The Bahrain Cowboy

The Bahrain Cowboy

During my 20 years in the United States Navy, I traveled the world and experienced moments that shaped how I see identity, culture, purpose, and connection.

In this episode of Stay Steady, Stay Ready, I share a personal story from my time in Bahrain, where a simple cowboy hat sparked an unforgettable conversation about Mississippi, America, Hollywood, diversity, and the freedom to show up as yourself wherever life takes you.

This episode is about more than a cowboy hat. It is about identity, cultural connection, military travel, storytelling, and the moments that remind us how powerful it can be to simply be who we are.

Stay steady. Stay ready. 

Chow.

🔵🟡🔴

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello out there, my stay steadies. This is Charles D. Raven III. I hope you guys are doing great today and having a great, great Thursday. I have to tell you, I have been receiving a lot of emails and messages concerning uh uh my cowboy hat and this the the post I put on LinkedIn. And I have to tell you, so many people really wanted to know the story, so I said, let me just post it. And um a few people wanted me to read it because they said, well man, I'd be like to hear it in the in you know, in the headphones and so forth. So here we go. I want you guys to know that the room right here on stay steady, stay ready, is unclassified. There's no confidential, it's not yellow, it's not red for tall secret. Right now it is black, we're just chilling. It's unclassified with the black mic cover. Alright? So here we go. I guess I put my specs on so I can read it really well. Alright. Somewhere here in Bahrain, a man stopped me because of my cowboy hat. He looked at me, smiled, and said, I didn't know I'd walk into a cowboy today. That moment has stayed with me. During my 20 years in the Navy, I had to adjust to a lot of things time zones, cultures, weather, animals, travel, people, silence, distance, and sometimes fear itself. Some adjustments were easy, but others made you stand still and ask yourself what you really were made of. Like cliff diving in Hawaii with friends and having to smack fear right in the face before I jumped. Or walking through Bahrain in a cowboy hat and realizing that sometimes the way you show up can start a whole conversation. That man asked me if I was a real cowboy. I smiled and told him, Well, I rode a few horses growing up in the countryside of Mississippi. He laughed and said, they hardly ever see cowboys in Bachrain. And when they do, it becomes a picture-taking moment. So yes, I took the pictures. A lot of them. Over time, people will ask me, where was I from? Africa? Texas. Maybe the hat was doing too much talking. But when I told them I was an American from Mississippi, who had also lived in a big part of my life, California, their faces would just light up. Oh, Hollywood? Then the conversations would turn into America. They would tell me how much they wanted to visit the West. To them, America was this big place of possibility. White cowboys, black cowboys, cowgirls, native people, Mexicans, Asians, and people from everywhere showing up as themselves. I remember telling one man, and Canadians, Filipinos, and Arabians and Armenians, we have the mix. And that made him smile even bigger. And honestly, it reminded me of something I still believe. One of the most beautiful things about America is the freedom to become, express, and represent who you are. A black cowboy from Mississippi, a Navy veteran, a storyteller learning how to turn life into purpose, a man who's seen enough of the world to know that identity is not something you shrink from. It's something you carry. Lately, I've been receiving encouragement about my podcast, Stay Steady, Stay Ready, from America and not even overseas. That means more to me than I can properly explain. Because I'm not building this to just be seen. I'm building it because of a promise I made to fallen friends who never made it home. Your support, comments, messages, and encouragement keeps they keep me going. And yes, I already know, and yes, I'm working on the next episode. So from one of my many carbulks over the years, thanks, partners. Y'all don't be strangers now. You hear? I want to thank you guys for taking your time out to uh sit here and read and watch what I'm doing here and what I'm building. And I hope we can build it together. Your encouragement does mean uh a lot to me. And there are days that um like I guess like any of you out there, it's a struggle. You know, you some days just don't even want to get out of bed. You want to just maybe drink a cup of coffee or or just chill out, you know, and and you're just like, man, I have to get up and do this. So um it reminds me of so many of my days in the military when I had to get out of bed and and get to work. And there were days where there was rain, sleep, shine, or snow, you really you have to go. So so uh with that being said, please don't don't be a stranger, reach out. I'll I I I don't bite, I'll respond as soon as I can. And if I don't respond, reach out again. Maybe I just didn't see it. But uh my goal is to make sure I respond to everyone. Uh, I look at you guys as my family, as my friends, and I want us to get to know each other, not be strangers, let's not have any fears. If we can build something together, let's do it, let's have some fun creating. You take care of yourself, God bless you, and thanks again for tuning in right here to stay steady, stay ready. I'm Charles Z. Ribner III. Ciao.