I’m black, and I love the Dixie Chicks. Their new album has been on my playlist for the past year or so. Love it! And I also like rock music like Sleater-Kinney (they were my favorite band for a while). I also like Ani Difranco.

And for a little bit of soul … I LOVE JILL SCOTT! The only album of hers that I’m really intimate with is “Who is Jill Scott?” That album never fails to amaze me.

I’ve been listening to YouTube clips from:
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jem and the Holograms
Disney music (I’m doing a comparison between different language versions)
Enya and other such New Age-y stuff
Nightwish

And I surf YouTube as I can too.

I’m actually Korean.

To your question (before I derail the thread): I first learned salsa to Celia Cruz, so she’ll always have a soft spot in my heart. There’s Ray Baretta (who did an album w/ Cruz), Willie Colon, and Hector Lavoe. There’s also the Fania All-Stars, too. (We have a Fania store in NYC.) My teacher has been teaching my class to the music of Grupo Latin Vibe, a local band. They’re slow enough so you can practice your shines. Please feel free to email me (my address is on my blog) and I’ll be happy to mail the CD to you. I already have it on my iPod.

The Dollyrots
Go Betty Go
Cake Bake Betty
Zombina and the Skeletones
Sleater-Kinney

And, inexplicably, Aesop Rock’s remix of the Mountain Goats from Sketch Show.

It’s easier to talk about class in a very superficial way, yes, absolutely.

But any deeper discussion of how class is understood and maintained generally gets you branded as an evil communist who doesn’t want other people to be happy.

When people don’t want to REALLY talk about class, they don’t just use race to divert from class, they can also use class itself.

I was amazed a few weeks ago at this dynamic. I made a really simple statement… that Warren Buffet (the billionaire) had said it was crazy that he wasn’t taxed more. Several Republicans exploded. They really viewed Warren Buffett as a class traitor. Their thinking was… how dare he, a rich man, betray them, middle-class people who WANTED to be rich. They called him a hypocrite and a hater. In my worldview, Warren Buffett was actually looking out for their interests, but in their worldview, he was betraying them. They really believed that their interests lay with the top 1% of the 1%, and that the real people who are exploiting them are the bottom 40%.

I don’t want to divert too much away from race myself… race is an incredibly powerful tool of class mystification, I just don’t think it’s the only one.

I am afraid to click that link.

I LOVE me some Verbal, but that first Teriyaki Boyz track made me cry tears of grief. And that was after I looked past the name.

Worst Comes to Worst-Dilated Peoples
The Way It Iz-Guru, Kai Bee & Lil’ Dap
Looking Up-Hezekiah (feat. Bilal)
Groundhog Day-Mayday feat. Cee-Lo Green & DJ Craze
Earthcrusher-Mr. Lif
Little People-The Procussions
Just One Question-Rico Pabon
Black Stacey-Saul Williams
Lynguistics-Cunninlynguists
Underdogs-The Coup
All for U-Aceyalone & RJD2
The Ugly Show-Black Ice
Sunshine-Mos Def
Effortless-Mars Ill
OK… Alright-Mystic
Respect Featuring Crytical-Neema of Unexpected Arrival
Confidential-M1 of dead prez
Daylight-Aesop Rock
Fire for the People-Blue Scholars

On a slight “Neptunes” kick if you can’t tell…

Those were the names on my easy listening playlist

If anyone knows of some good salsa music, please share. I’ve been taking salsa lessons for about 9 months and I want good music for practicing at home, but I don’t know Latin artists at all.

I Still Love H.E.R. by The Teriyaki Boyz Ft. Kanye West

http://standing8.wordpress.com/2007/12/08/top-10-hip-hop-songs-of-2007/

I was raised in the inner city and grew up like most inner city blacks…with thoughts of the White Race holding you back and all the other nonsense that is out there…

When I moved to Delaware…It was so heavily mixed I didnt have a choice but to live amongst all races and see that we all are exactly the same …yes we may eat different foods and say different terms….but all in all we all do the same stuff..Christmas for all families in America are all the same no matter the race…fights with our families are all the same,…rebellious teens and drug abuse is in all races….I know I am rambling but I can tell you from experience…most of these things that are spread are from people who have never lived in a mixed community that can give you real answers to how other races work…Hence the superstitions…Of course there are lazy black men……but there are also lazy white, spanish,asian, greek and many others as well.There are blacks who sit around and blame everybody but you cant judge any one race on a group of people that you have seen or an incident that occurred…..Maybe your white and was jumped by black people….maybe you are black and was berrated with racial slurs by white people….those individuals dont speak for the entire races…Bottom line is judge every man and woman first by there character…trust me if they are assholes..it will come out and it wont have anything to do with that person being of a certain color…its simply that that person is an asshole…..

My wife and I have 2 daughters who we raise with the same values….traet every one the same first and then figure out what you are dealing with…My wife and I are not trophies to one another and often when we describe are relationships to others at the workplace we never mention our race ( cause it isnt something that we think about} and when people first see us together they are shocked because they had no clue we were interracial. As a black manI dont agree with talking like I have no education and I dont want my wife speaking like that as well….I dont wear my pants down {I did as a teen} and I dont want my kids too either…Dont get it twisted I am no black guy who you think isnt in touch with his community….I love hip hop..Still occasionally wear certain hip hop clothing…and walk with the same swagger I alwys have……but I can also stop and talk to with anybody whether its a doctor , lawyer, teacher or potential employer and speak like an educated human being …..there is a time and place to let your guard down and have fun with conversation just not all the time.

My wife and I have the same struggles any all black couple or all white couple or any other couple have. We argue about sex, money , and our kids just like every one else, and believe me my wife is as strong and opinionated as any black or latino women I have ever saw in my life.

The bottom line is in this day and age racism only exists if you let it….yeah occasionally people will stare…I just stare back….people will say something slick…I am right back on them with an even slicker statement….If you find someone you reallly love, than it shouldnt have anything to do with race it should have everything to do with respect for one another. I can honestly say I dont care what race my daughters bring home, not a single one of them will be good enough for them. All I care about is that they take good care of my lil girls.

We gotta stop seperating ourselves and start being one race…the Human Race…Once you break down those barriers that you have had up for so many years you will see that people of all races have the same faults and interests as you. I am a firm believer in mixed communities because there you are forced to live amongst many different racesand get to communicate with each other. Trust me people are all the same we have just been force fed this seperation by the media and the government who make every thing a racial issue. Sometimes it isnt about race at all but more because of a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge.

Dont be afraid to explore all cultures….and by that I dont mean just go out and date someone of a different race…I mean talk to the Indian lady you stare at walking down the street …talk to the chinese guy at the store you get your fried rice and wings…talk to the african family that lives a few doors down from you. You never know what your gonna find out. To be racist is a limitation on yourself and all this world has to offer to you. Dont be a follower , be a leader.