http://i.imgur.com/fwhcb.png

how do i change this black-ish text color to something more readable?

in color settings there are thousands of options. i would like to know which one changes this specifically.

anyone?

The background colour itself is controlled by the wallpaper below it from what I could tell. As for the text colour of the window titles - that is controlled by the Plasma Theme which you are currently using as far as I know. Ideally it would determine the colour below and select an appropriate colour automatically I guess which has sufficient contrast.