And then there was House...

When most people think of exercise these days, the first thing that comes to mind is gyms, treadmills, spin classes and bootcamps. Its a pity really because way long before there were ever any of these things in existence, people were moving and I might add they were moving quite more.

I like to think about movement and exercise out of this "controled enviroment" context. I mean I am not knocking folks for doing these types of exercise...movement in any form is good in my book. But personally I get bored with running in place with a fan and tv screen in my face.

I prefer to take my workouts outside and hang off of objects or jump over things...it's not that I'm totally a daredevil, I just want to use my body to the max.

And to this day, one of my favorite forms of cardio, which my mom inspired in me from a very young age is Dance. My mom would always tell me "I'm doing my exercise, I'm dancing to Hector (Lavoe)", and sure enough that made total sense to me. I am a big dancer, not saying I'm the most skilled but man when a beat with some drums and bass starts pumping my heart is singing and my feet are moving.

I ofcourse love salsa, bomba y plena, hip hop, merengue, but the music that has always been my love, being the nuyorican that I am is House Music.

House Music was born in Chicago, largely influenced by Disco, Salsa, Soul and Jazz, it is no wonder that it was largely a Black and Latino thing of the early to mid 80s. The first big venue that it became popular in was Chicago's "The Warehouse", which is where the genres name derives from. When it came to New York, it evolved well past its years and eventually starting entering the mainstream.

Its a foot work based dance, and even though there have been some "moves" designed by different folks over the years, for the most part there is no wrong way to dance to House, as long as you stay on rythm of course lol. I can walk into a spot playing house and just move for hours without a care in the world, burning calories for days haha.

So if you ask me what my prefered cardio is, best believe its dancing to some House. And there is nothing better than NYC in the summer to find some dope ass house parties. Come join me sometime!

"You may be black, you may be white; you may be Jew or Gentile. It don't make a difference in our... HOUSE."

Where to start

This weekend I took a trip down to Washington D.C. to attend a Socialism Conference hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. (www.pslweb.org) It was an amazing event where speakers spoke on tons of different issues from the anti-war movement to the movement against racism, sexism and anti-LGBT bigotry. One of the most important moments for me is when one of the speakers Brian Becker, spoke on the people's movement in Egypt that brought about the end of the Mubarak's regime. He described the power of the the masses in Egypt who empowered themselves, became fearless in the face of all the oppression the government presented and won!

On the way back from D.C. my friends and I stopped over in Baltimore, M.D., passing through some of the most underdeveloped neighborhoods in america. It wasn't anything too shocking for me, myself coming from a very poor working class background, many of my family members and friends have fallen into the cracks of these oppressive conditions. But going through West Baltimore, seeing abandoned house after house, roads that haven't even been paved with cement, closed down factories and lack of facilities, heroin addicts looking for the next fix and children roaming the streets with nothing to do. It reminded me of all the work that needs to be done, all the change that needs to be done, all the organizing we need to develop within our communities. Not relying on empty promises from politicians who don't represent the interest of our people. But rather building that strength from within the community, using the example of the Egyptian people as role models in how we can really build a movement for change.

And then I thought about the health crisis in these neighborhoods and where would we even start in trying to highlight the issues, because there are so many, it seems like such a daunting task. I think of the organization i work with, Revolutionary Fitness and if the donation-based Fitness classes we host in New York City, would work in such a downtrodden community. I'm sure it would but its also a reminder of why providing these services is so important, but in the end only an organization working towards change on a structural level within these communities will bring about the societies our people desire. Thus why even though the work I do in Revolutionary Fitness and all the great work done by community based organizations all across the country is amazing, I encourage everyone to look into a national political party, namely the Party for Socialism and Liberation. An organization that can unite all this great work we are doing and construct mass movements that can bring about that people's movement we saw recently in Egypt.