Listen to "Welcome to my podcast" on Spreaker.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Yet So Little.....

Peace All,

It's 5:12pm Tuesday evening, two days since the end of Ramadhan. The end of Ramadhan gives me mixed emotions every year. Sadness because it is the end of a time of deep reflection and contemplation and doing charitable deeds like no other time of the year. Not to say these things are not done throughout the year, but during this time of the year one can say that they are able to raise their level of awareness and consciousness to another level, giving them the ability to do more deeds and stay more focused on the task at hand. I always cry at the missed opportunities at the end of the month.




On the other hand there is a sense of joy and hope because one comes from the month revived and refreshed, ready to take on the world. Lessons are learned, reminders are given about the brevity of life on this earth, giving one the sense of urgency to do whatever is in their power to bring about peace, justice and most of all a society in which God is the Sovereign Ruler, and not man's tawdry desires, which is driving humans to the pit of disarray and utter confusion.

This past Ramadhan was spent reading the Quran and listening to an audiobook entitled The Race Beat, which discussed the role of the media during The Civil Rights Struggle. The book was entertaining to say the least, although the book had gross flaws at the end,especially when discussing the uprising of the Black Power movements. The book failed to go into more detail about the reasons that prompted certain Blacks to opt out of the Civil Rights Movement and take a more militant stance toward racism and segregation in America. The book was brief on the subject, but like other books and reports seem to give the indication that everything was quiet on the homefront and all of a sudden these unsatisfied Blacks took matters into their own hands and started rioting, looting and destroying their own neighborhoods, which sounds strange to begin with. They also scantily mention Malcolm X's name except for the fact that they referred to him as "angry and militant".

It also failed miserably to convince me that desegregation was effective in combating racism, for while those reporters who were railing against the South and their racism, the television ,which by this time had taken over print as the main source of information(and Americans have been paying for it ever since) had cartoons like the one below in full circulation, nationwide, proving that forcing people to live with one another while sharing disrespect for one another is never a solution for something that was institutionalized whether in the workplace, halls of education, and even the houses of worship.



These cartoons are still published and sold to the masses, although some have disclaimers against the racism shown, such as the Oscar Award Winner series, which is as oxymoronic as cigarettes with the Surgeon General's warning on them. I purchased a DVD box set of cartoons last year from Wal-Mart, only to find a large number of the cartoons were similar to the one above.

In short, we have a long way to go and yet so little time to straighten this human thing out, and we keep taking the wrong avenues, hoping to strike a blow at something that is more of a belief or way of life rather than an attitude. Today people are still asking why Blacks allow calling themselves the N word, but others cannot say it?

My people (referencing African Americans) are doing a terrible job at tackling the issues head on, and keep looking for trinkets to justify the Civil Rights Struggle, and the issue with the current Presidency is no exception. There is a war going on in the Black community, and no one is really looking for the solution, but keep harping on the problems.

What does this have to do with Ramadhan you ask? LOL. I guess I just started venting due to a situation over the past weekend in which I spoke with a bus driver who was discussing the problems he encountered in which he asked the question when it came to "US" He asked, is it genetics? This incident also made me think of the young African American woman who posted a video on her Myspace page of a young Black woman with bad manners and she entitled it, this makes me ashamed to be black....

Believe or not, this is prevelant in my community. So far to go, yet so little time.

Take care everybody.

Friday, September 4, 2009

.....On My Mind

Peace y'all

It's 3:25p, and I just finished a couple of pics for the week. One I just finished was a pic I started a few months ago, maybe longer. I wasn't even looking for it, I just happened to pick up the Greyscale paper(one of my favorites) and opened the pad and there it was. I just went into it, and before I knew it I was finished! Now I'm working on another blue pic....Hmmm, could be something special, but you be the judge.





Anyway it's the 14th day of Ramadhan, and this has been a different experience for me, due to the fact this is the first time I have ever fasted in the summertime so extensively. Usually my fasting takes place in the winter and fall, due to the ease of those seasons along with shortness of times, but since Ramadhan is actually a month in the Islamic calendar, and the Hijri calendar is 10 to 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar we use here, the seasons shift, so this will go on for a few more years before Ramadhan will be in the spring again. The heat here in Texas will test you, but thank God I am dealing with it. Some people look at this as starving one's self, but that's how they fail to understand the spiritual connection to this, this is not just detoxing the body but the soul, giving you the chance to see what you could be about. The problem is that we live in a society that is bent on pleasing the flesh desires, and that poses a problem for the Muslim, seeing that the Muslim is supposed to abstain from unlawful things. Like the song says, it takes two to make a thing go right. In this case, the person has to be willing, and the society has to be conducive. If one is off kilter, problems will arise, especially for one who has not been raised in an Islamic environment, where vices remain although they may not indulge in them. But thank God for the Qur'an which guides the Muslim for letting us know in many verses of many of God's attributes of Forgiveness(Al-Ghafur, Al-Ghafar) Mercy(Ar-Raheem) Pardonment(Al-Afuww) along with others. This past week I met a young man at my job who did not know I was Muslim, but he found out I was fasting, while he wasn't, I did not scold or shunned him, for I understand. He is trying now, and I pray that he can complete his fast and make up for the other days. We all have some growing up to do, I am no exception.


Be back later....Take care y'all....Peace

My Bloggy Friends

My Favorite Blogs