Still Ain't Gettin' It (More B.A.D News For America)

"No child, teacher, or anyone should ever feel unsafe in an American school."

President Donald Trump after the Parkland, Florida school shooting, which just occurred yesterday.

And to think: Here I am scolding myself for not speaking about the President's latest tirade (well now it's old news since he made statements about cutting food stamps and giving poor people boxes of food.). This time he blamed immigration laws for the death of two individuals, one being an Indianapolis Colts linebacker, Edwin Jackson.

Never mind the fact the suspect was allegedly drunk, just like the other tens of thousand traffic deaths attributed to drunk driving on a YEARLY basis. Nope, look past that, and get to the heart of the matter, at least in his eyes, illegal immigrants. So now only illegal immigrants are going around in a drunken state, killing others on the road. Wow.

I sat here being mad, trying to find some sort of excuse for why I didn't jump on this latest obvious display of bigotry by the so called Leader of The Free World. Could it be that I was procrastinating, as I usually do? Or was it out of fear of sounding redundant? Or was it because I didn't want to come across as the usual Trump-hating liberal?

Whatever the case, there's always something happening in America to bring events such as this back into perspective, regardless of the age of the issue. This country is draped in enough bigotry on all sides to never have to worry about running out of incidents to compare or reflect on the constant double standards, hypocrisy and denial that continues to plague this "Land of the Free."

Yesterday's shooting in a suburban Florida high school is another constant reminder of what bigotry can do to a person, as well as a society. It makes those who engage in bigotry not see the true reality of things, how the decline of morality, values, and intelligence is a direct result of their own doing, and not some outside entity, as many are led to believe.

We have witnessed during this administration alone SEVERAL mass shootings in a frightening span of only a FEW months. When the church shooting in a Texas small town killed 26 people late last year, people were assured by the President that "God and YOUR COUNTRY are with you." In the Las Vegas shooting we heard practically the same speech, yet no reason why. We witnessed in Plano, Texas last year a shooting at a football watch party that took the lives of 8 people, which included the shooter himself.

So far in only 45 days into this new year, there has been 5 school shooting incidents whereas someone has either been injured or killed. And neither of these incidents happened in Chicago, Illinois or Chiraq, as some may say.

Yet when the smoke clears, the bodies have been buried, and all of the tributes and memorials have dried up, for some reason we go right back to hearing about wild immigrants, shithole countries of color, persistent threats of terrorism from someone who just can't stand America's toxic freedom, or poor people inside the country supposedly tearing this nation down, the usual conservative banter.

But Conservatives are not the only collective of people that can be called into account for displaying bigotry. Liberals and the like are not absolved from such accusations either. Clear case in point is the the out-of-the-blue video from CNN of all people, that supposedly shows Africans being sold into slavery in Libya. Black Americans went up in arms again at the sight of  seeing or being led to see Black people once again in a state of captivity, oppression and slavery.

The usual emotional response? Attack Arabs and Islam, of course. Spread vitriol hatred against a whole group of people, and accuse a way of life as the catalyst for such actions.

Imagine CNN, the news network that doesn't like the antics of the Black Lives Matter movement, but just can't seem to expose the movement for what it really is: a movement led by Black feminists and members of the LGBTQ community, using the plights of unarmed Black men who were murdered at the hands of police, but only as a mechanism to get into the psyche of the Black collective. They can't seem to show the real intentions of the movement in their own land, how it poses as a conflict of interest to heterosexual Black men, families led by Black men, and how they wish to subvert the Black community from the inside to inject its matriarchal beliefs. But they can tell you what's going on in another part of the world. Yeah right.

But it's easy to get the Black public in America. Just take a look at the Disney-produced Black Panther movie. Oh, and let's not forget the pseudo-Black Panther, Black-empowerment tribute from Beyonce at the Super Bowl two years ago. Nothing has changed.

I encountered such a bashing against Arabs and Islam a couple of weeks ago on a Youtube page, whereas a so called Pan Africanist posted a video from of all people, White conservative media reporter Alex Jones. This video has Alex Jones spewing the most agregious lies against Islam, alleging that the Qur'an speaks in the most hideous of terms about Black people, although he could not bring up one shred of evidence. He played off as if to say there was so many bad names given that he couldn't list them all, although he couldn't even list one name and show one single verse.

 He then proceeded to claim that these some of the slaves are butchered, and then fed to other slaves, who are then forced to eat the remains before they are executed, with the belief that this will make them enter Hellfire.

Yet this person supposedly holds fast to the Ten Commandments, which also includes "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Sad to say, most of the responses from the video proved true about what is said about many Black people, especially in terms of lacking critical thinking, doing extensive research on any given subject, using emotions over intellect, and jumping to conclusions. It also proved that as the old saying goes "stuffed shirts comes in all colors."

When I challenged them to bring one shred of evidence to prove Islam denigrates Blacks and encourages slavery, not one could do it. Just the usual crying out and accusing Black Muslims of being brainwashed and misled, among other name calling.  However one such person tried to reason that his displeasure towards Arabs and Islam was due to some Arabs who sell liquor, pork and lottery in inner cities.

There was a time when such people would chide those who claimed Islam while engaging in acts they knew were forbidden in Islam. Those days are gone for many.

Like Donald Trump, these actions are now used to masked their hatred and bigotry towards Islam, as well as other races of people.  One such individual expressed his joy over some of the atrocities that are happening to the Arabs, even the killing of women and children. He cited that this is the ultimate example that Islam is not true.

Little does this guy truly understand Islam, and how in Islam, the Muslim community can also be punished, if evil and disobedience is prevalent in the community. The Creator will dole out punishment to those who profess belief but act otherwise. However the punishment for the Muslim community only resides in this life, not in the Hereafter.

Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron. Ar-Rad, verse 11

But this is the problem with bigotry and racism. The hatred of others and desire to be better than another based on superficial factors such as color, ethnicity, class, pedigree or whatever clouds their intellect. The mind knows right away that in terms of race, one's skin color does not dictate intelligence or lack thereof, but a corrupted heart, filled with undue arrogance, hatred, and intolerance will lead one to believe the most ridiculous and illogical of stories about another person or culture.

How can the Black community cry foul against racism and White supremacy, when they may hold the same racist beliefs as described in those Hidden Color documentaries? How can they possibly hope for justice when they're willing to believe the first lie that comes to them about someone from another belief or nationality?

Once I reflected on this, it gave me a whole new perspective on why we witnessed all of these recent slave narratives. As one imam said in a lecture about the New World Order, they were preparing us for something.

This country and its inhabitants point fingers at everybody else and everything for the dismal plight and the decline of this country. Meanwhile claiming superiority over all others at the same time. Yesterday's shooting is a reminder that something is horribly wrong with this democracy we claim we live in.  It will not be fixed with the usual finger pointing and name calling that occurs on all sides. It will only come starting with an honest reflection about this society and freedoms we claim to enjoy. Until then it's business as usual.

Whatever reaches you of good is from God, whatever befalls you of evil is from yourself.  An-Nisa verse 79

The NFL's Last Straw

Revised version.

Artwork by the artist.

Ok. That's it.

I'm done.

Stick a fork in it.

El Finito.

I'm through with the NFL, and no, it has nothing to do with Colin Kaepernick. That's another topic for another blog.

The NFL has been sticking its foot in its mouth since it decided to create its own moral compass, and institute a personal conduct policy in 2007. This was supposedly designed to curb and deter irresponsible off-field behavior from players, and to retain a "clean" public image. Since then it has done nothing but dug an even larger hole for itself with seemingly selective justice against certain teams and players, hypocrisy, inconsistent punishments, double standards, and above all created a tyranny in leadership in the form of current commissioner Roger Goodell.  Now players can receive long term suspensions for off the field behavior that have no impact on the game whatsoever, while actions that can directly jeopardize the impact and integrity of the game either go unabated or receive much smaller suspensions, as what has happened to the New England Patriots, head coach Bill Belicheck, and quarterback Tom Brady.

So much for integrity.

Last week  Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was placed on a six-week suspension for "violating" its vague domestic policy, where he was accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend in July of 2016. This happened despite not being charged by the local police department, citing inconsistent evidence from the accuser, and an affadavit from a friend who states the accuser was lying. This comes after a year long investigation performed by the NFL, after the Columbus, Ohio police department decided not to press charges. A 14-month long investigation.

So much for due process.

In its statement last week, the NFL stated it received "substantial and persuasive" evidence that led them to believe Elliott committed the offense. Sounds like circumstantial evidence is being used here.

So much for innocence until PROVEN guilty.

This reminds me of an article written in a local newspaper sometime in 2013. The author, a black female public figure, came up with this erroneous opinion that if a young woman accuses a man of sexual assault or violence, and the evidence appears inconclusive, your safest bet would be to take the side of the young lady. She reasoned that if in the final analysis the man is actually innocent of the charges, he can recover, whereas if the accuser is correct but not believed, it can have devastating effects. Wow.

So according to her analysis, if a man who spends time in prison for assault/rape is found innocent, he should be able to fully recover with no problems at all. Even if he can't get back the 1-10-20 years he spent in prison falsely accused.

Wow.

Recently Elliott has joined with the NFLPA and appealed the decision. This promises to get very messy.

Even messier than the Ray Rice fiasco in 2014. Nobody likes to recall that public relations nightmare, however reflecting on the Ray Rice incident again provides us with much insight on why the NFL continues to suffer from bad PR today, and who may really be behind all of this mess.

Ray Rice and his then-fiance Janay had an altercation in February of 2014. He was charged with misdemeanor assault, arrested, and shortly after released. The NFL in response suspended him with a two-game suspension later that summer. From the initial response, both Ray and Janay were content with the decision. Goodell even defended the decision shortly after when confronted by women's groups.

Then things took a turn for the worst, but not by their hands. Somehow that celebrity-gossip tv show-suddenly turned- reliable news source TMZ  got a hold of the videotape and broadcast the incident on their show. Then the crap really hit the fan.

The "public outrage", mostly comprised of women's groups, forced Roger Goodell to reverse Ray's punishment, suspending him indefinitely, after the initial suspension. So now we have double jeopardy.

So much for constitutional rights.

If one looks at the tape without others' commentary, they will clearly see Ray Rice backing up from Janay, and Janay charging at Ray, to which he quickly reacts by punching her, laying her out flat on the elevator floor.

It's not a pretty sight to see, however such a sight should not lead us to judge by our emotions and jump to conclusions, which is obviously what happened here, referring to the altercation as"domestic violence", which is code language for men who have the audacity to hit women. They could not claim spousal abuse because clearly it was a fight between two people, and Janay started the altercation by slapping him.

So despite the cries of feminism and equality, we still seem to have this contradictory ruling that a man cannot defend himself when a woman charges at him.

Man charges at man = man can defend himself
Man charges at woman = woman can defend herself
Woman charges at woman = woman can defend herself
Woman charges at man = man cannot defend himself.

Clearly an open door to assault by females toward men.








If I stated right now that the average man is physically stronger than the average woman, I would be called a misogynist. You know it's true. But a woman can use that same analysis to prove that a man should not put his hands on a woman. This is the problem humans face when using double standards to achieve "equality" among the sexes.

Shortly after the indefinite suspension, Goodell received a letter signed by 16 female senators, comprising of fourteen Democrats and two Republicans, stating that under no unconditional terms should a man who hits a woman be given a second chance to play.

Examine Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's take on the Ray Rice issue.





Listen to the language, and how she says Ray admits to "beating" her, not hitting her. When did one or two punches constitute a beating? She describes it as if Ray was constantly punching Janay even as she lay on the floor unconscious and defenseless. The video shows differently. Then she describes the reaction by the league and team in a way most typical of feminists/liberals, that of this "patriarchy" where every male is out to get the woman, and will cover up any damning evidence that could incriminate them.

Remember now, sixteen women senators signed that letter and sent it to Roger Goodell.

Seems to me the people were more upset that Janay was knocked unconscious rather than the fight itself, but honestly ask yourself, if Ray charged at Janay, and in self-defense she happened to knock him unconscious, would we have the same reaction towards Janay?

I think not.

Even Janay herself took to social media to voice her opinions about how the media and the public blew things out of proportion, and also to show support for her husband. But what was the response by the media?

Mostly to view her as a co-dependent, beaten and battered woman.

Even Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal chimed in by presenting legislation designed to compel leagues to adopt and enforce zero-tolerance policies toward "domestic violence", code word for men who hit women.

Wow. I wish the Democrat senators had that same passion and sympathy for those little babies they feel have no right to live, using ridiculous pseudonyms such as "reproductive rights", code name for abortion. Rather than show compassion, they develop sick theories and redefine rape to include men who have sex with women without verbally asking, "honey, can we have sex?" or "baby, can I have some of you?"

And having stripper/models/porn stars to advocate this mess does nothing positive for your credibility.

I wish those same Republican senators would've kept that same pacifist approach that they try to spew on those countries and populations they wish to oppress and take their resources.

So much for compassion.
So much for unconditional love.
So much for forgiveness.
So much for equity among men and women.
So much for loving thy enemy.
So much for turning the other cheek.

And some of us actually felt that the likes of Hillary Clinton would be a better choice for President of the United States than Donald Trump? Really? As one person stated, they're both two wings on the same dirty bird.

And while we're on the feminist topic, since they're so upset with White Male Privilege, where were they to add support to the Native Americans for the removal of the racist Washington Redskins nickname? Where was Blumenthal in all of this? Where was his legislation to enforce the removal of such an offensive name? Where was the outcry for the removal of Team Owner Daniel Snyder for upholding the name?

Crickets.

So much for women's rights. It's been proven time and time again that it's not equality they seek, Their actions have proven that even THEY don't believe in equality, nor do they respect diversity. They would rather try to disrupt a current order, regardless if it is just or unjust, or even worse gain an upper hand, an advantage. They seek the same privileges they accuse men of fostering.  And now they have an upper hand in the decision making in the NFL. Roger Goodell answers to nobody...

...except women.

But the NFL has no one to blame but themselves for this mess. I can say it all started when they decided to court the largest consumer bloc in the world; women.

Using Breast Cancer Awareness as a Trojan Horse and creating a slick PR campaign, the NFL decided to tap to the female market in 2008.  Players were then "encouraged" in the month of October to add pink to their uniforms. The playing fields became decorated in pink, and pink paraphenalia containing the NFL logo was heavily promoted and sold during this month.

Since then it has done nothing but made a mockery of itself, insulting the intelligence of its fans, patrons, and it has given selective outside entities certain entitlements, while leaving the very players who sacrifice their health, reputation and overall well being at risk in order to patronize a certain demographic that at one time had no say nor impact in the affairs of this institution.

My interest in watching football began waning back when the colleges began succumbing to the corporate "sponsors". All of a sudden, the Cotton Bowl kept switching sponsors and names from The Mobil Cotton Bowl to the AT&T Cotton Bowl, to now having the annual New Year's Cotton Bowl game being played outside the Cotton Bowl itself. Then the collegiate stadiums and the bowl games followed suit and became known for their sponsors name.

Then the corporate fever hit the professional circuit. With teams leaving cities abruptly, billion-dollar stadiums surfacing, people being displaced from their homes, among other things, football seemed more like a political bargaining chip more than mere entertainment. And now this. Too many outside interests have spoiled a great spectator sport, and a game I enjoyed playing in the yard as a child.

So much for the NFL.

And I still haven't commented on the Colin Kaepernick situation.... yet.

B. A. D for America

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

The Holy Bible: Exodus Chapter 20 Verse 16

O you who believe, stand firm for Allah(God) as witnesses of Truth, and do not let the hatred of a people cause you to be unjust. Be just, that is closer to God-consciousness. And 

fear Allah, verily Allah is Well-Aware of all that you do. Allah has promised those who

believe and do righteous deeds for them there is forgiveness and a great reward.

The Holy Qur'an: Surah Al - Maidah, verses 8-9

In the 90's I used to deliver cleaning equipment and mats around the greater DFW area. One stop in Ft.Worth there was an older White man who worked in the back of an Albertson's grocery store, who I met on a weekly basis. Shortly after becoming a Muslim in 1992, I started wear a particular hat, a black kufi, trimmed with silver threading throughout. Once this man saw that kufi, he started asking me about Islam, but then he started mentioning about a Black controversial politician by the name of John Wiley Price. Those who know Mr. Price are familiar with a lot of his antics, but for the sake of brevity I won't delve into that subject.

But suffice to say that whenever Mr. Price made the local news, I had to field questions about  

statements and actions from this man, as if I knew this Mr. Price personally, and I supported EVERY action he took. For some strange reason he drew parallels of Mr. Price's confrontations with Islam and Black people in general. I grew tired of these encounters, and one week I really got to him. He came to me ranting about the police needing to arrest Mr. Price following certain altercations, to which I replied that it doesn't matter to me if they arrest him, but just be consistent. Do the same with unions and other people or groups who commit the same offenses. He didn't like that by any regard. It seems some Whites are quick to lump all people of a different race or belief into a monolithic entity, but don't hold that standard to themselves.

I recall that anecdote whenever situations pop up, even to this very day, because it seems nothing has changed in the American climate of hatred and bigotry. Every time a Black person, or a Muslim is accused of something in America, either certain organizations or the whole collective community is accused of sanctioning such action, and the whole collective community, beit Black or Muslim, has to bear the brunt of such scorn. 

We've seen this too many times in the past, and we see it now, where marginalized people are blamed for the decay in this country, and steps are taken to justify and consent to the removal, slaughter, or incarceration of collective groups of people in America, all because of somebody's bigotry. Very little truth, if any, is broadcast about such groups, and the masses of America become inundated with distorted news articles, soundbytes, and cut and paste video, all claiming to be accurate and non-partial information. And now with Youtube, the madness knows no end.

We've seen this too many times happening with the Black Lives Matter Movement, as well as ISIS/ISIL/IS, whatever the heck they want to refer themselves to. In many cases, it's the same media using the same tactics regarding both collectives. Blacks and Muslims for the most part find themselves having to field questions about such collective groups, to alleviate White people's fear and anxiety.  

Then we find such collective groups and/or certain organizations holding press conferences to publicly denounce and condemn actions that were neither sanctioned by the groups, or explain if such group has any affiliation or relationship to the accused at all. This is especially for Muslims, who we find are always having to fend off accusations o f terrorism and/or affiliation with such "radical Muslims", whatever the hell that is.

If I have not stated before I will state now I do not support the Black Lives Matter Movement, due to ideological differences regarding Black feminism, whereas a false premise has been created where Black men are accused of systematically suppressing Black women from all socio- economic and political endeavors in America, as if Black men were enjoying these privileges themselves to begin with. I also oppose this notion of intolerance behind the LGBT community as well, which BLM states, creating buzz words ( and hard to mention buzz words at that) such as heteropatriarchy and heteronormativity to use as some form of victimization from Black men in America. 

But with all of that being said, I also disagree with associating acts of violence with Black Lives Matter, such as the recent social media incident involving four Black youth and a "mentally challenged" White youth in Chicago, Illinois,  or with the shooting last year in Dallas, Texas,  whereas an alleged lone gunman opened fire, killing 5 police officers, at a rally following the deaths of two unarmed Black men by police, Philandro Castille and Alton Sterling. Those who remember can recall many newscasts labeled the rally a "Black Lives Matter" protest, when the reality is the rally was organized by the New Generation Action Network, along with others. 

In addition I am a Muslim, and I am familiar with Salafi movement, and have fundamental disagreements with them as well, however I also disagree with associating terrorism with such a group as well, and the labelling of Wahhabi, which is actually one the Names of Allah, Al-Wahhab, meaning The Bestower, and not this conjured up concept by bigots who hate the Islamic Way of Life by manufacturing lies about a group of people, claiming they are hell bent of forcing the whole world to believe in what they believe, employing young women, and in one case employing a young "feebleminded" teenage girl to perform a suicide bombing in Nigeria as reported, or random acts of killing people without true evidence, such as the Orlando, Florida incident last year as well.

My disliking and/or disagreement of an individual or group does not give me license to distort, lie, defame, vilify such person/s or movements. Truth will always come out in the end, and only then will factual evidence, and not tabloid journalism and witch hunts bring about any removal of wrongdoing and injustices. Marginalized people should not be made to feel anxiety whenever an incident flashes across the screen, leaving them to offer prayers that the alleged resembles or represents one of them, for fear of unjust reprisals.

America's fall or degradation cannot be attributed to any of these incidents, for the statistics about murder, crime, the impoverished, and other forms of social decay either show major contradictions, or outright lies made about Blacks and Muslims in America. But rather America's bigotry, or intolerance of other races and beliefs, accompanied with racism and a lack of truly understanding diversity, and not their twisted definition of diversity, and worst of all DENIAL of intolerance, bigotry and racism will be America's downfall.

What You Watchin' Common? A Response To Common's Comments About Obama's Legacy Pt 1.

Painting courtesy of the artist.

One of the lies we(Black people) tell ourselves is that we're making progress...We're 

not making progress. We tend to equate progress with concessions. We can no

longer make that mistake...

...There is no difference between the Democratic and the Republican Party. The 

similarities are greater than the differences in those parties. What's the 

difference between Lynch' em Johnson and Goldwater? None!

But a lot of you (Black people) running around, talking about you Democrat, 

and the Democrats got you in the biggest trick going! They tell you "it ain't our fault,

it's the Dixiecrats' (another way of saying Republican) fault!" There's no such thing as 

a Dixiecrat! The only difference between George Wallace and Lyndon Johnson is one 

of them's wife got cancer. But you go for it.  You go for it because you're chumps...

You enjoy being lied to...

Excerpts from a 1968 address to the Black Panthers by H. Rap Brown (now Imam Jamil Al-Amin)

For all intended purposes, I am a huge fan of  legendary rapper Common, and I thoroughly

enjoy most of his work, especially his 2014 album "Nobody's Smiling",  which I still rock to this day. At a time when Black youth are being socialized and conditioned to render any Black person dead or alive, and over the age of 30 as old, dead and/or irrelevant, while simultaneously rocking apparel with Marilyn Monroe's 1950's, old dead image plastered on it, I found it comforting that a legendary rapper produced a relevant and remarkable album about the plight of today's urban youth, especially in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, complete with guest appearances from younger contemporary rappers. This was achieved without trying too hard to sound "updated" or appeal to only a younger audience. I found it very insightful, and something that every music fan and art enthusiast should enjoy. 

I even found myself coming to his defense somewhat after the backlash concerning comments he made in a 2015 interview with former host of  The Daily Show Jon Stewart about Blacks "getting past the history of racism and slavery" by extending their hands in love, and not fists. This and other comments raised the ire of many Blacks, which led to calling Common names such as Uncle Tom, sellout, and mostly the word used so popularly now, coon.  While wildly disagreeing with his stance concering racism in America and how to deal with it, I can neither agree with the oversimplification and the dismissive nature of those who oppose his view by simple name calling, and especially a sellout, or a coon. It goes to show how those who utter these words ad nauseam do not have any idea what they mean.

Common's stance towards racism is a typical Black Christian stance, a passive, "turn-the-other-cheek" stance, which goes over well concerning both White conservatives and liberals' interests. Neither of the two can fathom the idea of Blacks and other people of color or minorities going beyond mere marching, singing and voting, and becoming more aggressive and even militant in seeking justice from a country which has basically turned a deaf ear to the cries of the slain and marginalized.

But what worries me about Common, as well as others who uphold this approach is the lack of understanding of who really benefits from constantly turning the cheek at those who continue  to strike, maim, and kill Blacks without any impunity. It's not about Blacks wanting mere "payback" or "getback",  or "kill Whitey" but there is nothing in place in this country to deter these hateful people from committing these heinous crimes. Years of singing "all you need is love" and passing ineffective hate crime and civil rights bills have produced nothing, at least for Black people, and in particular Black men. 

While he and others like to push Dr. Martin Luther King's philosophy of non-violence, even at the expense of self-defense, it seems that it only encourages the aggressors to amplify their "terror" (YEAH I SAID IT...TERROR!) and terrorism. The reality remains that these actions stem from a ideological belief, and only the removing of these racial fallacies that encourage racists and bigots to disenfranchise and slaughter those who they deem inferior and blame for the moral decay of the nation( nevermind the statistics proving otherwise) will begin the process of healing. Love cannot conquer hate, despite what Marvin Gaye said. 

NOTE: I didn't mean to go this far into depth concerning Common's past comments on The Daily Show, however after careful consideration I felt I had to elaborate further on it, due to the emergence of a peculiar pattern that seems to land Common on shows like The Daily Show, and recently Chelsea, with host Chelsea Handler, which provides Blacks who hold similar views a platform to broadcast their "views" and "opinions". In reflecting on this I'm reminded of a statement 

by Frances Stoner Saunders in her book The Cultural Cold War which stated;

"The most effective propaganda was defined by the CIA as the kind where the subject moves to the position you desire, but for reasons he believes to be his own."

. 

Seems like a long time ago when Mos Def (now Yasiin Bey) boldly declared on Bill Maher's show that Osama Bin Laden was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Nowadays Bill spends time talking about "radical Muslims" and "terrorists" with panels of people, and not one of them will include an

actual Muslim. Which makes Common's appearances on these shows nowadays all the more suspect. And no I'm not calling him an agent. 

Now let's get to the heart of the matter....


PART 2 COMING SOON....

Still At It....

12 x 16 Pastel painting entitled Safe and Sound. 

Just when I got into the groove of blogging, other things pop up, and blogging takes a back seat. I'm preparing for a showcase coming up in which yours truly will exhibit my work to my local community, something I haven't done in 5 years, and it's been long overdue. This one here promises to be somewhat different than the previous showcase, due to changes in certain areas, especially in the rebuilding of the local library. This is a big plus for me, because not only do I get to exhibit my work, I can also access classrooms with projectors and screens, and trust me, I do have something planned for that as well. I don't want to spill all of the beans right now, but just to inform those who started getting into the habit of reading my blog regularly that I would be off the social topics for a while, but only on this platform.

 I know I had not finished the blog concerning Leslie Jones and Milo Yiannopolous, but in this age of fast food information and hot gossip, it's become passe' anyway, not that it's no longer important to discuss the issue, but one with much insight will see this issue pop up in another way shape or form, and the Leslie vs. Milo incident can be used as a reference point. But that's for people who value critical thinking and reasoning, which is not what our world is concerned with. 

Anyway an extra special thanks to those who take the time to read my lil' ol' blog, it is greatly appreciated. Not to get too involved with stats and metrics, which brings me back to my old customer service rep ways (UGGGH!) but last month set personal records for my blog in terms of views and readership. It's only fitting that I show gratitude in some form for those who take the time out of their busy schedule to come and See What I See (CWATIC). 

Until next time, take care and hang tight, we're only getting started here. 

Peace. 

Leslie and Milo Part 2

TO CONTINUE: This past week I went to an event held at my local library where the poet, Jamaal May, recited a few poems and spoke briefly about certain aspects of his poetry, and current events surrounding us. He touched on something that impacted me in my blogging approach, where he stated that things happens so fast and are captured by social media outlets so quick, what could be news today will be considered old and irrelevant in a matter of days.

That is one of the main reasons why I try to approach my blogs differently, not just focusing on what just happened, but the lingering after effects of what occurred, and to see if there were indicators that would have led to incidents like this. The situation with Leslie Jones and Milo Yiannopulous was to me not just an event that happened on social media, then came the ouster of Milo from Twitter and so forth. This had been building up apparently, when one research both individuals past, and how it was really only a matter of time before something like this would occur, for both Milo and Leslie.

It just seemed that no one cared when Milo went on to defame Islam, while acknowledging on Joe Rogans' Youtube Show that this world will be better off if people adhered to Judeo-Christian values, which he happens to be a frequent violator of.  Some of the values he blasts Islam for holding are parallel to values he claim to espouse, especially the prohibition of homosexuality, sex outside of marriage althogether, the man being the head of the household, among others. That's what makes him suspect, the obvious pandering to the Judeo-Christian community, while accusing Islam of holding the same values. It should be considered shameful to see some conservative groups and outlets use this person as some form of resource to debate and attack others' beliefs as well as signifying a sign of desperation. This is not the first time this happened. Remember The Cold War?

This form of bigotry would ultimately catch up with him when the Twitter catfight took place, prompting several other unintelligent minds to hurl the most hurtful of slurs at Leslie Jones, especially the reference to her as an ape. Milo's continuing rants and antagonistic ways opens the door for the most insidious of racists and bigots to hurl insults at those they hate, all the while confirming the backwardness of this society, as well as the world itself, despite the so-called advancements in technology, proving that people can still degenerate and stoop to the lowest forms of stupidity, and behave in levels of ignorance one could never imagine.

But don't think for one minute that I'm pro-Leslie here. Although the incident was sickening and uncalled for, I cannot say this caught me by surprise. Not to toot my own horn, but in March of this year, after watching the Ghostbusters trailer on Youtube, I found myself adding Leslie to the list of Black women being protrayed in the media in some of the worst ways imaginable.

And this was before I did any true research on Leslie, but more on that to come.

                                         TO BE CONTINUED...

Click Here for Part One http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/07/leslie-and-milo-two-branches-off-same.html

Leslie and Milo :Two Branches Off The Same Tree (Part One)

Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, yet what is in their hearts is worse.

The Holy Quran, Surah Ali Imran (Chapter 3) verse 118

...the most effective form of propaganda is when the subject moves in the direction you desire for reasons he believe to be of his own.

The Cultural Cold War,  by Frances Stonor Saunders

The intent of this blog is much more far-reaching than just focusing on that hideous Twitter cat-fight between Milo Yiannopulous and actress Leslie Jones, star of Saturday Night Live and the recent remake of the movie Ghostbusters. This blog intends to go into depth about two individuals, whom although they appear to be entirely different, actually have more in common than you think. Both are attention seekers, deal with the mind-warping media, relying on unfunny jokes, wit (dim-wit is more like it), and rely on stereotypes and misinformation to butter their bread and garner attention. The only real difference is while Leslie involves herself with what is called "ethnic humor" and comedy, Milo just focuses on making fun of other's beliefs and ethnicities.

Milo is a strange breed of all sorts. A self-proclaimed Jewish/Catholic who is openly gay, claiming to acknowledge Christianity's prohibition of homosexuality on Joe Rogan's Youtube show, yet claims he can't cure himself of it, and yet this same individual blasts Islam because of ITS prohibition of homosexuality, using the suspicious Orlando, Florida massacre as a pretext to accuse Islam of homophobia, whatever the hell that means.


SIDE NOTE 1: Islam is the Way of Life prescribed for those who submit themselves to God, referred to in Arabic as Muslims.  Despite the propaganda by bigots and liars like Milo, who infest all forms of media, the prohibition of homosexuality in Islam is reserved only for MUSLIMS. Islam does not concern itself with the sexual mores of those who do not claim to be Muslim, unless either one lives in a society where Islam is the Rule of Law (in which those who have sex outside of marriage even if heterosexual are also punished as well, Muslim or non-Muslim) or try to undermine the Islamic Way of Life with their personal mores and beliefs. Besides that, non-Muslims in general do not fall under this prohibition, especially those who live in Non-Islamic societies. 

SIDE NOTE 2: The people of Prophet Lot (AS) were not destroyed for their disobedience, but they were destroyed for their disbelief and denial.  The Quran clearly speaks of this when it says;

And We said "Go down all of you. And when Guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My Guidance, there will be no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. And whoever DISBELIEVES and DENIES My Signs, those will be the Companions of the Fire, they will abide in forever... Surah Baqarah (Chapter 2) verses 38-39

And Lot, when he said to his people, do you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you among the worlds? Indeed you approach men with desire, instead of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people. But the answer of his people was only that they said "Evict them from your city, indeed these are MEN OF PURITY."   So We saved him and his family, except for his wife, she was of those who remained.  Surah Al Ar'af (Chapter 7), verses 80-84.

SIDE NOTE 3: There is no evidence in the Quran or The Sunnah in any way to justify or validate what happened in Orlando, Florida as being Islamic, especially considering these facts;

1. The people were not Muslim.

2. They were not in an Islamically run environment.

3. There was no evidence showing any of them were hostile to Islam, nor even heard of Islam. Islam concerns itself with calling the people to its Way, not killing.

As I stated in my last blog, when someone does not like you, there's nothing you can do to change them. All you can do is take control of the narrative.

Anyway, I took the dubious and unpleasurable task of watching certain excerpts of this dialogue between Rogan and Milo, concentrating on the part where things got really heated, and being a former Christian, I felt Milo was not being sincere in most, if not all of his responses, but was in fact very patronizing of Joe Rogan, and the Christian religion, talking about his alleged sexual encounters with Catholic priests, and proclaiming that if he could in his own words, "cure his homosexuality", he would.

I came out of that wondering if Joe knew when somebody was playing him for a fool.

Even more troubling are the conservatives who employ or support this guy simply because of his "logical" arguments against feminism, the Left, his racist beliefs, and his undeniable bigotry towards Islam, which had him rubbing elbows with fellow propagandist Pamela Gellar, the co-creator of the Prophet Muhammad cartoon drawing contest disguised as "free speech", and founder of the pseudo-patriotic American Freedom Defense Initiative, supposedly dedicated to stopping the "Islamicization" of America, a phrase which along with radical Islam, Islamic extremism, and fanatical Islam I have yet seen defined by these propagandists. Together with sites like Answering Islam, with its rabidly inaccurate article 164 Jihad Verses In The Quran, it seems that these people will stop at nothing to have their idea become the dominant thought or belief in America, and throughout the world. Even if it means lying and deceiving, something supposedly abhorred in the Holy Bible...

Do not steal, do not lie, and do not deal falsely with one another... 

The Holy Bible, Leviticus 19:11

It just seems nowadays The Truth Don't Matter.

The Softening of the Sting...More Harm Than Good CONCLUSION

To Conclude: The purpose of digressing from the main topic of this blog serves to show that regardless of any attempts to use Muhammad Ali's life and death as a glowing example of a more "peaceful" ,"progressive" and "moderate" version of Islam and a beacon of American values, the PR campaign does more harm than good for Muslims in America.

The reality is that Muslims, like other marginalized and fringe groups in America, must come to understand they are in the middle of a battle of ideas within American society, mainly between conservatives and liberals, to which neither side Islam has a total alliance and affinity with. Both philosophies express White supremacist thoughts and ideas with regards to other races, cultures, creeds and religions, although the approach and tactics may differ. Since the rapid growth of Muslims and the Islamic Way of Life in the 1990s, especially among the indigenous population, America has had to come to grips with the reality that Islam in America is growing and is not going away anytime soon, so attempts to stifle, diffuse, and neutralize its potential growth, influence and power have become a priority, despite the huge amount of statistical evidence to prove that the fall of the American society is a product of its own undoing.

Accomodating Muslims will always find themselves ping-ponging on both sides in a futile effort to assimilate into a society that has not fixed its internal issues, beit structural racism, government corruption, crime, drug abuse, failing educational system, or the decline of societal values and priorities which has some people valuing the life of dogs over humans. Homicides, suicides, deaths by alcohol and other drugs, along with death by diseases continue to plague the country, reaching newer heights almost annually, yet all of that is trumped by claims of a so-called global terrorist group seeking to "Islamicize" a country in which Muslims only represent 2.5 to 3 percent of the population.

SIDE NOTE: Islam sees the life of this world as a test, as stated in numerous versus in the Quran, such as the 67th Surah Al Mulk, verse 2: 

It is He(Allah) Who created death and life in order to test those who are best in deeds...

Islam does not encourage any forcing of the religion on one who does not believe on one's own volition. There is no need nor use for forced conversions, as some claim, for they do nothing for the soul in the Hereafter.

To Continue: Conservative propaganda continues to range from the overtly bigoted sites such as Answering Islam to all forms media which basically tells its readers that ALL Muslims cannot be trusted, and are potential terrorists, that Islam is to blame for the destruction of the Twin Towers, to discount dissenting opinions among American citizens regarding 9/11 as conspiracy theorists, how Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) encouraged everything from suicide bombings to domestic violence without giving actual evidence, or using gross distortion of texts, such as the article 164 Jihad Verses in the Quran, where any verse containing words such as kill, fight, die, blood, retaliate and so on are listed as a verse allegedly proving Islam's preoccupation with fighting and killing. No such evidence exists in such texts, however despite the Religious Rights' claim to The Ten Commandments in The Holy Bible, in which one of those commandments levy stern warnings against bearing false witness against thy neighbor, conservatives continue an assault filled with distortions and blatant lies to their Muslim neighbors.

Liberal propaganda against Islam is of a different substance, yet it wishes to produce the same results. Claiming that "Truth is relative", "All religions hold truths" and "All religions encourage people to do good", liberal propaganda seeks to destroy the notion of an Absolute Deity and an Absolute Truth, as long is the notion is pertaining to their conservative counterparts. Allegations of possessing phobias such as the recent Orlando, Florida shooting, which has new twists and turns to the story appear daily, claims of misogyny and inequality among the sexes permeate throughout. Adding to this is the support and propagation of Sufism, a self-proclaimed, mystical version of Islam that claims to look beyond mere Sacred Text, and finding the personal connection with the Divine. This sect is supported by such people as Oprah Winfrey, who along with the rest of the liberal contingency, like it's conservative counterpart, wishes to rid Islam of its essence, which is encased in Shariah, or Islamic Law.

Neither of these approaches have sufficiently given any definition of what Radical Islam means, but instead flood the media with pictures, videos, soundbytes, and distorted writings about what it claims to believe, but as of yet has not given a definition of Radical Islam itself. If one doesn't believe the bloggers' claims, then Google it for yourself. You will not find a clear cut definition, but instead a description which at best is merely subjective, and in the eyes of the beholder.

But in closing all of this would be for naught if the Muslims did not believe in the propaganda pushed on both sides, and not use the subversive terminology which floods these airwaves, intended to cause division, dissension, and dissolution of the True Islamic Way of Life. Some Muslims have taken it among themselves to align themselves with groups and organizations that are contrary to the Islamic ideas in an attempt to placate and diffuse an already ignorant and/or bigoted society, ready to attack and scream extremists and radical at the first instance of an alleged ISIS attack, even if no evidence is found to support such an event.

It is of the utmost importance that Muslims establish credible venues and outlets that give a clear definition of Islam, using evidence from the two main sources in Islam, the Quran and the Sunnah of Its Last Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) to dispel all rumors and accusations, and to set forth a premise so non-Muslims can see for themselves, instead of holding circus acts, such as Muhammad Ali's funeral, which should have been a few days after his death, and holding memorial services with eulogies by politicians and so called interfaith groups claiming tolerance and diversity. Islam is in no need of such PR campaigns to prove that it is not intolerant of other beliefs and ways.

Muslims who use words such as fanatical, radical, extreme and the like to distinguish and distance themselves from what the media says will not stop others from attacking Islam, nor will fatwas (Islamic rulings regarding a particular issue) from accommodating scholars. If someone does not like you, there is nothing you can do to change that. Only the wresting of this terrorist and radical narrative from the liars and media magicians, along with giving a complete and true analysis of Islam can one give a true perspective as to whether or not a group is treading the True Path or has deviated, or has become a misguided and disbelieving group, and in some cases a hypocritical group (Munaafiq, a term for one who feigns Islam but wishes to destroy it), and the person will have a true account in place.

In other words as the Nigerian proverb goes, "Don't let the lion tell the giraffes' story." 

Click here to go to Part One:

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali.html

To Read Part Two, Click on the link;

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali_15.html

To Read Part Three, Click on the link:

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-big-switcheroomore-harm-than-good.html

The Big Switcheroo...MORE HARM THAN GOOD CONTINUED.

To continue: Labeling someone a deviant indicates there was an established system already in place, yet for whatever reasons, beit ignorance or willful deception, some people wish to tread a different path. Islam strongly denounces such actions, as well as sectarian groups who attempt to create their own niche. The methodology of implementing the Islamic Way of Life came only through the Prophets of God, ending with Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Only he and God(Allah) alone can sanction any action with the intention of servitude, or in arabic ibaadah.

But in efforts to distort and manipulate, appropriate terms such as deviant, inventor (mubtadi), liar (kadhab), transgressor or sinner (faasiq), wrongdoer (dhaalim), and astray (dhaaleen) are replaced with extremists, terrorists and such to intentionally mislead, and from there comes as the late psychoanalyst Edward L. Bernays coined as "The Engineering of Consent". The creations of "anti-Shariah" laws in certain states, which have now been renamed as "anti-foreign" laws to disguise bigotry towards Islam, as well as the Patriot Act, which allowed spying on American citizens all come from this social engineering and social control.

To further illustrate the point, looking at the profiles of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and the current so-called khalifah of the group ISIS, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi (which is not his real name mind you), Wikipedia classifies both individuals as "Sunni Muslims" (another descriptive term that does not exist). This implies that all of their actions have their basis in core Islamic principles. That means when one hears reports of suicide bombings, or internet beheadings, kidnappings, all which are designed to antagonize the so-called "free world" and challenge the "free world" to come and fight, it has it's roots in  "Sunni" Islam, although there is absolutely no evidence to suggest such actions are permissible or even make sense, especially in the constant proclaimation of committing such horrendous acts by certain so-called groups.

Wikipedia also has a site entitled WikiIslam, a page dedicated to discussing Islamic topics only. On this site I found a horrendous article intent on discussing a statement made by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) regarding men who are killed for the religion receiving 72 virgins in Paradise as a reward. Using an array of information, mostly not attributed to the Quran and/or the Prophet(S) himself, as well as unauthenticated statements reportedly made by him,  this article goes to great lengths to 1) describe the Islamic concept of Paradise as a pleasure palace, complete with orgy-esque and free-flowing sex amongst the men and 2) Show justification of the modern-day concept of suicide bombings, or some refer to it as "martyrdom operations".

For the sake of digressing even further, I plan to address that particular article in the very near future, but what I can state now with surety and clarity that there is no evidence that Islam sanctions such actions, and how can such actions be attributed to "Sunni Islam" when there is no such concept mentioned by the Prophet of killing oneself in order to kill others, nor was such actions even possible during his time? History tells us that explosives and gunpowder were invented two centuries after his death! So if "Sunni Islam" is to follow the Way of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), how can he give such directives without knowing what is an explosive?

 It represents an excellent case in point with regards to the quote "A lie can travel halfway across the globe, while the truth is putting on its shoes." Truth sometimes require extensive research, and those who show so much animosity towards others so much so that they are willing to lie about another's lifestyle or culture can realize the tedious task of finding out the truth in a matter by looking up several sources, and going to the official text to ascertain the truth.

So why the long drawn out digression from the initial topic of Muhammad Ali? 

     (To Be Continued)

Click here to go to Part One:

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali.html

To Read Part Two, Click on the link;

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali_15.html

More Harm Than Good: Making Muhammad Ali The Face of Islam CONTINUED

Blogger Note: This blog entitled MORE HARM THAN GOOD: Making Muhammad Ali The Face Of Islam began construction a few hours before the Orlando, FL shooting took place, where a young man, now being fashioned by the media as another "radical Islamic" terrorist, allegedly opened fire in a crowded gay club, and single-handedly killed as many as over 50 people, and injuring over 50 more.  It is the sincere belief of the blogger that one should not try to deconstruct EVERY incident that is blamed on the Islamic Way of Life, because the accusations are plenty. Rather than spend precious amounts of energy trying to deconstruct ALL claims produced by the media and non-Muslim entities bent on propaganda, the blogger believes it is much better to create a premise to use as a reference point, so that the people can see for themselves, and make up their own minds. That is one of the primary intentions of this specific blog about Muhammad Ali. It is not just a commentary about an individual or an event, but also a statement and a premise regarding the Islamic Way of Life, as well as a critique and a reflection regarding the tactics and methods some people use to distort and besmirch another's way of life, and finally a reflection of those who try to placate and diffuse an already misinformed and/or bigoted audience. So for the sake of continuity, the blogger wishes not to dedicate an entire blog or blogs regarding the Orlando shootings, and the recently alleged attacks in France. 

To continue: Answering Islam is a crystal clear case of people openly and intentionally misleading its readers with obvious distortions of Quranic verses and Islamic concepts, in an attempt to defile and defame the Islamic Way of Life. If one had the time and resources, it would be very easy to respond to such a vicious website, and clarify matters regarding its content, particularly 164 Jihad Verses in the Quran, but here one piece of clear evidence should be enough to destroy its credibility, and affirm its clear bigotry towards Islam.

But not to be outdone by the likes of Answering Islam is the so-called free online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Boasting free and robust content on almost any relevant issue, Wikipedia tries to symbolize democratization of information with free and accurate information regarding its discussed topics, and the supposed ability of anyone being able to edit its content. This in itself poses a serious problem, for what could be here today may be gone tomorrow, and what appears today may be totally inaccurate. What could be removed due to inaccuracies may not be reported and re-issued as a retraction and/or a correction.  Looking through Wikipedia's content regarding Islam, one finds bountiful distortions and inaccuracies regarding Islam in need of re-editing.

Type the words "radical Islam" in the search box, and you're automatically linked to the topic of Islamic fundamentalism. This represents a subversive attempt of describing the basic fundamentals of Islam, encased in a construct known as Shariah, often translated as Islamic Law. In other words, one is automatically connecting Islamic law to radicalism. The problem with this is severalfold. For starters, when you add words to Islam, especially words like radical, extreme, militant, etc., it automatically becomes a descriptive noun. A descriptive noun serves to indicate a specific person, place, thing or idea in an evocative or descriptive manner, rather than general. (source WiseGEEK)

Descriptive nouns can fall under two main categories, objective and subjective, and those who refer to Islam as extreme, militant, intolerant, radical and such usually fall under holding subjective opinions of Islam. Examples such as the woman's form of dress when in the presence of men not closely related, gender roles of the sexes, the permissibility to fight back when attacked by opposing forces, the declaration of absolute truth, and others are usually lumped into these descriptive, opinionated forms of Islam by its detractors. Unless the reader is aware of what is going on, and does not study the information on their own, one may find oneself holding the same opinions expressed by the propagandist using such  persuasive techniques. 

This propaganda usually results in what you're witnessing today when you hear of Muslims being thrown off airplanes, although they've passed through more intensive security screening than the average non-Muslim flyer, the Ahmed Mohamed clock incident that occurred in Irving, Texas last year, the numerous states attempting to pass anti-Shariah laws, using radicalization as a false pretext, to the shooting of the Muslim students in Chapel Hill, NC by a confirmed atheist, to other sad conclusions affecting the Muslim community, psychologically, economically, and in some cases, spiritually. 

Through the use of propaganda and modern technology, the word extremism has become so synonymous with Islam, it's as if you're saying the same thing. Sites like Wikipedia throw this word around very liberally when it comes to Islam, and the masses consume this with no regard to truth or validity. 

For instance, the Khawarij is a sect that has its roots in early post-Prophethood history. They held some views contrary to the core beliefs outlined by the Qur'an and the Sunnah(the Prophetic Explanation of Revelation consisting of actions and statements made by Prophet Muhammad(S). In this article you will find the words radical and extreme, like other articles in describing the Khawarij views, but they, like other media outlets they have suspiciously refrained from using the one word that describes them best, as well as other groups who don't tread the straight and narrow Path of Islam. Deviants. 

There's a simple explanation for that. If one is referred to as a deviant, it automatically denotes that one is off the established course, or Straight Path, and one is forced to research the true Islamic position of any issue. But when you classify something as extreme or radical, you're implying that there is something there that can be taken out of context. 

       (To Be Continued.)

Click here to go to Part One:

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali.html

More Harm Than Good: Making Muhammad Ali The Face of Islam(Part One)

Over the past week and a half we have seen a constant stream of articles, mostly paying tribute to the late boxer and humanitarian, Muhammad Ali, who passed on June 3rd from complications regarding his long-time bout with Parkinson's disease, which he was diagnosed with shortly after retiring in 1980.

While no one can deny there was a time when Ali was the most recognizable human on Earth, as well as the most recognizable of Muslims, some of the articles seem to have gone to great lengths to place him in a league of his own, referring to him as the face of "real Islam", or "America's first Muslim Hero." Such lofty accolades are given, considering the fact there was a time when Ali rubbed many Americans the wrong way, mostly White Americans, with his critique of race relations, his refusal to enter into the military service, his relationship with Malcolm X(Al-Hajj Malik Shabbazz), his defiance, and his constant rants and never-ending taunts of his opponents inside the ring.

Three articles come to mind, two of them similarly titled; one reads Muhammad Ali: America's First Muslim Hero, by Dean Obeidallah, a comedian of Palestinian and Italian descent, the other Muhammad Ali: America's First and Last Muslim Hero by Lorraine Ali, a journalist of Iraqi and French-Canadian descent. Together with an article from Al-Jazeera, a satellite channel based in the country of Qatar, entitled Muhammad Ali; The Face of "real Islam", these articles attempted to portray Ali as the  "true" image of Islam, with his promotion of peace, love, humility and supposed grace, his humanitarian ventures. Lorraine Ali tries to express in her article his "embracing American values" of hard work, fighting against racism and bigotry, and still becoming a beloved figure in the American mainstream.

What all three articles also intended was to portray Ali in the image of "moderate Islam", contrasting with "militant or radical Islam" in light of the mega-blitz of bigotry against Muslims in America and throughout the world, mostly generated by the media. This portrayal has had very negative effects against Muslims in the Western world. Having experience persecution, murdered, unjust incarceration, threats, laid off from jobs, and having laws being made against them using a suspicious claim of  "terrorism" ,"radical Islam" ,"radicalization" or as some would say "Islamicization". This is intended to caste Islam as an intolerant, belligerent way of life. The propagation of such beliefs give rise to some of the most despicable deeds such as the protests whereas people stand around the Muslims' place of worship, some carrying firearms claiming to "protect themselves" from the evil, bad, terrorists, and their "forced" conversions and Islamicization of America.

The articles also attempt to portray Islam as having values in line with "American values". The problem with such an attempt is that it fails to take into consideration the constant war of ideas taking place in America, as well as the rest of the Western world, where once conservatism ruled the political, social, and economic landscape, but is now being fiercely attacked by the liberal contingency. So these American values that Islam share a commonality with seem ambiguous, and Islam in America finds itself caught in the middle of trying to align itself, if ever possible, with whoever seems to be winning the war of ideas. The latest examples being that of feminism (often called women's rights), same sex marriage, homosexuality, and the transgender issue.

But the biggest problem with these articles is that the authors give the reader the assumption that there is such a concept of radical Islam, a concept not really fully described by anyone, especially since most of the articles, videos, reports and documentaries about radical Islam comes from outside the Muslim community anyway. Just Google the phrase radical Islam and you will come up with so many articles which discuss the concept, but none can ever give clear definitions of what radical Islam is. And where there is such definitions, it's usually provided with such outrageous distortions of the foundations and fundamental beliefs of Islam, that it seems inconceivable that such claims can be made without checking all of the facts. One cannot possibly think that such individuals who pride themselves as being "thinking", "intelligent" beings will stoop so low as to reintrepret Islamic concepts to fit their bigoted conclusions, but alas the propaganda is plentiful.

Take the website Answering Islam, a Christian website designed to prove the "brutalness" of the Islamic Way of Life. This site has an article entitled 164 Jihad Verses In The Quran, an outrageous claim that these verses in the Quran all relate to Jihad, a grossly distorted concept propagated by some non-Muslims, and even some ignorant Muslims. What is found in this article is a hodge-podge of misinformation, whereas the author/s took great liberty at redefining Jihad as simply holy war, then took verses out of the Quran which contained words like kill, death, fight, retaliate, and so on, with the intention of casting Islam as a religion of violence. Regardless of the context, these verses were posted as evidence of Islam's preoccupation with fighting and death.

One erroneous example given can be found in two verses from the second chapter, Surah Al Baqarah. The verses involved, verses 178-179 deal with the concept of Qisaas, or retailiation. The verses clearly apply to the event in which a Muslim intentionally kills another Muslim without right. The victim, or the victims' family in the case of murder has the option of either retailiation, or compensation (diya);

2:178-179 Oh you who believe! Retaliation(Qisaas) is prescribed upon you in the matter of the slain; the free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. But if any remission is made for you by the aggrieved, then the diya(blood-money) should be made according to usage, and payment should be made in a good manner. This is an alleviation from your Lord, and a mercy, and whoever exceeds the limits after this, will suffer a painful chastisement.

Clearly these verses relate to dealing with the matter of Muslims killing other Muslims, yet Answering Islam chooses to display this as one of the verses relating to Jihad, which means to struggle on all fronts, not holy war. One would like to think that this is merely an oversight, but one can only make excuses for so long before suspecting other agendas.

                                                          (To be continued)

To Read Part Two, Click on the link;
http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali_15.html

What's Good For The Goose...(More Sick Puppies RE-EDITED)

Just when I thought I was finally over with the One Sick Puppy blogs, another incident to use as an example pops up. I guess that what happens when you're dealing with one sick puppy, huh?

This incident involves a 24 year old female teacher who recently turned herself in to authorities after fleeing, following allegations that she not only had been having sexual relations with a 13 year old male student, but was impregnated by him until recently aborting the baby.

It seems the teacher, who taught at a middle school in Houston, Texas, had been having sexual relations with the student for quite some time, even at the cognizance of some fellow students, as well as the parents, who supported the relationship so much so they even allowed the teacher to come and pick up the boy (because that's what he is...a boy) on occasions and spend the night at her house, in order to take him to school the next day.

But again, we took the allegations against Bill Cosby and Afrika Bambaataa,  broadcasting them nationwide, and presenting them as some twisted form of promoting some type of dialogue aimed at combating sexual abuse, misogyny, and other forms of sexual deviance, as if only men, or Black men, are capable of committing such unscrupulous acts.

I noticed the reactions from most of the people, and didn't bat an eye over the fact that very few, if any of the comments used words such as pedophile, predator, molestation, rape or assault in such an instance. Such words are not commonly used in cases where women are the accused. Those words are usually reserved to be used as ammo in the gender wars, mainly perpetuated and propagated by the modern-day feminists, designed to give the impression of victimization at the hands of the brutal, savage, male and his hetero-patriarchal empire that he designed and imposes on the masses of the people.

Just as bad was the response by some of the men who took one look at the photo, and gave the teacher a pass. This type of response is a reflection on the state of the modern day male(not man, but male), prone to look at things from a superficial perspective, being at least influenced, if not addicted to different levels of porn, and being conditioned by a media flooded with sex, sports and superhero movies, giving him at best a jaded look on life. This is the same media that is now promoting the girl-power anthems (especially Beyonce and Black feminism) that Kay Hymowitz, author of Manning Up: How The Rise Of Women Turned Men Into Boys goes into discussion in her book.

Some of the people tried to use twisted logic in this instance, citing laws regarding permissibility for one at such a young age to marry as a way of justifying such a relationship, yet how many of those people would consent to such a relationship if the situation was reverse?

Take a look at what happened last year when ex-Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Molly Shattuck, 48 years old at the time,  was charged with serving alcohol and having sex with a 15 year old boy, carrying a 15 year maximum sentence, with no mandatory minimum. What was the result? She basically gets probation, spending every other week in a work-release detention center. What are chances that she will be labeled a sex offender, and treated in the same respect as men who are convicted? Phrases such as molestor and statutory rape seem to elude situations that involve women.

Back in the day when the preponderance of evidence suggested men were more susceptible to commit such acts, it was much easier to sling terms and phrases like rape culture around, but now we are force to look at the fact that rather than labeling this a rape culture, we have to look at the reality for what is really going on. The increase in incidents like these are indicative that we are living in an over-sexed or a hypersexed society, not a rape culture. Incidents like this only give a reflection of where our priorities lie in this society, where true feelings and emotions are caste out, arousal, lust and desire take center stage, and one night stands and booty calls become mere corner talk. Where sex and love become misrepresented and redefined to a point where no one can tell the difference between the two.

This is a culture that finds nothing wrong with the concept of casual sex, as long as one uses protection. A culture that sexualizes everything from sporting events to even religious holidays. Halloween nights are now filled with grown-up women dressing as French maids, hookers, vixens, promiscuous nurses, and the like. A culture that attaches the words porn and gasm as suffixes to practically anything from food to shoes, such as the Facebook page entitled Shoe Box's Porn, a page cluttered with some of the most outrageous shoes created, usually seen on some of the most raunchy of women.

A culture like this cannot ever foster healthy relationships between men and women, but contribute to the growing divide between the sexes. Men and women will always look towards each other in disagreement, based on media-induced propaganda designed to keep the two at odds. The never ending cycle of hurt and mistrust will engulf the masses, and the masses will continue to tread the path of hurting each other, and all that will be left are damaged goods, trying the make the best of a bleak situation.

The advent of "sex-positive" feminism does nothing to help solve this issue, with women now being encouraged to "redefine" and "embrace" their sexuality, influencing other women to adopt this schizophrenic notion of being sexually liberated, while maintaining their "dignity", intelligence and "respect". As long as the woman seems to be in control of the situation, like feminist pornography, they see nothing wrong with such issues. Many Black feminist see nothing wrong with the popular TV show Scandal, although they speak of man's misogyny, patriarchy and such, yet the idea of a White married patriarchal figure having an affair with a Black woman seems not to bother them, as long as they feel that she exudes some form of perceived power.

It must also be noted that such situations like these should not in any fashion be taken as some badge of honor for the young man, or BOY, who through the act of sex can simply misinterpret what being a man is as simply being able to sexually satisfy an adult woman, nor should it be taken as a rite of passage for a young man. Such acts can cause as much psychological damage to the young man as to a young woman, regardless if the woman is willing and attractive, and the parents give consent to such activity.

On a side note, it should be duly noted that those who show disdain towards the movie Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song, starring Melvin Van Peebles, along with the writings of the late author Iceberg Slim, particularly the autobiography Pimp: The Story Of My Life should at least recognize the fact that despite the graphic sex and violence, and the portrayal of pimp life, both narratives started with a common theme not usually talked about. The sexualization of a young boy at the hands of an older woman.

Read Between The Lines: One Sick Puppy Continued

I really wanted to end the conversation on Afrika Bambaataa's sexual assualt allegations, however after listening to a couple of interviews on the subject, I felt like elaborating a little further on my stand that I took in the last blog.

My main point of contention took place when a Facebook friend shared an article dated May 4, 2016, entitled Dear Black Men, It's Time For Us To Talk About Afrika Bambaataa,  which appeared in an online Black celebrity gossip website called Bossip (I can only assume that's fusing the two words boss and gossip together.) This article attempts to exhort Black men to discuss the accusations against Afrika, regardless if they are true or not.

Bossip is owned by the Moguldom Media Group, which also owns Madame Noire and Hip Hop Wired, all three dealing primarily with celebrity gossip geared toward African Americans, with Bossip and Madame Noire focusing particularly on Black women. One is left wondering why would a website who is obviously preoccupied with gossip and patronized by more women than men just by reading most of the titles of the stories presented would all of a sudden turn advocate and exhort Black men to engage in a community forum to talk about one individual's allegations against him.

To drive home this point the article raised the Bill Cosby sexual assault allegations as some sort of example of how Black women "rose to the challenge" via social media in calling out Bill's misconduct, while most Black men refused to discuss the issue, and some accused the women involved of conspiring against Bill and/or Black men for many reasons. This gives the reader the idea that Black men's silence toward this issue either represented cowardice, shame, or worse tacital approval, which is what feminists have always tried to prove about men in the first place, especially Black men.

It left no room for consideration of men being cautious against speaking out of term or out of ignorance before all of the facts come in. Nope, it was either this or that, which is kinda funny when you think of people who speak against absolutism, yet would draw up their own absolute conclusions when they feel like it would benefit their argument.

Late last year I produced a video regarding Ebony Magazine's November issue entitled "The Family Issue" which was reported to raise "dialogue" of whether one could separate Bill Cosby from the fictitious character he created on The Cosby Show, the father figure Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable. Using a video clip taken from a CBS News interview with Kierna Mayo, recently appointed editor-in-chief of Ebony and self proclaimed Black feminist, and comparing the Cosby allegations with what happened with Willie Horton by conservatives in the late 80s, along with articles from The Root.Com, a Black feminist website owned by Univision, I set out to prove that there was more to this Ebony article, which even today remains unchallenged by so-called Black media. Due to the large file, I was unable to post it to the blog, but the Facebook link is below.

https://www.facebook.com/quwwa.davis/videos/10206244885695048/?l=5155088739720063097

The final point I want to bring up regarding the article is the claim made that one in six black men have been sexually assaulted as a child, a claim based on supposed research by author Robin D. Stone, author of No Secrets No Lies. I can't comment on the whole of the book, due to not having read this book, but I can express a level of wariness concerning these figures and its usage, especially in light of the attack by feminists and the propaganda of "street harrassment" "rape is about power and not about sex" and "rape culture", common phrases and terms used by feminists to demonize men. It coincides with the claim made by moderate feminist Christina Hoff Sommers, author of Who Stole Feminism, and The War On Boys, that a rape culture does not exist, but gender propaganda aimed at men and advocating laws that actually promote irrationality, double standards, and downright oppression of the opposite sex.





Afrika, Bill Cosby, or any other public Black male figure's personal issues should not be used in any sense to indict a collective group of men, especially when the advocacy comes from a celebrity gossip website, or any other crap the media pukes out. Unless that entity is implying that this indicative of ALL Black men, which Ebony and any other Black feminist or publication that focuses on women has tried to assert.

Creating hysteria and paranoia around one individual's allegations will do nothing for any community but hurt it tremendously, as it did with The War On Drugs, The War On Poverty, and The War On Terror.

Although I read this article after publishing the initial blog One Sick Puppy, it corroborates with every statement I made in the initial blog, of how a corrupt and mind warping media, mixing a few truths with a truckload of falsehoods, bent on sensationalism, and controlled by corporations and special interest groups preoccupied with propaganda, profits and power, can infect and corrupt an either unaware or uncaring public with lies and gossip, and how such an ignorant society can easily fall for such filth, and succumb to such nonsense that ultimately leads to suppression, and even genocide.


If you turn on the TV, all you see's a bunch of what-the-f***ks
Dude and dating so-and-so, blabbering 'bout such-and-such

And that ain't Jersey Shore, homey that's the news
And these the same people supposedly telling us the truth....

lyrics from the song "Words I Never Said", performed by Lupe Fiasco