islamic poultry for latino tables

NYT: Islamic Poultry for Latino Tables (Yes, They Have Chilies, Too)

el zahir, borges and sufism

If you are interested in some of the intersections between Hispanic/Latin culture and Islam after the Reconquest, you might want to check out a recent entry at the Technology of the Heart blog: Sufi Themes in Jorge Luis Borges' Writing

islam in america ... en español

Islam in America ... en Español by Wilfredo Amr Ruiz

more latinos choose a less travelled road to spirituality

More Latinos Choose a Less Travelled Road to Spirituality By Cristina Pinzon takes a peek at Latinos who are exploring Buddhism and Islam.

piri thomas (1928-2011)

Piri Thomas' Official Website
NPR: Piri Thomas, Poet And Novelist, Remembered
Democracy Now!: Author Piri Thomas Dies at 83
LA Times: Latino writer Piri Thomas dies at 83

your friendly spider-man from the barrio

Wow, I'd heard that the Ultimate version of Spider-Man was going to die... check out his replacement; from Peter Parker to Miles Morales:

New Ultimate Spider-Man Is Half-Black, Half-Latino And while we are on the subject, you may have also missed the half-Puerto Rican, half-Mexican Spider-Girl, Anya Corazon.

flamenco and hip-hop unite in granada

This is an old NPR story but still eminently suitable for the blog:
Flamenco and Hip-Hop Unite in Granada



K'naan + Granada Doaba - "ABCs" (Gnawledge Remix)


El Canyonazo's YouTube Channel
Canyon Cody's Blog

adding islam to a latino identity

The NYT photoblog, Lens, recently published an interview with photographer Eirini Vourloumis along with her images from the life of Spanish-speaking New Jersey Muslims in the series Adding Islam to a Latino Identity

h/t to Seyfettin/Saifuddin

cnn on rick sanchez

Ok, I'm not going to blog on this for a while after this...Today on CNN's Sunday morning show Reliable Sources, (transcript) there was a "discussion" of the firing of Rick Sanchez. I put "discussion" in quotes because CNN basically used the show to justify their decision to get rid of Sanchez.

What I thought was ironic is that Sanchez got in trouble for saying that Jews were not really a persecuted minority in the news industry, while several of the pundits on the CNN show were essentially saying the same thing about Sanchez himself.

Carole Simpson said:

he thinks that he could have been better and bigger and all of these other things, and he wasn't because of his race, as being a Cuban-American. And then it tickles me, because he looks as white as any white man. I mean, without his name, you probably would not know he was Cuban.

While Jamie McIntyre was much more dismissive: "...to say that he was made uncomfortable at CNN because of his Hispanic heritage, I think it's close to delusional."

The most accurate comment on the show came from Paul Farhi:

Well, I mean, CNN is an employer, and in America, if you criticize your employer the way he did, you're going to lose your job. He went public. It's on satellite radio. Potentially now millions of people have heard Rick Sanchez' criticism of his own company. Not kosher.

Also see Matthew Yglesias: Rick Sanchez for a perspective from a Cuban-Jewish blogger.

immortal technique on haiti

I just got turned on to the Russia Times YouTube channel which has a surprising about of hip-hop content, including a series of interviews with political Afro-Peruvian rapper/activist, Immortal Technique. This interview begins and ends with a discussion of Haiti in the wake of the earthquake but also touches on the role of the US in Latin America generally.

why they want obama to be a foreign-born muslim

An excerpt from FogCityJournal.com: Why Republicans Need Obama to be a Foreign-Born Muslim By Rachel Kiernan

What needs to be addressed is why so many in this country want to believe that Obama is a Muslim, even when they criticized Obama for following a “radical” black Christian leader. This is true in spite of the fact that Obama was raised by his Christian mother and grandparents, having barely known his father. It speaks of the very essence by those who fear an America which no longer looks like they. This manufactured phobia of all things Muslim and of all things non-white (think “white slavery” and the anti-Hispanic establishment) is a response by those who feel that they have lost control over their own lives and power to those who traditionally have been the most disenfranchised and powerless.

This goes beyond those who wish that Obama was a Muslim and a foreigner. This is a manufactured crisis by those who wish to divide the country into two camps by whipping up hysteria against Muslims, blacks, Hispanics and anyone who does not look and pray as they.

mevlevis in miami

I finally went to my first local Mevlevi gathering. So far I think that it will be good for me on multiple levels. One of the many interesting things about the group is that most of the participants are Latino and almost everyone is Spanish-speaking. I grew up going to a Spanish/English bilingual church and it was interesting to "be religious/spiritual" in Spanish again. It was sort of a spiritual homecoming of sorts.

adio kerida

In some sense, this entry is a kind of counter-point to Planet Grenada. Ruth Behar is a Jewish Cuban-American woman (poet, writer, filmaker, anthropologist) who created the film Adio Kerida which is a documentary look at Cuba's Sephardic Jewish community.

Sephardic Jews view themselves as Hispanic people who are connected to both the Arab and African worlds because of their history of cultural and emotional interpenetration with those worlds. They descend from the Jewish populations expelled by the Spanish Inquisition in the fifteenth century. After the expulsion, they settled in the countries of the Ottoman empire and northern Africa, which welcomed them and made it possible for them to live as Jews among Muslims. 'Sepharad' means Spain in Hebrew. Sephardic Jews are notable for having clung with a passion to their nostalgia for Spain and their love for the Spanish language, despite having been forced to leave Spain because of their ethnic and religious identity.

One might expect that Ruth Behar's experiences as a "white" Jewish Cuban-born American and mine as a Black Muslim US-born Latino could be a potential source of conflict. We come from very different places when it comes to the black/white dichotomy,the Abrahamic religious tradition and Cuba. But in fact I think the multiplicity of identities is something which itself can help bridge the gap. For many people the big demographic variables like "race" "ethnicity" and "religion" tend to line up in predictable ways. White/ American/ Christian or Mestizo/ Mexican/ Catholic or Asian/ Japanese/ Buddhist for example. But when those variables don't "line up" in expected ways, there is a kind of dissonance created which can stimulate a certain kind of acute thoughtful awareness about identity (and a kind of cameraderie that comes out of having a common struggle).

Coincidentally, I've actually met Ruth Behar before. Several years ago, I saw her at the local Latin music spot one night and before I knew her name, I asked her onto the floor and we danced for a while. (There must be some kind of metaphor in there somewhere). After a few songs, we sat and talked for a bit. When she said who she was I was surprised: "Wow, I checked out one of your books out of the library the other day!". Anyway, small world.

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11/4/11
Most of the above links died but you should be able to find some materials here.