Def Poets

I wish I was a def poet.  The amazingly hip, uber-urban wordsmiths that grace my television every sunday!  These men and women; lead by Mos Def, place me in a trance for thirty straight minutes...I can only imagine being able to pen the eloquence that these educated purveyors of poetry lay down each week.  Now I know that they have taken years to perfect their craft, but shit; I just wanna flow like them. 

And, on top of that, every now and then, a hip hop M.C. graces the stage and proves exactly why hip hop is as much of a culture as it is an art form.  I don't mean bullshit rappers...I mean hip-hoppas like Mos Def, MC Lyte, Common, Kanye West, and the teacha; KRS-ONE!

So, check out the show; if you can, and support these amazing poets:
Vanessa Hidary, Flowmentalz, Jevon Johnson, Beau Sia, Lemon, Danny Hoch, Bassey Ikpi, Rachel and George McKibbins, Taylor Mali, Yellow Rage...and countless other poets who posess an amazing talent I wish I had!

Heritage

I think it's funny that people can base your heritage and ethnicity based on your actions, people you marry etc.  I am a proud black man...I wake up daily thankful for what I have, I love my family and go out into the world seeking knowledge and wanting an honest days pay for an honest days work.  Now, here's the twist, my wife and daughter are white and my son is a mixed ethnicity of my wife and I.  For whatever reason, some folks think that these facts disqualifies me from knowing or speaking about my culture and heritage.  They think that I wanna-be white...clearly this isn't the case.  I didn't make my wife white...I didn't search for a white woman to be my wife..I found the person that loves me unconditionally, and vice versa!
 
This topic is being brought up because of a headline on a magazine I was looking at.  It said something to the effect of  "Do black men still want us"...a reference to black women. Here's my take on that...find the person that you connect with, be it black, white, asian...it doesn't matter to me!  To be a chauvinist for a quick second...to all women...it's all pink on the inside!  Who cares, my family is a beautiful house of diversity, and that's all I care about.  Just dont sell me short as a black man...that's all I ask, i'm out there dealing with shit that all black men deal with...i'm no exception, and I don't want to be.

Warped Tour Survivor!

What's goin' on! I hope everyone had a safe 4th of July! As for me...my daughter, Kelsey took me to the Vans Warped Tour! Now I must admit...at first I really didn't want to go...I only wanted to check out one of the greatest punk bands around, Bad Religion! However when I got there...there's a lot more shit to do and check out...more than I expected! So, after my daughter and friends run off to hang out, i'm stuck all by myself, that doesn't last long 'cause I find Jason...good friend and bassist for Excessive Compulsive! From there, we're all over the place...checking out bands all over the place...Tokyo Rose, Flogging Molly, Juliette and The Licks, New Found Glory, Nonphyxion...and about 900 other bands I missed, simply because I couldn't be everywhere at once! If I had a complaint about the Warped Tour, that would be it...there probably were some great bands there, but I missed a bunch of them, 'cause I couldn't be everywhere!

So, after about $30 bucks in water, one $9 dollar thai combo plate, and a one hour wait for snow cones...I finally get to see the band I've waited all day for! Can I say that Bad Religion still puts on an awesome show! Even though the set was really short, the band played a good mix of new stuff and classic BR songs that every punk kid should know by heart. In the era of emo and tons of pop punk excess, I still like the older stuff! Bands like BR, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Agnostic Front...they didn't do punk rock as a fashion statement, it wasn't a trend, these cats lived it. It was rebellion towards a system they feel did them wrong, and after all these years, these and countless other bands still have an influence in my own playing style. Thanks guys!

After their set...we decided it was time to go home...it was extremely hot and we were all tired from walking around all day. My daughter and I stopped at the ARA booth and both picked up some "Fuck Racism" patches, I grabbed some literature and then strolled out to the car and proceded to drive myself and a truck full of exhausted girls (my dayghters friends) home!

All in all a great day, the only real downfall was I suffered a really mild case of heat exhaustion! Other than that....an awesome day!