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

tawhid (umoja cont')

Since umoja means unity/oneness I also wanted to build on the Islamic notion of tawhid (oneness) as well. One of the most straightforward, eloquent and coherent descriptions of the Islamic concept of tawhid can be found in Abul A'La Mawdudi's well-publicized work, Towards Understanding Islam. The book unpacks and elaborates on the meaning of tawhid in such a way that it becomes the foundation of an entire way of life, an entire way of looking at the world.

One longish excerpt which describes this really nicely can be found at: Effects of Tawhid on Human Life. And you can also find a free online version of Towards Understanding Islam as well. The book is rather short as far as books go but it presents the subject matter in a really nice way and is well worth reading.

black and hispanic

Having been born in New York to a Puerto Rican family, Ronald Flecha is, at the same time, Hispanic and black. Since the African heritage is especially strong in the Caribbean, Flecha thought that his genes and his ancestry would save him from being discriminated by other blacks. But he was wrong.

When I was in the Army's basic training, back in 1968, I got caught in the middle of two discriminatory feelings. I was chastised by both ends of the spectrum: the African Americans were not agreeable with me, and the anglo Americans weren't either. There was a kind of two-way racism in there.

Full story in the Havana Journal

umoja

Today is the first day of Kwanzaa. And the principle for the first day is umoja or unity. More specifically, according to Maulana Karenga umoja means "To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race."

At nearly every Kwanzaa related-event I've attended, it has been claimed that Kwanzaa is neutral as far as religion is concerned and that people of any belief should feel free to particpate. In my opinion that is more true now, but I don't believe that was the original intent of Karenga and the US (United Slaves) organization.

In Amiri Baraka's colleciton of writings "Raise, race, rays, raze" he has an entire essay on the deeper significance of the 7 principles of Kwanzaa (the Nguzo Saba) as the core and foundation of a new values system:

The 7 principles are the spine and total philosophy of the US organization. They are simple in what they say, but total in that they evoke all the levels of meaning associated with philosophical systems.

The 7 principles are "10 commandments" yet more profound to us - US because they are pre and post 10 commandments at the same time. If there is UMOJA, for instance thou cannot kill, steal, bear false witness, commit adultery, or any of the things the western world thrives on. The commandments are fulfilled by the initial need of blackness for unity- oneness.

Personally, I think the whole idea is pretty provocative. It would be interesting if there were a positive group which actually tried to flesh out and develop the 7 prinicples in a serious and thoughtful way and put them into practice.

Tomorrow's principle: Kujichagulia or Self-Determination

2nd annual brass crescent awards

Click on the Icon to find out more information

And the categories are:

BEST MIDDLE-EAST/ASIAN BLOGGER - The Islamsphere is truly a global phennomenon. In Iraq, despite the chaos and uncertainty, there is a sea change of free speech and expression, the vanguard of which are blogs. There are also bloggers in India, in Pakistan, in Jordan, and most other countries that host muslims, all of whom have their own perspectives on faith, culture, and politics.

BEST GROUP BLOG - which multiple group blog in the Islamsphere has the best diversity of writers and the most interesting debate on Muslim issues?

MOST DESERVING OF WIDER RECOGNITION - Which blog is a true diamond in the rough, one that everyone should be reading but who most just haven't heard of (yet) ?

BEST THINKER - Who is the most stimulating, insightful, and philosophically wise among us? This category is intended to highlight a blogger who may not post daily, but when they do post, they really make an impact.

BEST FEMALE BLOG - The woman's voice in Islam is equal to the man's, and in the Islamsphere we seek to make sure the female perspective is highlighted and given its rightful due. Which muslim woman's blog has done the most to explore the role that women play within Islam and society?

BEST POST OR SERIES - Which single post or group of posts in the Islamsphere was the most original and important, above all the others?

BEST NON-MUSLIM BLOG - Which blog writen by a non-muslim is most respectful of Islam and seeks genuine dialog with muslims?

BEST BLOG - the most indispensable, muslim-authored blog there is. Period.

kwanzaa

So tomorrow marks the beginning of Kwanzaa, the seven-day period of reflection and celebration founded by the controversial figure Maulana Karenga, as an expression of African-American heritage. I figure that no matter what people have to say about Karenga, we can do worse things with our time than spend the next seven days thinking deeply and conscientiously about our principles and values and where we are headed as a people.

As a matter of fact, I've never actually "celebrated Kwanzaa" (in the 'proper' way, over 7 days, lighting candles, etc.) In my opinion, it would be improper for a Muslim to do so. But I have been present at a number of Kwanzaa celebrations over the years. What happens on many colleges and universities is that since Kwanzaa itself (December 26 to January 1) typically occurs when school is not in session, students and faculty would tend to have a one-day year-end event which serves as a chance for the Black community to come together one last time before the holiday break.

This year, I still don't plan on "officially" celebrating Kwanzaa but I think it would be valuable and interesting for me to use the seven principles of the Nguzo Saba as a springboard for blogging for the next seven days.

To start this off, tomorrow's principle is Umoja or Unity. And I'll try to have an entry finished by the end of the day.

Wikipedia: Kwanzaa
Official Kwanzaa Website

evelio grillo

For a while now I've been thinking of blogging some on Evelio Grillo, the Afro-Cuban American veteran whose published the autobiographical work Black Cuban, Black American: A Memior a few years ago. His life exemplifies one likely trajectory for Afro-Latinos, namely to join the Black American community and get "African-Americanized" so to speak.

But for those who don't have the time to read his memoir, I recently found a "clipping" of a newspaper interview with Grillo about his experiences. Enjoy!

black hispanics and the census

By John Moreno Gonzales
Staff Writer

NY Newsday
July 15, 2003

Hispanics who identify themselves racially as black take on economic and social characteristics that more closely mirror those of African-Americans than of other Hispanics, according to a study on the often overlooked group released Monday.

The findings by the Lewis Mumford Center of SUNY Albany said that the nearly 1 million black Hispanics identified by the 2000 U.S. Census are more educated than other Hispanics, less likely to be immigrants and less likely to speak a language other than English.

Yet their economic performance is worse, with a lower median household income than other Hispanics, as well as higher unemployment and poverty rates.

John R. Logan, the author of the study and director of the Mumford Center, attributed the economic disparity between black Hispanics and other Hispanics to the "very strong color line in the United States."

"The opportunity structure here is that when people decide who to hire, or to rent to, when it comes right down to it, race does make a difference," he said.

The most intense concentration of black Hispanics in the United States was by far in the New York metropolitan area, with 9.2 percent of Hispanics calling themselves black, according to the census.

The national origin of black Hispanics was largely Dominican and to a lesser extent Puerto Rican, with Cubans and Central Americans also showing significant numbers of Hispanics who identified themselves racially as black.

Rosina Pearsall, 36, who lives in Garden City and is a instructor at the Westbury Language Center, said her black skin and Latino heritage has led to little direct segregation.

"But when I am with Caucasian people they look at me differently," said the English as a Second Language teacher from Costa Rica. "They are asking themselves 'How come a black girl is Spanish?' And they can't understand that."

The study found that 28 percent of black Hispanics were immigrants, compared with 41 percent of all Hispanics. Sixty-one percent of black Hispanics spoke a language other than English in the home compared with 79 percent of all Hispanics. The mean education level of black Hispanics was 11.7 years, compared with 12.5 for non-Hispanic blacks and 10.5 years for all Hispanics.

The median household income of black Hispanics was $35,000, closer to the $34,000 of non-Hispanic blacks than to the $38,500 of all Hispanics.

Their unemployment rate was 12.3 percent, compared with 11 percent for non-Hispanic blacks and 8.8 percent for all Hispanics. Their poverty rate was 31.5 percent, compared with the 29.7 percent of non-Hispanic blacks and 26 percent for all Hispanics.

Black Hispanics tend to marry non-Hispanic blacks at a higher rate than they do other Hispanics, the report said. Nearly half the black Hispanic children had a parent who is a non-Hispanic black.

Pearsall married Milton Pearsall last year, an Army warrant officer who is African-American. "African-Americans are a little more open to accept me because I look like them," Rosina Pearsall said.

Faced with such a mixture of racial backgrounds, the report also found that Hispanics are increasingly choosing to not identify themselves as either black or white. In the 1980 Census, only 33.7 percent of Hispanics chose to forgo any racial classification. In 2000, 47.4 percent did not choose a race.

Logan acknowledged, however, that the bulk of Hispanics may not call themselves white or black simply because they factually are neither. The dominate Hispanic group in the United States, those of Mexican heritage, are often of both Spanish and indigenous blood and their skin is neither black nor white.

© 2003, Newsday, Inc.

To see the full Mumford Center report, "How Race Counts for Hispanic Americans"
Click Here

he knows when you are awake...

And we haven't been...

In Spying and Lying by Katrina vanden Heuvel points out how the media has been complicit in the recent spying scandal and how the government convinced the New York Times sit on the story for about a year before making it public.

And it would be bad enough if it were just an action of the government, but according to Tom Daschle, who was Senate Majority leader after 9/11 Congress Never Authorized Spying Effort and so the spying was actually illegal.

As a protest against these revelations Judge James Robertson resigned from the Foreign Intelligence Surveilance Court or FISA. In "normal" circumstances, FISA is the body set up to approve eavesdropping and last year out of 1,758 requests for warrants, they approved all but 4. FISA even has the ability to approve warrants after the fact. Nevertheless, the administration still wanted to bypass even this much oversight. And gave rather weak reasons for doing so.

Initially it was claimed that only communications between US citizens and foreign nationals were subject to surveilance, but in reality there are indications that the scope of the surveilance was much more extensive than admitted to at first. [2]

Looks like the country is getting coal this year.

he knows when you are sleeping...

From Alt.Muslim:

Following last week's revelations that the Bush administration approved of warrantless tapping of phone conversations made by US citizens, the FBI and US Department of Energy's Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) have confirmed that it conducted hundreds of warrantless searches at US Muslim sites (mosques, homes, businesses, etc.) over the last few years.

Santa Doesn't Watch Muslims, But The FBI Does

the son of mary

From the Quran 19:16-34

Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects.

She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah."

He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.

She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?"

He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us':It is a matter (so) decreed."

So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!"

But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee. So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a fast to (Allah) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with any human being'"

At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought! O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"

But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"

He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah. He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; (He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"!

Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute.

rage and race in latin america

From Open Democracy: The time of the underdog: rage and race in Latin America by Ivan Briscoe takes a broad look at how traditional oppressed groups seem to be gaining more of a voice and representation in several different Latin American nations.

i'm dreaming of a...

From Alternet: A Whiter Shade of Christmas

I don't mean to be a Grinch but this is a rather scary post on how normal the white nationalist movement seems to have gotten lately. It is isn't just rural, southern, uneducated and poor. And they don't just have cross-burnings but also put together cookbooks and run Aryan clothing drives.

[...] white supremacists are not a monolithic group. During research for her 2002 book, "Inside Organized Racism: Women and the Hate Movement," Blee found that the public's preconceptions about racist activists, and specifically about racist women, were skewed. After interviewing 34 white nationalist women, she wrote that "many did not fit common stereotypes about racist women as uneducated, marginal members of society raised in terrible families and lured into racist groups by boyfriends and husbands." In fact, most of Blee's research subjects were educated middle-class women with decent jobs, and many came to racist activism on their own.

Also on white supremacists:
race and sex
prussian blue

afrocuba.org

At the moment, it is not quite as extensive as AfroCuba Web which has been in my permanent link section from the beginning, but http://www.afrocuba.org seems to be shaping up to be another decent site (It also seems rather apolitical and more "cultural" than the former)

big brother is watching you

To be honest, I feel a bit overwhelmed by what I've been finding in the news these days. The NSA is spying on U.S. citizens. The government is planting favorable stories in the Iraqi press. Secret prisons in other countries. Less than convincing disavowals of torture. We were nearly going to bomb Al-Jazeera. What is the world coming to? Right now it feels like it is too hard to compartmentalize and sum everything up while throwing in some nice links. A free press is absolutely essential to making sure that our leaders act responsibly, but recently the media has been letting us down. In certain respects Congress has as well. There is some hope in John Conyers and others. But still, where does that leave us? What can we do?

"we shall change them for fresh skins"

One of the more vivid passages in the Quran (for me anyway) describes how in the afterlife some individuals will continually be given new skins. By contrast, in the here and now, most of us tend to keep the skins we have along with with all the positive and negative consequences which are attached to them.

The Sunni Sister recently revised and posted on her blog: White Privilege, White Muslim which has some really thought-provoking comments on how white converts to Islam don't magically stop being white. Plus she includes ALOT of useful links on white privilege generally, and related subjects.