Race in Cuba: The Eternal 'Black Problem' When it comes to race, Cuba is far from the utopia that black intellectuals like to think it is. As part of The Root's series exploring the island's color complex, Cuba's best-known novelist weighs in.
Islam is at the heart of an emerging global anti-hegemonic culture that combines diasporic and local cultural elements, and blends Arab, Islamic, black and Hispanic factors to generate "a revolutionary black, Asian and Hispanic globalization, with its own dynamic counter-modernity constructed in order to fight global imperialism. (say what!)
Thursday, May 09, 2013
the afro-iranian community
The Afro-Iranian Community: Beyond Haji Firuz Blackface, the Slave Trade & Bandari Music at the Ajam Media Collective takes an interesting look at a little-known branch of the Black diaspora. (I think the only other time I've heard more than a passing comment about black Iranians was in the context of discussing the slaves belonging to the founders of the Babi and Bahai faiths.)
Thursday, April 25, 2013
was tamerlan tsarnaev a “devout” muslim?
Religion Dispatches: Was Tamerlan Tsarnaev a “Devout” Muslim? by Sarah Posner
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
juan cole: terrorism and the other religions
Contrary to what is alleged by bigots like Bill Maher, Muslims are
not more violent than people of other religions. Murder rates in most of
the Muslim world are very low compared to the United States.
As for political violence, people of Christian heritage in the
twentieth century polished off tens of millions of people in the two
world wars and colonial repression. This massive carnage did not occur
because European Christians are worse than or different from other human
beings, but because they were the first to industrialize war and pursue
a national model. Sometimes it is argued that they did not act in the
name of religion but of nationalism. But, really, how naive. Religion
and nationalism are closely intertwined. The British monarch is the
head of the Church of England, and that still meant something in the
first half of the twentieth century, at least. The Swedish church is a
national church. Spain? Was it really unconnected to Catholicism? Did
the Church and Francisco Franco’s feelings toward it play no role in
the Civil War? And what’s sauce for the goose: much Muslim violence is
driven by forms of modern nationalism, too.
I don’t figure that Muslims killed more than a 2 million people or so
in political violence in the entire twentieth century, and that mainly
in the Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988 and the Soviet and post-Soviet wars in
Afghanistan, for which Europeans bear some blame.
Compare that to the Christian European tally of, oh, lets say 100
million (16 million in WW I, 60 million in WW II– though some of those
were attributable to Buddhists in Asia– and millions more in colonial
wars.)
Belgium– yes, the Belgium of strawberry beer and quaint Gravensteen castle– conquered the Congo and is estimated to have killed off half of its inhabitants over time, some 8 million people at least.
Or, between 1916-1917 Tsarist Russian forces — facing the Basmachi
revolt of Central Asians trying to throw off Christian, European rule — Russian forces killed an estimated 1.5 million people.
Two boys brought up in or born in one of those territories
(Kyrgyzstan) just killed 4 people and wounded others critically. That
is horrible, but no one, whether in Russia or in Europe or in North
America has the slightest idea that Central Asians were mass-murdered
during WW I and looted of much of their wealth. Russia at the time was
an Eastern Orthodox, Christian empire (and seems to be reemerging as
one!).
Then, between half a million and a million Algerians died in that
country’s war of independence from France, 1954-1962, at a time when the
population was only 11 million!
I could go on and on. Everywhere you dig in European colonialism in Afro-Asia, there are bodies. Lots of bodies.
Now that I think of it, maybe 100 million people killed by people of
European Christian heritage in the twentieth century is an
underestimate.
As for religious terrorism, that too is universal. Admittedly, some
groups deploy terrorism as a tactic more at some times than others.
Zionists in British Mandate Palestine were active terrorists in the
1940s, from a British point of view, and in the period 1965-1980, the
FBI considered the Jewish Defense League among the most active US
terrorist groups. (Members at one point plotted to assassinate Rep.
Dareell Issa (R-CA) because of his Lebanese heritage.) Now that Jewish
nationalsts are largely getting their way, terrorism has declined among
them. But it would likely reemerge if they stopped getting their way.
In fact, one of the arguments Israeli politicians give for allowing
Israeli squatters to keep the Palestinian land in the West Bank that
they have usurped is that attempting to move them back out would produce
violence. I.e., the settlers not only actually terrorize the
Palestinians, but they form a terrorism threat for Israel proper (as the
late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin discovered).
Even more recently, it is difficult for me to see much of a difference between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Baruch Goldstein, perpetrator of the Hebron massacre.
Or there was the cold-blooded bombing of the Ajmer shrine in India by Bhavesh Patel
and a gang of Hindu nationalists. Chillingly, they were disturbed when a
second bomb they had set did not go off, so that they did not wreak as
much havoc as they would have liked. Ajmer is an ecumenical Sufi shrine
also visited by Hindus, and these bigots wanted to stop such
open-minded sharing of spiritual spaces because they hate Muslims.
Buddhists have committed a lot of terrorism and other violence as
well. Many in the Zen orders in Japan supported militarism in the first
half of the twentieth century, for which their leaders later
apologized. And, you had Inoue Shiro’s assassination campaign in 1930s
Japan. Nowadays militant Buddhist monks in Burma/ Myanmar are urging on
an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya.
As for Christianity, the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda initiated hostilities
that displaced two million people. Although it is an African cult, it
is Christian in origin and the result of Western Christian missionaries
preaching in Africa. If Saudi Wahhabi preachers can be in part blamed
for the Taliban, why do Christian missionaries skate when we consider
the blowback from their pupils?
Despite the very large number of European Muslims, in 2007-2009 less than 1 percent of terrorist acts in that continent were committed by people from that community.
Terrorism is a tactic of extremists within each religion, and within
secular religions of Marxism or nationalism. No religion, including
Islam, preaches indiscriminate violence against innocents.
It takes a peculiar sort of blindness to see Christians of European
heritage as “nice” and Muslims and inherently violent, given the
twentieth century death toll I mentioned above. Human beings are human
beings and the species is too young and too interconnected to have
differentiated much from group to group. People resort to violence out
of ambition or grievance, and the more powerful they are, the more
violence they seem to commit. The good news is that the number of wars
is declining over time, and World War II, the biggest charnel house in
history, hasn’t been repeated.
Monday, April 22, 2013
wise words in the wake of the boston bombing
White privilege is knowing that if the bomber turns out to be white, he or she will be viewed as an exception to an otherwise non-white rule, an aberration, an anomaly, and that he or she will be able to join the ranks of pantheon of white people who engage in (or have plotted) politically motivated violence meant to terrorize — and specifically to kill — but whose actions result in the assumption of absolutely nothing about white people generally, or white Christians in particular.
Among these: Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols and Ted Kaczynski and Eric Rudolph and Joe Stack and George Metesky and Byron De La Beckwith and Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton and Herman Frank Cash and Robert Chambliss and James von Brunn and Lawrence Michael Lombardi and Robert Mathews and David Lane and Chevie Kehoe and Michael F. Griffin and Paul Hill and John Salvi and Justin Carl Moose and Bruce and Joshua Turnidge and James Kopp and Luke Helder and James David Adkisson and Scott Roeder and Shelley Shannon and Dennis Mahon and Wade Michael Page and Jeffery Harbin and Byron Williams and Charles Ray Polk and Willie Ray Lampley and Cecilia Lampley and John Dare Baird and Joseph Martin Bailie and Ray Hamblin and Robert Edward Starr III and William James McCranie Jr. and John Pitner and Charles Barbee and Robert Berry and Jay Merrell and Brendon Blasz and Carl Jay Waskom Jr. and Shawn and Catherine Adams and Edward Taylor Jr. and Todd Vanbiber and William Robert Goehler and James Cleaver and Jack Dowell and Bradley Playford Glover and Ken Carter and Randy Graham and Bradford Metcalf and Chris Scott Gilliam and Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder and Buford Furrow and Benjamin Smith and Donald Rudolph and Kevin Ray Patterson and Charles Dennis Kiles and Donald Beauregard and Troy Diver and Mark Wayne McCool and Leo Felton and Erica Chase and Clayton Lee Wagner and Michael Edward Smith and David Burgert and Robert Barefoot Jr. and Sean Gillespie and Ivan Duane Braden and Kevin Harpham and William Krar and Judith Bruey and Edward Feltus and Raymond Kirk Dillard and Adam Lynn Cunningham and Bonnell Hughes and Randall Garrett Cole and James Ray McElroy and Michael Gorbey and Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman and Frederick Thomas and Paul Ross Evans and Matt Goldsby and Jimmy Simmons and Kathy Simmons and Kaye Wiggins and Patricia Hughes and Jeremy Dunahoe and David McMenemy and Bobby Joe Rogers and Francis Grady and Cody Seth Crawford and Ralph Lang and Demetrius Van Crocker and Floyd Raymond Looker and Derek Mathew Shrout and Randolph Linn.
Ya know, just to name a few.
- Tim Wise
See also:
Sunday, April 21, 2013
juan cole and the concept of "enemy combatant"
Juan Cole: Is LindJohn's (Lindsay Graham and John McCain) notion of an Enemy Combatant Racist? points out the irony in how members of hate groups can commit acts of violence and Paul Curtis can even attempt to kill the President of the United States without anybody calling for them to be considered an enemy combatant.
peter king calls on fbi to put him under close surveillance and profile redheads
Juan Cole: Rep. Peter King Calls on FBI to put him under Close Surveillance and Profile Redheads is meant as satire but has more truth in it than King would like.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
game of thrones vs. brave new world
Here's where I'm "at" as a Muslim in regard to homosexuality: I accept the orthodox ruling that homosexual acts are forbidden. (Being straight, this isn't really any sort of special challenge) The Quran and hadith are abundantly clear on this point, more clear than the Bible in fact. For example, Bible-believers who want to argue that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not really about homosexuality actually have some ammunition in passages such as:
Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them, when I saw it [Ezekiel 16:49-50]
while in the Quran the men of Sodom are addressed differently saying: "Most surely you come to males in lust besides females; nay you are an extravagant people." [7.81] or again "What! do you indeed approach men lustfully rather than women? Nay, you are a people who act ignorantly." [27.55]
At the same time, I also don't really have much of a visceral reaction ("ick response") to homosexuality either. And much of the time I find "natural law" type arguments unconvincing.
That said, the following thoughts recently occurred to me as a way of framing some of these issues:
Suppose you are in a society where blood is thicker than water and people locate a great part of their identity in their biological families; e.g. Lannister, Stark, Capulet, Montague, Hattfield, McCoy (And many "traditional" stances assume this as an axiom). Then marriages don't just involve the couple getting married but they have political implications for both families (and so "arranged" marriages make a certain amount of sense). Furthermore, one of the important functions of marriage in such an environment is to create concrete natural connections between families through children (a new grandchild, cousin, etc. common to both sides).
But, in a really fundamental way, gay marriage can't play that role. Even when the gay couple "has" children, at least one family, possibly both, aren't getting a new blood relative. (and the child is possibly disconnected from some of its biological relatives). So from a traditional perspective, gay marriage is ultimately incomplete. Instead of being about families being joined, gay marriage is more fundamentally about the sex lives of the individual couple.
To be fair, people's feelings about marriage and family have been changing for a while now in various ways (e.g. towards greater individualism, increasing divorce rates, changing attitudes about adoption, limits on parental rights etc.) which probably has softened the ground for gay marriage. New reproductive technologies have allowed for surrogate mothers, sperm donors, egg donors to all be distinct from "mom" and "dad". Gay marriage is just one more thing bringing us one step closer towards Huxley's Brave New World where biological lineage and reproduction are separated from family and emotional relationships.
Monday, April 01, 2013
a muslim meditation on easter
RNS: Between Good Friday and Easter: A Muslim Meditation on Christ and Resurrection by Omid Safi is an interesting reflection on the Easter holiday. Safi's take on the subject strikes me as surprisingly "Christian". Over the years I've had my own thoughts on the subject, but have tended to put my energies into trying to make sense of the docetism of "they neither killed him, nor crucified him".
see also:
good friday
the cross and the lynching tree
muslim easter hymn
day after day after day
easter memories
Saturday, February 23, 2013
"con los teroristas"
Given the lyrics it was pretty much ineviteble that the meme would "evolve" in this direction:
Harlem Shake (al qaeda edition) is a collection of clips of "terrorist-looking" people moving and dancing to the Harlem Shake song, but doesn't really follow the "rules" of the meme (unlike the other examples). I doubt that the scenes were originally filmed with the intention of making a 'Harlem shake video'.
Harlem Shake (Terrorist Version) and (Terrorist Version 2) seem to be from a Dominican comedy group and features a number of "terrorists" standing in a basement around a "hostage" tied up to a chair.
Harlem Shake (Al Qaeda) - or not features three "terrorists" out in the woods with three "captives" on their knees and I'd guess that it was put together by frat boys. Both of these last two examples are oddly homoerotic but it doesn't seem uncommon for the meme.
Friday, February 22, 2013
the fader explains the harlem shake
The Fader: Explains the Harlem Shake gives a fairly thorough history of the meme's origins.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
tahajjud to end violence and inequality in chicago
In 2012 there were 506 homicides in Chicago, and there have already been 48 homicides in the city this year.
Many of us are heartbroken by these violent deaths, yet we feel helpless and hopeless when it comes to finding a way to prevent them. But there is something that each and every one of us can do: Pray.
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) once said "prayer is the weapon of the believer." Taking this power of prayer seriously, we are asking everyone to commit to make the Tahajjud (night vigil) prayer on the early morning of Thursday, February 21st.
In the Qur'an God has said:
"And during a part of the night, pray Tahajjud beyond what is incumbent on you; maybe your Lord will raise you to a position of great glory." Sura Al-'Isra [17:79]
How to pray Tahajjud:
Tahajjud is performed two rakat (cycles) at a time, reciting out loud. This prayer is preferred in the last third of the night (approximately between 2-5am) and can be prayed individually or in a group.
We ask that you petition God to end both violence and inequality. We understand that the violence in Chicago, and in many other cities, does not happen in a vacuum, but that it is fueled by concentrated inequalities from education and policing to healthcare and jobs, problems that especially plague the south and west sides of our city.
What: Tahajjud to End Violence and Inequality in Chicago
When: Thursday, February 21st, 2-5am
Where: Anywhere (including the comfort of your own home)
Who: You!
Many of us are heartbroken by these violent deaths, yet we feel helpless and hopeless when it comes to finding a way to prevent them. But there is something that each and every one of us can do: Pray.
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) once said "prayer is the weapon of the believer." Taking this power of prayer seriously, we are asking everyone to commit to make the Tahajjud (night vigil) prayer on the early morning of Thursday, February 21st.
In the Qur'an God has said:
"And during a part of the night, pray Tahajjud beyond what is incumbent on you; maybe your Lord will raise you to a position of great glory." Sura Al-'Isra [17:79]
How to pray Tahajjud:
Tahajjud is performed two rakat (cycles) at a time, reciting out loud. This prayer is preferred in the last third of the night (approximately between 2-5am) and can be prayed individually or in a group.
We ask that you petition God to end both violence and inequality. We understand that the violence in Chicago, and in many other cities, does not happen in a vacuum, but that it is fueled by concentrated inequalities from education and policing to healthcare and jobs, problems that especially plague the south and west sides of our city.
What: Tahajjud to End Violence and Inequality in Chicago
When: Thursday, February 21st, 2-5am
Where: Anywhere (including the comfort of your own home)
Who: You!
For a more general treatment see:
Saturday, February 09, 2013
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
happy mawlid!
Hamza Yusuf: If You Don't Like the Mawlid, Watch Out!
Deoband.org: Mawlid, Deoband and Hanafi fiqh
Al-Balagh: Further Question about Milad
Masud: The Mawlid: The Conservative View
Living Islam: Comments on Mufti Taqi Usmani's Fatwa on Mawlid
Friday, January 18, 2013
the grand (hip-hop) chessboard: race, rap and raison d'etat
The Grand (Hip-Hop) Chessboard: Race, Rap and Raison d’État by Hishaam Aidi is a fascinating survey of the ways in which hip-hop (and in another era, jazz) has been a voice of resistance, but has also been used by different governments as a form of "soft power".
the foundations of an american muslim antipoverty movement
This talk was part of an antipoverty conference organized by the Muslim group, United For Change. Clips from other talks are available here.
tons and tons of free left-of-center books
A centralized location for your leftist literature is a huge trove of books from Adorno to Zizek; Dabashi on Islamic Liberation Theology, Said's Orientalism, the new Malcolm X biography by Marable, books on the Panthers, post-modernism and post-pocolonial studies, plenty Fanon, Freire and Foucault, seasoned with heaping doses of Nietzsche and many others. Enjoy.
recent blogs on women and spirituality
Naila Amat-un-Nur: The Role of The Divine Feminine And How It Translates Into Women’s Wisdom: Past, Present And Future
Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore: Five Short Meditations on the Virgin Mary
Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore: Five Short Meditations on the Virgin Mary
elevate culture
Elevate Culture is an organization dedicated to supporting the growth of a vibrant and authentic North American Muslim culture. The Cultural Imperative is Islam’s call for Muslims to be culturally relevant while staying true to Islamic values.
Elevate Culture believes that until Islam is made culturally relevant, Muslims cannot reach their full potential. Our belief is that Islamic values do not serve to crush cultural values – they are here to refine them. Muslims are not meant to suppress culture – they are meant to Elevate Culture! EC wants to be with you as you unleash your creative force on the universe, God willing. Wherever you’re going, Elevate Culture is riding shotgun with advice, networking apps, and maybe some extra gas money. Check out their website for funding and networking opportunities!
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Monday, January 07, 2013
defining legends (again, islam and afrocentricity)
Defining Legends: Analysis of Afrocentric Writings on Islam by Abdul-Haq ibn Kofi ibn Kwesi ibn al-Ashanti is an interesting e-book I've recently "discovered" responding to the basic Afrocentric critique of Islam. (e.g. see islam and afrocentrism, afrocentricity and islam ii) In alot of ways the book covers ground I've seen before (Al-Jahiz, Chancelor Williams, Molefi Asante, Blyden, et. alia) But among the pieces which were new to me was a surprisingly graphic hadith:
The Prophet said on the authority of Ubayy Bin Ka'ab: "If anyone proudly asserts his descent in the manner of the pre-Islamic people, tell him to bite his father's penis, and do not use a euphemism" (from Sharh us-Sunnah of al-Baghawee in Mishkaat ul-Masaabih)
I was initially tempted to summarize the intended meaning here by means of a certain more colloquial English idiom but according to one explanation I was able to find online, the meaning of the hadith is better rendered as "He who is proud of his origins in a manner that is similar to the era of pre-Islam, let him stay next to his father's semen [i.e. let him remember that his actual origin is a flithy semen]."
In any case it should be clear that Islam considers racism or ancestry-based supremacism as a gross offense.
The second piece I found really interesting was a reference to a book by Abu'l-Faraj Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Hasan Ibn ul-Jawzee, a late 12th century Hanbali scholar of Baghdad called Tanweer al-Ghabash fee Fadl is-Sudan wa'l Habash (The Illumination of the Darkness on the Merits of the Black People and the Ethiopians). Before now I was only aware of Al-Jahiz's "Book of the Glory of the Black Race" but apparently there have been several other medeival Muslim works on the virtues of Black folks (also mentioned in Defining Legends). I was not able to find any excerpts from Ibn ul-Jawzee's work itself but the chapter headings are:
The second piece I found really interesting was a reference to a book by Abu'l-Faraj Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Hasan Ibn ul-Jawzee, a late 12th century Hanbali scholar of Baghdad called Tanweer al-Ghabash fee Fadl is-Sudan wa'l Habash (The Illumination of the Darkness on the Merits of the Black People and the Ethiopians). Before now I was only aware of Al-Jahiz's "Book of the Glory of the Black Race" but apparently there have been several other medeival Muslim works on the virtues of Black folks (also mentioned in Defining Legends). I was not able to find any excerpts from Ibn ul-Jawzee's work itself but the chapter headings are:
a) Those who belong to the Sudan
b) The Cause of their dark-skin
c) The enlivening of Shem, the son of Noah, by Jesus the son of Mary
d) The Kingdoms of the Black People and their extent
e) The collective moral excellence of the character of the black people
f) Things distinguished by darkness from amongst animals, trees and plants
g) The obviousness that there is no preference for light-skinned peoples over dark-skinned people based upon colour; indeed preference is based upon piety
h) The companions who migrated to Ethiopia
i) The deputation of Quraysh to the Negus (Najaashi) to retrieve the companions of the messenger of Allaah
j) The correspondence of the prophet with the negus (najaashi)
k) The arrival of the Ethiopians to the Messenger of Allaah... And their play with hiraab (lances) in the mosque during his presence
l) Qur'aanic words of Ethiopian origin
m) What the messenger heard of the Ethiopian language that pleased him
n) The assignment of the call to the Ethiopians
o) The prophets who were black
p) The eminent king of Ethiopia
q) The distinguished black males amongst the companions of the prophet Muhammad
r) The distinguished black females amongst the companions of the prophet Muhammad
s) Prominent Black learned people
t) Poets and those who composed poetry amongst the black people
u) Groups of clever, intelligent and generous black males and females
v) The pious and ascetic of the black people
w) The famous black females
x) Those who preferred black concubines to light-skinned ones and who loved and died from their love of them
y) Qurayshees who were sons of Ethiopian women
z) Some exhortations and injunctions
aa) Some invocations and glorifications of Allaah, mighty and majestic
bb) Some transmitted supplications
b) The Cause of their dark-skin
c) The enlivening of Shem, the son of Noah, by Jesus the son of Mary
d) The Kingdoms of the Black People and their extent
e) The collective moral excellence of the character of the black people
f) Things distinguished by darkness from amongst animals, trees and plants
g) The obviousness that there is no preference for light-skinned peoples over dark-skinned people based upon colour; indeed preference is based upon piety
h) The companions who migrated to Ethiopia
i) The deputation of Quraysh to the Negus (Najaashi) to retrieve the companions of the messenger of Allaah
j) The correspondence of the prophet with the negus (najaashi)
k) The arrival of the Ethiopians to the Messenger of Allaah... And their play with hiraab (lances) in the mosque during his presence
l) Qur'aanic words of Ethiopian origin
m) What the messenger heard of the Ethiopian language that pleased him
n) The assignment of the call to the Ethiopians
o) The prophets who were black
p) The eminent king of Ethiopia
q) The distinguished black males amongst the companions of the prophet Muhammad
r) The distinguished black females amongst the companions of the prophet Muhammad
s) Prominent Black learned people
t) Poets and those who composed poetry amongst the black people
u) Groups of clever, intelligent and generous black males and females
v) The pious and ascetic of the black people
w) The famous black females
x) Those who preferred black concubines to light-skinned ones and who loved and died from their love of them
y) Qurayshees who were sons of Ethiopian women
z) Some exhortations and injunctions
aa) Some invocations and glorifications of Allaah, mighty and majestic
bb) Some transmitted supplications
Labels:
afrocentricity,
black,
black arabs,
islam,
muslims,
racism
Monday, December 31, 2012
si dios fuera negro
I was listening to the radio a few nights ago when I heard the song "Si Dios Fuera Negro" (If God was black...). At first I thought the song seemed radical and subversive along the lines of El Mundo Va Acabarse or the Five Percenter theology. But on further consideration I've decided its really more in line with other mild and understated "protests" in Afro-latin music such as Negro Bembon or No Le Pegue a la Negra, after all, the song seems to presuppose and reenforce the idea that God is actually white.
food, health and the new year
As the year closes I've been trying to read through different books I have on health and food to try to come up with a plan for next year; a personalized mix of (in no particular order) Andrew Weil, Oprah, Joel Fuhrman, Imam ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Al-Ghazali, Atkins, Dean Ornish and others. I'm still trying to decide which rules I'm going to follow strictly and which are going to be "soft".
Sunday, December 30, 2012
between afrocentrism and islam
I've recently been "channel-surfing" on YouTube and found a number of different discussions/ debates on Islam and black authenticity. The basic bone of contention is whether Islam should be viewed as a "white" Arab creation foreign to Africa or should Islam be viewed as an integral part of African life.
Among the more vocal defenders of the latter position are Dr. Wesley Muhammad and the Allah Team along with the authors behind the
Black Arabia blog. Dr. Muhammad is an interesting puzzle in that has a doctorate in Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan but is also follower of Elijah Muhammad (He started off as a Five Percenter with the name "True Islam" but now he is a follower of Louis Farrakhan). So in his published works he actually engages with the orthodox Islamic tradition in a serious way while departing from it at various points.
Michael Muhammad Knight shares some of his own thoughts on this paradoxical situation in a recent talk at Harvard:
For a more "orthodox" view of how Africa and its diaspora overlaps with Muslim life, I would recommend checking out: Third Resurrection
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
idle no more
Mission
Idle No More calls on all people to join in a revolution which honors and fulfills Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water. Colonization continues through attacks to Indigenous rights and damage to the land and water. We must repair these violations, live the spirit and intent of the treaty relationship, work towards justice in action, and protect Mother Earth.
On December 10th, Indigenous people and allies stood in solidarity across Canada to assert Indigenous sovereignty and begin the work towards sustainable, renewable development. All people will be affected by the continued damage to the land and water and we welcome Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies to join in creating healthy sustainable communities. We encourage youth to become engaged in this movement as you are the leaders of our future. There have always been individuals and groups who have been working towards these goals – Idle No More seeks to create solidarity and further support these goals. We recognize that there may be backlash, and encourage people to stay strong and united in spirit.
Plan of Action:
Support and encourage grassroots to create their own forums to learn more about Indigenous rights and our responsibilities to our Nationhood via teach-ins, rallies and social media.
Build relationships and create understanding with allies across Canada.
Take steps to contribute to building relationships with international agencies such as the UN to raise awareness to the conditions Indigenous people have been subjected to and assert our sovereignty in the international arena.
Acknowledge and honor the hard work of all grassroots people who have worked, and continue to work towards these goals – you are our inspiration.
MANIFESTO
We contend that:
The Treaties are nation to nation agreements between First Nations and the British Crown who are sovereign nations. The Treaties are agreements that cannot be altered or broken by one side of the two Nations. The spirit and intent of the Treaty agreements meant that First Nations peoples would share the land, but retain their inherent rights to lands and resources. Instead, First Nations have experienced a history of colonization which has resulted in outstanding land claims, lack of resources and unequal funding for services such as education and housing.
We contend that:
The state of Canada has become one of the wealthiest countries in the world by using the land and resources. Canadian mining, logging, oil and fishing companies are the most powerful in the world due to land and resources. Some of the poorest First Nations communities (such as Attawapiskat) have mines or other developments on their land but do not get a share of the profit. The taking of resources has left many lands and waters poisoned – the animals and plants are dying in many areas in Canada. We cannot live without the land and water. We have laws older than this colonial government about how to live with the land.
We contend that:
Currently, this government is trying to pass many laws so that reserve lands can also be bought and sold by big companies to get profit from resources. They are promising to share this time…Why would these promises be different from past promises? We will be left with nothing but poisoned water, land and air. This is an attempt to take away sovereignty and the inherent right to land and resources from First Nations peoples.
We contend that:
There are many examples of other countries moving towards sustainability, and we must demand sustainable development as well. We believe in healthy, just, equitable and sustainable communities and have a vision and plan of how to build them.
Please join us in creating this vision.
Monday, November 19, 2012
preparing for a post israel middle east?
Source: Foreign Policy Journal
So what is all the fuss about?
It’s a paper entitled “Preparing For A
Post Israel Middle East”, an 82-page analysis that concludes that the
American national interest in fundamentally at odds with that of Zionist
Israel. The authors conclude that Israel is currently the greatest
threat to US national interests because its nature and actions prevent
normal US relations with Arab and Muslim countries and, to a growing
degree, the wider international community.
The study was commissioned by the US
Intelligence Community comprising 16 American intelligence agencies with
an annual budget in excess of $ 70 billion. The IC includes the
Departments of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard,
Defense Intelligence Agency, Departments of Energy, Homeland Security,
State, Treasure, Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, National Security Agency, National Geospatial
Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Agency and the Central
Intelligence Agency commissioned the study.
Among the many findings [...] are the following:
- Israel, given its current brutal occupation and belligerence cannot be salvaged any more than apartheid south Africa could be when as late as 1987 Israel was the only “Western” nation that upheld diplomatic ties with South Africa and was the last country to join the international boycott campaign before the regime collapsed;
- The Israel leadership, with its increasing support of the 700,000 settlers in illegal colonies in the occupied West Bank is increasing out of touch with the political, military and economic realities of the Middle East;
- The post Labor government Likud coalition is deeply complicit with and influenced by the settlers’ political and financial power and will increasingly face domestic civil strife which the US government should not associate itself with or become involved with;
- The Arab Spring and Islamic Awakening has to a major degree freed a large majority of the 1.2 billion Arab and Muslims to pursue what an overwhelming majority believe is the illegitimate, immoral and unsustainable European occupation of Palestine of the indigenous population;
- Simultaneous with, but predating, rapidly expanding Arab and Muslim power in the region as evidenced by the Arab spring, Islamic Awakening and the ascendancy of Iran, as American power and influence recedes, the US commitment to belligerent oppressive Israel is becoming impossible to defend or execute consistent given paramount US national interests which include normalizing relations with the 57 Islamic countries;
- Gross Israeli interference in the internal affairs of the United States through spying and illegal US arms transfers. This includes supporting more than 60 ‘front organizations’ and approximately 7,500 US officials who do Israel’s bidding and seek to dominate and intimidate the media and agencies of the US government which should no longer be condoned;
- That the United States government no longer has the financial resources, or public support to continue funding Israel. The billions of dollars in direct and indirect aid from US taxpayers to Israel since 1967 is not affordable and is increasingly being objected to by US taxpayers who oppose continuing American military involvement in the Middle East. US public opinion no longer supports funding and executing widely perceived illegal US wars on Israel’s behalf. This view is increasingly being shared by Europe, Asia and the International public;
- Israel’s segregationist occupation infrastructure evidenced by legalized discrimination and increasingly separate and unequal justice systems must no longer be directly or indirectly funded by the US taxpayers or ignored by the US government;
- Israel has failed as a claimed democratic state and continued American financial and political cover will not change its continuing devolution as international pariah state;
- Increasingly, rampant and violent racism exhibited among Jewish settlers in the West Bank is being condoned by the Israeli government to a degree that the Israel government has become its protector and partner;
- The expanding chasm among American Jews objecting to Zionism and Israeli practices, including the killing and brutalizing of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, are gross violations of American and International law and raise questions within the US Jewish community regarding the American responsibility to protect (R2P) innocent civilians under occupation;
- The international opposition to the increasingly apartheid regime can no longer be synchronized with American claimed humanitarian values or US expectations in its bi-lateral relations with the 193 member United Nations;
- The Draft ends with language about the need to avoid entangling alliances that alienate much of the World and condemn American citizens to endure the consequences.
Interestingly, it notes Iran as an
example of a country and people that have much in common and whose
citizens have a real interest in enjoy bilateral associations (here an
apparent reference to Israel and its US lobby) not determined by the
wishes of other countries and their agents. It also highlights the need
for the US to undertake the repairing of relations with Arab and Muslim
countries, including the drastically curtained use of drone aircraft.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
"who is it that will lend to allah a beautiful loan... ?"
While the original concept of a Jubilee comes from the Bible, we can certainly find similar teachings in the Quran: Who is he that will Loan to Allah a beautiful loan? for (Allah) will increase it manifold to his credit, and he will have (besides) a liberal Reward. (57:11)
The idea behind the current project is elegantly simple: "A bailout of the people by the people. We buy debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, we abolish it. We cannot buy specific individuals' debt - instead, we help liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal."
For more info, check out:
Occupy Oakland: Debt Resistance! The People’s Bailout, AKA the Rolling Jubilee
Friday, November 09, 2012
white people mourning romney
First came the binders full of women... now there are the white people mourning romney.
And of course there are the more extreme responses:
Jezebel: Twitter Racists React to ‘That Nigger’ Getting Reelected
Floating Sheep: Mapping Racist Tweets in Response to President Obama's Re-election
And from four years ago:
Sunday, November 04, 2012
you are here to wake up
Judging from sites like Esoteric Tube it seems like there is a growing genre of videos involving monotone voice-overs on top of sparse electronic music put together with provocative sequences of images (frequent choices include fractals, time lapsed nature scenes, astronomical and microscopic pictures) where the message is faintly New Age-y, spiritual-but-not-religious, conspiratorial, mildly anti-government and anti-corporate. One of the first such clips I've seen was Zeitgeist.
Another film which is oddly beautiful and simple called "You Are Here to Wake Up" is below. I especially like the references to "They Live" and "The Matrix":
Thursday, October 25, 2012
love, gnosis & other suicide attempts
Amir Sulaiman's poems in Love, Gnosis & Other Suicide Attempts are simultaneously spiritual and sensual; threatening and vulnerable. Sulaiman's voice is between a flood and a firestorm. In the spirit of Rumi and Attar, his poems engage sensuality with a kind of religious devotion and engage religious devotion with sensuous fervor. He exposes the reader to the pleasure found in suffering; the ecstasy found in brokenness. Love, Gnosis & Other Suicide Attempts is often frighteningly gorgeous; other times humbly surrendering, but always honest.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
admiral general haffaz aladeen on the virtues of dictatorship
I've had issues with Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy before and watching "The Dictator" certainly didn't ease those concerns. At the end of the day he is still a Jewish man making fun of Arabs/Muslims/Islamicate people through buffoonish portrayals (The Dictator, Borat and arguably Ali G). Even in Bruno, where Baron Cohen plays a gay Austrian fashion reporter, he didn't take a break from making fun of Arabs ( see: Ayman Abu Aita, Bruno's "Terrorist," Threatens Legal Action)
Even so, I just saw The Dictator last night and had to admit that this scene was pretty funny.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Monday, October 01, 2012
when savages unite
Mark Gonzalez, a Chicano Muslim spoken-word artist responds to Pamela Geller's racist ad campaign (what is the product? who is buying? who is selling?) by making some "beautiful" connections between indigenous struggles everywhere.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
zain malik on w. kamau bell's totally biased
Debbie Schlussel, an insane blogger, has recently been crafting some bizarre claims that Zain Malik, a Muslim member of the boy band, One Direction, is a "pimp" for Islam by enticing young girls to participate in jihad.
Schlussel's theories were expertly and entertainingly skewered on W. Kamau Bell's new show, Totally Biased.
The Sun: One Direction's Zayn branded a ‘pimp’ for Islam
The Sun: One Direction's Zayn branded a ‘pimp’ for Islam
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