hello and welcome to the r and b bistro up close and personal i'm going to host venus and i'm here to help you through this musical dance we call life and to do that i talked to prominent people in the community so they can give us some tips to help us make it through today my guest is no stranger to the community she's won several awards community awards helping folks in our community and she is a budding playwright she's an author she's a songwriter she helped founded the sit sisters of new jersey existence that we think of again she helped found the central new jersey sisters network and that's an organization that helps the breast cancer survivors and she in fact is a breast cancer survivor sisters network to bring awareness of this disease because you know that it's more deadly in the african american community right we are diagnosed less but we get more right so it was just very important that we get that message out there and i've been an advocate i doubt that it is absolutely absolutely true it was all right well then how did you go from the sisters network to writing place years ago hi i'm a retiree at that company i was editor of one of the the newsletters and i did all kinds of things including the black history month program ok and then play came out my first play writing came about because there were some young men that martin luther king players and they came to the company to do a black history program and i was so impressed with their presentation  that i went home and i panned songs all right and that play developed and it was only thirty years later only thirty thirty years later that i decided that i should fulfill this  dream so now wait a minute you did did how did you know how to produce a plate how do you put it together how do you do anything about writing or did that come from the experience transferrable experience from johnson and johnson with us from watching you know i think it was just a natural gift from god i wrote it in my head and put it on paper and always wanted to do it and actually when i wrote this play i wrote the staging everything in my soul the director you know that play was where is jonah now i think we have a clip of that where was jonah now tell us about that and how did the songs come about for that play where was john and there was one song that i that i had written that actually the reduce  pool and i made him promise that he would put it back in the later production and its core we have a chance to make this world a better place ok and that came out of the interaction with those young men at the end  see a lot of the things that we endured during the life and so did the songs all come to you before the play or you know and how did you figure out what songs we're in what seem ok here's have that happen now all the songs were regional phone open or some song that i actually went to the internet and listened to the song grimace people asked me have it you come up with the songs and when i listen to the small if i say there's a certain feeling i get right and if there's an emotional song if i start to tear up the right for a while i know it was there well and i've had my musical director saying you know i don't think that's the right comedy and they have the music and why do you put those two together the life issues are in it to what do you think you do that instead of a drama or like reality shows like they have you know well you know what actually i would piano and a little organ you know keyboard twenty five years of service so music is ingrained there and so i love the music i think music in a play brings about  it brings about action and dramatic and it it helps to tell storing right away and so i had books about all kinds of things and i want to talk about the book that you wrote for the breast cancer survivors and second but i found this page with lyrics on it that i started in this book called you know how to write lyrics i don't know when i got the book but i've been in this place for twenty years and i'm looking at the lyrics and the title i'm not going to say the title of the song but it's only about the first eight bars of the song so of course now i'm going to go back and finish it but i bring that up to say that i can tell what kind of mood i was in when i wrote that story because it is a story and it's hawke's about you know some kind of heartache so you know it was about a relationship and it probably wasn't a good relationship because of the title so it's kind of funny how how that is but relationships was so important you know and the things that happen to you and i'm a musician myself i don't play any instruments when i sing and so if a song touches me i can sing it if it's on doesn't touch me i really can't sing and i things slow stuff and really sing that stuff you know but i like that stuff but i like all kinds of music and to me one of the reasons why i started the show is because it's about music and that's why i called army bistro because it's several different music genres in there and it doesn't limit me to talking just about r and b or just about jazz or just about whatever i can talk about whatever i want to talk about and i think they're so cool because there's so many people that can contribute to the community like you that i want to bring on the show so they can tell their story so they can help somebody else that's the purpose for the show motivation inspiration and information so now i know you wrote a book you wrote some books and i know you want when specifically for a breast cancer person so tell us about that book the name of it and where people can get it from can they still get it actually there were two books one book was written for the state of new jersey cancer commission and it was calls of courage to trust a clinical have a fear so i actually wrote this book in a poem form easy really to give information in this book so that they would know that certain steps to take  you can be assured that a certain point when you're diagnosed with cancer it's it's absolutely ok right to get involved in a clinical trial and the last book i wrote was cancer poems and rhymes and i have to put it back in  me yes yes and that was the reason why i wrote you know i wrote a poem which was a part of what was in the national televised commercial reality were my sister so it's my give back because god bless me to come out of the cancer mode there you know feeling a new lease on life and being a cancer advocate for the past fifteen  you know i saw the worst the best yeah and so i have some stories where when people come to me i can say look if i were you here's what i would do here and it's so important to relate to people who've been through three years because sometimes people talk and they really don't know they say oh you know i know how you feel but the person even though they may know how you feel the person it is speaking to me feel like they have not gone through this so they don't know how i feel you know and i have so many people in my family that have passed on from cancer that have cancer now and it's so wonderful to talk to you was when i think about them i think about you and so i kind of speak whatever i've heard from you to qana help them and i have a young cousin who's going through something now and i must give her the information about the sisters network leaders the she definitely needs to connect with people because sometimes you get this thought well i have this what with me i'm going to die and that's not always the case and if you die inside then it will kill you it will kill you faster than the disease will kill you so it's important to know that there is a way there is a way and you are such a shining example of what you can do in their midst and in spite of and that's so awesome so i don't know why you going to change the name of the book but if you're being led to but i well i hope that you tell us where we can get it get the book yes well you you get the book you would have to contact me now you know i don't have it on years you can five bits and pieces a reminder you know i mean it's a good marketing so everything yes you can put your name and date and telephone number website and all that the phone is a good marketing to so those of you out there who are looking for a thing to do for marketing make sure you do things like this you never know ask up all those kind of things well let's get into jonah again ok ok we have a clip of jonah well we had just finished the production  and i was called on stage by the director who's at the far right his name is tim walton he's a father nominal director at franklin high school ok that was a play was that's where the play is and the theater is state of the art it's an absolutely phenomenal the eight of dismay and all of the productions there he is the director and if you have not seen any of the productions there you should be the high school really produces phenomenal plays ok these were the people in k s that were standing in back and it was kind of an impromptu thing there were so many people there there were seven hundred people there and i think was the first time in my life that i was spill and so i really tell these people that you you have to jump to fulfill your dream yes you do so now that brings me to another one i'm sure there are a number of aspiring actors and actors of you who would like to be the word of mouth and now what happens is that i have so many people coming to me now that i actually want to be in a production early so what i'm going to do the next time i decide i will do one player year i did with my next play which is going to be which is a result of the cliffhanger from this new play the beating who ok and i i will be doing a casting call you can do a casting call for the component right ok so if you're an aspiring actor or actress and you want to be in any of reese's plays you need to listen up and pay attention and i'm always going to bring it to you can follow me on all my networks which i'll tell you about later and then you'll know let's talk  women they get into trouble ok ok now is the hood a continuation from where john and now it definitely is we had there was one scene in jonah where jonah now that really captivated the audience it was it was about these women who were they were funny and they were they had this scene where they were just actually talking a lot of crazy stuff and gossiping and areas ations and so it was it was like e abuse and rough subject rough subjects and we have to do it in a light way right but but to make sure that the words penetrate right and with some  we always say we present things but with some offers of solutions some well what we should do is like go to counseling you know make sure that the message yet clear that they're making sure you can do about these issues yes yes yes some of those issues can kind of break up families indicate it's really important to see that there is a way out there's always a way out there's always a better way if you work together think if you will pray and then we have you know the main character mother just and it's her birthday so my mother johnson was jonah's mother right yes ok and that's being played by zamora brooks ok she's absolutely thing testing in this role and it's her birthday so they planted something and they're going to get into big trouble right right big trouble ok it's going places where you shouldn't be going doing things you know same things you shouldn't say so it's coupled with the music it's really all this has is musical as well is musical as well i was always doing these we got comedy we and we have a concession stand so you can you can grab a snack now also we're going to have carlene bowman riley she's going to come in and she's going to do a spot a singing spot and carlene two shows so pay attention to all the networks so you can get that information so now we know you got a bucket list yes were these things on their bucket list and is there anything else on your bucket list yes i have a whole lot to do and it's seventy three yes there's no excuse for any of you out there who are doing nothing ok because at this age of you continuing to do things that means that anybody can do it and you can do anything at any age now let me ask you we must give our viewers some tips so what tips would you give to a three tips would you give our viewers to to let them know that they can do what you do as a playwright what tips would you give them to get started first of all just let me say i want to be if a lamp purpose and i just want to help people i want to foundation all of that stuff and i know what it takes to do that i have to have money and i want to make money to have my stage of life now i want to make money to help people and you have to it comes through a new ship right it really comes into directing your life and life can throw you some some really bad turns but it's what you make of it so i would say to people that you've got to get the fear factor away out of it and you have to determine i pray and ask god please the harvey says if you have a passion in life there is a way that you can do it and you have to jump you have to keep the faith the same because when you're you really want to do some it's going to stretch fave i don't care how old you are is stretches your faith you have to keep trying you have to keep trying when you know that you know that you know that you have the ability to do something and i always seek out people and i stay in my lane you know i think of those people where i'm not as good in certain areas right i've got to bring somebody in right on the help me say look i'm trusting right you know i can't i can't micromanage i have to let people do what do they do yes  and then i do what i do but you have to learn all aspects of your business you have to know you know what you're doing and that can happen to have given all of us and yes do you know is that just me it's it's everybody so it's finding what it is that passion is news and you go after it with all you have so learn all aspects of what you do that suggests another one as never to get another one now the other important thing is as old as i am i have a coach i have a leadership coach because in the position that i mean i had to learn to deal with all personalities ok all people yes and a soft answer will turn away greeks yes you know it's you have to learn how to work with people you have to learn when to let go right sometimes you have to let people go and you have to do all that and move on and you have to learn about yourself the truth hurts there are many times my coach would tell me things where i would like i can remember one time i hung up the phone and start crying but then if you want to change  then you have if you even want to be successful right because sometimes you can't see yourself absolutely you absolutely and i'm kind of like that too i listen to what you have to satan and then i'll go inward and look to see if that really is and do i really need to make a change have i and that means lord and teresa nice i gave him three letters l o r and i gave myself to a i like that ok and you can get me have a website it's call l babyhood dot now paper tickets dot com all right and we will this is the flyer i think we have a fire that we can put up on our monitor so you can see it a little closer of the babyhood but i'm going to be there yes participant i forgot that i'm going to be doing a part of the show where she's just reminding me this is venus from the r and b shrill thank you so much for joining us remember the con back and see as again we'll always have some information as intense for you remember