a friendly reminder to love yourself as you are

must-read books, non-fiction version

a friend of mine recently asked me to suggest "10 books everyone should read".  This is my non-fiction version (+1 b/c me & following rules are hardly friends):

• When God Was A Woman--Merlin Stone
• The Warmth of Other Suns--Isabel Wilkerson
• Martin & Malcolm in America--James Cone
• A People's History of the United States--Howard Zinn
• Super Freakonomics--Levitt & Dubner 
• Multiple Intelligences--Howard Gardener
• Dead Aid--Dambisa Moyo
• They Came Before Columbus--Ivan Van Sertima 
• The Communist Manifesto--Karl Marx
• The Four Agreements--Don Miguel Ruiz
• The Checkbook & the Cruise Missile --Arundhati Roy 

This is by no means a comprehensive list.  These are not my 10 favorite books.  Just 10 books I think add a necessary perspective to life as we currently know it.

I would love to know what 10 books other people would put on their list...

on my list to read:
lucille clifton
lies my teacher told me
the confederate & neo-confederate reader
Africans in America
The Living Blood
& Re-Reading the 4 Agreements

Underrated (Musical) Artists

This happens to me a lot.  I'm out somewhere, or I'm listening to the radio (public or independent stations) and hear an artist I've never heard before...and discover that I've JUST missed their live performance in town.  Happened to me with Carmen Rodgers.  Her voice just makes me want to smile...even when she's singing a song of love gone wrong.


Next, is Detroit's Own:  Invincible!
I don't check for her like I should...but she's 1 of my favorite artists.  And even after all these years, I can say there's no where else in the world I'd rather be than Detroit in the summer time...
I've had the pleasure of seeing Invincible perform live a few times while living in the D...she puts on a great show, with mad energy.





And finally...Atlanta's own...Crushed Ice!  I've also had the pleasure of seeing them perform...I love them...the 3 of them are so incredibly talented and so humble (and funny)!




support good music!