Musicians, artists and other like minded and creative people.
Musical Influence ~ My father (Afi-Nur), Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Miriam Makeba, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Rachell Farrell, Minnie Riperton, Anita Baker, Prince, Fela Kuti, Phyllis Hyman, Dizzie Gillespie, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Carmen McRae, Tina Turner, Sweet Honey in the Rock , Angela Bofill, Angela Winbush, Tina MarieDeniece Williams, Frankie Lymon, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Dinah Washington, Angelique Kidjo, Phoebe Snow, John Mayer, Cree Summer, ColdPlay, Zap Mamma... and more!
I love romances, sci- fi with a touch of metaphysics to it, adventure, movies set in old Europe, really good animated films like finding Nemo (I quote this movie all the time), and movies that have a indegenious theme or focus like quilimbo, mysitc warrior, etc...Shout outs to: 5 deadly venoms, spiritual kung-fu, kamasutra, monsoon wedding, Cry freedom, the color purple, purple rain, Daughters of the Dust, crooklyn, school daze, do the right thang, jungle fever, siddhartha, Mississippi Masala, Bram Stoker Dracula, What's love got to do with it, House of flying daggers, For Colored Girls, Sleepless in Seattle, Abyss, Mahogany, The Count of Monte Cristo, Love Jones, Love & Basketball, The Wiz, Golden Child ( i want the knife... please), Matrix series, lord of the rings trilogy, harry potter, The Notebook
Different World, Good Times, Who's the Boss, Run's House, HGTV, Cooking Channel, Girlfriends, Boondocks, Fresh Prince, Fame, Cosby Show, the family guy,The Nanny, VHI Soul, various shows on the oxygen channel, Charmed
Some of my favorite books are ~ Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, The Bhagavadgita As It Is by his grace Srila Prabhupada, Jaiva Dharma by Bhaktivinoda Thakura and translated by my Sri Gurudeva Srila Narayana Maharaja, Of Water and the Spirit by Patrice Malidoma Some, The temple of my familiar by Alice Walker, The four agreements / Beyond Fear by Migel Ruiz, Opening to Spirit by Caroline Arewa, The Color Purple by Alice Walker,Tapping the Power Within by Iyanla Vanzant, Sacred Woman by Queen Afua,The Initiation by Donald Schnell, Assata, Fierce Compassion, Spiritial Midwifery by Ina May, The Spook Who Sat by the Door by Sam Green Lee, Autobigraphy of Malcolm X, In this life together by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis,Buffalo Woman Comes Singing by Brooke Medicine Eagle, 13 Original Clan Mothers by Jamie Sams, Out on a limb by Shirley MacLaine, The Road less Traveled, Yoruba Culture: A Philosophical Account by Kola Abimbola, My Soul to Keep by Tanarine Due, The Secret Teachings of all Ages by Manly P. Hall, Celestine Prophesies/ The Tenth Insight/ The Secrets of Shambhalla by James Redfield.
There are too many folk to mention, but whenever I'm feeling sorry for myself or life is aggressively pushing/pulling me to grow and it feels like too much to bear, I think of all those ancestors who walked their way to freedom by way of the underground railroad and trail of tears, and of those who fought and died for the upliftment of humanity. Then I'm inspired and reminded that their strength is within me and that I can endure anything