THE TKC SATURDAY NIGHT PLAYLIST!!! CELEBRATING KANSAS CITY IRISH AND SAN PATRICIO!!!

At the risk of bringing up even more of Kansas City's racial and ethnic divisions I must point out that I've always admired Irish people in this town more than any other variety of white folks.

The neighborhood where I grew up was named after an old Irish dude and mostly inhabited by working class Latino families but there were always a few pasty old ladies around to remind us all who built the place.

And of course, as with most other cultures, there are stereotypes to clown. I've often noted that I admire the Irish because they're a living testament against white supremacy.

Still, more than any ethnic group in Kansas City, local Irish have assimilated as part of the mainstream yet managed to keep their cultural heritage intact which isn't an easy feat in a consumer culture built upon enforcing expediency above all else. Yet, there's still a loosely knit Irish community in Kansas City that draws upon years of history in this town. I've always believed this admirable effort to maintain a cultural legacy was aided by a shared skin color with the majority that made ongoing persecution seem far too picky but allow me to be optimistic for a moment.

To wit, while not specifically Kansas City related I've been rocking a bit of KICKASS Irish music that's somewhat appropriate for the upcoming week in which Kansas City celebrates all things Irish.

Allow me to direct your attention to The San Patricios - The Irish men who died for Mexico.

The long-hidden and ignored bit of history has been brought to the forefront by a recent CD release from The Chieftains featuring Ry Cooder.

"It tells the story of the San Patricio (Spanish for St Patrick) Battalion of Irishmen who fled to America to escape the potato famine, were conscripted into the American army, but found themselves fighting against fellow Catholics in the Mexican-American War – and so changed sides to fight for the Mexicans."

So far the CD has been getting stellar reviews and it'll probably/hopefully be my theme music for the rest of the week.

And while dudes like Pat Buchanan would like to kick so many brown people out of the country while ignoring the history of his own people -- Locally, during recent immigration debates I've noticed at least a little sympathy from some of the local Irish politicos I talk with against reactionaries and so much anti-immigrant fervor that's been stirred up to accomplish petty political goals.

One last thing . . . Overall what I like more than anything about Irish music and culture is that tells the story of poor and oppressed people that's pretty much universal during this Global recession. And maybe this post isn't so much based on the "Secret Relationship Between Latinos And The Irish" but a simple admiration for another strongly Catholic-influenced culture that has had their holidays turned into drinking festivals as well.

######

So, tonight's playlist is dedicated to just a few Irish tunes without any conscious attempt to slight the other German and Polish people that wanted to see my family deported throughout my childhood. Check it:

As always, thanks for reading and have a safe and fun weekend.