The Mid-South Bugalu Podcast

What's good! Hola a todos! This episode features Corey Wright, one of the OG salsa dancers in the Memphis Latin dance scene! He loves music and sees salsa dancing as an art form that allows energetic self-expression. We both enjoy dancing to salsa music and enjoy the discipline of it. We also agree that it's a great way to meet people!
Happy Black History Month!

In this episode we talk about:

• How Corey Wri...

Hey everyone! Happy New Year and Happy Martin Luther King Day!

This is an important day to reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We also must be aware of the whitewashing of his legacy and that he is extremely misunderstood. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a brilliant Black intellectual, writer, and orator. He was anti-war, anti-imperialist, and saw connections between the Vietnam War, racial issues, and the exploitation ...

***Warning*** Heavy subject matter 
Hey everyone, long time no see.  Be warned that this is a heavier episode, I give my response to the recent tragedies that occurred in early September 2022: The kidnapping and murder of Eliza Fletcher and the shooting spree that happened in Memphis and North Mississippi on September 7th, 2022.

I also talk about the importance of Alicia Franklin, a young Black woman who was sexually a...

Hola a todos! This episode features Talia Palacio, the creator and host of La Hora de Sazón, a radio show on WYXR 97.1 FM that focuses the Latino/Latinx experience, culture, and music. 
Palacio is a native Memphian and was born in Panama. 

In our conversation, Palacio shares what it is like being raised in a bilingual household and growing up in Memphis with many cultures.  We also talk about her experience working at ...

This episode is a recorded interview with Memphis poet, free thinker, and my good friend Roberto Alfaro. (slight audio issues)
     In our conversation, we discuss:

• Mexican Identity
• Mexican-African American relations in Memphis
• Poetry
• Roberto's experience growing up in Memphis
• The story of a mysterious mystic and shaman woman known as Pachita
• La Catrina as a memento mori and satircal response to classism in post-colonial Mex...

This episode features the two leaders of Cazateatro: Bilingual Theatre Group, Monica Sanchez (Co-founder of Cazateatro) and Dorimar Ferrer (Executive Director).
     In our conversation, we discuss:

• The origins and role of Cazateatro: Bilingual Theatre Group
• What brought both Monica and Dorimar to Memphis
• The arts and creativity and how they can be used to express cultural pride and promote togetherness
• Latin Fest 2021 (Sept 25...

 **Part 2***  This episode features rapper, gamer, illustrator, animator, poet, and dear friend from my days at MCA (Memphis College of Art), Jeshaun Powell aka ACE GAHD.  He is a true example of a "Renaissance man." He is hilarious and happy go lucky but he is also someone full of ambition and talent.  It was a joy to have him on the pod!
     In our conversation, we discuss:

•  The origins of Hip-hop cult...

    This episode features rapper, gamer, illustrator, animator, poet, and dear friend from my days at MCA (Memphis College of Art), Jeshaun Powell aka ACE GAHD.  He is a true example of a "Renaissance man." He is hilarious and happy go lucky but he is also someone full of ambition and talent.  It was a joy to have him on the pod!
     In our conversation, we discuss:

•  The origins of Hip-hop culture and its unique c...

Oye! Salve! Welcome to the Mid-South Bugalu Podcast! In this episode, Shandon "Rasta" Allen is a Memphis martial artist, capoeira instructor, and a District Leader at Primerica Financial Services. He also happens to be the nephew of Stax Records musician, David Porter.

Rasta (pronounced "H-A-S-T-A" Portuguese for "rasta")

We talk about capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art with pred...

Oye! This is the first episode of MSB Rewind. MSB Rewind is a bonus episode series in which I share thoughts about my previous conversations with guests on The Mid-South Bugalu Podcast.  This episode focuses on some of the topics from "Episode 3 w/ Ramel Strong: Black American Involvement in Salsa Music." Hope you all enjoy it!
 


Music: Latin Trap Beat - Salsa Mexicana (Prod. Felipe x Exquisite Beats) (y...

This episode features Ramel Strong. He is from Memphis and has danced and taught mambo, salsa, and bachata for many years. He also has an immense background in finance and business.  In this episode, we discuss the African-American/Black-American involvement in Latin music in New York especially with styles like mambo, latin-boogaloo, and salsa music. We also dive into the issue of inequality in Memphis and that African-Americans, ...

This episode features my father, Gregory K Parker. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was always into art and enjoyed technology. He became a disc jockey in New York and moved to Miami with his wife to build satellite dishes. He came to Memphis in the early 2000s. He is a big fan of R&B and currently works in a local hospital.


Intro music by Melvin Lindsay:  melvin.lindsay.jr@gmail.com 

(sidenote: Ther...

This is the first episode of The Mid-South Bugalu Podcast.  I introduce myself and what my plans are for the podcast.  I made this podcast because I felt like there needed to be a space for African-Americans and Latinos to communicate, express, educate, and share ideas; something that these two massively dynamic and influential groups have done many times historically in the United States with Latin-Boogaloo ( a 1960s New York genr...

Trailer for The Mid-South Bugalu Podcast.

Welcome! Bienvenidos! The Mid-South Bugalu Podcast is a podcast that serves as an educational, creative, informative, and intellectual space for African-Americans and Latinos/Latinx. The two groups have historically had a high degree of cultural exchange with one another throughout the United States, with a prime example being a New York 1960s crossover genre called Latin Boogaloo ...