saul williams

As I said before, I saw Saul Williams recently. The talk/performance was pretty good and raised some deep questions in terms of spirituality, culture, afro-futurism, gender, etc. Later, online I found several interviews with him which echoed alot of the same themes. I think I'm going to take advantage of them because that way you get to see his words verbatim.

One such interview is from Splendid online magazine:

Splendid: The book [Said the Shotgun to the Head] seems to touch on themes of enlightenment, particularly a thematic thread of pyramids. Does this allude to the way they were built (i.e. out of flesh) in the ancient Egyptian sense, or is there something more?

Saul Williams: The idea is simply that I'm dealing with ancient folklore surrounding the matriarchal essence and nature of an ideal society. That's all it has to deal with. So then we're learning about balance...balance, balance, balance. There's a Native American saying that if we're not careful, we'll end up exactly where we're heading. The whole idea is that, if thinking of God is male has led us to the state that we're in, and I would argue that it has, then maybe we should re-approach how we think of things. Get ourselves out from between this rock and a hard place. Re-imagine the world. Don't simply think of your god as this angry man who punishes you, but of this nurturing mother who loves you.

A previous Grenada entry, islam and the divine feminine touches on this idea and points out how there are feminine aspects to God "even" in Islam. One fact which we can briefly point out is that "Rahman" and "Rahim" the names of God which are used over and over again at the beginning of all but one sura of the Quran have a root RHM related to the word for "womb".

Splendid: The book tends to take a more utopian point of view when it comes to God as the eternal loving mother...

Saul Williams: That is the point of the book right there, to have that love and compassion with the harshness. That's why the book initially started off as a poem called "Kali-flower", an allusion to the Hindu goddess of destruction and creation, the goddess who says everything must be destroyed in order for things to be rebuilt. Buildings have to fall, because that's the only way people are going to wake up. It's no different than Malcolm X saying, "You don't have a revolution unless you have bloodshed."

I don't have much more to say about the above, except that it is a good example of the freshness Saul William's wordplay; breaking words down and putting them back together like legos. Also, the larger point is dead on... any kind of change will involve sacrificing something old in exchange for something new... whether you are talking about the political world or your personal life.

Tastes like Chicken interview

V: So, you mentioned Kali. Did you study different religions?

S: Yeah, on my own. I’ve just always been interested by it. I guess my latest interest has been in just spirituality, and spiritual practice. And in searching for the spiritual practice that suits me best, I’ve often pulled from different religious practices. I find that a lot of what suits me comes from Hinduism and Buddhism, as many of us do. I think we pull from the East a great deal. It’s almost like we had a team of experts in the field of spirituality, and we sent them to the East and said, “Okay, you guys, work on that.” They did a great job. We can benefit ourselves by looking to the East for greater understanding and depth of our spiritual connection to reality.

A fact which I keep thinking back to is how, between Muslims, Christians, Jews, Bahais and all their offshoots and everything in between (e.g. Nation of Islam, Five Percenters, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mandeans, Samaritans, Gnostics, Druzes, Kairites, Noachides, Rastafarians, Hebrew Israelites etc.) in a literal sense more than half of all Earthlings worship the God of Abraham. They may disagree about all sorts of other people and concepts, but they all look back and acknowledge that there was a special covenant between God and Abraham which has some relation to their spiritual life today.

And then the other kind of deep fact is that a large chunk of the other half follow religious traditions rooted in India (Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, etc.)

And so India and Iraq (where Abraham was born) have an odd kind of near-monopoly in terms of being the sources of human spiritual life.

In his Pop Matters interview he says:

The biggest influences on my work, in that context, would have to be Hafiz and Rumi. Hafiz was a 12th century Persian poet whose name in Arabic means "One who remembers." He knew the Koran by heart, he knew his poetry by heart; he was a spoken word artist, if you will. Poetry has always been recited aloud, but besides that, the lightheartedness and spiritual nature of Hafiz's poetry has always been something that I've aspired to. And then there's Rumi; I've been deeply influenced by him. His work is very inspiring. There are tons of poets, moving chronologically from the past to the present, that have inspired me.

The same set of questions tend to run through my mind when I hear non-Muslims say they are into Hafiz or Rumi. First I wonder if as non-Muslims do they have the background to understand the religious references? Do they respects Hafiz and Rumi as products of Islamic civilization which can be part of an argument for Islam's validity? And then I actually have to ask myself the same questions. Do I really understand Hafez and Rumi? Are they really a part of Islamic tradition or are they rebels who are really outside of it? I tend to think that non-Muslims who think Rumi is "cool" are not recognizing the extent to which he was a practicing orthodox Muslim and so they might be misreading him somewhat, seeing what they want to see. But then again, I certainly couldn't claim to be a scholar on the subject. I actually have met at least one person who become Muslim by way of an interest in Rumi. So if we are concerned about dawa or even just about improving Islam's image in the West, it would be beneficial if someone could make and present a coherent argument pointing to the connection between Rumi, Hafiz and the other Sufi poets to orthodox Islamic spirituality.

Splendid: Your interpretation of religion is so much more human that what we're taught -- so much so that you almost feel sorry for those bound by religion, a bunch of sheep in a herd or something akin to a mob mentality.

Saul Williams: They become literalists, sure. But your beliefs can empower you, even if they're completely dogmatic. I think what's most important is that you have a daily practice in your life of prayer, meditation, something, so that even if you have dogmatic beliefs, you have that daily practice to open yourself up to being loving and compassionate to other people. Then everything's cool, even if you're not trying to find the [...] holy grail.

There is probably some more I could say but I'll just leave this alone for now. If he comes up, he comes up, but it will happen naturally.

Tastes like Chicken 2nd interview

Saul Williams Homepage

when will things stop getting scary?

US to extend military executions rules to Guantanamo Bay by North America correspondent Michael Rowland

The US military is clearing the way for executions of condemned terror suspects to take place at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The army has just changed the rules governing the location of military executions. The new regulations are primarily aimed at service personnel sentenced to death at a military court martial.

Previously executions could only take place at a military jail in Kansas but now death sentences can be carried out anywhere, including the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

The army has confirmed the new rules will also apply to any Guantanamo detainee sentenced to death at a specially convened military tribunal. The move worries anti-death penalty campaigner David Elliot. "The death penalty should not work in a sequestered manner where the public can not see what's happening," he said.

None of the 10 terror suspects charged with war crimes, including South Australian David Hicks, are facing the death penalty, although it could be sought in future cases.

From ABC News Online

hispanics and alito

HispanicBusiness.com: Hispanic Leaders Speak out Against Alito. But on the radio this morning it seemed like his confirmation was all but a done deal.

jingoistic jingles

In These Times: country's jingoistic jingles. If you didn't like country music before, check out what has happened since the Dixie Chicks.

aaron mcgruder

From the artists network of refuse and resist!: Why do editors keep throwing "The Boondocks" off the funnies page? (from 2004)

african hip-hop

Is Hip Hop African music or not? This is a question that has provided the most elusive answers yet as the music take the entertainment industry on the continent by storm. Malawi is slowly responding to hip hop music but does the genre have any place in this country? In the article Malawian Hip Hop: crying out for attention? Levi Kabwato talks to a local hip hop artist, a producer and a disc jockey to find out.

on the serious tip...

In Race, Whiteness, “Lightness,” and Relevance: African American and European American Interpretations of Jump Start and The Boondocks by Naomi R. Rockler, the Boondocks becomes a subject for serious academic discource.

Here is the abstract:

African American and European American participants were interviewed about two syndicated comic strips written by and featuring African Americans: Jump Start, a comic strip that portrays African Americans in a normative middle-class family narrative and focuses only occasionally on racial issues, and The Boondocks, a comic strip that focuses frequently on racial issues. The African American groups interpreted the comic strips through the terministic screen of race cognizance, through which racial politics and oppression were highly relevant. Almost all of the European American participants, however, interpreted the comic strips through the terministic screen of Whiteness, through which racial politics and oppression were not relevant.

wayward christian soldiers

Wayward Christian Soldiers by Charles Marsh examines the striking contrast between white evangelical Christans and their support of the war on the one hand, and Christian moral teachings on the other.

advice for evil overlords

Just for fun: The Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord. I thought this was pretty hilarious. Of course, reading the newspaper it is pretty clear that some folks don't need any help at all in becoming Evil Overlords.

south florida latina converting to islam

The following story appeared last year in the Sun-Sentinel under the title "Some S. Florida Latinas converting to Islam for emphasis on family, women's roles" by Tal Abbady. Alot has already been written about Latinos (especially Latinas) becoming Muslim. I've even posted similar articles on Planet Grenada. But personally I thought that this was well-written and more interesting than most, especially in describing the relationship between Latino culture (in this case the women interviewed were Cuban and Dominican) and Islam.

Miami, USA - Melissa Matos slips into an easy communion with her newest circle of friends. At regular meetings, they invoke their families' native towns in Cuba or the Dominican Republic, or recipes for arroz con pollo. English is interspersed with Spanish. And, posing no incongruity to the women, hijabs, or Muslim head scarves, frame their faces.

When she converted to Islam in May, Matos, a Dominican-American raised as a Seventh-day Adventist, expected the passage to be lonely.

"I said to myself, `Great, I'm going to be the only Muslim Latina in the whole world,'" said Matos, 20, a student at Florida International University who recently joined a group of Latina converts to Islam.

Scholars say Matos is part of a growing number of Latin women converting to Islam for its emphasis on family, piety and clearly defined women's roles, values converts say were once integral to Hispanic culture but have waned after years of assimilation.

The women are among 40,000 Hispanic converts to Islam in the United States, according to the Islamic Society of North America. About a decade ago, Latino converts began forming Internet groups such as the Latino American Dawah Organization and the women's group Piedad that trace Hispanics' ties to Islam back to the Spanish Moors.

Grass-roots leaders say the number of converts grew sharply after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, bucking a trend of thought among Americans that links Islam to terrorism.

Sofian Abelaziz, president of the Miami-based American Muslim Association of North America, said one indication of the conversions is the demand for Spanish-language copies of the Koran, which spiked after Sept. 11. In the past two years, the group has filled orders for 5,500 Spanish-language Korans for schools, cultural institutes and prisons around the country, out of 12,000 orders total.

Matos and other converts say the recent media spotlight on Islam was their first exposure to the faith and spurred further learning.

"[Before] I picked up the Koran, my attitude was, `There's something wrong with this religion,'" said Matos, 20, of Miramar. A friend gave her a copy of the Koran. "But then I saw it was filled discussions of grace from God, of the protection of things we talk about as human rights, of a universal brotherhood. ... This is a religion that encourages thinking and contemplation," she said. In May, Matos converted by reciting the shahada, a prayer in which converts attest to their belief in Allah and Mohammed in front of Muslim witnesses. Islam now circumscribes her life. She is studying Arabic, prays five times a day, wears a hijab and follows Islamic dietary laws.

"There is no conflict between my Dominican heritage and Islam. I grew up in a culture where you have a family you love and you take care of one another, and Islam complements those values," Matos said.

Matos' conversion rattled friends and family members who linked Islam with Taliban-style oppression, but scholars say Latina converts are practicing a confessional Islam that offers strong moral guidelines.

"People might ask, `Why would women convert to a religion that is so traditional in its gender roles?' But that's part of the appeal. There's a recovery of dignity," said Manuel Vasquez, religion professor at the University of Florida. "Second-generation Latinas are caught between the morality of their parents and the morality of the larger mainstream society. Islam offers a clear code. Women ... know they are respected, taken care and protected from the negative influences of secular society. It's a kind of empowerment they don't experience in a culture that is constantly sexualizing them, and Latinas are particularly sexualized."

The converts may be fashioning a form of Islam that meets their needs in a country that allows them to do so.

"It's a comment on our society, on the fragmentation of American family life," said Leila Ahmed, a Harvard University professor who has written extensively on gender in Islam. "We have to bear that this is happening in America, where there is freedom of choice. These women are not converting in order to go and live in Saudi Arabia. We also don't know how permanent these conversions are in a country where people convert two or three times in their lives."

Like many converts, Matos calls herself a "revert," a reference to the Muslim belief that everyone is born in a state of submission to Allah. Being Hispanic and following Islam now are inextricable.

"When I meet with [my group] we speak in Spanish," she said. "We'll talk about what it was like back in Cuba or the Dominican Republic. And yet we're all wearing hijabs. It reminds me of the universality of Islam."

Religious leaders say the Latina converts assimilate easily into Islam.

"What they see in Islam is what their parents used to practice: that respect for elders, the care and protection that husbands are obligated to give their wives," said Maulana Shafayat Mohamed, director of the Darul Uloom Islamic Institute in Pembroke Pines. "Many converts tell me, `This is how my parents grew up.'"

When a Hispanic Muslim friend slipped a copy of the Koran into her hands, Marie Hernandez found "a total way of life."

"I started reading about the life of the Prophet Mohammed, and I was convinced that this is the true prophet of God," said Hernandez, 22, of Boca Raton. "This is the message I have to follow."

Islam also was a powerful antidote to a troubled adolescence, during which Hernandez left home for two years.

Conversion meant the end of partying, very little television and waking up at 5 a.m. for her first prayers. It also meant reconciling with her Honduran-born Catholic parents and becoming a Muslim wife. She met her husband, an Egyptian, through a meeting arranged by her imam. They have a 20-month-old toddler, Fatimah, named for the Prophet Mohammed's iconic daughter.

"At first my parents thought it was weird, and they were scared," Hernandez said. "They thought I might get too extreme in my worship. But now we have a beautiful relationship. Part of being a Muslim is to honor your parents, and I started treating my dad the way I should have."

A strong draw for Hernandez was the idea that for Muslims, Islam is the culmination of all religions. In the Koran, Jesus is venerated as a prophet, and entire passages are devoted to the Virgin Mary -- a ubiquitous figure in Latin American culture.

"It's important to know that Jesus and Mary play a role in Islam. Most Latin Americans are Catholic because that's all they know, that's what their predecessors were," said Hernandez, who cooks tamales to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Converts say they are evidence that Latino identity is in flux.

"One reaction Latinos have with regard to Latinos who come to Islam is, `You're leaving your religion! You're leaving your culture!' But Latino culture is evolving," said Juan Galvan, president of the Texas chapter of the Latino American Dawah Organization.

"It's quite possible that Islam will one day be inseparable from Latino culture just as Christianity is."

Roraima Aisha Kanar, 52, is from a family of Cuban exiles who fled Cuba in 1959 and settled in Miami. Dissatisfied with Catholicism, she converted to Islam 30 years ago.

"My mother was devastated. I couldn't go to the beach and wear a bathing suit. I had to be covered and not wear makeup. I couldn't wear low-cut dresses. I felt like telling her, `Do you mean to tell me that's what's important in life?'" she said. "I think Latinas who convert are looking for a culture that we'd always had and then lost: strictness in the family, respect towards the elderly, moral and spiritual ties and the importance of having God in your life. Our grandparents had values similar to that. As converts we're just coming back to our roots."

After her conversion, she grew apart from her nightclub-hopping friends. She married a Turkish man with whom she has three children.

For Kanar, wearing the hijab, which some see as a sign of subjugation, is liberating.

"I lived through the '70s women's-lib movement," said Kanar, who works in accounting and owns a real estate business. "As a woman you wanted to be accepted as a person with a brain and not just a sexual object that had to be looking pretty to men all the time. I saw covering as something that would give me a lot of self-esteem. It did."

Kanar says she has straddled her Latino heritage and Islam comfortably.

"As soon as you speak to me you forget I'm wearing a hijab. I'm Cuban, and I speak with my hands. I love Celia Cruz. We don't go to Calle Ocho and we don't celebrate Christmas. We eat Spanish food, and though we won't have pork, we can do a nice lamb. What does it mean to be a Cuban, really? I feel Cuban, but I'm a Muslim Cuban."

human verification

At first I kind of liked the idea of being able to see all the potential comments but I really don't need to read that much spam. So with apologies to those who may be inconvenienced but, I'm going back to the old way of doing comments... using character recognition for human verification. (Wow, that makes it sound like something out of Blade Runner... actually it occurs to me that Edward James Olmos appears in both Blade Runner and Battlestar Galactica, and both projects deal with issues of "human verification")

what does jesus look like?

What does Jesus look like? by Rosa Clemente reflects on her own Catholic upbringing, the recent film Son of Man, and Kanye West doing impressions of Jesus on magazine covers.

disoriented

I saw Saul Williams recently. It was deep. I'm still trying to mull over, distill and unpack before sharing at length. But he alluded to a quote by Paul Robeson which Williams used for the introduction of one of his books, and I thought it raised an interesting point.

The man who accepts Western values absolutely finds his creative faculties becoming so warped and stunted that he is almost completely dependent on external satisfactions, and the moment he becomes frustrated in his search for these, he begins to develop neurotic symptoms, to feel that life is not worth living.

He also broke down the word dis/oriented and through some slightly creative etymology said it meant "to turn away from the East". We are lost and we to turn back to the Eastern spiritual traditions to find our bearings again.

evo morales and the roots of revolution

Black Electorate: Evo Morales and the Roots of Revolution by Roger Burbach

progressive faith blog-con 2006 carnival

I really don't want to get into the whole issue of "Progressive Muslim" right this minute. I've commented on the subject before. I'll just say that it is mildly annoying to me that the term "Progressive Muslim" seems to have been hijacked by a group of people who are often neither. So instead of refering to orthodox Muslims who are concerned about racism, classism, sexism and other forms of oppression in society, the term tends to be applied to Neoconservative "cultural Muslims". Go figure.

In any case, I would like to do my part to take the term back. For instance, the Progressive Faith Blog-Con is for people of faith who identify as progressive in the first sense but not necessarily the second. Check it out.

complexion

From a certain point of view, it really doesn't matter. And there are actually other texts which give alternative descriptions. But it is still interesting that this sort of description exists in the hadith.

Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Number 650:
Narrated Salim from his father:

No, By Allah, the Prophet did not tell that Jesus was of red complexion but said, "While I was asleep circumambulating the Ka'ba (in my dream), suddenly I saw a man of brown complexion and lank hair walking between two men, and water was dropping from his head. I asked, 'Who is this?' The people said, 'He is the son of Mary.' Then I looked behind and I saw a red-complexioned, fat, curly-haired man, blind in the right eye which looked like a bulging out grape. I asked, 'Who is this?' They replied, 'He is Ad-Dajjal.' The one who resembled to him among the people, was Ibn Qatar." (Az-Zuhri said, "He (i.e. Ibn Qatan) was a man from the tribe Khuza'a who died in the pre-lslamic period.")

the adventures of black jesus

Son of Man is a new South African film, which premiered at the U.S. Sundance festival in Utah and transports the life and death of Christ from first century Palestine to a contemporary African state racked by war and poverty.

Jesus is born in a shanty-town shed, a far cry from a manger in a Bethlehem stable. His mother Mary is a virgin, though feisty enough to argue with the angels. Gun-wielding authorities fear his message of equality and he ends up hanging on a cross.

"We wanted to look at the gospels as if they were written by spindoctors and to strip that away and look at the truth," director Mark Dornford-May told Reuters in an interview.

"The truth is that Christ was born in an occupied state and preached equality at a time when that wasn't very acceptable."

Yet another retelling/revisioning of a familiar story is A Huey Freeman Christmas which gives more than a few nods to its Charlie Brown predecessor, both in terms of music and storyline. Huey's teacher wants him to direct the school Christmas play, but Huey insists on complete creative control ("I want it in writing"). And even after getting helped by Quincy Jones, Huey still has a few obstacles and hurdles to overcome before he will be able to realize his visionary play "The Adventures of Black Jesus".

p.s. The above link should display the actual episode but the quality may vary with the speed of your internet connection. There is also a searchable archive to several other Boondocks episodes including one called Don't drop the soap. (or "A Date with the Health Inspector") Don't miss the scene where two white gangstas, reminiscent of certain politicians (and voiced by Charlie Murphy and Samuel Jackson) hold-up a convenience store owner who looks surprisingly like a certain Iraqi dictator on the grounds that he has a gun.

complexion consciousness

Arafat, the Bangladeshi blogger behind Anthology gives the straight dope behind certain colorstruck attitudes on the Sub-Continent in his post: Complexion Consciousness

twins raised apart

It would be hard to convey how surprised I was when I found a blog called Planet Granada When I chose the name for my blog, one of the things which definitely attracted me was the ambiguity in the names. I was actually *this* close to picking Planet Granada instead of Grenada. Only I went one way, and he another. Small world.

the return of the king

Nubian at Blac(k)ademic recently posted the Boondocks episode where Martin Luther King comes out of a coma to bring his new dream to a more contemporary time. This is not your grandfather's MLK. He is more like Bill Cosby without the Jello pudding pops.

captain picard

A buddy of mine from school recently got a couple of seconds of national fame. I just heard him on NPR about an hour ago. So I can't help but leave a link. It was part of a story called: Haitian Expatriates Eager to Vote on Future and his name is Jean-Luc (Guess what my nickname for him was?)

black white supremacist

If you haven't seen the classic (or at least much talked-about Dave Chappelle sketch) about the blind Black white supremacist, here it is.

But if you want to see an example of how the truth can be as strange as fiction, here is the real life story of a Black Klansman. (Although I wonder if the story was written as it was because of the Chappelle sketch)

another first

Christian Science Monitor: Liberia's New Lease On Life is about how Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has recently been elected as the first female African president.

let's hope she has a kevlar dress

Miami Herald: Chileans elected Michelle Bachelet, a socialist, as their nation's first woman president, extending the leftists' hold on the presidency while signaling a cultural shift.

not really surprising

From Counterpunch: How the FBI Spied on Edward Said

oppressed and oppressor

Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 43, Number 624:
Narrated Anas:

Allah's Apostle said, "Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one. People asked, "O Allah's Apostle! It is all right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?" The Prophet said, "By preventing him from oppressing others."

we are, therefore i am

In “We are; therefore I am” South African Muslim theologian Farid Esack writes a self-critical piece calling for greater moral consistency among Muslims and all humanity. In an excerpt he writes:

To recognize evil in its own time and to act upon it when it is unsafe to do so is an enormous privilege. Such recognition and action is really for one’s higher self. Thus when I lodged a complaint with the South African Independent Broadcasting Authority against a local Muslim radio station for promoting hate speech against Jews, or when I regularly denounced Muslim anti–Semitism in my writings I did not do Jews any favours. I do not recall ever looking back to see how my interventions were being received by them – or even if they were aware of them. I acted thus so that my own humanity not be diminished by my silence when some part of the human family was being demeaned. This is the African notion of ubunthu – ‘I am a person because of my connected to other persons; I am because you are’. If something lessens your worth as a human being then it lessens mine as well. To act in your defense is really to act in defense of my ‘self’ – my higher present self or my vulnerable future self.

chavez and anti-semitism

Forward published a piece Venezuela's Jews Defend Hugo Chavez which reveals an interesting dynamic. In a recent speech, Chavez apparently made a reference to "Christ-killers" but in a Latin American context, Liberation Theology has long depicted Jesus as a socialist and consequently speaks of gentile business elites as "Christ-killers."

The Simon Wiesenthal Center took the comment as anti-semitic and are asking Chavez to apologize. But local Latin American Jewish organizations, as well as other American Jewish organizations are defending Chavez and are accusing the Simon Wiesenthal Center of rushing to judgment by charging Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, with making antisemitic remarks.

So then that raises the question of whether the Simon Wiesenthal center is speaking in the interests Venezuelan Jews or speaking as an American organization which disagrees with Chavez's political stances?

the magical negro

This past summer, a poet buddy of mine introduced me to the concept or stereotype of The Magical Negro (surprisingly enough, Wikipedia has a link). Then over at the Women of Color blog, brownfemipower was talking about the same thing under the title black folks and the supernatural. And finally, just today I was reading about hollywood and the magical negro over at rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace (Actually, he kind of WANTS to be a magical negro. In fact, that was mainly the reason why I added him to my blogroll... i.e. he's a blogger of color who was concerned about politics and people but is coming from a non-mainstream spiritual perspective).

At this point, I don't think I would say that the Magical Negro stereotype is a bad thing. In fact, it seems kind of benign. (Is the public image of Martin Luther King an example of the Magical Negro who ended racism by singing a few songs?) There are certainly worse stereotypes out there. I'm just saying I'm starting to notice it as a recurring figure. Let me get back to you on it.

to be continued ...

the klan's favorite network

The Klan's favorite Network is BET? Or as Aaron McGruder of the Boondock's would put it, Butts Every Time.

beyond a dream

From Common Dreams: Beyond 'I Have a Dream': Remembering Dr. King by Robert R. Goldberg and Lisa Kapp does a lot to name some of those names which made King possible.

nice mlk references

Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Cointelpro and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute
Wikipedia: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Wikiquote: Martin Luther King, Jr.

martin luther king, right?

I am conviced that capitalism has seen its best days in America, and not only in America, but in the entire world. It is a well known fact that no social institution can survive when it has outlived its usefullness. This, capitalism has done. It has failed to meet the needs of the masses.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

no seriously, he said what?

As I have walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked -- and rightly so -what about Vietnam? They asked if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.

From Beyond Vietnam: a Time to Break Silence, a speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City. He would be assassinated a year later to the day.

¿qué color?

by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén on Martin Luther King Jr.

Su piel era negra, pero con el alma purísima como la nieve blanca...
-Evtuchenko (según el cable), ante el asesinato de Lutero King.


Qué alma tan blanca, dicen,
la de aquel noble pastor.
Su piel tan negra, dicen,
su piel tan negra de color,
era por dentro nieve,
azucena,
leche fresca,
algodón.
Qué candor.
No había ni una mancha
en su blanquísimo interior.

(En fin, valiente hallazgo:
El negro que tenía el alma blanca,
aquel novelón.)

Pero podría decirse de otro modo:
Qué alma tan poderosa negra
la del dulcísimo pastor.

Qué alta pasión negra
ardía en su ancho corazón.
Qué pensamientos puros negros
su grávido cerebro alimentó.
Qué negro amor,
tan repartido
sin color.

¿Por qué, no
por qué no iba a tener el alma negra
aquel heroico pastor?

Negra como el carbón.

he said what?

You can't talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can't talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You're really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry… Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong…with capitalism… There must be a better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a Democratic Socialism.

-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speech to his staff, Frogmore, S.C. (14 November 1966)

mlk

I plan to find something more "meaty" to say about MLK later in the day. I have a couple of ideas, but it is midnight and I'm tired and I'm (inshaAllah) about to go home. But something I really hope for today is that people don't just see Martin Luther King Jr. as an ideal larger-than-life hero. What I would like is for people to see him as part of a movement made up of "ordinary people". As a result, we shouldn't think in terms of when the "next Martin Luther King" or Rosa Parks is going to fall out of the sky. We should think about what are the positive things people like us can do to create and contribute to a movement and participate in positive changes.

"we are living in a material world..."

Black Electorate: Gambling And Religion by Reuven Brenner and Gabrielle Brenner gives a broad overview of how different religious groups have viewed the practice of gambling over time.

AlterNet: Swimming With the Sharks by Howard Karger discusses more contemporary predatory lending institutions (legal loan sharks).

Of course, both are prohibited in an Islamic economic system.
See also:
"if money is the root i want the whole damn tree"

just as long as they don't show the parkers...

This is incredibly bizarre when you stop and think about it. Nearly half of Brazil's population admit to having African descent. Brazil has more Black people than any country outside of Africa. But it wasn't till November of last year that TV da Gente (Our TV) Brazil's first Black owned station with programming aimed primarily at Black viewers, came into existence. On the other hand, in the United States, BET is about 25 years old. Check out A New Color in Brazil TV

I'm not sure what is the best way to think of this. Either the Afro-Brazilians have wanted something like this all along, but were so disempowered by the racial climate that they didn't believe they could achieve the goal in spite of their numbers? Or perhaps racial consciousness is so low in Brazil that they didn't even conceive of a desire for greater representation? Or maybe something else entirely different?

southern woes and southern comfort

From Common Dreams: Latin America Shifts Left: It's the Economy by Mark Weisbrot looks at some of the economic obstacles faced by Latin American countries, especially Bolivia which recently elected its first indigenous president Evo Morales.

And from the Washington Times: Hugo Chavez suggests the formation of a regional "Bank of the South" that would help reduce foreign debt in Latin America, and offer no-strings loans in competition to the U.S.-backed IMF.

"it's getting hot in herre"

Common Dreams recently posted two articles on how the political climate is changing for the president. First there is Impeachment Calls Grow Louder by Matthew Rothschild at McCarthyism Watch. And secondly, The Impeachment of George W. Bush by attorney and former four-term Congresswoman, Elizabeth Holtzman.

it's spreading

MashaAllah, I think we have hit a nerve. Muhammad-Nur (formerly Orlandus X) recently started a Third Resurrection e-mail discussion list on Yahoo in order delve more deeply into the subject of the Third Resurrection and to generate some good discussions. Hopefully the blog and the e-mail group will support and feed one another and lead to some good results

with friends like these...

Yahoo! News: Israel Suspends Contact With Pat Robertson

JERUSALEM - Israel has suspended contact with evangelist Pat Robertson for suggesting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip.

The decision, announced Wednesday by Israeli officials, does not affect other Christian groups that also consider it their spiritual duty to support Israel as fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

Israeli leaders see the Christian allies as tireless lobbyists in Washington and elsewhere. The evangelicals also funnel millions of dollars each year to Jewish settlers in the West Bank and — before last year's pullout — the Gaza Strip.

(Okay, I'm not going to stop doing links cold turkey. I'm just going to try to cut down a little, and comment more.)

tuesday i had fruit loops: revisited

Recently, I've been thinking about the direction which my blog has been taking. When I started out, I had a pretty clear idea of what my blog should NOT be like. I noticed some Muslim blogs emphasized information on fiqh or hadith-of-the-week type of stuff, which always struck me as strange because it is more natural for me to get that kind of information from a book (even an online book) when I'm interested in it. I also didn't feel like competing with the newsbloggers. I'm not a professional (nor even an amateur) reporter and don't have the resources to do what they do first-hand. At the other extreme, I didn't want to write the kind of self-indulgent, navel-gazing personal blog full of entries like "Tuesday, I had Fruit Loops. Tomorrow Captain Crunch". (For some reason, alot of the Xanga and livejournal users are in that genre). For me, the ideal blog would be as personal and honest as a diary and as timely and current as the news. And it should have content which is interesting and hard to find in a book. (On the other hand, maybe I should write a book based on the issues brought up in the blog?)

I'm not going to make any claims on how good Planet Grenada has been at avoiding the above-mentioned mistakes. I've been starting to feel like my blog has been a little link heavy. I can pass information along for people to read themselves, but I should probably put in more context and commentary. Copy-and-paste less, and "pontificate" more. I really appreciate the way Umar and certain other bloggers share their opinions and experiences and put themselves out there while they are commenting on current events. I could probably stand to get more personal without entering into Fruit Loops territory.

On the other hand, Third Resurrection is getting off to a good start. The members are great. InshaAllah, we'll keep it going for a while and will be a positive experience.

What do y'all think? What's your ideal blog like? If you have a blog, what are you tring to accomplish with it?

tuesday i had fruit loops

happy birthday to me

Today is my birthday. I'm feeling old. I kept it on the downlow so I don't expect any surprise parties or the people around me to make a fuss. I got a call from my mom. I'm just going to try to have a nice day, do some quiet introspection (more than usual...lol).

When I first started practicing Islam, I don't think I knew enough to call myself any label (Like the S-word or the W-word) but I definitely came in on the the birthdays-and-non-muslim-holidays-are-bidah tip. My folks probably thought I had developed some Grinch-like tendancies. I think that now, I'm probably mellower than I used to be, but I still don't like to make a big deal about holidays or my birthday.

[...time passes...]

There was a blackout today. The power was out when I woke up and probably won't be back on before the end of the day. I'll try not to read too much into that.

who watches the watchers?

ABC News: former NSA employee spills the beans

sean muttaqi, vegan reich and the hardline movement

The following is an interesting contrast to the previous entry.

Sean Muttaqi is a Muslim who takes a very atypical perspective when it comes to animals. He was a member of a political punk band named Vegan Reich which developed and catalyzed something called the Hardline movement

The Hardline philosophy was said to be rooted in one ethic (the sacredness of innocent life), but in reality the ethos rested on that base and on an idea of an immutable Natural Order. Put in more specific terms, Hardline can be described as a synthesis of deep ecology, straight edge, animal liberation, leftism, and Abrahamic religion.

And so when discussing the Islamic dietary laws and the concept of qurbani, Sean Muttaqi emphasizes the sanctity of life throughout:

Every Surah of the Qur'an came to Muhammad (sal) in response to certain events that were taking place of a period of many years. In the case of halal dietary laws, before their implement, many people were slaughtering countless animals, in very inhumane ways - wasting much of the food, and treating animals abhorrently. Living in a desert environment, vegetarianism wasn't a possibility and thus not a practical answer to this situation and problem. So what Muhammad (sal) said, and what the Qur'an says, is that one must treat animals fairly, and if one must kill to survive, they must do it in the most humane manner possible (and also, since only Allah can create life, the animals life must be taken in the name of Allah, as only Allah has the right to end such a life). Never is indiscriminant murder encouraged or even condoned. Far from that, what was encouraged was that less killing be done - and that when it must be (for survival) that one must share the meat with the poorer members of society, and to be less gluttonous in one's eating habits, so that less life must be taken.

Muttaqi has developed his ideas in some interesting directions. It is my understanding that he is no longer with Vegan Reich but is behind the Uprising Records label. And he also has a number of his articles still available on the Al Qadar website. (The articles are generally well-written and flesh out the ideas of the Hardline movement. They do a reasonable job of presenting basic Islamic principles in a way consistent with vegan politics.)

Interview with Sean Muttaqi
Hardline Movement
Uprising Records
Al Qadar Website

qurbani

Yakoub over at Anarcho Akbar recently started a discussion on the sacrifices of Eid al-Adha. For the past few days I've been mulling over the subject myself trying to think of something "deep" to share on the subject... we'll see how it goes...lol...

One of the things which appeals to me most about Islam is that it has a certain eternal and ancient quality. If I wanted to sound all fancy I might say Islam is "transparent to its own particularity". It isn't just some Arab religion which started 1400 or so years ago. As Schuon puts it, Islam is about the meeting between God as such, and man as such. In some sense which is hard to explain to non-Muslims, Islam really is the first religion, the natural religion, din al-fitra, the religion of Adam, Noah, Moses and all the prophets.

In another sense, Islam is also the religion of Abraham especially. There are many examples of elements which appear in the story of Abraham found in the Bible (and are confirmed by the Quran and hadith) which are a part of Islamic practice today; for example circumcision, pilgrimage and sacrifice.

The idea of sacrifice is something which seems foreign to our modern secular sanitized pre-conceived notions of religion, but at the same time it is hits on something raw and primal which really forces us to vividly confront life and death. And it wasn't just limited to a few peoples here and there, but is widespread among many different religious groups in human history, the ancient Hebrews, the Aztecs, the Yoruba, the Greeks and Romans, and Hindus among others.

But in Islam, it is not claimed that "without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins." God is not like some Cosmic Shylock who demands His pound of flesh before he will allow Himself to forgive you.

The Quran says about the sacrifices:

It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify Allah for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right. [22.37]

And at once this very concrete and basic human ritual is not just seen in a superficially literal or superstitious way but is a symbol for something more which lies beneath the surface.

For more information:
The Fiqh of Qurbani by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Distributing Udhiya/Qurbani Meat to Needy Non-Muslims by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Philosophy of Qurbaani by Mufti Taqi Usmani
Zulhijjah: Eidul-Adha, Hajj, Sacrifice, etc. by Mufti Taqi Usmani

eid mubarak y'all

filiberto ojeda rios

Filiberto Ojeda Rios & Puerto Rican Sovereignty by Louis Reyes Rivera puts Rios (literally "rivers" in Spanish) and the Puerto Rican independence movement in the larger context of historical struggles in the Caribbean and Latin America. Rivera starts off this piece by noting:

For a very long time I have had this problem with the way history is taught. Too many of our textbooks and professors teach history as if they were taking a droplet of water out of the river and presenting that droplet as the entire river itself. And they do so with little regard to those trillions of droplets that make a river possible. No one event, no one person, exists out of context. We are all part of some sense of continuum.

See also: the life and death of filiberto ojeda rios

"...he run venezuela"

Yahoo News: CARACAS, Venezuela - The American singer and activist Harry Belafonte called President Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world" on Sunday and said millions of Americans support the socialist revolution of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. Belafonte led a delegation of Americans including the actor Danny Glover and the Princeton University scholar Cornel West that met the Venezuelan president for more than six hours late Saturday. (full story)

the reason for the season

Since it is hajj season, I thought it would be interesting to mention some of the following:

Edward Gibbon writes about the Ka'bah and its existence before the Christian era in his book, Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire:

Each tribe, each family, each independent warrier, created and changed the rites and the object of this fantastic worship; but the nation, in every age, has bowed to the religion as well as to the language of Mecca. The genuine antiquity of Caaba ascends beyond the Christian era: in describing the coast of the Red sea the Greek historian Diodorus has remarked, between the Thamudites and the Sabeans, a famous temple, whose superior sanctity was revered by all the Arabians; the linen of silken veil, which is annually renewed by the Turkish emperor, was first offered by the Homerites, who reigned seven hundred years before the time of Mohammad.

Another interesting connection, which I first read about in Martin Ling's biography of the Prophet, but was reminded of by Sadiq M. Alam over at Inspirations and Creative Thoughts (He also has a lecture by Zaid Shakir on Hajj on his site).

In the Quran, an alternative name given for Mecca is Becca (3:96-97)

Most surely the first house appointed for men is the one at Becca, blessed and a guidance for the nations. In it are clear signs, the standing place of Ibrahim, and whoever enters it shall be secure, and pilgrimage to the House is incumbent upon men for the sake of Allah, (upon) every one who is able to undertake the journey to it; and whoever disbelieves, then surely Allah is Self-sufficient, above any need of the worlds.

But then the Bible, in Psalm 84 also seems to contain a possible allusion to the same place:

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young-- a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob.
9 Look upon our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

source article

I don't think Islam needs that kind of validation but it is still fascinating to me to see how certain ideas, themes and practices echo back and forth between Islam and the Bible.

more on dhull hijjah

From Sunni Path:
The First Ten Days of Dhull Hijjah
The Day of Arafah: The 9th of Dhul Hijjah
The Fiqh of Eid al-Adha: The 10th of Dhul Hijjah

the wise men

This is a bit late but yesterday was the Feast of Epiphany which is known as El Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos (Three Kings Day) in much of the Spanish-speaking world and recalls the Biblical account of the Wise Men visiting the baby Christ and leaving gifts. (So logically, this would be the main gift-giving day instead of December 25)

I recently found out that in Chile and certain other countries, the day is also called La Pascua de los Negros. Some say the name is a reference to the idea that one of Wise Men was a black African.

But others say:

Es interesante notar que, en tiempo de la colonización española, especialmente en Cuba y Puerto Rico, este día era de asueto para los esclavos negros que salían a las calles a bailar al ritmo de sus tamboras. Esto origina el nombre de Pascua de los Negros con que el día es aún conocido en algunos países.

The period from December 26 (Boxing Day) to January 6 is also the origin of the 12 days of Christmas.

The Quran does contain a birth narrative of Jesus but doesn't mention the Wise Men. (Although, in 22:17 Magians are mentioned but not in reference to the birth of Christ). As far as I know, no authoritative Muslim accounts (i.e. Quran and sunnah) of the birth of Jesus include the Wise Men. But I wouldn't rule out the possibility that there is some obscure narration or a syncretic legend in the Muslim world which includes them... After all, if Muslims in Senegal celebrated Christmas this year then anything is possible. (I wonder if Christians in Senegal will be celebrating Eid? Just this morning I was hearing on NPR how African Christians were incorporating traditional African pracitices in the churches and they mentioned animal sacrifices)

Nevertheless, I would still argue that the story of the Wise Men suggests a different kind of similarity between Islam and Christianity.

Matthew 2:1-2

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

According to some, the three wise men symbolically correspond to Noah's three sons and represent all the people of the earth coming to pay their respects to Christ. (And so one is African, another Oriental, another European) But in other interpretations, the "Wise Men from the east" came from Persia and were likely to be Zoroastrian. In any case, if you take the Bible literally, they were Gentiles who had their own system of belief but were still able to correctly predict the birth of the Messiah. And so, in this way, the Bible is recognizing the validity of a pre-Christian non-Jewish religion. And so an argument can be made that from a Christian perspective, Zoroastrians (or whatever group the Wise Men belonged to) are People of the Book. (Allahu alim)

it's a beige thing

From: Modern Identity is Not All Black or White - It's a Beige Thing by Raphael Mokades

"It may be that in the future there will be more rather than fewer of us - the 2001 census suggested that mixed-race people had the youngest average age profile, and one in five of London's schoolchildren will soon be from mixed-race backgrounds. I know there can never be a box on those forms for every possible permutation of ethnic origin. But I also hope that as mixed-race people become more numerous and start to reach the higher echelons of British society, a more sophisticated understanding of ethnicity will evolve: one which allows people like me to be seen as a subtle shade of beige."

When I was younger, I would have felt more positively towards the above article. Now that I'm older, I think the article raises some good questions, but my attitudes towards racial/ethnic identity have in some ways gotten simpler. Now, alot of the identity questioning I engaged in seems like self-indulgent navel-gazing. We have more important questions to deal with in life other than which box to check.

Furthermore, Latin America with its long and extensive history of miscegenation already has developed a rich vocabulary of terms, in Spanish, Portuguese and even French, which can be used to describe different racial mixes. So centuries ago in certain parts of the New World, society had already "evolved" past seeing things in black and white and even beige, and had moved on to dividing people into mestizo, castizo, espomolo, mulatto, lobo, zambo, coyote, moreno, trigueno and many other categroies. But it wasn't at all clear that this richer and more detailed language did anything to limit or prevent the effects of racism/colorism/prejudice in these societies. So I would definitely question whether Mokades' train of thought does anything to significantly to make the world a better place.

At the same time, I don't think my attitudes would be what they are now, if I hadn't obsessed over these sorts of questions then. So ultimately I would settle on saying that on an individual level, especially in the case of people who come from any kind of a mixed-background a period of racial navel-gazing is useful, and maybe even necessary, but in the long run we need to look elsewhere to create a truly free society.

padilla likely to face terror trial in miami

Miami Herald: Padilla likely to face terror trial in Miami

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive ''dirty bomb,'' to be released from a military brig and moved to Miami, where he faces a criminal trial on lesser terror-related charges.

In some sense this is a good thing for Padilla because it ends his Kafka-esque status of being in a legal limbo. On the other hand, according to the Herald, Padilla is being released from military custody in order to prevent the Supreme Court from making a ruling on the administration's "right" to consider U.S. citizens as enemy combatants.

ex-prisoner rights

Black Voice News: Formerly Incarcerated People Organize to fight Discrimination in S.B.

This is actually an issue I think alot about from time to time. What is the whole purpose of punishment and the criminal justice system (I'm still not sure how to diagram that last phrase). If the goal is rehabilitation then as a society, you want to do everything you can to help people get re-integrated in society when they get out. But if we aren't willing to do that, what was the point of letting them out in the first place?

comment moderation

Blogger recently added a feature where comments can be moderated individually so there is no need for the word-verification which gives some readers trouble. I just switched over today and hopefully it will let me keep out spam but let more people participate.

pat robertson is evil: reason #865

From CNN: Television evangelist Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, which Robertson opposed. (see story)

Also see: pat robertson is evil: reason #873

the chappelle theory

The Chappelle Theory is an in-depth explanation of how a secret cabal called the Dark Crusaders conspired to bring down the popular African-American (and Muslim) comic. (take with plenty of salt). But for me, the biggest mystery is that if there really was a powerful cabal which was so concerned about the images of Black folks in the media, how do you explain The Parkers?

she meant it in a good way...

DELTONA -- A handful of angry residents Tuesday night denounced a city employee's recent use of an ethnic slur toward Hispanics and called for her to resign or be fired.

A group of about 15 to 20 people applauded and cheered during a City Commission meeting as three residents gave passionate speeches lashing out at city officials for not anticipating such a negative reaction to the term "spic" used in jest by public information officer Jeannine Gage at a media-only event last month.

During a "media appreciation day" at City Hall on Dec. 1, Gage jokingly announced a mud-wrestling match that would feature celebrity "hicks vs. spics."

Though the city gave Gage a written reprimand, residents who spoke Tuesday said that if she is not dismissed, they will start a petition for her removal.

(full story at Orlando Sentinel)

afro-colombians driven off land

From the LA Times: Afro-Colombians Driven Off Land in Cocaine War

See also:
black colombians fight for land and rights
africans in latin america
orlando valencia
orlando valencia's body found
afro-latinos marginalized and ignored

sisters gonna work it out

Some funky and progressive women of color are in the process of staking out and claiming a piece of the blogosphere for their own revolutionary and subversive purposes over at the Woman of Color blog. And definitely check out: A Blog Carnival for and by Women of Color

evangelical roots of economics

From Black Electorate: Let There Be Markets: The Evangelical Roots of Economics by Gordon Bigelow is an interesting piece which suggests the basis of economics as a discipline with a particular world-view can be credited (or blamed) on evangelical Christianity.

"Economics, as channeled by its popular avatars in media and politics, is the cosmology and the theodicy of our contemporary culture. More than religion itself, more than literature, more than cable television, it is economics that offers the dominant creation narrative of our society, depicting the relation of each of us to the universe we inhabit, the relation of human beings to God. And the story it tells is a marvelous one. In it an enormous multitude of strangers, all individuals, all striving alone, are nevertheless all bound together in a beautiful and natural pattern of existence: the market. This understanding of markets—not as artifacts of human civilization but as phenomena of nature—now serves as the unquestioned foundation of nearly all political and social debate. As mergers among media companies began to create monopolies on public information, ownership limits for these companies were not tightened but relaxed, because "the market" would provide its own natural limits to growth. When corporate accounting standards needed adjustment in the 1990s, such measures were cast aside because they would interfere with "market forces." Social Security may soon fall to the same inexorable argument.

"The problem is that the story told by economics simply does not conform to reality."

bahai thought police

Once dormant, ex-Bahai, Muslim blogger, Maryam at Dervish has started posting again! And in addition to giving her blog a fresh coat of paint, she has come back swinging with a two-part piece on some of the more Orwellian aspects of the Bahai administrative order.

Basically Sen McGlinn was a Bahai scholar but was disenrolled from the Bahai faith for some of his political opinions. On top of that, the Bahai publishing house which distributed his works and certain other Bahai scholarly writings is receiving some flack from the Bahai officials as well. For more info, check out Dervish:
Blackwhite - Part One
Blackwhite - Part Two

Past Grenada entries:
gentle bahai
bahais and divorce

muslim scholars were paid to aid u.s. propaganda

WASHINGTON - A Pentagon contractor that paid Iraqi newspapers to print positive articles written by American soldiers has also been compensating Sunni religious scholars in Iraq in return for assistance with its propaganda work, according to current and former employees.

The Lincoln Group, a Washington-based public relations company, was told early in 2005 by the Pentagon to identify religious leaders who could help produce messages that would persuade Sunnis in violence-ridden Anbar Province to participate in national elections and reject the insurgency, according to a former employee.

From Common Dreams: (full story)

again third resurrection

Ok, the Third Resurrection (Blackamerican orthodox Muslim group blog) is getting underway... check it out... make comments... make suggestions... let me know if you want to join.

interview with a christmas card

Well, I finished the Anne Rice book. It's not bad. A little slow moving at first. But Rice actually manages to build some tension in the story (which is pretty amazing especially considering the novel starts when Christ (as) is seven-years old and only covers about a year.) The book is fleshed out with plenty of mundane historical detail to give the reader a good sense of what life was like in Palestine and Egypt of that era.

In the second half of the novel, Rice continues with more Smallville-ish moments where Jesus alludes to or has interactions with characters we know will play larger roles later in the story.

The other remarkable aspeect to the novel is the way in which Rice sticks literally to the most conventional elements of the story, from the Wise Men, to the star, to angels saying "Glory to God in the Highest", even to the length of saying it snowed in Bethlehem on the night of Christ's birth!

Given the job Anne Rice did with this first slice of the story, I think it will be interesting to see what she does with the later years.

see christ: the prequel

kwanzaa gains momentum among caribbean blacks

Ok, this should be the last Kwanzaa post for a LONG while...

Kwanzaa, which traditionally showcases the inner strength, struggles and accomplishments of African-Americans, is quickly becoming a popular holiday for black Caribbean people, as well.

As they began dabbling in the celebration, they found they shared similar roots.

"We're all Africans. We've just been dropped off in different places," said Amanayea Abraham, a cultural consultant for the West Palm Beach-based African-American Cultural Arts Organization.

From BlackElectorate.com: Kwanzaa Gains Momentum Among Caribbean Blacks by Karla D. Shores

babel fish

I just added Altavista's Babel Fish (translator) to my blog. There are some kinks. It seems to be able to translate one blog entry at a time but not much more than that. To translate any given entry, what you can do is first click on the time at the bottom of the entry you want (so then you get one entry showing) and then on the side bar, click on the flag appropriate to the language you want the entry translated into. Enjoy.

i'm franklin, who are you?

Ok, I actually was sort of hoping to get this result, but the fact that I did is funny on so many levels. You don't even know.

You are Franklin!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

imani

Today is the last day of Kwanzaa and today's principle is Imani or faith; to believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

I'm a little pressed for time today, so I will limit myself to a few brief comments:

First, I would point out that here there is an obvious but superficial similarity between Karenga's notion of imani and the Islamic concept of iman (also commonly translated as "faith" or "belief"). While Karenga seems to be talking about having faith in created things, the Islamic concept of iman is centered on the Supreme Being who is uncreated.

So, secondly, unlike two days ago when one could argue that Nia and Niyyah could co-exist and complement one another, I would say that here the two terms, iman and imani are harder (if not impossible) to reconcile. Karenga seems to be turning Blackness into an idol, but from an Islamic perspective idolatry is the one unforgivable sin.

So, thirdly, what we should do is start with God and an inclusive notion of justice and taking care of your neighbors and "kinfolk". That might allow for some general feelings of racial solidarity, but it shouldn't reach such extremes that race becomes an idol.

christ: the prequel

I'm in the middle of reading Anne Rice's new book, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. It is actually quite surprising on a number of levels. Firstly, it is much more reverent and conventional than I originally had expected (see previous entry from May, christ the lord: out of egypt). In fact, it seems that in the process doing research for the book, Rice has actually decided to become a believing Christian.

Given that she's writing as a Christian, it is interesting to note that she decided to include accounts (apocrophyal from a Christian persperpective but sound from a Muslim perspective) of Jesus miraculously giving life to birds made out of clay. Another more provocative miracle which is placed early in the book is an instance where the young seven year-old Jesus actually causes a bully to die (and then raises him from the dead afterwards)

In some ways, the book is to the Christian gospel what the WB tv series Smallville is to the Superman mythos. Rice fleshes out with amazing historical detail Jesus' early years which aren't covered in the Bible. And as in the case of Smallville, we all know how the story will have to end so there are plenty of moments full of foreshadowing and significance. (Like when Christ's relatives get all quiet when the subject comes up of why the family suddenly left Bethlehem or when Lex starts quoting Nietzsche's theory of the Superman to Clark)

In any case, Rice's book is a nice read so far. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Also by Rice: do you know what it means to miss new orleans

amiri baraka

Bringing up Amiri Baraka's comments about the Nguzo Saba made me think it would be good to add some links about him. He's definitely gone through his own set of changes in terms his literary and cultural life, his politics and religion.

Amiri Baraka Homepage
Blue Neon Alley: Amiri Baraka
Modern American Poetry: Amiri Baraka
Rootwork: Amiri Baraka and the Power of Poetry
Chicken Bones: Amiri Baraka
Planet Grenada: amiri baraka and the millions more movement

kuumba

Today is the sixth day of Kwanzaa and today's principle is Kuumba or Creativity; to do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

For today I'll just share another excerpt from Amiri Baraka's book, "Raise, race, rays, raze":

When we said Black Art, we meant Kuumba. The spiritual characteristic of revelation through the creative. The artist is respected in Bantu philosophy because he could capture some of the divinity. Because it flowed through his fingers or out of his mouth, and because he would lend this divinity to the whole people to raise them in its image, building great nations reared in the image of righteousness. ...

But Black creativity is what will save us - not just "artists" but all of us - after all is said and done - nothing else. An antidote to birth or mind control! The Nguzo Saba itself is one of the strongest examples of Kuumba. And each idea or act that animates our lives must be measured against the Nguzo Saba in each of its components. You must ask of each new idea of dissociation that comes to mind, what does this have to do with bringing about unity... what does it contribute to... self-determination - does it have anything to do with Ujima, collective work and responsibility, and so on...

Tomorrow is the last day of Kwanzaa and its principle is Imani or faith.

swahili and arabic

From The Baheyeldin Dynasty: List of Swahili Words of Arabic Origin

nia

Today is the Fifth day of Kwanzaa and today's principle is Nia or Purpose; to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Something I find really interesting about Swahili is the fact the much of its vocabulary comes from the Arabic language, which gives a whole other layer of meaning to some of the principles of the Nguzo Saba. For example, today's principle of nia makes me think of niyyah (or intention). In Islam it is emphasized that every action must begin with the proper intention. Sincerity is important. And actions are judged by their intentions.

The Nguzo Saba emphasizes the collective side of this principle; the masses of people have to get together and move in the right direction. But Islam (at least when it comes to this particular concept) puts the emphasis on how the individual heart absolutely has to start with pure and sincere intention, or else what follows will be incomplete, corrupt and empty.

Tomorrow's principle is Kuumba or Creativity

even a stopped clock...

Here is an old Ann Coulter piece on Karenga and Kwanzaa. Snide and insulting comments aside (and there are plenty), it is interesting to see someone like Coulter, recognize COINTELPRO, the positive side of the Panthers and the limitations of cultural nationalism.

why i like it, why i don't

In spite of me really getting into Kwanzaa-blogging this year, I actually have a number of reservations about Karenga and cultural nationalism in general. I definitely believe that the principles of the Nguzo Saba are worth further reflection and discussion, but I don't necessarily feel that cultural practices can really be imposed from above. Culture isn't some burden you have to carry in order to establish your authenticity. Instead, culture is a spontaneous and creative response to ones situation. Black culture is what Black culture does.

For a few days I've been thinking about how to best articulate some of my other reservations about Karenga and was toying with the idea of including a link to an older piece by Ann Coulter on Kwanzaa (and I was going to give the piece the title "even a stopped clock..."). Fortunately, I don't have to sink to such depths. I recently found another blogger who also has a rather balanced view of the holiday. She does a good job of describing Karenga's differences (to put it mildly) with the Panthers along with other issues.

Pica12: Kwanzaa – Why I Like It And Why I Don’t

dhul-hijjah and eid al-adha

According to ISNA, the first day of Dhul-Hijjah is expected January 1. That would mean the Day of Arafah will be the 9th of January, and Eid begins on the 10th.
Zawaj.com: Some Sunnahs of Dhul-Hijjah and the Eid
Central Mosque: Ten Days of Zul Hijjah

julius nyerere and ujamaa

Ujamaa: The Basis of African Socialism by Julius Kambarage Nyerere

ujamaa

Today is the fourth day of Kwanzaa and today's principle is Ujamaa or Cooperative Economics; to build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Hopefully you already realize that different communities have chosen to set up Chambers of Commerce to support "their" businesses or publish their own Yellow Pages in order to keep money within the group. For today's entry I just wanted to highlight a couple of interesting examples of distinctive financial arrangements people have come up with which manifest the principle of ujamaa. This shouldn't be taken as an endorsement on my part. You should do your own research for your own investments. But personally I think it is interesting that people are even attempting these kinds of alternatives to conventional business arrangements.

Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund
List of Muslim Financial Institutions
What are co-operatives?
Ansar Co-operative Housing Corporation Ltd.

For further reading:
A history of African-American Farmer Co-operatives, 1938-2000

Also:
United Farm Workers

hoax or lie?

Xpatriated Texan is a Liberal Christian blogger who pokes a few holes in the story that mosques were being put under surveilance in order to keep people safe. Check out: Hoax or Lie?

prison magazine

Muslim blogger, Umar Lee is trying to put together an informal magazine for prisoners and is looking for volunteers, either in terms of writing contributions, contacting prisons, helping with mailings, desktop publishing, etc. For more info go here.

new addition to blogroll

Check out the Woman of Color Blog by activist Chicana blogger, brownfemipower.

carlos santana

"Spirituality to me is water. Religions are like Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, wine, beer, or whatever. But spirituality is what's really going to save you in the battle, man. Champagne is not going to do much for you in battle. And so that's how I look at things. To me, it's very clear. And I think the more we get people this information, spiritual information, they will be able to choose, to realize the power of choice because, again, that's the most empowering thing you can give people. And I'm really happy to say that I'm not the only one waking up to this new dimension." -Carlos Santana

I'm both very suspicious of, and very sympathetic to, the "New Age" movement. On the one hand, under the banner of the New Age movement there is probably alot of ill-informed, self-indulgent undisciplined navel-gazing going on. But on the other hand, more traditional organized religions have certainly shown the potential to stagnate and fossilize into a dry oppressive unspiritual practice. Ultimately, the believers vote with their feet, and if the mainstream religious institutions aren't feeding the hearts of their congregations, their members are going to feel a sincere need to look elsewhere.

So in spite of the fact that I don't share all Santana's beliefs, I think there is something appealing in his willingness to step out on a limb and do his own thing. He not only stepped outside the Catholic Church, but out of a mainstream Christian paradigm altogether.

For a while now I've wanted to do an entry on Carlos Santana. Like John Coltrane, Santana is an amazing musician with a very unique and personal spiritual sensibility. In 1970 he released the album Abraxas (a Gnostic term for god) . For 9 years from 1972-1981 was a follower of Sri Chimnoy and went by the name Devadip. (see Carlos Santana and Sri Chinmoy ) He was later disillusioned with his guru and left, but continued explore spirituality on his own. in the wake of his Grammy-winning album Supernatural he credits his succes to his regular communication with the angel Metatron.

"Metatron ignited in me the concept of being patient, gracious and grateful," Santana muses, fingering a gold and silver pendant which, he says, is a representation of the angel. "He made me feel like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, and he still visits me in dreams. Some people don't believe in him, but that's okay. Like I said to Rolling Stone, I'd rather live with my craziness than your sane reality. In my craziness, I get to hang out with some seriously cool people."

(See also Metatron: Angel of the Presence)

Other articles/interviews with Santana:
Carlos Santana: Ready to reincarnate
The Eagle Flies Again: Interview with Carlos Santana
The Supernatural Rebirth of Carlos Santana by Zannah
The Uncompromising Spiritual Passion and Positivity of Carlos Santana by Craig Hamilton and Jessica Roemischer

And from Grenada's past:
the guru principle

ujima continued

In a similar vein, we should also stop to consider the connection between social justice issues globally and our personal individual lifestyles. For example, a few individuals are willing to pay a little bit more money for Fair Trade Coffee but what about other goods and services? A large portion of the prosperity and high standard of living found in the West is due to certain unjust economic and political arrangements which we benefit from. So what would happen to our standard of living if the world became more just? What would happen if all our goods were "Fair Trade"? If everything suddenly cost more, wouldn't we have to learn to get by with less? In order to truly work towards having society be more just, and to work responsibly for the collective good, we also have to be willing to sacrifice the various ways we've been benefitting from injustice.

If you want to follow this train of thought further, you might be interested in the voluntary simplicity movement. I'm not claiming to represent them, or speak for them, but I think at least some sectors of the movement are into making that same connection between social justice in the world and a certain kind of lifestyle at home.

ujima

Today is the Third day of Kwanzaa and today's principle is Ujima or Collective Work and Responsibility; to build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.

From the film Bulworth, starring Warren Beatty in the title role of a temporarily suicidal liberal politician. And Halle Berry as Nina, the sexy B-Girl raised by a Black Panther mother (but Bulworth doesn't know that yet):

Bulworth: (looking at NINA) You know who Huey Newton was?

Nina: (slowly she nods her head) yes.

Bulworth:
You know a lotta people I talk to, the blacks your age, they have no idea who he was.
(long pause)
Huey.
(long pause)
Why do you think there are no more black leaders?

Nina: (after a pause)
Some people think it's because they all got killed. But I think it's got more to do with the decimation of the manufacturing base in the urban centers. Senator, an optimistic population throws up optimistic, energized leaders. And when you shift manufacturing to the Sun Belt in the Third World, you destroy the blue-collar core of the black activist population.

Some people would say that problem is purely cultural. The power of the media that is continually controlled by fewer and fewer people, add to that the monopoly of the media, a consumer culture based on self-gratification, and you're not likely to have a population that want's leadership that calls for self-sacrifice.

But the fact is, I'm just a materialist at heart. But if I look at the economic base, higher domestic employment means jobs for African Americans. World War II meant lots of jobs for black folks. That is what energized the community for the civil rights movement of the 50's and the 60's. An energized, hopeful community will not only produce leaders but more importantly it'll produce leaders they'll respond to.
Now what do you think, Senator?

(Bulworth is speechless)

So what do YOU think? Does Nina have a point? The part which is grabbing my attention right now (especially in terms of connecting it with collective work and responsibility) is the idea that consumer culture itself is discouraging the growth of progressive leadership; and so instead of getting leaders who believe in "Give me liberty or give me death" we end up with "Get rich or die tryin'".

And what I find really interesting about this train of thought is that ujima seems to provide an alternative on which to base (or reinforce) at least a large portion of traditional morality. In other words, living out the principle of ujima requires a willingness towards self-sacrifice and a rejection of hedonism.

And so in addition to doing the right thing on religious grounds, or because of what would happen if the neighbors found it, ujima suggests that certain kinds of vices and indulgences are bad because they are anti-progressive and bad for the community.

Further reading:
Bulworth: The Hip-Hop Nation Confronts Corporate Capitalism


Tomorrow's principle: Ujamaa or Cooperative Economics

kujichagulia

Today is the second day of Kwanzaa and today's principle is Kujichagulia or Self-Determination; To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

Out of the 7 principles, I would say Kujichagulia is one which I see we (in the broadest sense) need to put a lot more effort into implementing.

It's not just a matter of acting on an individual level and "naming ourselves" in the sense of replacing "slave names" with an X or taking on Arab names or Pre-Columbian names.

It also isn't just a matter changing our collective names and arguing whether Latino is more appropriate than Hispanic (or Chicano or Spanish-surnamed American etc.) or arguing whether Black is better than Negro (or colored or African or Blackamerican or African-American etc.) or whether Muslim is better than Moslem (or Muhammadan or Submitter, etc.)

Arguing about isolated labels can be important on a personal or a psychological level, but from another perspective it is more like window dressing. A much more important concern is the issue of who gets to decide the questions and terms of the public debate.

For example when it comes to the debate on meritocracy, equality and inclusion who decides to focus on race-based affirmative action in higher education instead of the much more tangible economic disparities in the funding of public education which makes students unequal before they even set foot on campus? And how does that decision get made?

To truly manifest the principle of kujichagulia, doesn't just require an act of will made in a vacuum (although that's an important first step) but it also should ideally be backed up by institutions which can make your definition of the world a reality. To a large degree, this means that we (in the broadest sense) need to participate in and have a louder voice in the media. BET and Spanish language tv are a nice start but things can be a lot better than they are, especially when it comes to in-depth news and news commentary. The is power in the media, and we (again, in the broadest sense) should consider how we can have a voice when it comes to those images which fill the collective imagination. That might mean going into journalism, advertising, filmaking, publishing, or other fields.

Even if you just want to do something on the side, some of these are easier than you might think. For example, it is relatively easy to get a show on Public Access television. And with advances in audio technology or desktop publishing, if you want to get your own book or CD out, it is a lot easier than it used to be. Or you might just want to put your thoughts out there through a blog...

And speaking of blogs, an idea for next year would be to AHEAD OF TIME come up with a set of bloggers who agree to blog on kwanzaa for at least most of the seven days and perhaps make a temporary Nguzo Saba blogring/blogroll for easy access.

Anyway, I think I've said my piece on today's principle.

Tomorrow is Ujima or Collective Work and Responsibility