Walter “Wally B.” Jennings is an ordained minister, published poet, spoken word artist, radio personality, instructor and strawberry Fruit Roll-Up enthusiast! A native of Tampa, FL, his poetical talents have allowed him to conduct over 1000 performances, workshops and mentorship sessions in the national spoken word community during his 20 year career. Wally B. currently serves as a Poet Artist in Residence for Hillsborough County Schools and the Arts Council of Hillsborough County-reaching over 800 students and teachers per year. Wally B. is the Founder of “Black on Black Rhyme-Tampa”, one of Central Florida’s largest and longest running open-mic poetry shows since September 2001 and the “Heard ‘Em Say Youth Arts Collective” (www.heardemsay.org).
He was honored by Creative Loafing in their 2011 Best of Bay publication as the area’s “Best Spoken Word Artist”. Wally B. graduated from Hillsborough High School (Tampa, FL) in 1994 and Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, FL) in 1998 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics. He has been married to his wife, Charmaine for 20 years and they have two children: Charmione-17 and Simone-13.