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.