impacted over 10,000 youth per the Foundation’s count, an unsatisfied Stewart is driven to do more to lead national efforts to sup- port the success of ‘young America’ starting with the education system. Stewart recognizes that the continual decrease of government fund- ing for educational art curricula in public schools – applied, fine, and performing arts – places students who learn through creative means at a disadvantage. He will speak before the Congressional Black Caucus in September, urging their support in funding and boosting art instruction in schools. I spoke with a supporter of the Stewart Foundation and nation- ally recognized spoken word artist and musician Abyss about the grav- ity of Stewart gaining an audience with our nation’s leaders. “Art is the way that many children learn,” said Abyss. “If we take art out of schools, we aren’t educating those children who rely on the arts to learn,” essen- tially requiring creative children to adapt to unintuitive methods of learn- ing. Consistent with Stewart’s message, Abyss asserted that grassroots leaders like he and Stewart “don’t want kids to depend on others to make them successful. We want them to learn to create their own success.” In his final moments of introspection Stewart talked about his journey from a young boy in his native Florida to becoming a corporate manager, penning his first poem in 1991 and becoming an accomplished poet and respected civic leader. It seemed an appropriate time to ask if he had given thought to what he wanted his legacy to be and with sincerity he explained that he never wanted it to be said that “I didn’t leave my footprint. That I didn’t give my all and invest in my community.” The potential for that to occur is unlikely as Stewart comes across as a man that lives by his word. The Power of Words Hank Stewart, speaker and poet performs for Michelle Obama and speaks before the Congressional Black Caucus “The best gifts come from the heart, not the store.” – DESSEN WORDS DOT TOLERSON PICTURE MICHIE TURPIN 31 We Are Clayton Magazine www.weareclayton.com AUG | SEP 2014

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WORDS CAN FEEL LIKE A COZY BLANKET FRESH OUT OF THE DRYER.

Oth

er

tim

es

the

y a

re a

pie

rcin

g p

in p

rick

to

th

e h

ea

rt. T

he

y o

fte

n s

hro

ud

us

like

a c

hry

salis

wit

h a

rig

id e

xte

rio

r, d

elic

ate

ly m

atu

rin

g u

s fr

om

th

e

insi

de

ou

t. W

ord

s h

ave

po

we

r, b

ut

eve

n m

ore

in

trig

uin

g i

s th

e p

er-

son

wh

o p

oss

ess

es

the

po

we

r to

use

wo

rds

in a

tra

nsf

orm

ati

on

al

wa

y.

H

an

k S

tew

art

, n

ati

on

ally

-acc

laim

ed

in

spir

ati

on

al

spe

ake

r a

nd

po

et,

is

kee

nly

aw

are

of

this

po

we

r a

nd

th

e i

mp

etu

s th

at

wo

rds

can

ha

ve o

n a

pe

rso

n’s

de

stin

y. S

ligh

tly

dis

tra

cte

d i

nit

ially

by

inte

rru

pti

on

s to

co

ng

rat-

ula

te h

im o

n h

is s

ucc

ess

ful

Love

Jo

ne

s S

un

da

y o

pe

n m

ic e

ven

t, h

e s

at

wit

h m

e u

nre

serv

ed

ly t

o d

iscu

ss t

his

ve

ry t

op

ic. H

e e

xpla

ine

d t

ha

t in

mo

-

me

nts

of

insp

ira

tio

n, h

e is

th

ou

gh

tfu

l in

arr

an

gin

g t

he

wo

rds

of

his

po

em

s,

alw

ays

se

eki

ng

to

gu

ide

re

ad

ers

an

d l

iste

ne

rs t

o n

ew

em

oti

on

al

he

igh

ts

an

d s

pir

itu

al

leve

ls.

“I w

an

t m

y w

ord

s to

re

son

ate

wit

h p

eo

ple

,” h

e s

aid

tra

nsp

are

ntl

y. “

So

me

tim

es

po

etr

y is

so

de

ep

th

at

it’s

ha

rd t

o c

atc

h t

he

me

tap

ho

rs,”

he

co

nti

nu

ed

, “I

wa

nt

pe

op

le t

o g

et

[my

po

em

s] a

nd

en

joy

the

m.”

If e

ver

Ste

wa

rt n

ee

de

d c

on

firm

ati

on

th

at

he

wa

s a

cco

mp

lish

ing

this

go

al,

the

evi

de

nce

wo

uld

be

his

fiv

e b

oo

ks o

f p

oe

try,

tw

o n

ove

ls, f

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s, a

nd

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tle

ss l

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pe

rfo

rma

nce

s w

ith

au

die

nce

s th

at

ha

ve i

ncl

ud

ed

cele

bri

tie

s, p

olit

icia

ns,

an

d i

con

ic f

igu

res.

He

wa

s a

fe

atu

red

pe

rfo

rm-

er

at

Riv

erd

ale

’s S

po

ken

Wo

rd a

nd

To

uch

of

Jazz

Fe

stiv

al

at

Tow

n C

en

-

ter

Pa

vilio

n i

n J

uly

. H

e’s

pe

rfo

rme

d a

t th

e T

rum

pe

t A

wa

rds,

th

e E

sse

nce

Mu

sic

Fe

stiv

al,

an

d i

n M

ay

of

this

ye

ar

at

the

10

2n

d a

nn

ua

l C

on

gre

ssio

-

na

l C

lub

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irst

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s Lu

nch

eo

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on

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of

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st L

ad

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ich

elle

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am

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qu

ally

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rds

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mm

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itie

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at

he

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pp

ort

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rou

gh

his

civ

ic s

erv

ice

.

He

la

un

che

d T

he

Ste

wa

rt F

ou

nd

ati

on

wit

h c

o-f

ou

nd

er

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en

do

lyn

Ma

-

son

, a

yo

uth

le

ad

ers

hip

de

velo

pm

en

t fo

un

da

tio

n s

up

po

rte

d b

y a

sta

ff

an

d 2

00

vo

lun

tee

rs,

est

ab

lish

ed

as

a p

roa

ctiv

e r

eso

urc

e f

or

ad

dre

ssin

g

pre

ssin

g s

oci

eta

l is

sue

s, e

ng

ag

ing

yo

uth

in

co

nsc

iou

sly

op

era

tin

g w

ith

in

the

ir p

ote

nti

al,

an

d m

ap

pin

g t

he

ir s

ucc

ess

into

ad

ult

ho

od

. His

au

the

nti

c-

ity

wa

s e

vid

en

t a

s h

e s

ha

red

sto

rie

s o

f su

cce

ssfu

l yo

un

g a

du

lts

wh

ose

live

s w

ere

in

flu

en

ced

by

the

ir i

nvo

lve

me

nt

in t

he

Fo

un

da

tio

n’s

ca

ree

r,

we

llne

ss,

an

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life

sk

ills

pro

gra

ms

du

rin

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the

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form

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ve

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ing

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ea

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act

ed

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o l

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ati

on

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eff

ort

s to

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po

rt t

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ca’

sta

rtin

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ith

th

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du

cati

on

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tem

.

S

tew

art

re

cog

niz

es

tha

t th

e c

on

tin

ua

l d

ecr

ea

se o

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ove

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en

t fu

nd

-

ing

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r e

du

cati

on

al

art

cu

rric

ula

in

pu

blic

sch

oo

ls –

ap

plie

d,

fin

e,

an

d

pe

rfo

rmin

g a

rts

– p

lace

s st

ud

en

ts w

ho

le

arn

th

rou

gh

cre

ati

ve m

ea

ns

at

a d

isa

dva

nta

ge

. H

e w

ill s

pe

ak

be

fore

th

e C

on

gre

ssio

na

l B

lack

Ca

ucu

s in

Se

pte

mb

er,

urg

ing

th

eir

su

pp

ort

in f

un

din

g a

nd

bo

ost

ing

art

inst

ruct

ion

in

sch

oo

ls. I

sp

oke

wit

h a

su

pp

ort

er

of

the

Ste

wa

rt F

ou

nd

ati

on

an

d n

ati

on

-

ally

re

cog

niz

ed

sp

oke

n w

ord

art

ist

an

d m

usi

cia

n A

bys

s a

bo

ut

the

gra

v-

ity

of

Ste

wa

rt g

ain

ing

an

au

die

nce

wit

h o

ur

na

tio

n’s

le

ad

ers

. “A

rt i

s th

e

wa

y th

at

ma

ny

child

ren

le

arn

,” sa

id A

bys

s. “

If w

e t

ake

art

ou

t o

f sc

ho

ols

,

we

are

n’t

ed

uca

tin

g t

ho

se c

hild

ren

wh

o r

ely

on

th

e a

rts

to l

ea

rn,”

ess

en

-

tia

lly r

eq

uir

ing

cre

ati

ve c

hild

ren

to

ad

ap

t to

un

intu

itiv

e m

eth

od

s o

f le

arn

-

ing

. C

on

sist

en

t w

ith

Ste

wa

rt’s

me

ssa

ge

, A

bys

s a

sse

rte

d t

ha

t g

rass

roo

ts

lea

de

rs li

ke h

e a

nd

Ste

wa

rt “

do

n’t

wa

nt

kid

s to

de

pe

nd

on

oth

ers

to

ma

ke

the

m s

ucc

ess

ful.

We

wa

nt

the

m t

o l

ea

rn t

o c

rea

te t

he

ir o

wn

su

cce

ss.”

I

n h

is f

ina

l m

om

en

ts o

f in

tro

spe

ctio

n S

tew

art

ta

lke

d a

bo

ut

his

jo

urn

ey

fro

m a

yo

un

g b

oy

in h

is n

ati

ve F

lori

da

to

be

com

ing

a c

orp

ora

te m

an

ag

er,

pe

nn

ing

his

fir

st p

oe

m in

19

91

an

d b

eco

min

g a

n a

cco

mp

lish

ed

po

et

an

d

resp

ect

ed

civ

ic le

ad

er.

It s

ee

me

d a

n a

pp

rop

ria

te t

ime

to

ask

if h

e h

ad

giv

en

tho

ug

ht

to w

ha

t h

e w

an

ted

his

leg

acy

to

be

an

d w

ith

sin

ceri

ty h

e e

xpla

ine

d

tha

t h

e n

eve

r w

an

ted

it t

o b

e s

aid

th

at

“I d

idn

’t le

ave

my

foo

tpri

nt.

Th

at

I

did

n’t

giv

e m

y a

ll a

nd

in

vest

in

my

com

mu

nit

y.”

Th

e p

ote

nti

al

for

tha

t to

occ

ur

is u

nlik

ely

as

Ste

wa

rt c

om

es

acr

oss

as

a m

an

th

at

live

s b

y h

is w

ord

.

The Power of Words

Hank Stewart, speaker and poet performs

for Michelle Obama and speaks before the

Congressional Black Caucus

“The

bes

t gi

fts c

ome

from

the

he

art,

not

th

e st

ore.

” –

DE

SSE

N

WORDS DOT TOLERSON

PICTURE

MIC

HIE

TU

RP

IN

31

We Are Clayton Magazine • www.weareclayton.com • AUG | SEP 2014