Imam Mahdi Bray Responds …
MAS Freedom’s Executive Director, Imam Mahdi Bray posted a response to my series. I have reproduced it below. This is all part of the much needed and long overdue discourse in our community.
Imam Bray’s response is below the fold: (more…)
Caption this picture…
Synthesizing the Future
Br Marc Manley has an excellent post about Islam in America. I highly recommend it. It is pretty long (but worth it) and I have excerpted it below:
As it stands, I see much of the Islam I have witnessed coming out of the Blackamerican population has been on of eclecticism. That the process to becoming Muslim required replicating a previous or “other” version of Islam such that when it was donned by Blackamericans it still resembled its old form or context. By this I mean things such as wardrobe, diet, and societal norms. Suits and pants became thobes and turbans. Falafel and hummus became more authentic than steak and fried chicken. And holding down a 9-5 and supporting one’s family was bucked in favor of checking out against the kafir-led regime that oppressed the Palestinians. But instead, if we were to fashion an Islam that spoke to our time, our condition and our history, this bricolage would speak far greater to us than any masquerading could.
I feel that part of this is a self hatred and addressed this in part five of the ‘Why Blackamerican Muslims Don’t Stand for Justice’ series.
Imam Talib’s Second Response
Imam Talib Abdur-Rasheed of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood has a second response. (See my previous response here) I want to reiterate my love and respect for this brother and the work that he has done. No this is not a debate, but exchange of information and views. Imam Talib’s response is below the fold. I have a brief (and brotherly) response below that:
“Difficult Days Ahead”
40-years since the assassination of Martin Luther King
UPDATE: An article about how MLK, the man, has been simplified and even mythologized. This pull quote tells the story of not only what happened to MLK, but of other figures:
“We’re living increasingly in a culture of top 10 lists, of celebrity biopics which simplify the past as entertainment or mythology,” he said. “We lose a view on what real leadership is by compressing him down to one window.”
This kind of mythologizing of figures has always bothered me…
Ma And Pa Clinton
This is an excellent piece written by Ishmael Reed (hat tip to Gess) I have posted excerpts from it below the fold
My Response to Imam Talib Abdur-Rasheed
In responding to Imam Talib Abdur-Rasheed’s comments, leader of Harlem’s Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood (MIB) and Deputy Amir of MANA, regarding my series Why Blackamerican Muslims Don’t stand for Justice, I should like to first of all extend my fullest appreciation for his positive feedback and encouragement. Not long after posting the series, the Imam got in touch with me to express a few of his concerns regarding statements I made about the 1974 shootout at the Ya Sin masjid in Brooklyn, and the role that his MIB predecessor, Imam Tawfiq, played in that gruesome incident.
In fairness to Imam Talib, I said that I would post whatever statement he wanted to make in order to honestly record his position on that blood-stained history. Additionally, the Imam felt that I had failed to recognize a number of national jamaats that in his view, enjoyed a track record of “standing for justice”. Now I would like to share my thoughts on his comments.
Money Making Machine
I’m not much of an Oprah fan, but this woman certainly is an extraordinary business-woman. She will be launching “OWN” (as in Oprah Winfrey Network)
Oprah to get her own TV Network
The announcement builds a media empire that already includes the top-rated TV talk show, a magazine, a satellite radio network, a Web site and TV movies made under her banner.
“This is an evolution of what I’ve been able to do every day,” Winfrey said. “I will now have the opportunity to do this 24 hours a day on a platform that goes on forever.”
“Make It Plain”
This is an excellent documentary about Malcolm X that I recommend that everyone – regardless of race – watch. It is in 14 parts below the fold
Arab-ness is Next to Godliness?
A pretty good article by Sister Fatemeh Fakhraie on the conflation of Arab culture with Islam
What is troublesome about all this is that most Muslims who are non-Arabs complain that they’re not seen as Muslims because they’re not Arab (or ethnically Middle Eastern, in some cases). But when non-Arab Muslims take Arab names or wear Arab clothes under the guise of “Islamic authenticity,” we’re all reinforcing the idea that we’re not really Muslims unless we have some link to Arab culture.
You can say that again sister!
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