As the year closes I've been trying to read through different books I have on health and food to try to come up with a plan for next year; a personalized mix of (in no particular order) Andrew Weil, Oprah, Joel Fuhrman, Imam ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Al-Ghazali, Atkins, Dean Ornish and others. I'm still trying to decide which rules I'm going to follow strictly and which are going to be "soft".
Islam is at the heart of an emerging global anti-hegemonic culture that combines diasporic and local cultural elements, and blends Arab, Islamic, black and Hispanic factors to generate "a revolutionary black, Asian and Hispanic globalization, with its own dynamic counter-modernity constructed in order to fight global imperialism. (say what!)
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
between afrocentrism and islam
I've recently been "channel-surfing" on YouTube and found a number of different discussions/ debates on Islam and black authenticity. The basic bone of contention is whether Islam should be viewed as a "white" Arab creation foreign to Africa or should Islam be viewed as an integral part of African life.
Among the more vocal defenders of the latter position are Dr. Wesley Muhammad and the Allah Team along with the authors behind the
Black Arabia blog. Dr. Muhammad is an interesting puzzle in that has a doctorate in Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan but is also follower of Elijah Muhammad (He started off as a Five Percenter with the name "True Islam" but now he is a follower of Louis Farrakhan). So in his published works he actually engages with the orthodox Islamic tradition in a serious way while departing from it at various points.
Michael Muhammad Knight shares some of his own thoughts on this paradoxical situation in a recent talk at Harvard:
For a more "orthodox" view of how Africa and its diaspora overlaps with Muslim life, I would recommend checking out: Third Resurrection
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
idle no more
Mission
Idle No More calls on all people to join in a revolution which honors and fulfills Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water. Colonization continues through attacks to Indigenous rights and damage to the land and water. We must repair these violations, live the spirit and intent of the treaty relationship, work towards justice in action, and protect Mother Earth.
On December 10th, Indigenous people and allies stood in solidarity across Canada to assert Indigenous sovereignty and begin the work towards sustainable, renewable development. All people will be affected by the continued damage to the land and water and we welcome Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies to join in creating healthy sustainable communities. We encourage youth to become engaged in this movement as you are the leaders of our future. There have always been individuals and groups who have been working towards these goals – Idle No More seeks to create solidarity and further support these goals. We recognize that there may be backlash, and encourage people to stay strong and united in spirit.
Plan of Action:
Support and encourage grassroots to create their own forums to learn more about Indigenous rights and our responsibilities to our Nationhood via teach-ins, rallies and social media.
Build relationships and create understanding with allies across Canada.
Take steps to contribute to building relationships with international agencies such as the UN to raise awareness to the conditions Indigenous people have been subjected to and assert our sovereignty in the international arena.
Acknowledge and honor the hard work of all grassroots people who have worked, and continue to work towards these goals – you are our inspiration.
MANIFESTO
We contend that:
The Treaties are nation to nation agreements between First Nations and the British Crown who are sovereign nations. The Treaties are agreements that cannot be altered or broken by one side of the two Nations. The spirit and intent of the Treaty agreements meant that First Nations peoples would share the land, but retain their inherent rights to lands and resources. Instead, First Nations have experienced a history of colonization which has resulted in outstanding land claims, lack of resources and unequal funding for services such as education and housing.
We contend that:
The state of Canada has become one of the wealthiest countries in the world by using the land and resources. Canadian mining, logging, oil and fishing companies are the most powerful in the world due to land and resources. Some of the poorest First Nations communities (such as Attawapiskat) have mines or other developments on their land but do not get a share of the profit. The taking of resources has left many lands and waters poisoned – the animals and plants are dying in many areas in Canada. We cannot live without the land and water. We have laws older than this colonial government about how to live with the land.
We contend that:
Currently, this government is trying to pass many laws so that reserve lands can also be bought and sold by big companies to get profit from resources. They are promising to share this time…Why would these promises be different from past promises? We will be left with nothing but poisoned water, land and air. This is an attempt to take away sovereignty and the inherent right to land and resources from First Nations peoples.
We contend that:
There are many examples of other countries moving towards sustainability, and we must demand sustainable development as well. We believe in healthy, just, equitable and sustainable communities and have a vision and plan of how to build them.
Please join us in creating this vision.
Monday, November 19, 2012
preparing for a post israel middle east?
Source: Foreign Policy Journal
So what is all the fuss about?
It’s a paper entitled “Preparing For A
Post Israel Middle East”, an 82-page analysis that concludes that the
American national interest in fundamentally at odds with that of Zionist
Israel. The authors conclude that Israel is currently the greatest
threat to US national interests because its nature and actions prevent
normal US relations with Arab and Muslim countries and, to a growing
degree, the wider international community.
The study was commissioned by the US
Intelligence Community comprising 16 American intelligence agencies with
an annual budget in excess of $ 70 billion. The IC includes the
Departments of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard,
Defense Intelligence Agency, Departments of Energy, Homeland Security,
State, Treasure, Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, National Security Agency, National Geospatial
Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Agency and the Central
Intelligence Agency commissioned the study.
Among the many findings [...] are the following:
- Israel, given its current brutal occupation and belligerence cannot be salvaged any more than apartheid south Africa could be when as late as 1987 Israel was the only “Western” nation that upheld diplomatic ties with South Africa and was the last country to join the international boycott campaign before the regime collapsed;
- The Israel leadership, with its increasing support of the 700,000 settlers in illegal colonies in the occupied West Bank is increasing out of touch with the political, military and economic realities of the Middle East;
- The post Labor government Likud coalition is deeply complicit with and influenced by the settlers’ political and financial power and will increasingly face domestic civil strife which the US government should not associate itself with or become involved with;
- The Arab Spring and Islamic Awakening has to a major degree freed a large majority of the 1.2 billion Arab and Muslims to pursue what an overwhelming majority believe is the illegitimate, immoral and unsustainable European occupation of Palestine of the indigenous population;
- Simultaneous with, but predating, rapidly expanding Arab and Muslim power in the region as evidenced by the Arab spring, Islamic Awakening and the ascendancy of Iran, as American power and influence recedes, the US commitment to belligerent oppressive Israel is becoming impossible to defend or execute consistent given paramount US national interests which include normalizing relations with the 57 Islamic countries;
- Gross Israeli interference in the internal affairs of the United States through spying and illegal US arms transfers. This includes supporting more than 60 ‘front organizations’ and approximately 7,500 US officials who do Israel’s bidding and seek to dominate and intimidate the media and agencies of the US government which should no longer be condoned;
- That the United States government no longer has the financial resources, or public support to continue funding Israel. The billions of dollars in direct and indirect aid from US taxpayers to Israel since 1967 is not affordable and is increasingly being objected to by US taxpayers who oppose continuing American military involvement in the Middle East. US public opinion no longer supports funding and executing widely perceived illegal US wars on Israel’s behalf. This view is increasingly being shared by Europe, Asia and the International public;
- Israel’s segregationist occupation infrastructure evidenced by legalized discrimination and increasingly separate and unequal justice systems must no longer be directly or indirectly funded by the US taxpayers or ignored by the US government;
- Israel has failed as a claimed democratic state and continued American financial and political cover will not change its continuing devolution as international pariah state;
- Increasingly, rampant and violent racism exhibited among Jewish settlers in the West Bank is being condoned by the Israeli government to a degree that the Israel government has become its protector and partner;
- The expanding chasm among American Jews objecting to Zionism and Israeli practices, including the killing and brutalizing of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, are gross violations of American and International law and raise questions within the US Jewish community regarding the American responsibility to protect (R2P) innocent civilians under occupation;
- The international opposition to the increasingly apartheid regime can no longer be synchronized with American claimed humanitarian values or US expectations in its bi-lateral relations with the 193 member United Nations;
- The Draft ends with language about the need to avoid entangling alliances that alienate much of the World and condemn American citizens to endure the consequences.
Interestingly, it notes Iran as an
example of a country and people that have much in common and whose
citizens have a real interest in enjoy bilateral associations (here an
apparent reference to Israel and its US lobby) not determined by the
wishes of other countries and their agents. It also highlights the need
for the US to undertake the repairing of relations with Arab and Muslim
countries, including the drastically curtained use of drone aircraft.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
"who is it that will lend to allah a beautiful loan... ?"
While the original concept of a Jubilee comes from the Bible, we can certainly find similar teachings in the Quran: Who is he that will Loan to Allah a beautiful loan? for (Allah) will increase it manifold to his credit, and he will have (besides) a liberal Reward. (57:11)
The idea behind the current project is elegantly simple: "A bailout of the people by the people. We buy debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, we abolish it. We cannot buy specific individuals' debt - instead, we help liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal."
For more info, check out:
Occupy Oakland: Debt Resistance! The People’s Bailout, AKA the Rolling Jubilee
Friday, November 09, 2012
white people mourning romney
First came the binders full of women... now there are the white people mourning romney.
And of course there are the more extreme responses:
Jezebel: Twitter Racists React to ‘That Nigger’ Getting Reelected
Floating Sheep: Mapping Racist Tweets in Response to President Obama's Re-election
And from four years ago:
Sunday, November 04, 2012
you are here to wake up
Judging from sites like Esoteric Tube it seems like there is a growing genre of videos involving monotone voice-overs on top of sparse electronic music put together with provocative sequences of images (frequent choices include fractals, time lapsed nature scenes, astronomical and microscopic pictures) where the message is faintly New Age-y, spiritual-but-not-religious, conspiratorial, mildly anti-government and anti-corporate. One of the first such clips I've seen was Zeitgeist.
Another film which is oddly beautiful and simple called "You Are Here to Wake Up" is below. I especially like the references to "They Live" and "The Matrix":
Thursday, October 25, 2012
love, gnosis & other suicide attempts
Amir Sulaiman's poems in Love, Gnosis & Other Suicide Attempts are simultaneously spiritual and sensual; threatening and vulnerable. Sulaiman's voice is between a flood and a firestorm. In the spirit of Rumi and Attar, his poems engage sensuality with a kind of religious devotion and engage religious devotion with sensuous fervor. He exposes the reader to the pleasure found in suffering; the ecstasy found in brokenness. Love, Gnosis & Other Suicide Attempts is often frighteningly gorgeous; other times humbly surrendering, but always honest.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
admiral general haffaz aladeen on the virtues of dictatorship
I've had issues with Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy before and watching "The Dictator" certainly didn't ease those concerns. At the end of the day he is still a Jewish man making fun of Arabs/Muslims/Islamicate people through buffoonish portrayals (The Dictator, Borat and arguably Ali G). Even in Bruno, where Baron Cohen plays a gay Austrian fashion reporter, he didn't take a break from making fun of Arabs ( see: Ayman Abu Aita, Bruno's "Terrorist," Threatens Legal Action)
Even so, I just saw The Dictator last night and had to admit that this scene was pretty funny.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Monday, October 01, 2012
when savages unite
Mark Gonzalez, a Chicano Muslim spoken-word artist responds to Pamela Geller's racist ad campaign (what is the product? who is buying? who is selling?) by making some "beautiful" connections between indigenous struggles everywhere.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
zain malik on w. kamau bell's totally biased
Debbie Schlussel, an insane blogger, has recently been crafting some bizarre claims that Zain Malik, a Muslim member of the boy band, One Direction, is a "pimp" for Islam by enticing young girls to participate in jihad.
Schlussel's theories were expertly and entertainingly skewered on W. Kamau Bell's new show, Totally Biased.
The Sun: One Direction's Zayn branded a ‘pimp’ for Islam
The Sun: One Direction's Zayn branded a ‘pimp’ for Islam
See also:
Monday, September 24, 2012
are muslims nuts?
In spite of the provocative title, Are Muslims Nuts? by Haroon Moghul is actually one of the more thoughtful and thought-provoking discussions of the whole Innocence of Muslims affair that I've seen.
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