My mistake if that's what it appeared I was saying. My entire point to you is that all these things that you feel are uniquely African or African-American are, in fact, creations of humanity. There are too many influences to make your claim. That's just true.

I've read much about pop culture, social struggles, the black panthers and the 60s...much more...and I dearly love 'black' music, but I recognize that the art is human. It has no color. We all share the same emotions.

I'm going to say this to you in an attempt to make some peace: You and I clearly share a love and interest in music as art. I am sad that you have layered it with color where none should be. Black artists were abused by the labels early on - white artists were too, equally. There was no color barrier. I wish that you could drop the 'black' thing, just long enough to stop attributing everything wrong to the evil white man. In many ways black people have been their own worst enemy. I feel what you're saying. Honest to God I do, but you take it too far, and I'm genuinely curious to know why?

I won't nitpick this post simply because I've been down this road time and time again. We see the world through two different lenses, and it's not my goal for us to see eye to eye. I might be sad or discouraging, but that isn't the school of thought I follow. I understand why you view things the way you do. Believe me. I wouldn't have gotten this far in life without a thorough understanding of the dominant society. I believe Black people have been their own worse enemies in many ways as well, but probably not in all the same ways that you do. If you're looking understand, it'll take more than one debate. More than one conversation. More than one perspective. I don't remember if it was you, but I told people to inbox me or add me on Facebook if they wanted to truly engage me in dialogue without outside interference. I enjoy the art of debate.