Tuesday, August 16, 2005
surreal moment
Just last night I saw a black man wearing a t-shirt that said "White Trash" across the front.
did you see that guy wearing the dress?
I've touched on gender issues before ( [1] [2] [3] ) But this past week made some of the questions more salient. One of the funny things about the poetry slam was that if someone asked you "Hey, did you see the guy wearing the dress?" you actually had ask "Which one?" (There were at least 3). Also, several of the poets would have identified themselves as transgendered. One was an Asian person who was at the very very beginning of a female to male transformation. So they had not undergone any surgery or hormone treatments, but they were still asking people to refer to "him" with the masculine pronoun. This person wore something under their clothes to flatten their breasts and was considering a hysterectomy.
It raises all sorts of questions: What does it mean to say a person is "male" or "female"? Is it genetic (XX or XY)? Is it anatomical? Is it a matter of external behavior? Is it internal psychology? If you are interacting with an individual who has a different definition of gender than you do, are you a bigot if you act according to your own definition instead of theirs? Does it matter if we are talking about bathrooms and locker rooms instead of the grocery store?
But I wonder, right now, society is in the middle of a transition when it comes to our collective understanding of sex and gender. What are the implications of all those changes? At the end of the day when all the dust has settled will we see all these changes as positive overall or something else? In one of his books, I think that S.H. Nasr describes Islam as a patriarchal religion (presumably he intends this in a "good" way). Is it possible that some stability and "rigidity" in gender roles is healthy? Or is a society where people freely play with gender lines closer to the ideal?
It raises all sorts of questions: What does it mean to say a person is "male" or "female"? Is it genetic (XX or XY)? Is it anatomical? Is it a matter of external behavior? Is it internal psychology? If you are interacting with an individual who has a different definition of gender than you do, are you a bigot if you act according to your own definition instead of theirs? Does it matter if we are talking about bathrooms and locker rooms instead of the grocery store?
But I wonder, right now, society is in the middle of a transition when it comes to our collective understanding of sex and gender. What are the implications of all those changes? At the end of the day when all the dust has settled will we see all these changes as positive overall or something else? In one of his books, I think that S.H. Nasr describes Islam as a patriarchal religion (presumably he intends this in a "good" way). Is it possible that some stability and "rigidity" in gender roles is healthy? Or is a society where people freely play with gender lines closer to the ideal?
Monday, August 15, 2005
conference on spiritual activism
Also from Alt.Muslim, a review of the "Conference on Spiritual Activism" by Shaikh Kabir Helminski. The conference was organized by Tikkun magazine and seemed to be geared around promoting a kind of progressive spirituality among Jews, Christians, Muslims and other communities. For more info, click on the included link.
sleeper cell
From Alt.Muslim, an article on an upcoming show on Showtime called Sleeper Cell where an African-American Muslim FBI agent tries to infiltrate a terrorist sleeper cell. With Muslims, both in front of and behind the camera, one hopes that the show won't be blatantly stereotypical when it comes to religion.
The fact that a show like this is appearing on cable (rather than broadcast tv) reminds me of how at one point I would have said that the most sympathetic and human portrayal of Muslims on tv was on the HBO series, Oz which was set in a prison, and the Muslims were all inmates.
I wonder if it has something to do with the creative freedom possible on cable, or if it is something else?
The fact that a show like this is appearing on cable (rather than broadcast tv) reminds me of how at one point I would have said that the most sympathetic and human portrayal of Muslims on tv was on the HBO series, Oz which was set in a prison, and the Muslims were all inmates.
I wonder if it has something to do with the creative freedom possible on cable, or if it is something else?
african-american muslims
By Maura Jane Farrelly
New York
12 August 2005
When reporting on Islam in America, the media often focus on immigrant communities, either from the Middle East or from Southeast Asia. But as many as 40% of the Muslims in this country were born here, and their families have been living in America for generations. By some estimates, African Americans are the largest single ethnic group within America's diverse Muslim population. And until recently, black Muslims felt somewhat alienated from their immigrant religious brethren.
It should be stated from the outset that the overwhelming majority of African-American Muslims are Sunni Muslims. They do not subscribe to the racist ideology of the Nation of Islam, which says white people were created by the Devil to test black people. It is a common misconception that all African-American Muslims belong to this controversial group, when in fact most practice a racially inclusive form of Islam that -- theologically, at least -- is just like the Islam practiced in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. That does not mean, though, that African-American Muslims are exactly like the immigrants with whom they share a faith.
"My generation of Islamic reverts came out of a social movement here in the United States, says Muhaimina Abdul-Hakim, who has belonged to the Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem, New York, sine 1972. "The Civil Rights movement and Black Nationalism. So we had a different political ideology about America in the first place."
Ms. Abdul-Hakim very consciously refers to herself as a "re-vert," rather than a "convert," because she sees her conversion to Islam as a return to the faith of her ancestors. The first Muslims in America were slaves, brought here from Africa in the 17th century. Like so many other black Muslims her age, she converted at a time of great social change in the United States. And because of this, there is still a strong desire within the African-American Muslim community to change America's socio-economic structure.
That desire is not necessarily shared by the immigrant Muslim community. According to , Richard Turner, who teaches Religious Studies at the University of Iowa the two groups come from different economic classes. "Immigrant Muslims, who came to the United States in their largest numbers after some very unfair immigration laws were rescinded around 1965 are, for the most part, very well educated," he says. "They are for the most part members of the middle class and the upper class. You know, they're not poor people. And certainly African-American Muslims have always had a social justice agenda."
That agenda that involves challenging the status quo-rather than simply working to succeed within it. It is this different attitude about life in America that has led to some tensions between the two different communities of Muslims. Many black Muslims believe their immigrant counterparts came to the United States with a negative impression of African-Americans, and that until very recently, they had little interest in changing that impression. "You know, what people basically know about each other is what they see on television," says Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, who oversees the Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem. "And many of the (19)70s and '80s television shows that project buffoon-like imagery, or 'pimp-daddy' type imagery of African-Americans -- those television programs are all overseas. So people, as far as they know, that's what African-Americans are like."
It is a problem that Imam Abdur-Rashid says was not always acknowledged on the immigrant side until after September 11th, 2001, when many innocent immigrant Muslims were targeted as terrorists, either by the U.S. government or by average, native-born citizens. Since then, immigrants have been turning to their African-American religious brethren for guidance, according to Sayyid Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America, a predominantly immigrant group. "Immigrant Muslims have learned a lot from the African-American experience," he says. "The struggle through [the] Civil Rights movement has given us a rich experience that African-Americans had in this country. And we are proud of that, and we are learning from that."
What many immigrant Muslims and their children are learning is that collective protest can be powerful. Recalling a rally he attended at an immigration center a couple of years ago, Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid says he was struck by how familiar the speeches were. "I marveled as I stood listening to young people -- Muslims who are of Southern Asian and Arab descent -- they were giving speeches and what have you. And their cadence, their method of delivery was African-American," he says. "I watched a young lady of Pakistani descent who stood up and led the crowd in chants of 'No Justice, No Peace,' and yes, that only comes about as a result of this unique social dynamic."
Both Imam Talib Abur-Rashid and Sayyid Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America say that 'unique social dynamic' between native-born and immigrant Muslims is creating a new, progressive, and multi-cultural American approach to Islam that is unlike anything found in the Middle East or Asia.
Source
New York
12 August 2005
When reporting on Islam in America, the media often focus on immigrant communities, either from the Middle East or from Southeast Asia. But as many as 40% of the Muslims in this country were born here, and their families have been living in America for generations. By some estimates, African Americans are the largest single ethnic group within America's diverse Muslim population. And until recently, black Muslims felt somewhat alienated from their immigrant religious brethren.
It should be stated from the outset that the overwhelming majority of African-American Muslims are Sunni Muslims. They do not subscribe to the racist ideology of the Nation of Islam, which says white people were created by the Devil to test black people. It is a common misconception that all African-American Muslims belong to this controversial group, when in fact most practice a racially inclusive form of Islam that -- theologically, at least -- is just like the Islam practiced in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. That does not mean, though, that African-American Muslims are exactly like the immigrants with whom they share a faith.
"My generation of Islamic reverts came out of a social movement here in the United States, says Muhaimina Abdul-Hakim, who has belonged to the Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem, New York, sine 1972. "The Civil Rights movement and Black Nationalism. So we had a different political ideology about America in the first place."
Ms. Abdul-Hakim very consciously refers to herself as a "re-vert," rather than a "convert," because she sees her conversion to Islam as a return to the faith of her ancestors. The first Muslims in America were slaves, brought here from Africa in the 17th century. Like so many other black Muslims her age, she converted at a time of great social change in the United States. And because of this, there is still a strong desire within the African-American Muslim community to change America's socio-economic structure.
That desire is not necessarily shared by the immigrant Muslim community. According to , Richard Turner, who teaches Religious Studies at the University of Iowa the two groups come from different economic classes. "Immigrant Muslims, who came to the United States in their largest numbers after some very unfair immigration laws were rescinded around 1965 are, for the most part, very well educated," he says. "They are for the most part members of the middle class and the upper class. You know, they're not poor people. And certainly African-American Muslims have always had a social justice agenda."
That agenda that involves challenging the status quo-rather than simply working to succeed within it. It is this different attitude about life in America that has led to some tensions between the two different communities of Muslims. Many black Muslims believe their immigrant counterparts came to the United States with a negative impression of African-Americans, and that until very recently, they had little interest in changing that impression. "You know, what people basically know about each other is what they see on television," says Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, who oversees the Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem. "And many of the (19)70s and '80s television shows that project buffoon-like imagery, or 'pimp-daddy' type imagery of African-Americans -- those television programs are all overseas. So people, as far as they know, that's what African-Americans are like."
It is a problem that Imam Abdur-Rashid says was not always acknowledged on the immigrant side until after September 11th, 2001, when many innocent immigrant Muslims were targeted as terrorists, either by the U.S. government or by average, native-born citizens. Since then, immigrants have been turning to their African-American religious brethren for guidance, according to Sayyid Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America, a predominantly immigrant group. "Immigrant Muslims have learned a lot from the African-American experience," he says. "The struggle through [the] Civil Rights movement has given us a rich experience that African-Americans had in this country. And we are proud of that, and we are learning from that."
What many immigrant Muslims and their children are learning is that collective protest can be powerful. Recalling a rally he attended at an immigration center a couple of years ago, Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid says he was struck by how familiar the speeches were. "I marveled as I stood listening to young people -- Muslims who are of Southern Asian and Arab descent -- they were giving speeches and what have you. And their cadence, their method of delivery was African-American," he says. "I watched a young lady of Pakistani descent who stood up and led the crowd in chants of 'No Justice, No Peace,' and yes, that only comes about as a result of this unique social dynamic."
Both Imam Talib Abur-Rashid and Sayyid Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America say that 'unique social dynamic' between native-born and immigrant Muslims is creating a new, progressive, and multi-cultural American approach to Islam that is unlike anything found in the Middle East or Asia.
Source
america's muslim ghettos
America's Muslim Ghettos by Salam Al-Marayati is a brief Washington Post article suggesting that the Muslim community's relative isolation from the mainstream contributes to terrorism and radicalism and so a solution would be to foster a sense of inclusion and belonging.
revolutionary spanish lesson
This has got to be one of my favorite Martin Espada poems. Sometimes you just get in one of those moods....
Revolutionary Spanish Lesson
Whenever my name
is mispronounced,
I want to buy a toy pistol,
put on dark sunglasses,
push my beret to an angle,
comb my beard to a point,
hijack a busload
of Republican tourists from Wisconsin,
force them to chant anti-American slogans
in Spanish,
and wait for the bilingual SWAT team
to helicopter overhead,
begging me to be reasonable
by martin espada
This week someone did me the incredible honor of telling me that my work reminded them of Martin Espada. I was just in a bookstore this afternoon looking through an anthology of his work and I found a piece of his which I don't think I've seen before but I really liked and thought I'd share.
For the Jim Crow Mexican Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts Where My Cousin Esteban Was Forbidden to Wait Tables Because He Wears Dreadlocks
I have noticed that the hostess in peasant dress,
the wait staff and the boss
share the complexion of a flour tortilla.
I have spooked the servers at my table
by trilling the word burrito.
I am aware of your T-shirt solidarity
with the refugees of the Americas,
since they steam in your kitchen.
I know my cousin Esteban the sculptor
rolled tortillas in your kitchen with the fingertips
of ancestral Puerto Rican cigarmakers.
I understand he wanted to be a waiter,
but you proclaimed his black dreadlocks unclean,
so he hissed in Spanish
and his apron collapsed on the floor.
May La Migra handcuff the wait staff
as suspected illegal aliens from Canada;
may a hundred mice dive from the oven
like diminutive leaping dolphins
during your Board of Health inspection;
may the kitchen workers strike, sitting
with folded hands as enchiladas blacken
and twisters of smoke panic the customers;
may a Zapatista squadron commander the refrigerator,
liberating a pillar of tortillas at gunpoint;
may you hallucinate dreadlocks
braided in thick vines around your ankles;
and may the Aztec gods pinned like butterflies
to the menu wait for you in the parking lot
at midnight, demanding that you spell their names.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
national poetry slam
Just got back from Albuquerque tonight. I had an amaaaaaaazing time. I will probably share over several different entries. But now, I must sleep.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
judge not, lest ye be judged...
On a brief private note, I will say that a few years ago a Turkish guy who lived in my building did something which was horribly offensive to me and I took it very personally and made me lose alot of respect for him on multiple levels. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and actually even affected how I viewed other Muslims. Anyway, I had a sobering moment recently when I realized that I had recently been doing something very similar except worse. When you point a finger at someone, there are three more pointing back at you.
Monday, August 08, 2005
islam, past, present, and future: summary
I'm stealing so much content, that someone ought to cut off the right-click button from my mouse. Anyway, from The Manrilla Blog here is an entry called: Islam, Past, Present & Future: Summary describing a recent talk given by Prof. Sherman Abdul-Hakim Jackson at U Penn about the development and maturation of the community of Blackamerican (one word) Muslims. Read this, especially if you are one.
afro-cuban music loses two giants
And from the Black Entertainment Site, AFRO-CUBAN MUSIC LOSES TWO GIANTS: We remember Cuban vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer and jazz bassist Al McKibbon They say these things happen in threes. I suddenly wish I didn't have to fly in a plane tomorrow morning. (Keep me in mind as you do your duas, prayers, chants, invocations, and pouring libations).
ibrahim ferrer dies
From the BBC News, Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer dies
And an older piece on Ibrahim Ferrer from the AfroCubaWeb site
And Wikipedia on Ibrahim Ferrer
Inna Lilahi wa Inna Ilahi Rajioon
Sunday, August 07, 2005
al-ahram does a story on muslim hip-hop
The Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram recently published a piece called Hip-Hop Islam by Hesham Samy Abdel-Alim on how hip-hop has gone global and interacted with the Muslim world (where "Muslim" is used to include Nation folks and Five Percenters as well as Sunnis) From Mos Def and Public Enemy and Wu-Tang to more recent musicians from the Middle East, hip-hop is making connections.
christian reconstructionism
Christian Reconstructionism is movement which has been quietly but steadily gaining influence these days. They believe "that every area dominated by sin must be 'reconstructed' in terms of the Bible." More specifically they want society to be run according to their understanding of Old Testament law. So some of the leaders of this Christian movement have openly called for establishing the death penalty for actions such as sodomy, blasphemy, and being a rebellious offspring (And they endorse stoning as their prefered method of execution.) They even talk about legalizing slavery and flirt with Holocaust revisionism. The more hard-core end of the movement blurs into the racist and militant right-wing of the Christian Church but their ideas (not always under the label of "Christian Reconstructionism") are still influencing more mainstream Christians.
They are sometimes called the "American Taliban" by their critics but I'm not sure who should be more insulted by the label. The existence of groups like these help to show that just as there are also many different kinds of Muslims, there are also many different kinds of Christians. And instead of painting all "Christians" or all "Muslims" or "Buddhists" with the same brush, we should look examine why a particular set of conditions (whether economic, political, historical or social) might tend to produce different kinds of believers (from the deeply spiritual philanthropist to the deely troubled fanatic)
Here is a short, relatively "neutral" overview of Christian Reconstructionism from the Religious Movement Homepage.
To learn more about the mainstreaming of Reconstructionist ideas you can read Christian Reconstructionism: Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence by Frederick Clarkson
Here is a categorized list of statements by Reconstructionist leaders on various subjects including "the Indian", "the Negro", "stoning" and "world conquest". (Links to more extensive critical discussions of the movement are available from the homepage)
And just to be fair, here is what the movement is about, straight from the horse's... mouth. The most prominent Christian Reconstrctionist organization is called the Chalcedon foundation and here is their website.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
intelligent design
On the Gene Expression blog yesterday. there were some thoughtful remarks on the whole "intelligent design" contraversy. (I didn't agree with the thrust, but the way the issues were laid out seemed useful to me).
And on Islam Online, last month there was a piece by Ahmed K. Sultan Salem called The Non-Science of Intelligent Design. Salem tries to walk the line betwteen asserting (since he is Muslim) that the universe actually does have an intelligent Designer, while still being critical of ID as a movement. Personally, I'm coming down to a similar position but I want to think about the subject a little more before inflicting my ideas on my readers...
Wikipedia on Intelligent Design and the Intelligent design movement
And on Islam Online, last month there was a piece by Ahmed K. Sultan Salem called The Non-Science of Intelligent Design. Salem tries to walk the line betwteen asserting (since he is Muslim) that the universe actually does have an intelligent Designer, while still being critical of ID as a movement. Personally, I'm coming down to a similar position but I want to think about the subject a little more before inflicting my ideas on my readers...
Wikipedia on Intelligent Design and the Intelligent design movement
Friday, August 05, 2005
patrimonio lingüístico de orígen árabe en el idioma español
Similar list to the last one except from a Spanish-language Islam site called WebIslam
1000+ arabian something or other
This entry isn't super-deep but seeing them written out makes a strong point. Here is a list of over 1000 words which Spanish borrowed from Arabic.
the lottery by shirley jackson
The Lottery has been on my mind these days. It is a really good short story written by Shirley Jackson, and published in the New Yorker magazine in 1948. It later got turned into a play and when I was in 8th grade our drama teacher had us perform it as a class. (My Old Man Warner got rave reviews in the school paper...lol...) I don't want to give away the ending so I won't say much more. It is about a lottery in a small town. The story is really short and you can read it in a reasonably quick period of time. But I'll probably blog on some related topics in a different entry.
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