Episode #176: The Transformative Power of Music, the Deception of Comfort, Fundraising & Financial Help for Non-profits, with Rick DellaRatta, Founder of Jazz for Peace

INTRODUCTION:

In this episode of the Sex, Drugs, and Jesus podcast, host De’Vannon Seráphino welcomes Rick DellaRatta, founder of Jazz for Peace. The conversation revolves around the transformative power of music, particularly jazz, in fostering peace and positive change. Rick shares his journey of founding Jazz for Peace, highlighted by its inception on the day of 9/11, and how it's grown to help over 850 causes worldwide. The discussion touches on the challenges of maintaining autonomy in nonprofit work and the importance of focusing on the mission and the people being helped. Rick reflects on the deep messages within music, while De’Vannon emphasizes the spiritual dimensions of different life experiences.

Playlists: https://music.apple.com/profile/DeVannonSeraphino

Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.com

Website: https://www.DownUnderApparel.com   

INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to):

·      The Holy Ghost in House Music.

·      Sandman Revelations.

·      Psychedelics & Music.

·      A Serenade with Music Played @ Duplex in West Village.

·      Racial Barriers Broken by Music.

·      Civilization Has Already Ended.

·      The Deception of Comfort & Convenience. 

·      Fasting Has Great Benefits!

·      Excellent Donor Advice For Non-profits.

·      The Importance of Autonomy in the Non-profit Arena


CONNECT WITH RICK DELLARATTA:

Website: https://jazzforpeace.org

Book @ Amazon: https://shorturl.at/vGjN4

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jazzmgmt

Email: info@jazzforpeace.org

CONNECT WITH DE’VANNON SERÁPHINO:

TikTok: https://shorturl.at/nqyJ4

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCM

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannon

Email: SDJPodcastNewYork@Gmail.com

Thanks for listening!!! Please follow us on YouTube + TikTok @SexDrugsAndJesusPodcast

Transcript

Episode #176: The Transformative Power of Music, the Deception of Comfort, Fundraising & Financial Help for Non-profits, with Rick DellaRatta, Founder of Jazz for Peace


De'Vannon Seráphino: [00:00:00] Hello, all my beautiful, wonderful, musical, magical souls out there. And welcome back to the Sex, Drugs, and Jesus podcast. I'm your host, De'Vannon Seráphino. Do I feel like being a hostess today? Now I'm feeling a little bit more masculine. Then maybe I'll be more feminine tomorrow. How beautiful to be able to code switch like that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Thank God for that power. I have Rick DellaRatta with me today. Masterful musician. He's the founder of jazz for peace, jazz for peace. org, which is what we're going to be talking about today. He's over here in Hell's Kitchen. And while I'm holding it down on the Upper East side, we're giving you all some double New York energy today.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Can you feel that New York power? Rick, how are you? 

Rick DellaRatta: Very good. So happy to be with you today. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Absolutely. So before we even get too much into this, y'all, Rick, has a little song, little serenade he wants to play on his keyboard for you. Go ahead, man, and take it. [00:01:00]Okay. 

Rick DellaRatta: Well I have something especially for DeShannon because I used to be a pianist still them for now and then a piano bar entertainer.

Rick DellaRatta: And I used to play a lot down in the West Village. What happened was I was playing all over the place. And I took my car because I was reverse commuting too much. And I wanted to play right here in Manhattan. And I had a tour coming up with a band called the platters from the 1940s. fifties and I couldn't have my car in New York.

Rick DellaRatta: So I brought it to New Jersey. It was a 1969 Chevy Biscayne. I took the license plates off with a screwdriver and walked away from the car. So I didn't have to deal with it while I was on tour. When I came back, I just started playing in any place that had a piano. One of the places was called the duplex downtown.

Rick DellaRatta: I don't know. Shannon hasn't been in New York long enough to know about it, but legendary piano bars in the West village. And this is a song that they used to love. It's called a new kind of love. 

Rick DellaRatta: [00:02:00] If the nightingale Could sing like you, they'd sing much sweeter than they do Cause you brought a new kind of love to me

Rick DellaRatta: If the Sandman brought me dreams of you, I'd want to sleep my whole life through. Cause you brought a new kind of love to me.

Rick DellaRatta: I know that I'm a slave and you're a queen, but still. Still, you can understand that underneath it all, [00:03:00] you'll remain, and I am only a man. I could work and slave the whole day through If I could hurry home to you Cause you brought a new kind of love To me![00:04:00]

Rick DellaRatta: You can understand, that underneath it all, you're a maid. And I am only a man, I could work a slave. The whole day through, if I could hurry home to you. You brought a new [00:05:00]kind of love to me. Yes, you brought a new kind of love to me. Now if that ain't

De'Vannon Seráphino: a jazz hands moment. I don't fucking know what is. All the jazz. All the jazz.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Very, very good. Very beautiful voice, very on the melody, very in tune and, very good playing. I did a little stint with keyboard, violin, piano. I'm more of a songwriter. I'd much rather write music, but I am going to get me a drum set. Cause the Holy ghost has told me to get a drum set. I actually bought the drums when I got the, the the drum sticks when I got to New York last year and I'll get the drum set this year and start to go forth because I'm doing [00:06:00] this new.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Exploration as a spirit is leading me into an exploration of, bass because the way it works like in house music and everything and the way like the Holy Ghost moves and deals with people like I've seen them do, seen her do like it the clubs I got in Brooklyn and at festivals and things like that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: There's something to that, to that bass is very like deep and moving, like, and especially like Afro house music and it just like, I don't know. It's feel like, I feel like God is like beckoning, beckoning us back to him through like baselines and different things like that because it's all very primal.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so I'm going to get me a drum set up in here next year and see what, see what the Holy Ghost is going to deal with me on with, with this music. But, but I love music. I love everything about it. And I even played like a baby curve soprano saxophone at one point in my life. But so I love it, reading music and, but it's really writing it.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Because songs come to me in my sleep from the spirit and then I get up and I [00:07:00] record them. I have like hundreds of songs that I've just kept over the years until the time comes for something to be done with them. When you said Sandman, the Sandman in there in that song, like that, that was my favorite line lyric.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I don't know if you or the viewers out there have watched the Sandman rendition from on Netflix and everything like that. That is one beautiful, pretty gothic little motherfucker right there. And I love the way that dude look. He is so damn hot. And and I love the spookiness of, like, the whole Sandman lore, and the Sandman is, is on, like, how it's portrayed on Netflix, is he's, like, super magical, he's also, like, a hero, but kind of, he looks all villainous, and he's always in, in all that darkness and everything, and it's so sexy, and it's so profound.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Oh, yes, yes. 

Rick DellaRatta: Cool. Yeah, those words. I mean just it's, it's a song from the 1920s, but it just it has that a lot of [00:08:00] imagination comes out of those lyrics. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Yeah. And on, we're going to talk about Rick's nonprofit and grants and how that works and how you collect coin and all of that. His history and what even brought him to even start the thing in the first place, the struggles of starting a nonprofit, because it's not like the devil is just going to roll over and let you start something that's going to benefit somebody without some friction.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So I definitely want to hear about the problems that you encountered, because sometimes I'll talk to people on the show who have started nonprofits as people are thinking about starting them. So we're going to touch on that too. But I wanted to point out to people since we brought up, since Rick brought up the Sandman, and then the Holy Ghost has let me run off into my left field with that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So the way the Sandman is portrayed and the Lord is always talking to us through music, movies, theater, Broadway, it is never just a show. There is always some sort of something you can take away from there and affect the quantifier through collaboration with the Holy Ghost. Now you need God's power to show you this and then to activate it.[00:09:00]

De'Vannon Seráphino: Otherwise, it just will be surface level entertainment to you, but if you could just ever let God open your eyes and to work with you on transmuting the things presented to us through entertainment, then you can walk out of any show, performance, or whatever with some sort of quantifiable, tangible, measurable, something that you can use and affect the change in your life.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And, and so from the Sandman, what I like about him, he's one of those rare evil looking heroes, in my opinion. And the thing is, darkness is not really necessarily evil. That's what I wanted to point out, though. It's portrayed that way. Evil in and of itself is an activity. It's a force working against you that does not want you to succeed, but even in the Hebrew scriptures, it talks about how God, is he creates darkness and light.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Darkness is under his feet. He is not opposed to that. He made the nighttime sky darkness and the dark color and black is not evil. evil in and of itself. [00:10:00] Darkness is beautiful. And then the sun sets, we see all the pretty buildings and everything like that. It has a way of revealing some of the best views and possible lights.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Darkness is not evil. Evil is like more like an action thing. And so I wanted to talk about that cause that's been on my mind this week lately. Cause this type of stuff I sit around thinking about like, and and when you said Sandman, it gave me an opportunity. The segue into that. But what do you think about such things?

Rick DellaRatta: It's, first of all, I mean, it's interesting because sometimes we get things a little bit backwards during the daylight is when capitalism and our capitalistic profit motive and all of these crazy things that are really bringing us down as a species those are rearing their ugly heads during the daytime.

Rick DellaRatta: And sometimes at night, it's quiet and it's calm, and that shuts down a little bit, and that can be a very peaceful time. That can be a time [00:11:00] where you can get back in touch with yourself, even, maybe, because all the subliminal messages are not blocking your way from you reaching God. Something that really makes sense to you are really is, is truthful and then if you look at places like they do these videos of, of deserts and stuff, boy, everything happens at night in the desert the score, all everything comes out, they all do their living at night, their, their day is the nighttime.

Rick DellaRatta: So yeah, it's, it's not, it's not cut and dry. You can't say black is evil, white is white is good. Sometimes it could even be the opposite. Another point I would make actually is, there was an interview about a person that I happen to know a little bit who played with Miles Davis, and they were talking to him about Miles Davis, the great jazz trumpet player.

Rick DellaRatta: And a lot of people thought, oh, he was the darkness, and the prince of darkness, and this, that, and the other. And that person who played with him said actually, he felt Miles was [00:12:00]really trying to protect a very innocent part of him that felt vulnerable. And so, because he felt so vulnerable with this innocent aspect about him inside, he was thinking, Kind of cloaking it with all of this stuff to as cause he was so afraid of damaging that little sacred thing inside him.

Rick DellaRatta: So in other words, sometimes it looks like Darth Vader, when it's really, that's just someone protecting something that's good that he does that he's afraid of expose of, of exposing in a way that might be harmful to it putting it in jeopardy. Protecting it. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: That's why you got to take time and really get to know people and dig into people's psyches and ask them detailed questions cuz how we present is not how we look in the spiritual realm at all.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Like, like what you see is not what you get. Correct. Period. I think G. I. Joe did that [00:13:00] too in one of those movies. They had like the, like the, the ninja that was a part of the G. I. Joe thing. Like the white one was evil and then the dark, the one who dressed in black was good. And I thought that was absolutely fascinating that they would flip that around like that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so I really, really appreciated that about G. I. Joe. The way they, the way they did that. 

Rick DellaRatta: Yeah, and that's what you mean by that underpinning. When you're watching something, there's these, there's these other messages. These messages, they're trying to reach you, a little bit deeper into it, and so that was, that's an example where they would do that, flip that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Hmm. Speaking of deep messages, and it seems like people are able to access these messages as they grow spiritually, and grow mentally, and grow emotionally. Which is the beautiful thing of going back and listening to a song or watching a movie you haven't in years and it looks completely different to you or you're able to glean different lessons from it.

De'Vannon Seráphino: What I have learned and Rick's YouTube channel, which is going to go in the, in [00:14:00] the, in the show notes along with, his website jazzforpeace. org. On YouTube, it's at Jazz mgmt Jazz Management. I noticed that you had recently done an interview about like psychedelics and music and so I haven't, I started doing psychedelics last year, even though I am now leading psychedelic ceremonies individually for people, I grow and I grow very swiftly in anything that has to do with anything spiritual, because that's where my main gifting is.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so it didn't take me long. The way the Holy Ghost is with me. And so what I observed after doing LSD for the first time last year, and then getting into into it more this year. Is that every time I go back to listen to music now, I can hear different levels that these producers and sound engineers have put in there that in music.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I've been listening to since the 80s. I have not heard these songs like this before, and it feels like I'm listening to this music for the very first time due to what God has put into LSD. Ain't nothing but the [00:15:00] Holy Ghost in the bottle. I say it all the time. It feels like being overshadowed in the spirit whenever I do LSD.

De'Vannon Seráphino: But when I come out of it, long after the high is worn off, these effects are still there, and I can still hear this music at a way sub granular level than I ever could before. What do you think about these different layers of music that are there that we don't even hear till like years later, depending on how we have grown.

Rick DellaRatta: Well, the same way that you were saying how a movie would grow on you when you watched it again or something, it's really absolutely the same thing with music. I can listen to music years later and it will sound completely new to me because I didn't, I didn't hear. . These underpinnings in these little things, these little nuances and these little things that were in it we're not hearing it.

Rick DellaRatta: I mean, we're hearing it differently at different stages of our life as we go along and as our appreciation for that genre or that specific style, or even that [00:16:00] specific record or, or recording grows. So absolutely. It's a lifetime journey. with the, sometimes with the same song can be a lifetime journey, even the lyrics, even the melody.

Rick DellaRatta: There's all kinds of things that you can look at with a different perspective. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Yeah. Music is, it's one of those things that is so spiritually like, like there's no like psychedelic ceremonies for instance, without it, like it affects people on a soul level. Like, like I'm afraid to even get into like the, like the description of that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So let me, but it's a beautiful thing, but it is. And intensely powerful. Like when you, when you really, really understand what you're dealing with, I wanted to read a little bit from, from, from, from the book he has a book, out called, I think it's out called paving the path for peace through music.

De'Vannon Seráphino: The amazing story of Rick DellaRatta in jazz [00:17:00] for peace by Debra R. Cerritelli 

Rick DellaRatta: Cerritelli, yeah. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Cerritelli. So beautiful. And. And so basically it says that the ethos of Jazz for Peace is simple yet profound, to use the transcendent power of music to foster peace and positive change. That book chronicles the evolution of this remarkable endeavor, showcasing the countless lives it has touched and the hope it has inspired.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So how old is Jazz for Peace? 

Rick DellaRatta: Jazz for Peace began On the actual morning of 9 11 as I was witnessing the events from a rooftop less than a quarter of a mile away from the World Trade Center and words came out during as I was up on that roof watching what was going on, words would come out and I realized that Those words are going to spin around on me unless I write that sentence down on a piece of paper.

Rick DellaRatta: So I would just write that little sentence down and kind of purge the words [00:18:00]onto the paper and now other thoughts could come into my head. The next thing I know there's these other words coming in and scribbling around and and I was like, oh, I'll just write those through. Five words down or whatever and get them out of me.

Rick DellaRatta: And at the end of the day, I had a bunch of words on a piece of paper and that's all I had to show for nine 11. I called the poem jazz for peace and trying to live up to those words has led to all of the achievements of jazz for peace and hopefully any other achievements I might be able to pull off in this journey in this lifetime.

Rick DellaRatta: But 

De'Vannon Seráphino: let me be clear, you were already gonna make Jazz for Peace before the planes hit, or was the, was this catastrophe the impetus in the first place? 

Rick DellaRatta: No, before the planes hit, I had learned a lot through my journey. So I had been a traveling musician. I had been all over the world to many places, and I noticed I noticed that here we are in a world.

Rick DellaRatta: of turmoil of strife of trauma. And [00:19:00] yet all of these people with all of these divisions are brought together through music and music can cut break any barrier. There's no barrier that you can't break. It could be a language barrier. It could be a race barrier. It could be creed. It could be religion, music.

Rick DellaRatta: You can, you can reach people on both sides of the aisle through music. They'll both all of a sudden they're on a level playing field or they're on a playing. They're on common ground based on their ability, how they how they are interpreting the music that you're playing. So I had learned all that.

Rick DellaRatta: So what happened when nine 11 hit? It is basically preparation met opportunity 

De'Vannon Seráphino: on those. I love the fact that you're able to be sensitive enough to your gifts and to understand yourself at that level, to know how they work and to not have had been distracted by all the mess that was happening and to still be able to to let heaven work with you to, to even [00:20:00]produce something.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Cause you know, a lot of people lost their shit, went flipped out and everything in there. And there you are understanding, how pressure. Can be used to extract useful gifts out of us as a lot of our gifts activate when things are not necessarily the best in life, a lot of beautiful music, beautiful songs, podcasts, my life's work and everything has come out of catastrophe and so I love that alchemical me being a chief magician as I am, I love being able to see that alchemical nature you have about you to sit there and let that swirl around you.

De'Vannon Seráphino: As you said, that ain't nothing but magic, baby. 

Rick DellaRatta: Well I knew that opportunity comes from the great, the greatest opportunities have always come from the greatest adversities. Again, I had learned that just by watching other, other things and how they were formed and looking at history. And so here I was in the greatest adversity.

Rick DellaRatta: [00:21:00] of where such opportunity could spring. I just didn't know how it was all going to, how it was I just didn't know how it was going to happen, but I knew I was definitely deep in the adversity. That's for sure. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: I like how you were talking about how the music transcends like the racial and different barriers like that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: I think about this like say when I've been down in Louisiana where I'm from one of Louisiana State University's LSU's tailgates back in the day when I used to drink though I only do psychedelics now I suppose I might go out there one time and just do a bunch of Molly all fucking day. That sounds cute actually.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And, but you know, there'll be like, say, Like a group of people at their tailgate, nothing but fucking white people, like a hundred fucking people, not one black person, a person of color, nothing like that, but all they're fucking listening to is hip hop. And I'm all like, and I'm all like, wait, I'm all like, okay, not judging, but [00:22:00] what I love is the fact that this generation Even though them white people are not yet ready to have that one black friend, not yet, something in them at a soul level that they're not aware of is opening unto the possibility, of what could be by even being open to ethnic music and African American music and hip hop music and things like that because those white people's parents were who they learned this racism from and grandparents would not have probably even entertained black music at all.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so even though And now some, some, some people might look at that and go, well, fuck them. They don't have any black people. How dare they listen to our music. But it's not about that. It's about the fact that we can see a turn coming in their generational line. Now, maybe their kids might actually bring home their first black friend and the whole white family line, the next few years, but that's a seed being planted.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And I don't choose to [00:23:00] look at it as offensive or like they stolen something from, from black people or nothing like that. Yeah. Let's, let's do like how Rick did on the morning of 9 11 and transmute this into something positive. There's a silver goddamn lining some fucking where. And so, and so I love that about, about the racial barriers being broken even though it might not look like it.

De'Vannon Seráphino: At a soul level they are. 

Rick DellaRatta: Yes, I mean, Jazz for Peace I had been to the normal places where music would go, where an American musician would go. So it might be Tokyo, it might be Paris, it might be Milan. But with Jazz for Peace, I was finding myself in places like Rwanda Ghana, Kenya Kathmandu, you know what I mean?

Rick DellaRatta: Lahore, Pakistan. So I was getting to see a world that You know, I didn't really know much about and that nobody did. And in truth really [00:24:00] is the world because the civilized world only makes up 5 percent of the whole globe. And we don't realize that we think we're 95 percent and this other part of the world that is not, was not just per se and when I say civilized, I don't mean it.

Rick DellaRatta: know, they're way deeper than, I mean, there are civilizations that are way deeper than us that lived thousands of years ago with no electricity. And yet they were spiritually way advanced from us. So, but you know, I was seeing parts of the world that had never seen me and I had never seen them. And yet I was playing music for them that they had never heard and hearing their music.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Child, you had me at Rwanda. Yass, Yass, Yasss!!!. And I was just talking to you about like the Afro house and everything like that. Boy, and I have not yet been to Africa. I got to go to India in 2026. I'm going there to stay for six months to study Reiki [00:25:00] and I shall return to Manhattan as a Reiki master, Reiki master Seráphino, my dear.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And, I have a thirst for knowledge that you, That is so intense. Like, I travel to learn. If I don't have, like, some sort of study set up, I'm not going. Like, I have to go to learn. My God. And but then I'm praying about when the spirit will loose me to go to Africa. And I'm trying to get down there. And marinade, okay?

De'Vannon Seráphino: I don't care about being civilized. Like, civilization is overrated. Like, like, it's more like authentic out there in them fields. Out there in them jungles. They're like, well, when I go study like in Mexico with the shamans and shit, I'm like, let's lose these damn city lights. As much as I like to go to the club and break it the fuck down, usually I'm in my home and by myself somewhere, hanging out with Angels as I do. But, that civilization is not civilized anymore. It's like, the non civilization has better decorum, and they treat you [00:26:00] better in a fucking hut, or a tent, or a jungle somewhere than they do if you go into an office building.

De'Vannon Seráphino: It's like, like how we say, I've been saying on this show, like, The definition of sanity is truly be sane in this day and time. You must go insane in order to be opposite because the temperament of the world is crazy. It's out of balance and craziness is when you're out of balance and don't know you're out of balance or not willing to act like you're dysfunctional but trying to function.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So I'd much rather go ride elephants and camels and shit like, like we were hanging out in Dubai and just be in the fucking desert with dancing on top of scorpions than fucking with most people on most days. 

Rick DellaRatta: I was in Kenya once and I was at a person's home and it was morning time and there were a few people over there and there was a guy over there talking about how he went to the United States and he was saying stuff and, and what the stuff he was saying was so true.

Rick DellaRatta: And then he [00:27:00] even talked about because one thing that you kind of miss if you're from the West. And you go to a place like Africa or whatever is the fact that there's no hot water. And so when you take a shower, it's cold. You know what I mean? But he made an incredible point. He said I miss the cold shower and he brought up the health.

Rick DellaRatta: Aspects. I mean, it's actually advantageous to take a cold for your health. It's actually better that you take a cold shower. And he was kind of bringing that into play. Like, he prefers a cold shower and he just, he prefers the things that we Need as comforts. You know what I mean? He doesn't the way that you go to the bathroom is different in Africa.

Rick DellaRatta: You squat down and so it's a whole it's not, but, and we're used to the toilet paper and the shower, hot shower, and these kinds of things. And we really don't are uncomfortable to go without it. In India, by the way, they also don't have toilet paper, but, he made [00:28:00] the point that he thought it was, he thought it was a minus he, he welcomes the, he prefers these other these, these ways that we are kind of addicted to, he prefers the opposite.

Rick DellaRatta: So that was an interesting point. Rwanda, by the way, since you're entering Rwanda, that was our first trip to Africa was in 2009. And we went there as part of an effort by the Rwandan government to open the country back up again after the genocide. And I actually, as they took me out to see the mountain gorillas, I don't know if you remember that movie.

Rick DellaRatta: Gorillas in the mist, you ever heard of it? Okay, so they took me all, I mean I had to hike like seven miles out into the jungle with guides and everything And they brought these gorillas down, they were called the Amohoro, which is the peace group Amohoro is is the word for peace And they brought them down, they brought the silverback down and they talked to him for a long time They [00:29:00] like, there's a guy talked for 45 minutes Before the silverback went up and brought the other gorillas down and then they just ran around us and played and little child gorillas were like doing somersaults in front of me and just we're all having fun together.

Rick DellaRatta: But you would you would love all this stuff. I mean, we could talk for years, but I just want to give you a little taste of it. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Talk for years we shall because this is the we shall we shall be friends for a long time. I want to point out to people like how you're saying this friends of yours, likes.

De'Vannon Seráphino: What is opposite in the United States, right? So yo, when you come across something That is counterintuitive to what you're accustomed to doing. This, this is the power of like alchemical magic and the way like the Holy Ghost can deal with you if you let Her. See, if you come across something that you ain't done before, it's the opposite.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Cold water instead of hot water. Chopsticks instead of a fork. Squatting down instead of standing. You have to pee or [00:30:00] whatever kind of crazy ass shit that is the complete reverse. You can either lean into that Are you going to want to run away from it? The beautiful thing about leaning into it is you allow your mind to open to what makes you uncomfortable, but it's not necessarily about to kill you or hurt you, and you can kill that flight, fight, fawn, panic shit that the devil is trying to put upon you to keep you from evolution.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Because any new path that you're on is going to feel weird. And be kind of sticky because it's new and you haven't done it before. That's the whole point of a new path. You have to stumble and fumble and feel weird and strange. Cause that is what newness and growth looks like. But if you can do it, what's happening is you're allowing the to enter to your soul, this impetus for change.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And it's like little seeds being planted. Whenever you do something you've never done before, even if you got, even if, even if you have to do it afraid, And as we study in the east, we have like seven spirit bodies and those things, whenever I'm super fucking high on LSD, I can see all seven of these [00:31:00] spirit bodies on people and they look like cake layers around people.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And I see people's souls and everything. So everything we do does get deposited into those layers. So if you can lean into something strange, something new, this is the alchemical transmutation power. So you might. Pick up chopsticks instead of a fork. That's a small thing, but that power is in you. And so now when you go back to show up to other areas of your life that have nothing to do with chopsticks or a fork, you're going to find that you're able to adjust better, doesn't freak you out as much.

De'Vannon Seráphino: You have a fresher spirit about you with the way you deal with people. And people are going to notice that the way you show up for yourself, for your relationships. So something is tiny. As a chopstick or just learning to enjoy a cold shower, anything you haven't done before that is counterintuitive to what you are accustomed to is that alchemical type of type of magic, which God commands.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And if you can open up to that, then you can take a small thing and induce great change into a big area of your [00:32:00] life. 

Rick DellaRatta: Yeah, that's a very good point. And the thing is sometimes we don't realize that the convenience. Can come at a cost because sometimes like a little the shock to your system from cold water actually is a healthy a health benefit that we don't know about because we're we just have taken that out of our we've we've traded that for for the convenience of of, warmer hot showers.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Fuck convenience. Like, I don't really give a damn about it, because it's a delusion, and it causes people to slip into complacency. And then if, when you have a complacent spirit and a complacent mind, God can't do nothing with you, I can't do nothing with you, your own soul can't do nothing with you, because the thing will just sit there and get heavy.

De'Vannon Seráphino: There's too much emphasis on convenience. A friend of mine Was telling me this when I was hanging out with him months ago, how he just does not want to be uncomfortable. He has decided that discomfort doesn't work for him. And I'm all like, [00:33:00] this is interesting because I'm the complete opposite. I'm all like just fling me into the fire and let me just stay there.

De'Vannon Seráphino: That way. I don't get complacent. That way. I can always be learning and growing because this is this, that, that, that, that is a, that is balance that way. I don't exalt myself against God against other people. I don't take people for granted there always must be. Okay. Too much comfort is deceiving and then people get this idea that they have to have it and then they lie to themselves.

De'Vannon Seráphino: It's like, say, I don't eat on days where I do like LSD or any psychedelic, no food, no water, no nothing. So I don't give a shit if I'm not going to drop acid till midnight, no food, no water. And then most other people are like, I need to have something on my stomach and all that. And I'm all like, some people might have sensitive stomachs, but I think the majority of people have just convinced themselves that if they don't eat for a day, they're going to fucking die or turn into a tuna or turnip or some shit.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Yeah. But you know, I have fasted [00:34:00] other like shaman, shaman level type of leaders I know have fasted three to four days in a row with no food and no water. You will not fucking die. You might feel like you're dying, but that's just bullshit. You don't need like spear on a spiritual level dying inside of you and you feel like that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so just be careful about this idea. Like you have to have hot water. You have to have food and water every day. I mean, strange medical conditions notwithstanding, but just as a standard. I watch people convince themselves and thereby crutch and hinder themselves that they have to have these creature comforts and never ever go too long with feeling uncomfortable.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Feeling uncomfortable for an extended period of time is the path to freedom. 

Rick DellaRatta: Absolutely. And when you brought up fasting, I mean, historically fasting has been a part of, of human history for God, for as long as we know. And part of the reason is because you actually get rid of [00:35:00] toxins when you fast.

Rick DellaRatta: So it's an incredibly important thing to, to do. And sometimes you'll do it naturally without even knowing it. You'll just forget to eat because you're feeling better as you go without eating. The more you, the longer you go, all of a sudden you notice the better you're feeling. And sometimes you out, your body will literally make you sick so that you can't eat so that you have to fast.

De'Vannon Seráphino: That I totally agree with that. I've, I've had that happen to me getting ready to like surrounding like psychedelic. But I was about to do like, which even though I'm telling you I do this anyway, but sometimes your body will add an extra purge on top of even your fasting. Like, but this is the spirit, this is the Holy Ghost in you changing things and, and, and stuff like that.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So it's best we relax and let it happen. I'm actually getting ready to this is a confirmation for me because I was considering what. On the Sex, Drugs, and Jesus [00:36:00] website, I have like these, everything's free about it anyway, but I have like these courses the person can go on there and learn like on a very basic level how to approach God from a non churchy, non preachy type of way, like how to pray, how to read the Bible, just simple stuff because God is trying to get people to approach him away from churches and away from tradition and be like really authentic and shit.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so, and so on the website, I'd be trying to teach people you can pray at home. You can give yourself communion at home. You don't need a priest for any fucking thing because that's what Jesus is for the end. And so I was wondering, like, I wonder which lesson and I was thinking I'm going to do fasting next.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so I'm, and I just, I'm glad I haven't even started. You really I was just thinking about this like last night, like I wonder which lesson should be next. And I, and so I'm glad this came up. So therefore I know it's supposed to be fasting. So expect that lesson to come soon on the sexdrugsandjesus.

De'Vannon Seráphino: com website. What was there [00:37:00] any sort of tragedy or what happened though, to make you want to start Jazz for Peace? 9 11 is how it swirled around, like for the book, but. Well, where were you when you thought, you know what, we need to start a non profit, and here's why. Like, what happened? 

Rick DellaRatta: Well through my life, like I said, what probably prepared me to be able to do something so positive as a poem on 9 11 was, I had, you, you go through life and you notice some things, one thing you notice is that, There are certain situations where you get let down in the most traumatic of situations. The, the, the situations that are supposed to be the most stable are the most unstable everything's backwards, the people that are, you're supposed to be so loyal to you, aren't loyal or aren't loyal back all of these kinds of things.

Rick DellaRatta: And I would notice situations like [00:38:00] what? never lets you down. There are some things that never let you down. And one thing that never lets you down really is music. If you're a musician it never lets you down. Never once. I mean, I'd have to let it down before. It wouldn't let me down. And it just, it's, it's not possible.

Rick DellaRatta: So how do you get in these situations? So you have to Look at perspective sometimes, and you can get a lot of broken hearts from, everything else that's not supposed to let you down. All these things that are in place, they act like they're supposed to be this, and they act like they're supposed to be that.

Rick DellaRatta: And then when you test them, they let you down in the biggest way possible. And it could be anyone, and it's so many things. And yet, here was this certain error, certain things, one of them being music, that never lets you down. So, what happened after 9 11 is I only had a poem. I didn't know what was going to come of the poem.

Rick DellaRatta: But I thought, [00:39:00] Everybody talks the talk. So, so few people walk the walk. Here I am with all of these conflated things coming together a tragedy, a response. Why don't I try and live up to these words for a couple of days and if I'm ever going to live up, if I'm ever going to walk the walk, maybe now's the time to do it.

Rick DellaRatta: If I'm ever going to do it, so I start just trying to live up to the words of that poem, trying to walk the walk and what am I going to do next? Well, sometimes if you're doing that, it will reveal itself. So, what revealed itself to me next was two weeks later when the country opened up and I had the opportunity to recite the poem.

Rick DellaRatta: So I recited the poem for over 8, 500 people in Savannah, Georgia at the Savannah Jazz Festival where I just happened to be the headline act. And that was a big thing because it just reverberated north. And by the time I got back to New York, the next concert I had, they were [00:40:00]saying, wow, we heard about this poem.

Rick DellaRatta: What's going on? Is there any chance you'll put that to music for our show? And I was like, wow, if you're going to put the bug in my head like that, I guess I mean, if I don't have a reason not to do something and it's good advice, then why fight it? So I thought, okay, I'll put it to music now.

Rick DellaRatta: Well, then I played it, opened that show with it. And then the press came out. DellaRatta starts concert out with jazz for peace. So now it gets launched that way so one thing would come to another. So now I've got this thing out there, whether I like it or not even the poem came, whether I liked it or not, I recited it because what else am I going to do with a poem and where else am I going to get a platform to recite it?

Rick DellaRatta: Then this jazz festival, and then now it's music. Now it's out in the press. And so now what am I going to do? Well, I'll do a couple of jazz for peace concerts in New York City, call them jazz for peace find little things, a basement of a youth hostel, this, that, and the other. And I'm doing those, and then I start to [00:41:00] realize I'm talking to different people, and I'm starting to realize, well, there's got to be some non profits or outstanding causes or something in New York City.

Rick DellaRatta: So, such a big city, there's got to be 13 or 14 of them. Somewhere around here, having no idea that there's over 80, 000 registered nonprofits in the five boroughs of Manhattan, just alone, let alone millions around the world. So now came a situation where, okay, let me help a few of them out. And then one thing led to another.

Rick DellaRatta: Again, it reveals itself. So now as I'm doing that, I'm realizing, there's a separating of the wheat from the chaff that could be done by Jazz for Peace because we are doing something that's empowering to an outstanding cause. We're not just throwing money off them, like we talked about saying, like, where's the money coming from?

Rick DellaRatta: That's the first thing anybody would think. But we're what we're providing is not just money. We're providing publicity and awareness from the world class cultural event can gives you publicity awareness. It can expand your donor base. It can thank and reward [00:42:00] the people you have and bring them together.

Rick DellaRatta: It can bring new and prestigious supporters. It can help you get sponsors. So all of those things are called an empowerment tree. And that's what we called our fundraising model. And then we just have to make it sustainable. And the other important word is autonomous keep your autonomous so that you can decide who you want to help rather than somebody who's making a donation to you and then telling you you have to Help who I want you to help, not who you want to help.

Rick DellaRatta: So, we have these things in place just by not losing them. See, a lot of times It's not what you gain. It's what you don't lose. You see what I mean? So, because we're in a, we're in a society where, first of all, it's invaded by an invasive species and that's the corporate document. The document that is called a corporation, that was made for the private sector, that was [00:43:00] created to protect us.

Rick DellaRatta: From like a park, like, like Central Park someone saying, gee, that's nice that this place is being oxygenated, but we could make more money by just destroying the park and putting up. But no, the corporate document protects us from that protected church at a historical landmark. But when you these lawyers brought it into the public sector, now they were protecting themselves from liability.

Rick DellaRatta: So in other words, we lost something. It's not that we didn't gain something. We had something and then we lost it. Jazz for Peace started out as a poem. So we already had things like autonomy. We already had things like the freedom to help whoever we wanted. And so not losing it was the most important thing.

Rick DellaRatta: And as we kept going, one day I showed up to an event. I was helping an outstanding cause that worked with Holocaust victims in Queens and wanted to expand their services for the [00:44:00] elderly, and we were helping them with our event, Concert for Them. And it was actually the I think it was, might've been the second concert that we did for them, cause they really love what we did and they wanted to do it again.

Rick DellaRatta: And when I showed up to that, there was this letter there and it was a letter from the mayor at that time, Michael Bloomberg. And I was like, wow. I wonder what's going to happen when I show up to as this, it, to, to this place or that place what happens when I show up at Chicago where I got, ended up getting a letter from Barack Obama, or what happens when I show up to this place, Kenya, where I got a letter from the prime minister.

Rick DellaRatta: So you see what I mean? So that's how these things kind of evolved. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: So this is strictly for nonprofits. So not for individual citizens. 

Rick DellaRatta: Well, no, actually you don't have to be a nonprofit because to be honest with you, just because you're nonprofit, you can be a disaster. I mean, there's a nonprofit that they have all their paperwork filed, but their mission statement is.

Rick DellaRatta: [00:45:00] Eat a whole bunch of junk food, but exercise as well because they're like they're they're promoting junk food Basically, if you look into what they're doing, you know They're they're using it as a profiteering model and all their sponsors are big corporations that sell junk food So what kind of a non profit is that so in other words what we're trying to do is again See, our model separates the wheat from the chaff because it brings out nonprofits that are really dedicated to their mission statement because what they're chasing after is internal wealth.

Rick DellaRatta: There, if a person is, if he has a passion, let's say for cleaning a lake or something, or whatever that passion is, helping, helping orangutans, these are we've, we've helped orangutans, believe it or not, it was somebody's passion. And Actually, I mean, they all have wild stories. When we helped orangutans, an actor named Ed Begley Jr.

Rick DellaRatta: showed up to the event because he has a passion for helping orangutans in [00:46:00]Indonesia. And it's an incredible story because they're being deforested and they're being thrown out of their trees and stuff. So that's somebody's passion, but when they When they progress at that passion, they gain internal wealth.

Rick DellaRatta: And when we promote them, we're promoting people that care more about the result than they do about profiting themselves financially. And that's How we're separating the wheat from the chaff, because we're shining a spotlight on that organization. If you're a nonprofit that's just putting on a dog and pony show every Thanksgiving and throwing slinging, a few turkeys around taking pictures and deducting 800, 000 off of your for profit corporation.

Rick DellaRatta: You know what I mean? You don't want . You're going to run for the hills when Jazz for Peace shows up because we're shining a spotlight on you and you don't want any, you don't even want a flashlight on you. You see what I mean? [00:47:00]

De'Vannon Seráphino: Yeah, I'm picking up what you're putting down. You're looking for the big dogs, like the real people are there for the soul of the matter.

De'Vannon Seráphino: They're, they're, they're trying to find Jesus and do his purpose and everything. And unfortunately people do hide use nonprofits as a cloak to just funnel money through. You have to go to you have to research nonprofits and don't just let them stir your emotions and be like, Oh, there's that snaggletooth kid on the commercial.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Let me just send them money or whatever, because they will play on your emotions and send you letters in the mail of all these fucked up looking people and all that stuff. 

Rick DellaRatta: And then when you look them up, you look them up, you see. Four cents of every dollar actually goes to that cause. And the rest of it is some sort of the, the CEO makes 500, 000 a year these huge salaries and all of that stuff.

Rick DellaRatta: So, here's the bottom line. If you really care about what you're doing, it's a level playing field. You DeShannon could be one of the greatest nonprofits in the world, [00:48:00] just by, even though you're one of the smallest or the newest, just by being truly passionate about what you're doing. Solving the issue of your mission statement.

Rick DellaRatta: That's what makes you great. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: What were there any sort of Major hurdles in starting this nonprofit. 

Rick DellaRatta: Oh, man. I mean Everything is a major hurdle everything's a major hurdle because The, you realize a lot of things. First of all, you would think that we're out there, how we've helped over 850 of the world's most outstanding causes, but you've never heard the names jazz for peace spoken by the people you listen to for news all day long.

Rick DellaRatta: They never say those three words. So you're, you're uncovering truths, wow. This media, they're, they're controlled by people who sell products and they have to say what those companies want. They can't say what they want. They don't even have [00:49:00] the autonomy to say what's on their mind.

De'Vannon Seráphino: That's a goddamn shame. Do you have like a particular client's success story that was particularly moving to You A a, an agency that you, that stands out. That that was approved and that you have, 

Rick DellaRatta: well, there's, there's a million of them, but one that I've told a few times on other podcasts, because it just jumped out at me.

Rick DellaRatta: I there's a lot of them though. I mean, you could point to any one. We have a page by the way, where you can see all of them. It's called jazz for peace. wordpress. com. Okay. Is the site. And then you add a forward slash about, and you get to a page that just has testimonials from the actual. It's not, I don't say a word on it.

Rick DellaRatta: There's no words from Jazz for Peace. It's all words from others. And you just can scroll down and just choose anyone and ping. And there's this amazing story about that event that I could tell. But I [00:50:00] just remember one, we had been contacted by a woman in Los Angeles. Who had, her son had been bullied and it was a very traumatic situation to the point of suicide.

Rick DellaRatta: And she had no, in her school, she, there was nothing to address bullying. She looked around, she couldn't buy. So she started an organization to address bullying in schools. She started it and she had like the bare minimum you have to have for, you have to have like two other people to have a board technically she was just qualifying at the bare minimum to have a non profit that addressed this.

Rick DellaRatta: And she wanted Jazz for Peace to, and we did everything that we could we did all, we, we go through a process. So first we help them with, Gathering whatever supporters they have. Anyone who's told you, Hey, I love what you're doing. I really hope for your success. Great. We need you. We get them involved to be like VIP guests of honor at the event.

Rick DellaRatta: Then we [00:51:00] try to get some of them to invite some of their friends to be VIP guests of honor. We call that the roots of the tree. So it's all based on an empowerment tree. So now we get these roots. And now we try to get them branch number two, local business sponsors. We'll go to local business sponsors.

Rick DellaRatta: Hey, we're, they're addressing bullying in schools. Why don't you give them, why don't You Give them a chance help them out here be a sponsor then we're able to get Confirmed event publicity and awareness so we had done everything we could new and prestigious supporters We've done everything we could and I went out there.

Rick DellaRatta: I brought up a giant. I brought a giant baritone saxophone to give to one of the kids as a instrument donation program And we did everything and I got back and I was like man What is jazz for peace? I don't know if it's really I did everything I could I don't know I mean I did all this to maybe get a bunt single I thought maybe I got us Maybe I hit a single, you know Uh, I didn't think I had done [00:52:00] I was just thinking I don't know if I really got enough sponsors I don't know if we raised enough funds.

Rick DellaRatta: I don't know if we got enough for speeches apart I mean, I don't know we did we tried everything And I get the then an email comes into the inbox. I'm gonna go. Oh, here it is The moment of truth and I'm already know I know what this is. This is gonna be thank you know It's you know, it's gonna be nice.

Rick DellaRatta: Try nice. Try. I'm gonna read a nice. Try email like, Thanks you at least you tried. Thanks for trying thanks for trying We're probably gonna we're probably gonna fizzle out here, but thanks for trying the email had nothing to do with funds raised it had nothing to do with It had nothing to do with new and prestigious reporters.

Rick DellaRatta: It had nothing to do with sponsors. It had nothing to do with fundraising techniques. It had nothing to do with any of the branches of the Improbable Treat. Nothing to do with any of that. And everything to do with her son, who had been bullied. And the whole email was about the transformation [00:53:00] of her son from suicidal to Absolutely Glowing blown away that somebody would come from a famous person in his mind I'm some big cheese a famous jazz musician from Manhattan would fly all the way all across the country And bring all the and I brought these great musicians together because LA has great musicians So I had these killer monster players with me to grab from LA We had this great band, Oh, they played for me that we would, in other words, he couldn't believe somebody would do something as horrible to him down here with the bullying, unbelie unfathomable, but now he can't believe that somebody would do something that he would beyond his wildest dreams to get him out of it, to help him.

Rick DellaRatta: And he had been so positively affected that she's kind of thinking he's probably better off that he got bullied now that he knows that [00:54:00] all of this could happen on the good side. You know what I mean? In other words, And now I'm thinking, what kind of an idiot am I looking at all of these other particulars?

Rick DellaRatta: It's all about that kid that if I, if I was going to hit a grand slam home run at that event, it was going to be to help the kid, not the organization because the organization is there to help the kid. Right, 

De'Vannon Seráphino: right. 

Rick DellaRatta: If the organization doesn't help the kid, he's not being helped. And what good are all of those?

Rick DellaRatta: What good is, what good is the greatest sponsors in the world if that kid doesn't heal? This is a, this is confirmation that the kid is healed from the power of this music, the power of this event, the all of our efforts. Do you know what I'm saying? So in other words, guess who learned a lot that day? Me. I was the one who learned the lesson.

Rick DellaRatta: So that's when it boils down to, it's about the people you're helping, not anything else, [00:55:00] ultimately. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: That's the point of it all. That's that quantifiable, measurable, tangible change, the effect that That cuts through all of anything else. Like, what is the point of it all? Why are we here? Why did we even show up?

De'Vannon Seráphino: The avenues and the roads that we take to get to the end result can change. It can be mutable, mutable. God can use just about God can use anything, but what is the bottom damn line? Somebody has got to fucking get better. 

Rick DellaRatta: If we raised 5 million that day and I still had a broken kid, I'd have been a thousand times worse off than I was from that letter.

Rick DellaRatta: You know what I mean? Cause then I realized, wow, you did it. You did, if I raised all the money, if we had, if we had gotten a home run in every other department, I wouldn't have done anything because the kids still, you still got a broken kid. You've got to fix. And sometimes money doesn't fix them.[00:56:00]

De'Vannon Seráphino: Money don't fix no damn body. Like you have to like, money's like a burden. Like you have to know what, how to wield it. Money is energy. It is a spirit. And if you don't use it right, you can cause more wreckage than, than, than healing. You gotta be skillful with money and understand what you're doing.

De'Vannon Seráphino: It's 

Rick DellaRatta: often, you know what it often is? It's rope, a whole bunch of rope. And sure enough, people hang themselves when they get it. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Yeah, you have the real be careful with it. And if you have money, you don't just go like laying it on every damn body who might want it. So that's why I'm glad your organization does what it does.

De'Vannon Seráphino: So, so the money your organization gets into the hands of these companies, are y'all paying it to them? Are y'all working with them to get it from other donors? 

Rick DellaRatta: Right. So this is what's important. And I, and I wanted to say that word autonomy, because this is where it gets tricky. There's a lot of people that want to be jazz for peace, or that would like to have an organization like Jazz for Peace.

Rick DellaRatta: And [00:57:00] I would like to have an organization. I would like them because I think there should be a thousand jazz for pieces. We could really make a difference, but they slip on the very first banana peel. And that is, they try to get a big donor. Which costs them their autonomy because as soon as they if they find such a big donor that donor is not gonna say oh you what'd you do with my money you gave it all to some kid out in where LA I haven't been to LA in 20 years or your help that you gave why you helped one kid out there you what what are you doing here and they the next thing you know They'll be like, well well, you, he, these are who you're going to help.

Rick DellaRatta: My cousin, Jimmy has a nonprofit over here. Then my aunt Mabel you're going to help who we want you to help that kind of thing. That's, you lost your autonomy. So what we have is a model that allows us to offer enough value to a donor that they will not get in our way as far as [00:58:00] because we offer them value.

Rick DellaRatta: So what we do is. We have, when I, when I told you VIP, the first thing we do is create a VIP room for your organization. And we do that by, let's say, you will make a comment to Jazz for Peace if you had a non profit. And it could be any comment, but it could be like, hey, I saw what you were doing and I think it'd be fantastic for my organization, which does this, and we could really have an amazing event in New Orleans or whatever.

Rick DellaRatta: New Orleans, we've been there a couple times. And I think it would just be fantablop whatever that comment is and we take that we put it into a some kind Of a document back and forth with the person so that you know what? Perfect. Can't wait to show this to my board members, my supporters, my volunteers, and see what they have to say.

Rick DellaRatta: Now we get name, comment, name, comment, name, comment, and they're honest, just their honest comment. We don't care what it is as long as it's honest. They can say something bad if they want, I don't care. I just want name and comment. That is a VIP list. And now when [00:59:00] we expand it. By getting some of them to bring in their bridge group or their bowling group, we now have.

Rick DellaRatta: A confirmed event. And so some of those funds will be funds already raised for them. Some of those funds will help us offset our expenses. And now we can show our donors, No, all of your money didn't go to, to Shannon's non profit in Louisiana. That's not all of it. Some of it went there, but some of it went over here.

Rick DellaRatta: Some of it went down here with the Red Cross. You love the Red Cross. Some of it went to that event. And now we show them value. So they now feel they're educated. Well, who's this DeVanna? Does Shannon, what's a DeVanna? What does he do? You know what I mean? Now they want to know. Because we gave them value for their donation.

Rick DellaRatta: They now want to embrace all this value. They want to hear about all the, Outstanding causes that they never heard of rather than being [01:00:00] mad at us because well their money went to one outstanding cause somewhere So that's just not slipping on that first banana peel would help a lot of non profits Become do what jazz for peace does?

De'Vannon Seráphino: That reminds me of, well, one of, one of my favorite lines from, House of Cards that Kevin Spacey had said in there when he was talking, when he was dealing with Zoe Barnes before he tossed her ass in front of the train he was like, there's a certain amount of control in generosity.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And and I never, and I never forgot that. And I had never thought of that until I heard Kevin Spacey say that, but you know, like I tell with y'all at the beginning of the episode, I'd be looking at these shows, trying to see what the Holy Ghost is saying, and I'd be writing it down because it's because movies and music is written from real life.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so you can pull from it things to use in your real life, but he sure said that there's, there's a certain amount of control in generosity. And so that's what, when you have people with their hands out or thinking that they're [01:01:00] using somebody by. Taking money from them or like, like people, I'm like, well, the investor has the upper hand always.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And so, so there's no version of it where if you needed something from them, that you have more power than them. No, you don't. 

Rick DellaRatta: No, you don't. And it's a problem with our government. It's a problem all the way around. So that's why I, if I could help anyone have a donor, have an investor, but also retain autonomy so that they don't lose their own mission, see a lot of nonprofits, they start out with this goal.

Rick DellaRatta: But next thing they know, they've got a, they've got, they're hooked on that donation, and they need that every year, so next thing they know, they're like, well, what do you want us to be, and now you're the, now you've become the vision of, of your donor, rather than the vision of what you had in mind, which was much more pure and much more, yeah.

Rick DellaRatta: There was a, there was a actor, by the way, from that Kevin's [01:02:00] that I, that worked out at my health club. He passed away, but he was one of the, he was one of the main actors in that show. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: I love every fucking thing about House of Cards. I'm not here to judge Kevin Spacey for whatever may or may not have been, but the man's gift is there.

De'Vannon Seráphino: And that is the power of the Holy Ghost through him. I focus on people's gift and what we have in common and what we can gain from how God is using them. And I leave the judgment to God and skip on down the yellow brick fucking road. So, I'm going to, like, ask you, like, just if there's any last things that you want to say, then I'm going to ask you three dad jokes, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you I was going to do that at the beginning of the episode, because I just like to ask three dad jokes at the end of all of them, and then that's how we'll close it out, so if there's any last words you have for the people, any advice for any new and upcoming non profits or anything at all you might want to say, then I'll ask you these jokes.

Rick DellaRatta: Okay. [01:03:00] Reg E. Cathy was the actor from House of Cards. And what did he let's see, I'll put role in House of Cards and see if I can get that for you. Freddie, do you remember Freddie? Freddie and House of Cards. He was in a lot of episodes. Yeah. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: He was the guy who took him to go get his ribs.

Rick DellaRatta: Yes, the ribs guy. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: And I don't think it was the ribs joint, I think it was the work at the ribs joint. He worked at the ribs joint. I 

Rick DellaRatta: knew him, yeah. I knew him, just so you know. Okay, so, go ahead. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Okay, why do sweaters tend to hang out together? 

Rick DellaRatta: Why do sweaters Boy, that sounds like To get to the other side, no.

Rick DellaRatta: Why do sweaters tend to hang out together? Why do sweaters tend to hang out together? Sweater weather, baby. I would say because they are I would say because they are Sweaters tend to hang out together because they are birds of a feather. [01:04:00] In other words, they are, they are, they're, they're, they are alike so they flock together.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Sweaters. You're in the neighborhood. The, the, the actual answer is because they're close knit. 

Rick DellaRatta: Close knit. Okay. So I was trying to say it, but I didn't have the, I didn't have the right. Yeah. Close knit. It's funny. That would, that would, that would be the that's the proper answer. Yeah. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Yeah. You have to approach it like you're high on weed or some jet.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Like that's the way it works. So these are not supposed to be seriously answered. What did the Buffalo say to her son on the first day of school as she saw him off? 

Rick DellaRatta: What did the Buffalo say to her son, see him off on the first day of school? Wow.

Rick DellaRatta: Boy, I'm now can I can I what happens if I get stuck? I just end up saying I don't know. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Yeah. 

Rick DellaRatta: All right. I mean, 

De'Vannon Seráphino: I don't know. It's kind of can be like kind of a standard answer to a dad joke. Somebody could be like, what did the this do to this? You could be like, gee, I [01:05:00] don't know. And just kind of like fucking play along with it.

De'Vannon Seráphino: You even have to try to answer it. Because the whole thing is just funny. It's just stupidly funny. But but the but the answer she said, bye, son. 

Rick DellaRatta: By bison, okay You know just so you know in this in the in the safari of africa if you ever go to a safari in africa They you're gonna see elephants. You're gonna see lions.

Rick DellaRatta: You're gonna see giraffes. You're gonna see all kinds of stuff that animal they are Terrified of there's the buffalo and i'll tell you why because I I had I was you know I was in one of them things the guy it was the jeep those jeeps that you're in the safari jeep and You This buffalo snorted and the guy just took off and I said what why are you so afraid of you know Because we were just the reliance right over here.

Rick DellaRatta: I mean, why are you right? He said the buffalo will [01:06:00] They will like fake you out So in other words if you if you hold your ground with the buffalo, they might they'll go up They'll just trot over to a tree and when they Go around the tree, they'll come at you and you can't, there's nothing you can do. You can, if you have guns, you can fire the guns.

Rick DellaRatta: They run, run right through the bullets. They, they will want to get, if they decide they want to get you, they don't care what you do to them. Yeah. These are the these are those types of Buffalo. They could be just the African Buffalo, but Do not mess with an African buffalo. That's all I can say.

De'Vannon Seráphino: That's a bad motherfucker. They don't care what 

Rick DellaRatta: happens to them. They don't, they can shoot. We said, we could shoot nine times the buffalo. That buffalo will smash our car to smithereens no matter how many times we shoot them. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Wow. I like his style. If you're going to be about it, be about it. Fuck it. Shit. Period.

De'Vannon Seráphino: That buffalo's like, period. Period. [01:07:00]

Rick DellaRatta: They, they don't mess around, man. They're, they're serious business. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: Okay, so then the last one is, what is the easiest building to lift? What is the easiest type of house to lift? 

Rick DellaRatta: Lighthouse. 

De'Vannon Seráphino: There you go.

De'Vannon Seráphino: All right, y'all, this has been Rick DeLaRotta at jazzforpeace. org, on YouTube at jazzmgmt. His email is info at jazzforpeace. org. This will go in the show notes. Thank you so much, Rick, for coming on. The show today, blessings and peace be upon you. 

Rick DellaRatta: Thank you so much. It was a great pleasure.

De'Vannon Seráphino: thank you all so much for joining us today and for taking some time to invest into yourself and into the lives of your loved ones, please visit [01:08:00] us at sex drugs and jesus. com and check out our resource page, our spiritual service offerings, my blog, my books, and other writings that God has partnered with me to create.

De'Vannon Seráphino: Find us on any social media platform, stay strong, my people, and just remember that everything is going to be all right.