Besides reading and listening to music....I really love to travel and am always looking for a reason and the time to get up and go. Just got back from San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, earlier this year I was in the Long Island in the Bahamas and did a weekend in Toronto. So far in addition to Mexico my passport has stamps from the Netherlands (2 trips), The UK, South Africa, Belize, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados (home of my paternal grandparents), Cayman Islands and Aruba. I don't count out the US. I love the Bay area as well as SOBE in Miami and of course my home town, The Big Apple. I also finally enrolled in a yoga class after several years of a "on and off" home practice.
I'd like to meet:
I'd love to meet artists, writers, activists, people who are interested in the world around them---who are comfortable with new ideas and new experiences. People are constantly evolving, particularly as we expose ourselves to new concepts, new people and adventures. I am about abundance, believing that each person creates his or her destiny by the choices that he or she makes or fails to make. I am looking for folks who are not singing victim songs, but instead are doing their thing to live their greatest lives and in the process are passing on some love, hope, knowledge and happiness to other folks. History should teach us how to move forward, not stand still in pain.object width="425" height="350"object width="425" height="350" ..
Music:
My first love is rap music. I don't personally distinguish between conscious and commercial...my yardstick is whether or not the artist is saying something that resonates with me. Beyond Hip Hop, my soundtrack of life includes, neo-soul, R&B and rock n Roll.Here is a very, very short list of musical influences: RUN DMC, ERIC B & RAKIM; KRS-ONE; MARY J. BLIGE, SAUL WILLIAMS, MYSTIC, MC LYTE, BAHAMADIA, NAS, JAY-Z; COMMON, THE POLICE, STING, PAT BENATAR, MADONNA, BLONDIE, PRINCE, ANTHONY HAMILTON, THE JACKSON FIVE, ARETHA FRANKLIN, DONNY HATHAWAY, BOB MARLEY. LENNY KRAVITZ.
Movies:
A few of my favorites....The Godfather, The Usual Suspects, The Untouchables, Casablanca, Little Miss Sunshine, Deep Cover, Ronin, Julius Caesar (Marlon Brando version), On The Waterfront, Mystic River, Dave Chappelle's Block Party, Love Jones, Lost In Translation, The Matrix, Purple Rain (yeh I know), Ghost Dog, Shaft, Two Weddings and a Funeral, The Thin Man, Bamboozled, Do the Right Thing, almost any Woody Allen film (I know--the stepdaughter/wife thing), Babel, Syriana, Shrek, Scarface.
Television:
I am a sucker for CSI-NY and CSI-Miami as well as Law and Order. I rarely miss Charlie Rose, stay tuned to CNN and as quiet as it's kept, I watch the soaps REGULARLY....a guilty pleasure.
Books:
Sister Outsider-Audre Lorde
White Teeth-Zadie Smith,
Bling- Erica Kennedy,
Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence-Rebecca Walker,
The Queen of Harlem-Brian Keith Jackson,
Black Power-Kwame Ture,
Malcolm X Speaks (speeches),
Vernon Can Read-Vernon Jordon
Scars of The Soul- Miles Marshall Lewis
Morning by Morning: How We Homeschooled our African-American Sons to the Ivy League, By Paula Penn-Nabrit
The Warrior Method: A Parent's Guide to Rearing Healthy Black Boys by Raymond A. Winbush, Ph.D
Heroes:
Nikki Giovanni--Ego Trippin' remains on my wall today.
W.E.B. Dubois, Oprah Winfrey, Langston Hughes, August Wilson,Ella Baker, Lisa Y.Sullivan, Rep. Shirley Chisholm, Harold Cruse, Anna Pauli Murray
