Music:
P.E., Run-DMC, Immortal Technique, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, LL Cool J ("Walking with a Panther" and earlier), X-Clan, A Tribe Called Quest/Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Ice Cube, 2Pac, The Roots, GURU/Gang Starr, Jurassic 5, Kanye West, Grand Puba, Red Man, Method Man, Rakim, The Fugees, Poor Righteous Teachers, old De La Soul, KRS-One/BDP, Afrika Bambataa and the Mighty Zulu Nation, NaS, Isaac Hayes, Barry White, Curtis Mayfield, The Isley Bros., EWF, The Ojays, The Stylistics, D'Angelo, Aretha Franklin, Alisha Keys, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, BB King, Charlie Parker, any of the Marsalis family, Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Buju Banton, various dancehall, Rage Against the Machine, Disturbed, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Limp Biskit, general Drum 'n Bass, Break Beats, Funk, Trance, & Electronica.
Movies:
Ghost Dog; Schichinin No Samurai; The Godfather I and II; Malcolm X; Gandhi; Do the Right Thing; Amelie; Ciudade de Deus; To Kill a Mockingbird; Motorcycle Diaries; Y tu mamá también; The Princess Bride; Taxi Driver; The Shawshank Redemption; Pulp Fiction; Star Wars; Scarface; Fight Club; When Harry Met Sally; South Park: Bigger, Deffer, and Uncut; Monty Python and the Holy Grail; Lock, Stock, and 2 Smoking Barrels; Snatch; Dumb and Dumber; Beerfest; There's Something About Mary; Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle; any good Horror.
Television:
History Channel, SportsCenter, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Planet Earth
Books:
Some favorites are: A People's History of the United States (Zinn), Roots (Haley), The Giving Tree (Silverstein), The Power of Myth (Campbell), The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Haley), The Death of Bernadette Lefthand (Querry), And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (Rivera), Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously (Osho), The World is Flat (Friedman), The Kite Runner (Hosseini), Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevski), The Souls of Black Folk (Du Bois).
Heroes:
Anyone who takes the road less traveled – whether or not they live to tell about it. I respect people who live for themselves, not vicariously through others – those who set standards rather than follow them.