Black History-Black to the Future

OK, It's Black History Month and now that I have figured out how to post these tracks as downloadable MP3s, I am reposting the prior Pryor (ahem) track-a great kickoff for the celebration. I was listening to some Sun Ra stuff a bit ago and the chanting chorus about wanting to get the hell out of here (the whole planet, no less) and travel the spaceways from whence they came. It struck me how I could identify with the feelings a little reading day after day of horrible fucking news. And then I Anne and I went to see the doc From Mambo to Hiphop which chronicles the crazy mix of people and music that make up the Bronx and Africa Bambaataa appears towards the end all funked out colors and outerspace sonic lunacy. Bambaataa was about using music to help overcome gang barriers and entropic violence in the neighborhood when hiphop was not yet a global cash cow. To me, the link between outer space utopias and black experience in America is fascinating. In any event, I will be posting a bunch of stuff to celebrate, from black history to black sci-fi stuff (Bambaataa, George Clinton, Sun Ra, Sly, possibly some readings of Samuel Delaney) and other far outs that have made not just black history, and not just history, but future too.

Richard Pryor-Bicentennial Ni**er MP3