what's my name, fool?

To be honest, I don't often watch sports and I tend to think of them as pretty inconsequential. The topic reminds me of the Boondocks strip where Huey is sitting in front of the television and the announcer's voice (filtered through Huey's mind) says: "And today in sports, a black man somewhere ran with a ball and jumped with a ball and threw a ball and people got really excited as if they hadn't seen it a million times before". But in fact, there are certainly times when athletic competitions can have deep political/cultural implications.

This is an excerpt from Dave Zirin's new book, What's My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States (Haymarket Books, 2005).

No sport has chewed athletes up and spit them out -- especially black athletes -- quite like boxing. For the very few who "make it," it is never the sport of choice. Boxing has always been for the poor, for people born at the absolute margins of society. The first boxers in the United States were slaves. Southern plantation owners amused themselves by putting together the strongest slaves and having them fight it out while wearing iron collars.

After the abolition of slavery, boxing was unique among sports because it was desegregated as early as the turn of the last century. This was not because the people who ran boxing were in any way progressive. They make the people who run boxing today resemble gentlemen of great character. Those early promoters simply wanted to make a buck off the rampant racism in American society by pitting black vs. white for public spectacle. Unwittingly, these early fight financiers opened up a space in which the white supremacist ideas of the day could be challenged. This was the era of deeply racist pseudo-science. The attitude of the social Darwinist quacks was that blacks were not only mentally inferior but also physically inferior to whites. Blacks were cast as too lazy and too undisciplined to ever be taken seriously as athletes.

When Jack Johnson became the first black heavyweight-boxing champion in 1908, his victory created a serious crisis for these ideas. The media whipped up in a frenzy about the need for a "Great White Hope" to restore order to the world. Former champion Jim Jeffries came out of retirement to restore that order, saying, "I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro."

At the fight, which took place in 1910, the ringside band played, "All Coons Look Alike to Me," and promoters led the nearly all-white crowd in the chant "Kill the nigger." But Johnson was faster, stronger, and smarter than Jeffries, knocking him out with ease. After Johnson's victory, there were race riots around the country -- in Illinois, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Texas, and Washington, D.C. Most of the riots consisted of white lynch mobs attempting to enter black neighborhoods and blacks fighting back.

This reaction to a boxing match was the most widespread simultaneous racial uprising in the U.S. until the riots that followed the 1968 assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Right-wing religious groups immediately organized a movement to ban boxing, and Congress actually passed a law that prohibited the showing of boxing films.

(click here for the full page on AlterNet)

venezuela and free trade

BBC News: Massive Protests in Venezuela against Bush and Free Trade

najee ali v. the boondocks

Ok, Najee Ali has done a lot positive things in the past. I like the brother. I'm often glad he's out there doing the things that he's doing. Some of which I've blogged about:

najee ali and project islamic h.o.p.e.
interview with najee ali
an open letter to minister louis farrakhan
the mexican stamp controversy

And I don't want to take anything away from the good he has done, but sometimes I think that he should work harder to find more constructive targets for his efforts. It's almost as if he is picking targets who will draw more attention to his organization rather than thinking about which efforts will make the most positive impact. Case in point: Najee Ali v. The Boondocks. The first episode of the Boondocks only just aired this Sunday, and Najee Ali is already organizing protests against the show's liberal use of the n-word. Given that The Boondocks represents a rare opportunity to insert a "still small voice" of positive consciousness into the mainstream television media, I definitely wish he would pick his battles more wisely. Of course, the controversy helps raise the profile of his organization, but if he "wins" he might succeed in getting rid of a uniquely positive Black voice on television.

on the paris riots

This is just a summary of some of the previously included links with news/commentary on the Paris riots, plus some new ones. (Coincidentally I'm currently in the middle of reading a book about the French Revolution and am right around the Storming of the Bastille). The similarities are arguably superficial, but then as now, the status quo can't last for long and France is going to have to do some serious soul searching about what kind of country it wants to be.

From MSNBC:New French curfew laws as euro falls on riot fears
BBC:French riots rage despite warning
From Common Dreams:Explosion in the Suburbs
From Alt.Muslim:Paris is Burning: What's Religion Got To Do With It?
From Alt.Muslim:Paris Is Burning: Religion Has A Lot To Do With It
From Black Looks:Mort pour rien - Dead for nothing
From The Moor Next Door:The Violence
From Izzy Mo:Paris is burning and New Orleans has drowned
From Umar's blog:To Riot, or not to Riot
From IslamOnline:France Riots Spreading, Gov't Says 'Organized'

digging below the underground

So the other night I saw Ladybug Mecca and the other 2/3 of Digable Planets (Butterfly and Doodlebug) perform on their reunion tour. Opening for them was the Muslim rapper, Nashid Sulaiman, better known as One.Be.Lo.

There were some interesting contrasts between the two performances. Coming from a mainstream Muslim background, Nashid's songs were generally "positive", but they actually didn't have much specifically Islamic content. (He is much more explicit about his religious beliefs on the S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. album). Nashid's delivery was clear, cool and laid back. And he performed a number of pieces which I don't think I have heard before.

On the other hand, Digable Planets' songs are intricately laced with Afro-futuristic Five Percenter references ("I got crew kid, seven and a crescent") which gives their language a very unique feel. Digable played mostly old, warmed-over material from their first two albums, Reachin' and Blowout Comb. The only piece which I'm sure was new was performed by Ladybug Mecca from her solo album. The whole evening, it was funny to watch Mecca because she seemed so geeked to see the audience recognize and sing along to their old hits. I was disappointed that they didn't do Femme Fatale. But as expected, they 'ended' with "Cool Like That" before doing a few more songs for an encore.

All in all, it was a good show. And I think it is exciting to think about what will happen as more mainstream Muslims participate in creating popular culture and effectively compete with alternative representations of Islam.

lessons of the five percent
islam and hip-hop
more on muslims and hip-hop
unofficial Digable Planets website
Digable Planets reunion on NPR

the fire next time

More on the French riots
From Izzy Mo: Paris is burning and New Orleans has drowned
From Umar's blog: To Riot, or not to Riot

the violence

From The Moor Next Door: The Violence
more commentary on the riots in Paris

dead for nothing

From Black Looks - Musings and Rants of an African Fem:
Mort pour rien - Dead for nothing
a thoughtful look at the current rioting in France.

sushi revisited: part two

Although Muslims generally look at the split between Sunnis and Shias as a tragedy, and a great source of chaos and fitna, some have argued that there is a sort of silver lining behind this particular cloud.

For example: A Blessing in Disguise: a Jungian Reflection on Sunni-Shia Split a recent entry from the Ihsan blog, suggests that the division between Sunnis and Shias has injected a certain amount of life and vitality into the ummah:

[...] this ying-yang type of split between Shia and Sunni schools may have actually helped to maintain a balance in the collective consciousness of both Shia and Sunni Muslims. The presence of different perspectives keeps our conscious attitudes from freezing into a rigid, inflexible, stale position (as it would if we only had one correct view or a perspective) and creates a dynamic movement due to the tension of so-called opposites. Each school of thought prevents each other from petrifying into a stiff, lifeless formality. It may just be that this ying-yang type of conflict has created enough tension to allow for a continuous movement, renewal and growth for each school of thought and for the collective consciousness of the Muslim ummah.

And in The Study of Shi'ism Seyyed Hossein Nasr suggests that the Sunni - Shia split was beneficial because it allowed Islam to reach different kinds of people with diverse spiritual/ethnic/cultural inclinations:

Within each religion [...] especially within those that have been destined for many ethnic groups, different orthodox interpretations of the tradition, of the one heavenly message, have been necessary in order to guarantee the integration of the different psychological and ethnic groupings into a single spiritual perspective. It is difficult to imagine how the Far Eastern peoples could have become Buddhist without the Mahayana school, or some of the Eastern peoples Muslim without Shi'ism. The presence of such divisions within the religious tradition in question does not contradict its inner unity and transcendence. Rather it has been the way of ensuring spiritual unity in a world of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Both approaches are appealing. The only question is whether those benefits are really worth the violence and bloodshed and division which are also associated with the split.

paris is burning

Two articles on the recent riots in France:
Paris is Burning: What's Religion Got To Do With It?
France Riots Spreading, Gov't Says 'Organized'

sushi revisited: part one

From a recent interview with Dr. Aminah Beverly McCloud:

Cedric Muhammad: What is your position on the basis of the Shi-ite and Sunni split? Do you think that the Shi-ite’s have a valid point in their view that Ali was improperly denied the caliphate beginning with the election of Abu Bakr in ‘succession’ to Muhammad of 1400 years ago?

Dr. Aminah McCloud: Actually since both sides have produced unjust societies, I do not care who is right. I do not honor this historical split. When you look at it, those who became Sunni, killed the family of the Prophet and those who are Shi’I reconstructed inherited leadership. How can any of this be right?

I find Dr. McCloud's argument intriguing but I would not go as far as she does. I don't have a problem calling myself "Sunni". But then, I would insist that being Sunni does NOT mean giving uncritical approval of those who fought against Ali (ra), Hussein (ra) or the rest of the family of the prophet. It certainly doesn't mean giving uncritical approval to the governments which followed Ali (ra). In fact, some time ago I realized that ALL four Sunni imams of fiqh (Abu Hanifa, Malik Ibn Anas, Imam Shafii and Ahmad ibn Hanbal) were put in prison or otherwise punished by the rulers of their day for taking certain political stands. So even though Sunni political theory may have a certain conservative streak, there is also room for principled disobedience of the government.

Overall I would say that as Muslims (whether Sunni or Shia) we should combine and balance 1) love of family of the prophet, 2) sufficient recognition of their high spiritual status, 3) an understanding of the mistakes of the early Muslims 4) a great deal of adab when discussing the same, and 5) an acceptance of the qadr of Allah when it comes to early Muslim history. And I would suggest that by emphasizing these points we might find more common ground and mutual understanding between Sunnis and Shias.

Sunni sites on Ahl al-Bayt:
Ahl al-Bayt Homepage
Ahlul Bayt (a Naqshbandi site)
Muslims of the Americas Ahlul Bayt site

Previous Grenada entries on Su-Shi issues:
sunni - shia
is love sushi... or is that su-shi?
even more su-shi love

new age jahiliyyah

In Hip Hop and the “New Age” of Ignorance Adisa Banjoko points to an interesting parallel between the age of Jahiliyah (ignorance) before the coming of the prophet Muhammad (saaws) and the ignorance which is manifested in many of our modern urban communities. I've often seen some of the same similarities myself. On the one hand, these similarities indicate that there are a lot of deep problems in our cities which need to be addressed. On the other hand, they also suggest that if Arabia in the time of jahiliyyah was ready for the coming of Muhammad, then perhaps our modern urban areas will be especially receptive to Muslim efforts to serve and contribute those same communities. I don't want to speak for them, but that seems to be one of the main pillars behind the organization I.M.A.N. (Inner-city Muslim Action Network)

spanish muslims celebrate eid

Spanish Muslims Perform First 'Open-Air' `Eid Prayers

the shia of south america and the caribbean

From Shianews.com: The Shia of South America and The Caribbean is a very brief look at the needs of the Shia community in Guyana and nearby areas.

martin and malcolm

Martin and Malcolm
Implications of their Legacies for the Future
With Dr. Cornel West and Imam Zaid Shakir
Date: Friday, December 2, 2005.
Time: 8 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Doors open at 6.30 p.m.
Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center
Calvin Simmons Theatre
10 Tenth Street
Oakland, CA 94607
Tickets available online only!
Regular: $20.00
Student: $10.00 with valid student I.D. at the door
And check out the related Cognizance Website

That actually raises an interesting question: In contemporary times, what individuals, organizations or movements really are the best manifestations of the respective legacies of El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and Martin King?

eid mubarak y'all

piri thomas interview

From In Motion magazine: An interview with Piri Thomas, a pioneering Afro-Latino writer and poet. He discusses the inspiration for his ground-breaking autobiography Down These Mean Streets, along with his broader outlook on poetry, prison and Puerto Rican politics. Punto (as Piri would say).

the black latino experience

The Black Latino Experience by Grisel Y. Acosta is an article from Para Mi magazine which touches on some of the common experiences of Afrolatinos growing up in the US.

Growing up in the 1970s and ‘80s as a mixed Cuban/Colombian in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood, with its large Puerto Rican and Polish populations, was confusing. Everyone thought I was Puerto Rican, and when I explained where my parents were from, they looked at me funny, as if I had said, “I am from the galaxy of Cuba, located in the region of Colombia, far, far, away.”

the boondocks: tv show website

The Boondocks TV show website

dia de los muertos

So today is Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead [2] [3].I don't think I'm going to be eating candy skulls but I will be thinking of my loved ones who aren't here anymore.