saladin ahmed

Continuing my Detroit/Michigan state of mind I just thought to look up Saladin Ahmed, I didn't really know him but when I lived in Michigan I'd seen him perform his poetry at an event or two and we had some friends in common. Apparently since the last time I'd seen him he's gotten married, has two kids, and has been nominated for a Nebula Award. From his blog you can find links to his biography and bibliography. I honestly don't know if he identifies as Muslim per se but some of his fantasy stories deal with Muslim identity in interesting ways. Its worth checking out.

invincible / emergence

Thinking about Mooz-lum put me in a Detroit state of mind and made want to shout-out the Detroit MC, Invincible who was recently declared #5 on a list of top 13 female MCs (after Jean Grae, MC Lyte, Lauryn Hill and Queen Latifah). Never heard of Invincible? Maybe it is because instead of selling out she turned down a million dollar record deal and went the harder route of starting her own label, Emergence Media where she and her labelmates had creative control.



Thinking about Invincible also makes me reflect on the economic and political factors in the music biz (the music industrial complex?) which constrain what kind of messages are circulated and promoted in popular culture. In other words, there is definitely a pool of intelligent, creative, talented positive performers out there. Why aren't more of their voices heard? If there has to be only one white Detroit rapper to make it big, what kind of a person would pick a misogynist who raps about killing his baby mama and date raping underage girls (Eminem) over Invincible?!?!? What are music executives thinking when they choose to support one artist over another?

see: yo! pbs raps

times square vendor was a senegalese muslim

I first saw this fact mentioned over at the Goatmilk blog, but I think it bears repeating. (Especially since I just saw some random conservative talking head use the recent incident to defend profiling and bigotry). The vendor who brought the smoking truck in Times Square to the attention of police was a Muslim from Senegal.

The Examiner: Times Square terrorism attempt thwarted by Muslim vendor

mooz-lum, coming soon!

Pulled between his strict Muslim upbringing by his father and the normal social life he's never had, Tariq Mahdi enters college in a state of confusion. New relationships with Muslims and non-Muslims alike challenge his already shaken ideals, and the estrangement with his mother and sister troubles him. Slowly, he begins to find himself with the help of new friends, family and mentors, but when the attacks of 9/11 happen without warning, he is forced to face his past and make the biggest decisions of his life.

Should be an interesting film. The cast includes Danny Glover and Nia Long. And it is apparently an expanded version of a short film I've included on the blog before.

Myspace: MOOZ-lum
IMDB: MOOZ-lum
YouTube: Making "MOOZ-lum"
Examiner: 'Mooz-lum' a movie, not a person

juan cole on borders, both ancient and modern

Over at Informed Comment, Juan Cole had an interesting perspective on the new Arizona immigration law:

The [new] Israeli law resembles the one recently enacted in Arizona in one respect. Recently-arrived European Jews are demanding that Palestinians, who have inhabited the West Bank for thousands of years, must be able to show their papers in order to stay. In the same way, some of the Latinos who will be hassled by police in Arizona with demands that they ‘show their papers’ will be Hispanics, i.e. the old pre-US elite from the days of the Spanish Empire and early Mexico. The Arizonan yahoos who made this racist law to harass Latinos are recent, uncultured immigrants from the point of view of proud old Hispanic families. Others so hassled will be of mixed Latino and Native American heritage, so that some of their ancestors were in Arizona perhaps 10,000 – 16,000 years ago, but ignorant Euro-Americans are now demanding proof that they belong there.

Racism everywhere tells itself the same transparent lies about blood and soil, and makes the same sleight-of-hand exclusions on the basis of ‘purity’ of blood.

(original entry: Aparthied in Israel, Showing Papers om Arizona)

on writing post-obama afrofuturistic latinocentric islamic poetry...

I went to an open mike earlier this week. I want/need to get more connected to the local slam scene... at the very least I want to get back into the habit or writing again. Finding an audience should be interesting...

mayda del valle - "tongue tactics"

liza garza - "my guitar"

Liza Garza jamming on her guitar... and her husband Amir Sulaiman pops in towards the end...

mayda del valle at the white house poetry jam

Wow, I can't believe I missed this... I'm going to have to do some more exploring on the white house YouTube channel... it's not just dry political stuff, there are actually some beautiful performances up there, poetry, music and otherwise...

liza garza and gritz & jellybutter - "swift's song"

liza garza - changes of atmosphere

In the name of the Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Let her ask in faith nothing doubting
For she that doubts is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed
Everything in this world cursed and lost in our forgetfulness
Why do we choose to ignore the obvious in wishful places far to distant
If we could awaken we would truly listen to meledy's they are so divine
Witness life blooming colors not apparent to our earthly eyes all the joys connected to our earthly lives are but a glimpse to what awaits
So this time i say im finally given rewind relove for the sake fully livin and desperate hope of fully dying in a pure state
My only desire but to forgive and stay
My only hope that you would do the same
Our only mercy that the Most Gracious would remember our name and with this change we begin this gracious dance, this wholesome trance
Foundation so solid nothing shakes or bothers whats rooted so deeply
We witness these mercys rescue us
We remember the Best of guides is guiding us
And with the firmness of this very step
And with our certainty of death we know that this is the most intimate carress
A kiss from the inside out
So close to truth we are now strangers to doubt
And now wether wrote in triumph or defeat
We throw our hands up in victory
This great nearer to me than the arteries in my neck
Than my heart beating
In my chest we are filled with the most gracious very breath
And finally you will kiss the truth just by kissing you
You will witness your love, loving you
And i will kiss the truth just by kissing me
I will witness my love loving me
We will kiss the truth just by kissing us
We will witness our love loving us in awe as loves descent from beneath us
Souls satisfaction, seven heavens await in atmosphere
change in change of atmosphere

2009 Changes Of Atmosphere (DWM / Fat Beats / PadBleM)
Changes Of Atmosphere EP ( Fat Beats )
Jazz Lib & Fat Lip - My Style Is Fly REMIX (KIF)

featuring Liza Garza:
A rare soul that brings in the best of spoken word & soul. A true Latina that represents her all encompassing culture with her Islamic devotion.

For more music & poetry:
http://www.myspace.com/dela
http://www.lizagarza.com

also...

The old Afrofuturism site has been redone... and will apparently shift to a more blog-like format.

the occasional free-associated afrofuturism roundup...

- One of these days I want to get reconnected to the poetry slam / spoken word scene out here and get back into the habit of writing. When I reflect on my older pieces I tend to view some of it as "Afrofuturistic" (whatever that means) but this summer I want to make the time to develop that more and flesh it out...

- Over at the Manrilla Blog, the post Nafs Ammarah points to some interesting connections between the film They Live and the lessons of the Quran. The post also alludes to some links between Terminator 2 and some events from the biography of Muhammad (saaws).

- Over at Post Black there is a nice interview: What is Afro-Futurism?: An interview with artist/education D. Denenge Akpem

- From the Liberator Magazine: Kodwo Eshun and Afro-futurism



- Above is a clip from the film "The Last Angel of History", an interesting documentary/surreal narrative on Afrofuturistic themes. Maybe by blogging I'm aspiring to be a "data thief"?

- The new Iron Man movie is coming out soon. I wonder how they are going to handle War Machine? Judging from the previews I've seen it seems like he is a fairly small part of the film but maybe I'll be surprised.

- Philosophical question: Is Morris Chestnut's character on the re-imagined V series Black? I mean, he's one of the reptilian Visitors so technically he's not even human but he experiences the world in a Black body. He is also a part of the subversive Fifth Column which has developed human emotions and is in solidarity with the human revolutionaries. I guess you could ask the same question about J'onn J'onzz (played by Phil Morris) or the occasional random "black" Kryptonian characters which have appeared on Smallville (see Vathlo Island). Come to think of, we could even ask the same about the unnamed title character of the film "The Brother From another Planet".


- And just for fun, a different take on Hermes Conrad from Futurama...

my name is still not khan

more info on the ongoing story (hat-tip to islamicate)

An Open Letter from MPAC About Honoring 'My Name is Khan' APRIL 18, 2010
Response from My Name is Not Khan Collective April 26 2010
Further Response (w/ signatures)

For some other perspectives you might want to check out the review roundup on Sepia Mutiny

south park, the "four morons" and cnn

From Loonwatch: South Park, the “Four Morons” of Revolution Muslim, and CNN’s Epic Fail provides still more important background to the South Park controversy. Including:

1. The founder of Revolution Muslim (Yusuf al-Khattab born Joseph Cohen) wasn't just a typical young modern secular young adult who happened to be Jewish but he was living in Israel as a Zionist settler and a member of the right-wing Shas party. Then in less than three years he and his family converted to Islam and he went back to the US to found Revolution Muslim.

2. Even in the Muslim world, images of the prophet are not unheard of and the ruling on their impermisability is neither universal nor absolute. (Although it is obviously dominant).

3. The Salman Rushdie Affair was partially exacerbated by political contests between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Similarly the Danish cartoon controversy wasn't just about depicting the prophet but the fact that many of the depictions were caricatures which relied on racist imagery or contained underlying messages which were bigoted towards Muslims. (And hate speech is illegal in much of Europe).

4. Christians have their sacred cows too. For example, the play Corpus Christi which depicted Jeuss as a homosexual has been cancelled several times due to Christian death-threats. And apparently witch hunts are on the upswing in some of the Christian parts of Africa.

south park, censorship and depictions of muhammad (saaws)

1. First, to put the issue in perspective: over the run of the series there have been 5 South Park episodes to deal with images of Muhammad (saaws). The first came out before the Danish cartoon controversy and was irreverent but still basically positive. (Muhammad along with other major religious figures were part of a superhero team called the Super Best Friends which fought against the suicide cult of Blainetology.)

2. The other 4 episodes (two 2-part stories) were written after the Danish cartoon controversy. And even though controversies around depicting the prophet Muhammad formed a central element of both plots, neither story actually showed Muhammad on-screen.

3. Let me emphasize: The recent South Park episode (both as originally intended by the South Park creators and after Comedy Central chose to modify the episode) never included images of Muhammad in the first place. If Comedy Central was purely concerned for the safety of their employees they could have emphasized this fact in some kind of disclaimer and pointed out that they actually didn't break the taboo regarding images of the prophet. Instead they decided to draw attention to the episode by bleeping out every mention of the name of Muhammad and then extensively censoring an entire speech (on free speech no less) which didn't even include Muhammad's name.

4. The New York-based Revolution Muslim (the "radical" Islamic group serving as catalyst for the current controversy) never actually threatened the creators of South Park or the staff at Comedy Central.

Their actual message reads:

We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.

5. Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR has apparently suggested that Revolution Muslim is part of a conspiracy to make Muslims look bad. I wouldn't necessarily go that far but I have noticed that the only members/spokespeople from the group which I've seen on tv or online have been young white converts (mostly Jewish) and I can imagine how they might feel extra pressure to prove their Islam by adopting radical positions.

6. It is also important to view this issue in a larger context. There is not a simple dichotomy between a "free" Western world and a non-free Muslim world. We should note the "sacred cows" which exist in the West and the constraints on speech.

7. In previous posts I've already mentioned how Comcast quietly censors some of the content it provides to subscribers or how the corporate media in general doesn't always give important stories the attention they deserve.

8. And in Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, Chomsky actually argues that in the US full freedom of speech isn't really achieved until the late 1960s or the early 1970s. Before then, laws like the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Smith Act put limits on even peaceful speech. For example, Eugene V. Debs spent 10 years in jail for speaking out against the Wilson administration.

Even the famous "clear and present danger" test was really more a matter of the glass being half-empty. The test comes from the case Schenck v. United States. The ruling from this case is also the origin of the statement "the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic." But what most people (myself included) don't always realize about this case is that in it, the Supreme Court actually upholds the conviction of Charles Schenck for distributing leaflets against the draft. In other words, merely expressing the political opinion "Hey, maybe the government shouldn't draft its citizens" was viewed as the clear and present danger.

It wasn't until 1964 that the Alien and Sedition Acts were explicitly ruled as unconstitutional. And it wasn't until 1969 in Brandenburg v. Ohio that the Supreme Court rules that the government cannot punish inflammatory speech unless it is directed to inciting and likely to incite imminent lawless action. (btw, this is a line that Revolution Muslim is careful not to cross.)

9. In Europe, of course, one of the sacred cows is the Holocaust and so many European countries make compromises with freedom of speech through laws against Holocaust denial.

10. My point with the last few items is just that every society (including the West) is struggling with free speech and its limits and in no society is the right to free speech pure and absolute. Even in the West, we are moving along a continuum and the most we can say is "this is where we are".

Alt.Muslim: South Park and the freedom to blaspheme By Aziz Poonawalla
TAM: South Park Cartoon and the Muslim Lunatic Fringe by Sheila Musaji
No freak-out over South Park by Zahed Amanullah
On the Danish cartoons from a while back: the dirty dozen

by the time i get to arizona...

Resources for Action:

Educational Material:

Popular Education Version of SB 1070/La 1070 Versión Popular (in Spanish), PDF

Websites:

America's Voice
Border Action Network
La Frontera Times
Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF)
National Immigration Forum
Presente.org
Puente Movement
Reform Immigration for America
Restore Fairness
Tonatierra Community Development Institute
United Farm Workers of America

some interesting comments from suad abdul khabeer

when is a conservative not a conservative?

For a while now I've been thinking about political labels and how we use them.

1. Firstly, our public language for describing the range of political opinion is pretty impoverished. Right/Left and Conservative/Liberal is too simplistic. For example on the "right" we have a number of different partially-overlapping groups: conservative, neoconservative, paleoconservative, social conservative, fiscal conservative, fascist, Republican, libertarian, Neo-Confederate, etc. You also have some on the "right" aren't really advocating for a vision of society with any depth, they are basically just anti-liberals (e.g. The Party of No),

2. On the "left" you have liberals, Democrats, Greens, progressives, different flavors of Anarchism and Socialism, pro-labor types. You also have folks who want to level the playing field, especially around certain issues: gender, race, orientation, religion, etc.

3. In the past I've argued that in some basic ways Islam leans to the left (see take a step to the left) especially if you focus on race and class. The community of Muslims is in principle a transracial brotherhood and the ideal Muslim government is a kind of welfare state which, while allowing private property, puts a number of ethical constraints on the use and abuse of wealth.

4. On the other hand, I was recently reading about the more traditional wings of the conservative movement (e.g. Paleoconservatives) and was struck by how one could argue that in a philosophical and abstract sense Islam is "conservative" as well. The idea of following the sunnah of Muhammad (saaws) in ones personal life, building society on the pattern of Medina, following a madhab and other forms of traditional scholarship are basically conservative moves.

5. When Muslims look to the past, we mainly mean precolonial times, e.g. Andalusia or the Ottoman Empire.

6. Another positive kind of "conservativism" which is often connected to Islam is Perennialism / Traditionalism

7. Of course when modern American "conservatives" look to the past for models of an ideal society they generally mean pre-Civil Rights era, or pre-New Deal, or in some cases pre-Emancipation.

8. Even on the Right, I would argue that very few are genuine conservatives in original sense of following Edmund Burke's thoughtful criticism of the French Revolution. In fact, the self-identified "Conservatives" on Fox News and in the Tea Party probably shouldn't even go under that name. They are more accurately described as anti-liberals.

9. I'm in the middle of reading a collection of Chomsky talks and interviews called "Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky" and I'm intrigued by how he calls himself a libertarian (among other things). That's actually a part of what sparked this post. We should try harder to understand the precise meanings of various political terms and use them correctly. Terms like "libertarian" and "conservative" should be appropriated by the Left when they apply.

10. On the other hand it is bizarre to me how multiple voices on FOX have been arguing that Fascism is a left-wing ideology. Even less coherent is the term Islamo-Fascism. It is like they don't care about what words mean and have basically resorted to name-calling.

r.i.p. guru ... " a star growing bright among dim lights... restructuring... the metaphysics of a jazz thing..."