the shame of guantanamo exposed in cuba

Common Dreams: The Shame of Guantanamo Exposed in Cuba is an article by Medea Benjamin who participated in a recent demonstration near the prison on January 11 to commemorate the 5-yearanniversary of the first prisoners being taken there. The link to the entire article is above but here is an excerpt:

“This is the closest I have been to my son in almost 5 years,” said Zohra Zewawi, the mother of Guantanamo prisoner Omar Deghayes, as she stood in front of the gates of the prison on the Cuban side. “On the one hand I feel incredibly sad that I am so close but can’t see or hold him; on the other hand I am happy because focusing the world’s attention on this shameful place might help get my son out of prison.”

While protests were happening all over the world to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the first prisoners taken to Guantanamo on January 11, 2002, a group of us traveled to the city of Guantanamo to bring our protest close to the gates of the US prison.

This is not the first time tragedy has befallen the Deghayes family. Zohra’s husband, a labor lawyer in Libya, was killed by the government of Col. Omar Qaddafi. Zohra fled to England to raise her five children. “The dictator Qaddafi tortured and imprisoned my husband; now the U.S., a country I thought was civilized, is doing the same thing to my son,” she said.

For the people of Guantanamo, our visit gave them insights into the horrors of the prison, but hope that people around the world are working to shut it down. “My city used to be known for Jose Marti’s beautiful poem and the song Guantanamera. It pains us that now we’re known worldwide for the infamous prison on the US base,” said Eneida Leiva Molina, head of the Guantanamo Friendship Institute. “We hope that once this anniversary is over, people will continue to work to shut the prison down.

For more information from Grenada's past, check out: Cagedprisoners.com

sleeper cell: the second season

So... I recently found a website where I could see the first few episodes of Sleeper Cell's second season. In some ways, the second season seems to suffer from the same limitations as the first season which I've mentioned before (see sleeper cell (part 2)) but fewer of the positives. Little or no emphasis is put on the faith of the main character, Darwyn the African-American Muslim FBI agent (which is unfortunate since it provided some interesting contrast and tension in the first season). In a similar vein, the government characters are generally portrayed as less compassionate, competent and ethical than they were in the first season. Instead of being about a sincere Muslim who has to carefully negotiate and come to terms with various loyalties and identities (keeping his own faith and integrity, not blowing his cover, and fighting against those who would betray his nation and his ummah) in this season, both the government characters and the Muslim villans seem painted in broader strokes and so the story seems more cartoonish than before.

I'm not sure of whether this is a good thing or not but the cell members are being portrayed in a more diverse way (e.g. a female member, a Latino ex-gangbanger) I've read that there is also a gay Muslim member of the terror cell but that is not totally obvious from the episodes I've seen. (Although if the claim is true, it is definitely forshadowed). On the one hand this is good in the sense that it shows some of the diversity which exists in the Muslim community. On the other hand, it gives the impression that all Muslims could be terrorists.

Perhaps I'll be able to say more as I see more of the season.

if al gore was president aka black presidents (part three)

I am still in the middle of working on a series of blog entires on the theme of Black presidents. A few of the articles and essays I've found so far deal realistically with the obstacles and prospects faced by Black candidates. Others deal with historical candidates. Most of the items so far have more to do with imaginative and visionary utopian scenarios.

The following clip falls into the utopian category. It doesn't really fit into the series (unless you consider the fact that Gore served under Bill Clinton, whom Toni Morrison famously called the first Black President.) But the premise is that there is an alternate universe where Gore became President after the 2000 elections. How different would our situation be if that had been the case? Rogue glaciers. Mexiforia. Universal Health Care. Six Flags Tehran. Check it out. It cracked me up the first time I saw it. And note, it is really Al Gore, not an actor.

SNL: If Al Gore was President: (video , transcript)

marvin x speaks

Marvin X Speaks is a new blog by a brother who has been a frequent subject over at Planet Grenada. Also check out: more marvin x

happy new year y'all

Today is the first of Muharram 1428. Ashurah is approaching. Get ready.

liber decatriarchia mystica

I was reading online and found out about a book which has been hyped-up in the most amazing way. The book is called Liber Decatriarchia Mystica and is written by Wahid Azal (who in the past has gone by the name of Nima Hazini). My understanding is that he is an ex-Bahai who later became a Babi (a member of the religion which was the Bahai faith's most immediate ancestor) but that now he is on a much more ecclectic and individualistic path which is influenced by Babism, Qabbalah, Islam, shamanism and the teachings of Aleister Crowley.
One review says:

This book introduces the Qabbalah of Bayani Gnostic Universalism via the qabbalistic Tree of Reality of 13 Spheres and 36 Subtle-Ray Pathways. The main portion of the work is the author's inspired re-write of the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation) to reflect this qabbalistic Tree. LIBER DECATRIARCHIA MYSTICA is Hermeticism, the post-Islamic Bayani gnostic path and the High Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi married to shamanism and Qabbalah. The author also challenges prevailing assumptions regarding the legitimacy of Rabbinic Judaism, Paulianist Christianity, Sunni Islam and modern Baha'ism. This book, not for the feint hearted, is sure to generate controversy. The author advocates for a Liberation Theosophy and the establishment of a Theophanocracy by a Universal Global Gnostic Ecclesia. This is a Green leftwing political manifesto and a high esoteric magnum opus all rolled into one!

A second review I found adds:

Azal also re-appropriates the discourse of gnosis and esotericism away from the Right and brings it back to the (Green) Left by arguing for a Liberation Theosophy and Theophanocracy. If Che Guevara and Franz Fanon were to meet Jacob Boehme and the Sufi Ibn ‘Arabi, fuse into one person, we would find Wahid Azal, a radical twenty-first century prophet of gnosis and a Nietzchean “esoteric” Zarathustra for our times.

I would probably disagree with Wahid Azal on a large number of points (especially Crowley I think) but I was still struck by the range of influences he invokes in his work. I found the description of the book incredibly provocative (although not tempting enough to justify the price). What resonates the most with me is the idea that in some ways Planet Grenada also brings together wildly disparate topics and influences. (including Guevara, Fanon, Ibn' Arabi, Liberation Theology, something similar to Theosophy, and even some Nietzsche on the side). My hope is that somehow I've managed to be deep without being esoteric, broad and comprehensive while coherent, spiritual while remaining socially relevant. How am I doing?

ahmadinejad to tour latin america

La Voz De Aztlan
January 11, 2007

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to tour Central and South America

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to begin a four day tour of Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragaua, Bolivia and other Central and South American countries on Saturday.

President Ahmadinejad will begin his tour in Caracas, Venezuela where he will meet with President Hugo Chavez Frias. His next stop will be Managua, Nicaragua where talks with the president-elect Daniel Ortega are scheduled. On Monday, President Ahmadinejad will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Ecuador's new president Rafael Correa, who won his country's presidential election last November. President-elect Rafael Correa will not be renewing the lease for the US military air base on Ecuador's pacific coast. President Ahmadinejad will also hold meetings with other South American presidents including Bolivia's Evo Morales, before completing his tour on Tuesday.

There are growing strong ties between many Latin American countries and Islam. The reasons are historically based. Both have suffered tremendously because of USA imperialist tendencies. Even today, there are still some countries in the region that have puppet regimes subservient to the USA. There are quite a few puppet regimes in the Middle East as well and the USA is presently struggling to implant a new one in Iraq.

zimbabwe and cuba: birds of a feather

Black Electorate: Zimbabwe And Cuba: Birds Of A Feather by Obi Egbuna briefly sketches some of the similarities between Zimbabwe and Cuba in terms of their relationship to Western (neo-)colonialism.

heading to hajj

Here is another recent piece on Hajj. This time, it is from Su'ad Abdul-Khabeer, a black Latina Muslim spoken word artist and emerging scholar. Her work has already been published in the anthology of writings by American Muslim women called Living Islam Out Loud. This time, her article Hajj Journal: Heading to Hajj appears on Beliefnet. Especially in the context of Planet Grenada, probably the most remarkably thing about this piece is how typical it is.

Allah has basically said, "Su'ad, come to My house," and I replied, with tears streaming down my face, "Labbayka Allahuma Labbayk!"

Hajj is not about being Black or Latino or American. Fundamentally it is just about a human being coming before their Lord (as a Muslim).

alice coltrane (1937-2007)

Alice Coltrane's recent passing has reminded me of a subject we've talked about before here at Planet Grenada; the relationship between people of African descent and "Oriental" spiritual traditions. For example, Saul Williams suggests that by turning away from the East we risk being lost and literally dis/oriented. Williams is fond of quoting Paul Robeson on this 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.

In the past we've had glimpses of various creative figures who have "turned to the East" to find fulfillment. In Alice Coltrane's case, she made a full-conversion towards Vedic religion (Hinduism) and became a follower of Sai Baba (who in the United States is probably most identified with the brand of Nag Champa incense manufactured by his "ministry"). Carlos Santana followed Sri Chimnoy for a while but eventually started to follow a more ecclectic individual path. Others, like Williams himself, have sampled from the insights of Eastern religion while remaining rooted elsewhere. We might even place Martin Luther King Jr. in this last category because, even though his non-violent philosophy can obviously be justified and supported by the teachings attributed to Christ in the New Testament, King was also influenced by Gandhi's precedent of using non-violent methods to encourage the end of British rule in India.

john coltrane
carlos santana
saul williams
guess who's comming to dharma
we be broke while other folks' cash registers be like "i ching" "i ching" "i ching"

Some other ideas and connections are comming to mind and I imagine we will revist this topic later. For example, should Islam be seen as "Eastern" or "Western"? and How does Black Orientalism fit into the picture?

return of the king

Here is Return of the King, the famous (or infamous) Boondocks episode about what would happen if instead of dying back in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. had merely fallen into a coma for several decades and revived in time to get caught up in the anti-progressive 9/11 backlash. Even though some figures in the civil-rights establishment definitely had a problem with it, I thought that the level of self-criticism and self-reflection implied by "Martin Luther King"'s speech at the end was appropriate. Now that I think about it, Oprah Winfrey's role in the episode was rather ironic given that she has also recently gotten in "trouble" for making some Cosby-esque comments about African-American youth.

or for more info on the episode, check out: Return of the King

no wonder they shot him

Google Video: Why I am Opposed to the War in Vietnam is from a sermon King delivered at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, April 30, 1967 (the same month as his Beyond Vietnam speech and similar in content) If King were alive today he would definitely still be under FBI surveillance (assuming he wasn't in Guantanamo). In a scathing critique, he connects concerns about racism and poverty to a growing militarism. He also underlines the inconsistency of how the press will praise him for promoting non-violence against domestic racists but will "curse and damn" him for saying "Be nonviolent toward little brown... children". Here King even gives a strident call for a revolution (of values) so that America might be on the right side of the world revolution. No wonder they shot him... I'm not even kidding.

an excerpt:

Don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as His divine messianic force to be -- a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America: "You are too arrogant! If you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name."

we should all have the same dream

From TheArab-AmericanNews.com: We should all have the same dream briefly comments on the significance of Martin Luther King's legacy for Arabs in the United States.

the war over king's legacy

Newsweek: The War over King's Legacy by Vern E. Smith and Jon Meacham revisits the question of how King is ultimately to be perceived: Moderate integrationist? Radical democratic socialist? Aspiring vice-presidential candidate? None of the above?

roots of latino/black anger

In a recent L.A. Times opinion piece titled Roots of Latino/black anger, Tanya K. Hernandez mentions some recent examples of violence between Blacks and Latinos on the West Coast and explores the historical, cultural and economic origins of the apparent animosity.

see also:
the myth of la's race war
summit of latino and african american race relations

in preparation for mlk day

I think I've been getting a little lazy in terms of finding brand new content but some of my readers have told me that they like seeing a collection of links brought together on a particular theme or topic. I definitely plan on getting some new MLK content as the upcoming holiday approaches but in the meantime I'll bring back some of last year's posts.

One idea which I defintely tried to get across last year is that Martin Luther King was much more radical than many people typically realize. He is often seen and presented as an establishment figure, comforting, non-threatening. His image is so "establishment" that even conservative Republicans feel safe quoting him (either out of ignorance or cynicism) in order to oppose affirmative action. In reality, he was very critical of American foreign policy, even to the point of calling the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today" in his Beyond Vietnam speech. He was also critical of capitalism as a system and advocated an alternative.

Check out:
he said what?
no seriously, he said what?
martin luther king, right?

It is tempting for some people to think that King just gave the "I have a dream" speech and that magically (see the magical negro) Civil Rights came into existence. But that just ignores the massive amounts of effort and energy put in by the people, united... Also, the dream speech does not even exhaust the scope or depth of King's thought. I really hope that the various media outlets will choose to highlight any other speech on Monday. But if you want to explore other parts of King's words and actions on your own, here are some nice mlk references

Finally, here is a beautiful poem (in Spanish) on Dr. King and his powerful black soul by former Cuban poet laureate, Nicolas Guillen called: ¿qué color?

the faith and the filth: performing hajj in 1427

For more on Latinos and Islam: A few minutes ago I sat down at the computer and caught the tail end of a story on the radio about Ulises A. Mejias and Asma Barlas going on Hajj. I don't think the audio file available on NPR's website yet, but Ulises does talk about it on his ideant blog under the name The Faith & the Filth: Performing Hajj in 1427.

illegal mexican immigrant or islamic terrorist?

This image is originally from an anti-immigration site but I got it from the Women of Color Blog post: Game Time! We've definitely seen these juxtapositions before (e.g. the aztec al-qaeda or islam and mexico) so this is really nothing new. The quiz was probably meant to inspire exclusion and prejudice but maybe folks will flip it around. If "we all look alike" then maybe we need to manifest a lot more solidarity.

belated holiday post...

another holiday issue I had wanted to mention:
For a couple of years now, some Bay Area Muslims have been organizing "Muslim Christmas" gatherings. It is one thing for me as an individual to enjoy time with my non-Muslim relatives during the holidays. But given the proximity of Eid al-Adha this year (December 30th or 31 depending on your community) it seemed totally unnecessary for a group of organized Muslims to piggyback (so to speak) onto Christmas. Between the two Eids, Ramadan and Ashurah [2] there are plenty of Islamic holidays. If you want more we could celebrate Mawlid (which some think of as controversial). And if you want even more than that you can include Laylat ul Isra' wa-l-Miraaj and also Laylat ul Bara'ah. At least, that route makes more sense than "Muslim Christmas".

All this from a Muslim who writes incessantly about Kwanzaa every year...

indiana jones and the temple of orientalism

As I was thinking about the Indiana Jones films and how they are set among people of "the East" (both Near and Far) and prominently feature Nazis (in the first and third films) I started to wonder if I could find commentaries on the films which wrestled with issues of orientalism and racism.

So far I've only found two:
Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as Virtual Reality: The Orientalist and Colonial Legacies of Gunga Din by Dr. Kaizaad Navroze Kotwal is more of an academic piece which focuses on Temple of Doom and places it in a larger context of post-colonial studies.

Reflections: Director's cut by Hani Shukrallah, on the other hand, was published in Al-Ahram Weekly and isn't really about Raiders of the Lost Ark (which Shukrallah describes as "possibly one of the most blatantly racist films ever produced by Hollywood") as much as it uses a scene from the film (the one where Indiana Jones shoots the swordsman in the Egyptian souq) as a vehicle to talk about the condition of the Arab world in modern times.

When you really break it down, it is pretty easy to criticize certain racial/cultural aspects of the various films. For example Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was even banned in India on the grounds of "racist portrayal of Indians and overt imperialistic tendencies". I'm starting to realize that if it weren't for the Nazis (or the murderous Thugees in the second film) which make him seem heroic by comparison, it would be harder to distinguish Indiana Jones from an ordinary grave robber. On the other hand, the portrayal of the Thugees and the other "Orientals" throughout the series is itself problematic.