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....

Today Was A Good Day...Well Sorta (PART ONE)

Last week was a momentous week for certain residents of Highland Hills, a small community located in Southeastern Dallas. For the past 8 YEARS the area lacked among other basic necessities a grocery store. Imagine 8 YEARS without a grocery store. Imagine having to go to another city to get food. Imagine having to ride the bus to go to another sector of Dallas, to go to a store and get fresh food. Imagine having to walk as much as 45 minutes to an hour to and from an adequate supermarket to get food. Imagine having to bring backpacks on your journey to load up with groceries to take back to your home. Imagine having to hop on the bus or walk with a couple of bags of chicken, a 15 pound bag of potatoes, a gallon of milk, bread, veggies among other things. I did all of that, and wore out numerous pairs of shoes in the process.

The previous local store, E-Zee Shop, which existed even before my parents arrived here in 1972, had become a shell of a supermarket until it closed around '07/'08. The atmosphere was dreary to say the least, and most of all meat, fruits and veggies were not up to par, the refrigerator equipment had become well outdated, causing meat and fruits/veggies to lose their freshness. Bread was rumored to have mold and droppings in them. I say rumors because I didn't witness it myself, but I clearly remember seeing Flour Weevils in a couple of cake mixes I purchased. When I went to the owner/operator to tell them what happened, they informed me of a switch in warehouses, mostly likely an older warehouse, as the reason for the change in the quality of food. 

Plus the people there were not always the best when it came to customer service. Some people had run ins with them. The old man who owned the building was somewhat cool, but after his death, it was off the hook. The story as some folks tell it was they closed up because they were robbed at gunpoint. Typical hood story, yeah I know.

However a neighboring tenant who ran her own tax service stated they were not only mean to customers, but also to her as well, and cited that mistreatment among local citizens may have actually caused the robbery, as an act of retaliation and not just some attempt to get money.

I can agree with that analysis, because after closing shop for several months, the same people came back as another so-called grocery store, this time they called themselves Value Giant, promising to open up as a totally different store, even promising to open a deli, and allow customers to rent DVDs. Doesn't sound to me like the robbery attempt affected them that much. 

Within days, maybe less than a week or two, Value Giant had to close down, selling off their meat at prices like 25 cents a pound. Did another robbery cause this to happen? Not at all. What happened was Value Giant was using E-Zee Shop's old outdated equipment (since they were the same people anyway), including the refrigerator, causing the meat to become brown and aged, and ultimately they could not operate any longer. My question is simply why would you try to re-open a store using the same antiquated, broken down, substandard equipment anyway? What does that say about your perception of the community you claim to serve?

Well you know how it is in the hood right? It's never their fault as to why these areas become targets of urban neglect, right? It's not the city's fault as to why a prison was built in the surrounding area before the crime actually came, right? It's all these damn criminals around here, right? Even if crime was not a problem at all, even when Highland Hills was considered a lower-middle class neighborhood designed and built especially for African-Americans who were looking to move their growing families into actual homes they could afford to buy, before the crack and drug era, before the proliferation of street gangs, but hey, let's not blame them, and definitely do not bring up the subject of racism. Racism and Dallas, Texas does not go together at all, even if in 2010 they allowed a casino named after a Native American tribe to post an offensive giant size advertisement in the middle of Downtown Dallas.

It's always the citizens' fault, and we blindly jump right on the bandwagon, with our self-hating, one -bad-apple-spoils-the-whole-bunch, believe everything they say about us, selves. Can you believe local ex and current politicians actually believed that developers refused to assist in "revitalizing" and investing in the area because of a few young Black men who wore baggy pants, and the supposed crime in the area? 

During a talk about art in 2013 one ex-politician tried to challenge me on not believing such an idea, leaving me to present the flyer that the city of Dallas was sending out in 2010, encouraging local residents to vote yes to allowing liquor and beer to be sold in local stores, claiming the money accumulated would help build roads, parks, and aid in the police force.

For more information on this please read my blog "Sobriety Is The New Enemy." Here is the link: http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2010/10/sobriety-is-new-enemy.html

So imagine this community being persuaded to allow a store that we don't have, because nobody wants to invest in such a "crime-ridden" area (code word for "a place filled with niggers") to sell a DRUG which contributes to up to 20,000 road deaths ANNUALLY, but not good enough to actually put a STORE with FRESH, QUALITY, AND REASONABLY PRICED FOOD in a neighborhood to aid and assist its citizens? And don't tell me nothing about paying taxes...We all know about taxation without representation...

Now that's gangsta nigga....

(TO BE CONTINUED)

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

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

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

Rights For Who?

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights, that among these are the Right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

   The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776...

   Have no faith in Constitution...

                    lyrics from the song "Spirits In The Material World", sung by The Police

I'm trying to think how long I tolerated the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith, before ejecting the DVD and placing it back in the case. I think it was somewhere around the 30-40 minute area. The last thing I can remember was this man accepting a full-time, no paying, intern position, while his living conditions greatly deteriorated, causing internal strife within the family, and ultimately leading to his wife leaving he and his son behind. He also spent the course of a year homeless while he pursued his quest for "happiness."

Today Chris Gardner, the protagonist of the movie, is touted as some type of shining example of "initiative", or as conservatives say "pulling up the bootstraps" and all that mumbo jumbo. Personally, I saw the movie as another scapegoat of avoiding the rights of the people upon its' government,  which is to insure justice among its citizens, by using media to persuade the ignorant masses that access to the basic necessities is a "privilege", and not a right.

What if this guy was unsuccessful in his pursuit? Would we have a movie entitled "Ni**er, Have You Lost Your Damn Mind?!" ? How many of us have been chastised or questioned for "quitting our day job," to follow our dreams, and pursue this ever-elusive "happiness"?

Looking back on this piece of propaganda now, and how it upset me so much, I think about the title itself and what it entails, and I think about the omission of the other "unalienable Rights" not mentioned in the title, which to me are more important than this "right" of the "Pursuit of Happiness", a vague "right" which was declared at the expense of the genocide of Native Americans, and the multitudes of African slaves who were exploited to the utmost degree while a few European immigrants sought their slanted interpretation of this pursuit, and to fulfill this "manifest destiny".

No Right to Life, and definitely no Right to Liberty for them. So don't even bother mentioning happiness.

Today when I look at this nation and its pursuit of happiness, I think of the constant propaganda campaigns by some liberals used to persuade people to be more concerned with legalizing certain drugs and certain lifestyles, same-sex marriage, instituting transgender bathrooms and gentrifying areas the local or state government neglected, forcing the current residents to flee due to the inability to afford high rent and property taxes, while neglecting what this nation seems to be doing to those who don't have access to the basic essentials of life itself; food, clothing, shelter, general health care, and so on.

Yasmin Nair, an LGBT activist, spoke last year about what she felt was the real intention behind this push for same-sex marriage. 

TRNN Video: Gay Marriage Victory Is Not About Equality

At the same time I see some conservatives denying people of colors' Right to Life, defend the killing of unarmed Black men, criminalizing the poor, justifying mass incarceration and disenfranchisement of Black men, using this so-called War on Drugs and the profits generated from it, legalize mass exploitation of people through banking systems, using Big Gov to fund their imperialistic endeavors, inflate prices upon the populace, and demonizing other governments and beliefs by accusing their way of life as backwards and barbaric in an effort to assure no one would look for alternative ways of life.  

In all of this furor, these "Rights" endowed by Creator, as the Declaration claims, seem to look more like privileges to those without any political voice, means, and definitely no media to articulate their concerns.

And BET and TV ONE do not count as Black Media...and definitely not OWN...so don't begin to kid yourself.

Deep in the heart of Texas, more people on food stamps are being "re-orientated" to get back into workforce, obtain jobs, or to get "better paying" jobs, in an effort to make themselves "self-sufficient". Recipients are being sent blue sheets of paper which state that it is a requirement for those on food stamps to look for work. This scheme requires a collaboration between the State Department of Human Services and the Texas Workforce Commission.

In this program people are being required to submit a certain amount of entries to businesses every week for a number of weeks in order to keep their food stamp benefits. Those who are working, but not working a required amount of hours are also being placed in this program as well.   

In order to sell this, propaganda, or PR was used, and you know the usual culprits; racial anecdotes of Black people and their "treacherous" ways of manipulating human services, selling their food stamps for money to buy drugs, abusing their Section 8 privileges by allowing uncertified people to live with them, and so on. This propaganda perfectly fits the analysis given by Mumia Abu Jamal of how the impoverished are portrayed in America as possessing "character flaws", or a "defect of the spirit".

While many may think this orientation process is admirable, the reality is that this scheme's ultimate purpose is to reduce the state's' "burden" of  having to provide access to decent nutrition to its citizens, a "right" or "entitlement" to the citizens of the state. The fact remains that the overwhelming majority of those on food stamps are not on it due to lack of employment, or of substantial employment, but the inability to afford sufficient nutrition for themselves and their families. 

But when the masses of people hear the constant rumblings in the media about LaQuita and her 5 children by 4 different men, the tendency of Americans is to welcome these "reforms" presented to the nation as a way to get rid of this "welfare state", or as Bill Cosby put it once, a "culture of poverty".

 Edward L. Bernays, the late psychoanalyst and nephew to Sigmund Freud called it "The Engineering of Consent."

So forget the statistics that show most food stamp recipients in America are White, you can't use them as the boogeyman, that won't go over too well. You need to reach deep down and pull out the most sinister culprit to remove people's entitlement to the basic necessities of life. Sorta like when "radical Islamists" are used to remove people's entitlement to privacy.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, under this program those considered able to work but unable to find "gainful employment" are subject perform "community service".  So now not having a job sounds like a misdemeanor. Just like the Black Codes. And you know what that lead to.

No wonder so many disenfranchised and poor youth either take the grimy road of hustling, or voice their displeasure of the way things work here in America, such as lyrics like these:

F**k your American Dream

That sh*t's not real

It's really more of an American Scheme

Cuz ' When I think of the American Dream

 I think about

Student Debt, Inflation, and how my Ancestors screamed

Look the corporations really hate you

and almost every institution is tryin to rape you

 But they don't care...

 lyrics from the forthcoming song "Like Us", performed by Knoxie-Ty.

Bamboozled: Spike Lee and the Case of Bad Timing... Part One

Yep...Spike, you've done it again.


You've continually managed to somehow stir up some type of controversy surrounding your releasing of new movies. This time it's packaged in the satirical movie entitled Chiraq. Drama and hype never ceases to be too far behind when your movies hit theaters, not the type of drama that would have some afraid to go see the movie out of fear that violence would erupt, such as some had suspected when the movie Do The Right Thing premiered. I saw the special edition DVD, which contained interviews at the Cannes Film Festival. I saw the "concern" of some Whites, especially the White woman who asked why did you show Malcolm X's statements about using violence to defend oneself when attacked first, as opposed to Dr. King's call for nonviolence. I think you handled that question in excellent fashion.

But in this movie Chiraq, I am forced to voice my concern and confusion over the approach of this film. This film is supposed to be a "satire", which the average homie or street dude on the corner may not fully understand what's going on. But I understand fully.

See, I am a Muslim, and I'm ever-watchful of the backlash against Muslims due to propaganda, especially the "events" that took place in France over the Charlie Hebdo issue, as well as the shootings in Garland, Texas, which supposedly took place over a Prophet Muhammad cartoon drawing contest, which was mysteriously devised by Pam Gellar and Geert Wilders, two non-Muslims who are notorious for stirring up anti-Muslim sentiments, and hiding them under pseudonyms of "free-speech" or in the case of Charlie Hebdo "satire". I am fully aware that satire is used to ridicule a particular individual, group, institution, or belief, using slick humor. I'm also aware that it is used as a form of subversion in an attempt to bring down such entities and ideologies.

Which is why I'm very confused as to why would you take this approach in addressing the violence in Chicago, especially in lieu of the proliferation of the Black feminist movement, and their "gynocentric" view of the world, which renders man, especially Black men in this case, as inept, belligerent, incompetent beings who only understands violence, sex, and money, having very little or no intellect at all, and proving incapable of having any positive impact in society, whether from a societal, or familial point of view.

The idea of using an old Greek comedy of women banning the coochie in order to increase the peace among warring factions is befuddling to say the least.  In this case of Chiraq, you are using women, whom for some strange reason are "empowered" to withhold sex from their combative significants as some sort of protest without asking the question why would such "intelligent" soul sistas would even skooch the coochie to such men who harbor self-destructive behavior in the first place is perplexing! Talk about paradoxical!

TO BE CONTINUED....

Angel Ayes and Quwwa discuss Bill Cosby/Cliff Huxtable Ebony Magazine cover.

Check Out Current Events Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with AngelAyes on BlogTalkRadio with AngelAyes on BlogTalkRadio