tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332147842024-03-13T06:03:50.460-04:00Muslim Media ReviewHighlighting the books, audio and video programs from which Muslims (and others) in North America can benefit.Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comBlogger691125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-28506919925875002562024-01-09T10:07:00.000-05:002024-01-09T10:07:41.546-05:00Support Local Independent Media Like Atlanta's "285 South" by Sophia Qureshi<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNt76-lo-ZiaAyzH2IHXEK3e0NH3gI_i2R72b86XwdJJvzNA50e00eZf0f3pkBsmbhgv167DCJQ1nZojQLbOtMYUAzYlY234hFgrYYKQ19W0vW4AhjoZgB60uYn02JdJuq_sAon93GGBvhbSQRYJjPUI6DRkoQYk_1JduKoboUVaqUQfrd-3tDg/s622/Hoffman%20and%20Redford%20-%20All%20the%20Presidents%20Men.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="R to L: Robert Redford & Dustin Hoffman in "All the President's Men (1976)"" border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="437" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNt76-lo-ZiaAyzH2IHXEK3e0NH3gI_i2R72b86XwdJJvzNA50e00eZf0f3pkBsmbhgv167DCJQ1nZojQLbOtMYUAzYlY234hFgrYYKQ19W0vW4AhjoZgB60uYn02JdJuq_sAon93GGBvhbSQRYJjPUI6DRkoQYk_1JduKoboUVaqUQfrd-3tDg/w225-h320/Hoffman%20and%20Redford%20-%20All%20the%20Presidents%20Men.png" title="R to L: Robert Redford & Dustin Hoffman in "All the President's Men (1976)"" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">R to L: Robert Redford & Dustin Hoffman<br /> in "All the President's Men (1976)"<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How <a href="https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2021/there-are-a-surprising-amount-of-great-journalism-movies-here-are-our-top-25/" target="_blank">many great movies portray journalists, editors and publishers as heroic bulwarks against the corruption of the powerful</a>? Did your high school social studies teacher tell you that the news media were the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Estate" target="_blank">Fourth Estate</a>, nearly equal in power to each of the three branches of the United States government?<span><a name='more'></a></span><br /><p></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In all likelihood, it's only older people like me who remember these quaint notions. For many reasons, even when a city has a daily newspaper, coverage is likely to be slanted towards the perspectives of the powerful.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Take for example the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC):</div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ajc publisher Andrew Morse offers media services to the city - Further proof AJC is a propaganda shill for the mayor and cop city. Obtained via GORA <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StopCopCity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StopCopCity</a> <a href="https://t.co/cqA1qpRWD0">pic.twitter.com/cqA1qpRWD0</a></p>— GORA4ORRAU (@InoperableSink) <a href="https://twitter.com/InoperableSink/status/1744453040457797804?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2024</a> </blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
There are several good "media criticism" journals, podcasts and blogs, but start with <a href="https://fair.org/" target="_blank">Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting</a>. <div><br /></div><div>How do we go beyond media criticism? Independent media may offer some relief. Of what are such media independent? In theory, corporate and government control. More precisely, they escape such control because they have other sources of revenue to fund operations: grants, advertising and subscriptions.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://285south.substack.com/about" target="_blank"><i>285 South</i></a>, founded by <a href="https://sophiaqureshi.com/" target="_blank">Sophia Qureshi</a>, is an independent news outlet focused on "telling the stories of the diverse communities that make up Metro Atlanta." She writes:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>So many of our stories, the stories of the diverse immigrant and refugee communities in Metro Atlanta, are not captured by legacy media. We are in the American South, but our stories touch all corners of the world. These stories are essential to understanding who we are a region, and where we're headed.</div><div></div></blockquote><div>As of now, <a href="https://285south.substack.com/" target="_blank">no paywall prevents you from reading its articles</a>. So read some, and then decide how much it is worth to have a talented professional like Sophia writing stories about communities like yours. If it's worth 80,000/yr, then shouldn't 800 people pony up 100 USD per year? But you realize there are expenses to doing this, right? Should we shoot for 1600 people paying 100 USD per year so that <i>I-285 South</i> has money for Open Record Requests, transportation expenses, transcription services, insurance, etc. If communities don't fund these professionals when they embark on these efforts, let's not complain when they close shop and work for Coca-Cola. There's no shortage of corporations looking to fill Public Relations positions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Act now and <a href="https://285south.substack.com/subscribe?utm_source=menu&next=https%3A%2F%2F285south.substack.com%2Fsitemap" target="_blank">pledge a subscription</a>.</div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.com0Atlanta, GA, USA33.748752 -84.3876844999999925.4385181638211577 -119.54393449999999 62.058985836178849 -49.231434499999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-66027024379675877012023-12-08T06:57:00.003-05:002023-12-08T07:06:59.664-05:00Film: "A Town Called Victoria" by Li Lu<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" height="332" src="https://player.pbs.org/viralplayer/3083954518/" style="border: 0;" width="512"></iframe> <div>"<a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/part-1-a-town-called-victoria-episode-1-msgbqo/" target="_blank">A Town Called Victoria</a>" by <a href="https://www.ulil-lilu.com/" target="_blank">Li Lu</a> aired in 3 parts on Public Broadcasting Service's <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/independent-lens/" target="_blank">Independent Lens</a> beginning October 13, 2023. The film has a <a href="https://www.atowncalledvictoria.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The documentary explores the aftermath of a fire which destroyed a masjid in Victoria, Texas. The region's history and politics are exlored as factors in people's actions. Lest this point get lost in my musings below, the film is well done and worth watching.</div><div><br /></div><div>------ Spoiler alert ------</div><div><br /></div><div>Authorities determined the fire was intentional. After a co-conspirator came forward as a confidential informant, police arrested Marq Vincent Perez. A federal court later found him guilty and sentenced him to <a href="https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/victoria-mosque-arsonist-gets-nearly-max-sentence-of-24-1-2-years-in-prison/article_2b0c2fc0-d230-11e8-b308-77842ff1628a.html" target="_blank">more than 24 years in jail</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/united-states-v-marq-perez-brief-appellee" target="_blank">document discussing a recent appeal</a> from Mr. Perez.</div><div><br /></div><div>A recent local news piece discussed <a href="https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/closed-door-open-community-victoria-islamic-center-cautious-but-positive-6-years-after-arson/article_07b6b4e8-9c41-11ed-ba32-e384bff3d27f.html" target="_blank">changes in the Muslim community of Victoria</a> since the arson.</div><div><br /></div><div>What do we learn watching this? We knew that the <a href="https://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/2014/02/review-muslims-are-coming-islamophobia.html" target="_blank">Global War on Terror, whether in the Bush the Small or Obama mode</a>, caused individuals in the United States to target Muslims and those perceived as Muslim-adjacent as threats. </div><div><br /></div><div>It surprised some people that the perpetrator was a Chicano (perhaps <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tejanos" target="_blank">Tejano</a>?). I'm not sure why that's surprising. Being part of an oppressed group doesn't preclude practicing oppression (see <a href="https://www.imancentral.org/chicago/organizing-advocacy/food-ecosystems/corner-store-campaign/" target="_blank">Palestinian anti-blackness in Chicago</a>), and many white supremacist-adjacent USA-fascist organizations have <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231120025929/https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-09-05/proud-boys-enrique-tarrio-sentenced-jan-6-attack" target="_blank">non-white participants</a>. In addition, Hispanic as an ethic group blurs the distinctions among those who identify as white European settlers in the Americas, the descendants of enslaved Africans and the indigenous peoples of the continent. </div><div><br /></div><div>One Muslim in Victoria placed great hope in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/texas-senate" target="_blank">Beto O'Rourke's campaign for one of Texas's seats</a> in the United States Senate. A clip shows Beto speaking to Muslims. In that speech, he suggested that the endless wars of the USA were causing problems. Was that a consistent theme for him during that campaign? Or did he only say such things in front of Muslim audiences? Why do Muslims have <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/ehsan/p/6-ways-american-muslim-political?r=r5nm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">no home in either the Democratic or Republican parties</a>?</div><div><br /></div><div>What is the benefit of police and judiciary actions? On the one hand, Mr. Perez is restrained from further crime, although at great cost to the state, his children and his parents. Did his severe sentence deter others? Not likely. Do Muslims in Victoria feel safer? Probably. Do they feel satisfaction at his suffering? Maybe. Might some type of restorative justice have produced a better result? The film doesn't explore this. I again recommend <a href="https://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/2019/03/review-american-hate-survivors-speak.html" target="_blank">Arjun Sing Sethi's <i>American Hate: Survivors Speak Out</i></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's clear to me that USA Muslims, like other non-white peoples, will continue to suffer hate crimes as USA imperial interests require demonization of targeted populations abroad. The only long-term solution is dismantling USA Empire & its twin, the domestic colonization process of racial capitalism. The Muslims in Victoria are committed practicioners of respectability politics. It works for them (somewhat), but it doesn't solve the problem, as many subsequent hate crimes have demonstrated.</div><div><br /></div><div>A <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231201110805/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2023-11-13/a-town-called-victoria-pbs-mosque-arson" target="_blank">recent interview with director Li Lu</a> is worth reading.</div><div><br /></div><div>I continue to be inspired by my memory one of the first books I ever wrote about in this blog, <a href="https://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/2006/08/review-sherman-jackson-islam-and.html" target="_blank">Sherman Jackson's <i>Islam and the Blackamerican</i></a>. I haven't read it in 20 years, so I might be misremembering it. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-72951648023532056432023-11-19T12:13:00.000-05:002023-11-19T12:13:01.796-05:00Review: 36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime by Tarek Albaba<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzryaAUPX_b/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 0px 0px 1px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 1px 10px 0px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px; width: calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzryaAUPX_b/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); 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I watched <i><a href="https://www.36secondsfilm.com/" target="_blank">36 Seconds: Portraity of a Hate Crime</a></i> by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3157146/" target="_blank">Tarek Albaba</a> via the NYC Film Festival, where it is <a href="https://www.docnyc.net/film/36-seconds-portrait-of-a-hate-crime/" target="_blank">available for streaming through November 26, 2023</a>.<span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div>I had of course heard about the murders of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu Salha and Razan Abu Salha and even attended a vigil in Columbia County, Georgia. I had not kept up with the news of the case, although I periodically saw advertisements and reports of the <a href="https://ourthreewinners.org/" target="_blank">Our Three Winners Foundation</a>, which formed after the murders. I did know that the perpetrator was sentenced to life in prison (3 consecutive life terms, without the possibility of parole, as I learned from the documentary).<br /><br />So what is there more? Why should anybody watch this film?</div><div><br /></div><div>I am going to try to reconcile two seemingly contradictory ideas, but indulge me. The first is that the film is a worthy tribute to the three outstanding martyred young people Deah, Yusor and Razan. The second is that film reveals some of the limitations of respectability politics.</div><div><br /></div><div>What do I mean by respectability politics in the United States? It's the politics that calls for extending rights, protections and priveleges to an oppressed category because of how much the individuals in that category are like the ideals the priveleged class in society claims for itself and/or demands in others. This is best exemplified by the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/who-really-invented-the-talented-tenth/" target="_blank">Talented Tenth</a>, whom various figures in United States history decided were the African-Americans worthy of a fuller measure of human rights. It was the decision to support Rosa Parks's challenge to the racial segregation of Montgomery, Alabama's bus system and not <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-43171799" target="_blank">Claudette Colvin</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>So by emphasizing the qualities of Deah, Yusor and Razan, we are practicing a sort of respectability politics that says, "Hey, we Muslims can be talented professionals, stylish dressers, popular-culture consumers and participants and physically attractive. Treat us like one of you!"</div><div><br /></div><div>Shortly after their murders, three youths, <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/a14327504/808-east-lewis-street/" target="_blank">Mohamedtaha Omar, Muhannad Tairab and Adam Mekki</a>, immigrants from Sudan's Dar Fur region, were murdered execution style in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The police judged the motive was not anti-Muslim animus since Adam Mekki was Christian. As is common in USA-crimes related to young black men, society settled on the explanation that it was drug-related. </div><div><br /></div><div>The family members didn't have the resources to challenge the image and/or neglect this case placed on their murdered relatives, and there was no sustaned nationwide mobilization from Muslims to support the families. Whether this is a result of anti-blackness or the murder victims' lack of bourgeious achivements, the impression one gets is that Deah, Yusor and Razan are more important than Mohamedtaha, Muhannad and Adam, may Allah جل جلاله have mercy on all of them and comfort their families.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet <i>36 Seconds</i> doesn't stop with respectability politics and points towards its limitations. When major politcal processes and institutions are driving hate against Muslims, gunmen like the North Carolina perpetrator aren't going to stop to see if their targets have recently volunteered time to feed the needy. In our time, when #46Regime Genocide Joe is repeating Zionist propaganda against Palestinians and funding the Israeli army's killing and starvation of Palestinians, no amount of personal achievement and good looks will protect a Palestinian or a person perceived to be close to Palestianian, i.e. nearly all non-white people and people with non-genocidal politics, from hate crimes. </div><div><br /></div><div>While the families places a lot of stock in the hate crime designation, I think the film clearly shows that their concern for this designation was partly a reaction to press reports that the murder happened as a result of a parking dispute. The film clearly shows the necessity for a justice system to produce truth, which, thankfully, did happen in this case. I think one of the best literary portrayals of this need is Orson Scott Card's <i><a href="https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/1022884652" target="_blank">Speaker for the Dead</a></i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>While some in the film talk about how hate crime legislation and data tracking should be improved, I don't think the film does a great job of examing policies surrounding hate crimes, which of course vary widely by state and would likely go beyond the scope of this film. </div><div><br /></div><div>Call me a radical, but I think tolerating homelessness, selling weapons to governments to kill in their wars and failing to address collapse of the biosphere are better examples of racism, the need for gun control and hate crimes than individuals' use of the N-word, 2nd Amendment fanatics & Dylan Roof. I'm just not that interested in the United States government's punishing perpetrators of hate crimes when it itself is the most massive perptetrator of hate crimes.</div><div><br /></div><div>The film filled in some gaps in my recollection of the case. It claims, for example, that the local police spread the parking dispute narrative in an attempt to control public fears that a pattern of anti-Muslim crimes was possible. I also didn't know that Deah had recorded with his cell phone the murders, that the recording was presented as evidence at the sentencing phase and that it and other evidence collected by the prosecutors proved beyond any doubt that the perpetrator's narrative of a parking dispute and altercation and possible self-defense was false.</div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-49552407908296477982023-10-30T13:16:00.002-04:002023-11-27T10:56:47.500-05:00Review: "Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and the World" by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4cQxCNv7UJ0Ar9WxWy5X88e4afc8HrAPFhZEHiPcde6HiNG6nKXJDEezI1RyWm8UdHaK_984EX3hUktY04DYmtFndn3flDTpjm1JvCK1LR-HckSltlD5Iby-_3jIJzp6vyHwHhEtWxpYyNkQ2AR6bjhdc-osBLwkk74fxhyphenhyphen6x4m9ih_bxJuS0w/s400/Billion%20Dollar%20Whale.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4cQxCNv7UJ0Ar9WxWy5X88e4afc8HrAPFhZEHiPcde6HiNG6nKXJDEezI1RyWm8UdHaK_984EX3hUktY04DYmtFndn3flDTpjm1JvCK1LR-HckSltlD5Iby-_3jIJzp6vyHwHhEtWxpYyNkQ2AR6bjhdc-osBLwkk74fxhyphenhyphen6x4m9ih_bxJuS0w/s320/Billion%20Dollar%20Whale.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>Let us respect the colonialist plunderers of old. At least they had to risk "cannibals" and malaria. Today's plundering colonialists risk bad sushi and paper cuts in hotel lobbies in Switzerland and Singapore.<p></p><p>Reading <a href="https://twitter.com/TomWrightAsia" target="_blank">Tom Wright</a>'s and <a href="https://linktr.ee/bradleyhope" target="_blank">Bradley Hope</a>'s <i><a href="https://worldcat.org/en/title/1044629783" target="_blank">Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and the World</a></i> engendered in me the same nausea and disgust I felt after reading <a href="https://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/2015/02/review-secret-world-of-oil-by-ken.html" target="_blank"><i>The Secret World of Oil</i> by Ken Silverstein</a>. Every dollar extracted from the poorer nations of the world is a dollar taken away from development efforts. And while Wright's and Hope's narrative takes advantage of the extravagence of <a href="https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/lifestyles-rich-infamous-rise-fall-jho-low/" target="_blank">Jho Low</a>, the central character, to maintain the reader's interest, it matters not if the people who extract the money spend it on birthday parties, yachts and jewelry or actual productive business enterprises. It's all theft from the world's poor.</p><p>The looting of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/malaysias-ex-pm-najib-multi-billion-dollar-1mdb-scandal-2022-08-23/" target="_blank">1MDB</a> is the subject of <i>Billion Dollar Whale</i>. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak oversaw the creation and management of 1MDB, a sovereign national fund, and, through cronies and bankers, pilfered millions (tens, hundreds?) of USD. </p><p>The best passage in the book is towards the end, on p. 371:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIfh-g_JA3RbSsacyjrZI0muiKETfhp9igcvzVOmXq2aAFIauHaHkqOUARvPDBAfGJGqqoERET1i3Ac6GxLV_ztshyOFUQmlQNt13dhyphenhyphen9u_2cD9DSxdSL9whPij1GTa_b-B31zCKqV3kPa71GsricxHL3RobuJCp-6FuW-_Pqajnb_cBfoJQ7Ow/s2789/Billion%20Dollar%20Whale%20371%20best%20passage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2789" data-original-width="2686" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIfh-g_JA3RbSsacyjrZI0muiKETfhp9igcvzVOmXq2aAFIauHaHkqOUARvPDBAfGJGqqoERET1i3Ac6GxLV_ztshyOFUQmlQNt13dhyphenhyphen9u_2cD9DSxdSL9whPij1GTa_b-B31zCKqV3kPa71GsricxHL3RobuJCp-6FuW-_Pqajnb_cBfoJQ7Ow/s320/Billion%20Dollar%20Whale%20371%20best%20passage.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It contrasts somewhat with the pass that the authors on p. 229 provide to the bankers and accountants who facilitated and handsomely profited from this plunder:</div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Western financial institutions, from Goldman to auditors and private banks, had <i>unwittingly</i> helped Low get away with it, impoverishing Malaysia. (emphasis added)</div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When people talk about <i>corruption</i>, it makes actions like these seem like accidents. Liberals say thing like, "They took advantage of <i>loopholes</i>." and "<i>Regulation</i> must be strengthened." Radicals ask: what if the whole financial system is designed to continuously prevent capital accumulation for development in the Global South?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Listen to the Citations Needed Podcast Episode entitled <i>Western Media’s Narrow, Colonial Definition of "Corruption"</i>. This <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/ep-73-western-of-26136232" target="_blank">link is free and has show notes, but requires a Patreon User ID</a>. This <a href="https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/episode-73-western-medias-narrow-colonial-definition-of-corruption" target="_blank">link doesn't require a login</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">P.S. 2023-11-27 - Another important lesson from this colonialst plundering is the centrality of military force in international finance. Can you image what the United States government would do if confidence artists stole money from powerful people in the United States and used it to buy assets in militarily weak countries? The United States would demand transfer of assets and punitive reparations under threat of economic sanctions and military attack. Some libertarian-types imagine capitalism without government coercion. That is clearly a fantasy, as, at the end of the day, capitalists rely on military and police to protect their capital.</div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-70827917539119447902023-10-03T06:59:00.003-04:002023-10-03T06:59:42.054-04:00Children's Books from Ruqaya's Bookshelf: Is It Time to Demand More from Muslim Children's Literature?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwnWjWL9f3uUGMmJ_F9LtgTtbg3xmPUjm9c38t3rm-NEN_NyBSkXFIKXZz8mg4dfQKE1pKHI4ryE8yI45RfmROCg0tWmzZW8qvCxXIaQEugM3P3W0G9tMqqQoHQkJmGAvLVXBi6gl19cmpZt7HGqBPTKM7lLL5OQ5Id-7kfqeRZCPJf1QsDma4w/s3992/Ruqayas%20Bookshelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2391" data-original-width="3992" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwnWjWL9f3uUGMmJ_F9LtgTtbg3xmPUjm9c38t3rm-NEN_NyBSkXFIKXZz8mg4dfQKE1pKHI4ryE8yI45RfmROCg0tWmzZW8qvCxXIaQEugM3P3W0G9tMqqQoHQkJmGAvLVXBi6gl19cmpZt7HGqBPTKM7lLL5OQ5Id-7kfqeRZCPJf1QsDma4w/s320/Ruqayas%20Bookshelf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i><a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/collections/frontpage/products/basirah-the-basketballer-says-inshaallah" target="_blank">Basirah the Basketballer says Insha'Allah</a></i> by <a href="https://x.com/HafsahDabiri?s=20" target="_blank">Hafsah Dabiri</a> (more <a href="https://www.liinks.co/hafsahdabiri" target="_blank">links</a>)</li><li><i><a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/collections/frontpage/products/zaid-and-the-gigantic-cloud" target="_blank">Zaid and the Gigantic Cloud</a></i> by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/helal_m/" target="_blank">Helal Musleh</a></li><li><i><a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-great-hair-exchange" target="_blank">The Great Hair Exchange</a></i> by Asmaa Hussein (<a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/pages/our-story" target="_blank">founder</a> of Ruqaya's Bookshelf)</li><li><i><a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/collections/frontpage/products/pre-order-not-too-little-to-make-a-difference" target="_blank">Not Too Little to Make a Difference</a></i> by Lela Usama Goldsmith</li><li><i><a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/collections/frontpage/products/mr-gamals-gratitude-glasses" target="_blank">Mr. Gamal's Gratitude Glasses</a></i> by Asmaa Hussein</li><li><a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/collections/frontpage/products/nusaiba-and-the-5th-grade-bullies" target="_blank"><i>Nusaiba and the 5th Grade Bullies</i></a> by Asmaa Hussein</li><li><i><a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/collections/frontpage/products/pepperoni-pitches-and-other-problems" target="_blank">Pepperoni, Pitches (and Other Problems)</a></i> by <a href="https://linktr.ee/shifasafadi" target="_blank">Shifa Saltagi Safadi</a></li><li><i><a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/collections/frontpage/products/spell-it-like-samar" target="_blank">Spell It Like S-A-M-A-R</a></i> by <a href="https://linktr.ee/shifasafadi" target="_blank">Shifa Saltagi Safadi</a></li></ul><div><a href="https://ruqayasbookshelf.com/" target="_blank">Ruqaya's Bookshelf</a>'s ordering and fulfillment process worked well. The production value in terms of binding, paper, copyediting, illustrations, colors and cover finish are good. Many of the texts use British orthography, so be prepared to help your young readers with that.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>My two favorite stories were <i>Basirah the Basketballer Says Insha'Allah</i> and <i>Zaid and the Gigantic Cloud</i>. In <i>Basirah</i>, Hafsah Dabiri's story shows how a child might develop a faulty understanding of an religious concept and then learn from her parents a more correct understanding. In <i>Zaid</i>, Helal Musleh and the illustrator compel the readers to interpret a metaphor to understand the moral lesson of the story. I prefer that over the more frequent "club the reader over the head with the moral lesson."</div><div><br /></div><div>Seventeen years ago, I'd written <i><a href="https://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/2006/08/criteria-for-evaluating-muslim.html" target="_blank">Criteria for Evaluating Muslim Children's Media</a></i>. While I've written many things over the years which I now regard as cringeworthy, for the most part I thought this one was on point and reflected the state of Muslim children's media at the time. </div><div><br /></div><div>If these 8 books are reflective of the current state of Muslim children's media, it may be time to make a more demanding set of criteria. As I'm typing these words, I'm not sure how to express what I think is missing, but I'll share some criticisms of these books here. Take these criticisms with a grain of salt. I'm not a specialist in child education, and I'm really too old to be taken seriously talking about children's books. :-) And they are still likely to be worth purchasing for personal and institutional use.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many of these books have depictions of bullying, yet they seem formulaic. The illustrator typically illustrates the bullies as stereotypical-Northern Europeans. <i>Pepperoni</i> by Shifa Saltagi Safadi has the more complex "bully" story, but it still falls short.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't understand the ubiquity of hijabs in illustrations and in some story lines. Do we expect or even want Muslim girls at twelve and thirteen and fourteen year old to wear hijab? The stories are made for 5-6 year olds, so why do the books frequently depict the female Muslim protaganists, with whom the readers are presumably to identify, as wearers of hijab?</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of these books have "pick yourself up from your bootstrap" and other positive-attitude, self-help type themes. And there's nothing particularly wrong with that, and I even liked it in <i>Zaid and the Gigantic Cloud</i>. But such self-help stories can sometimes cross the line into <a href="https://fair.org/home/medias-grim-addiction-to-perseverance-porn/" target="_blank">perseverance porn</a> when the story never makes clear that there are social solutions to individuals' hardships. In the story <i>Not Too Little to Make a Difference</i>, poverty prevents a family from sending the female protagonist to school. The protagonist tries to earn the money for school fees through the informal economy. She fails, but, in the course of doing so, she attracts the attention of a donor who does pay her fees and allows her to attend school. Instead of presenting child labor as a solution, why isn't the story asking why some societies choose not to provide universal free education? Why is not the action that "makes a difference" canvassing to create a labor union to improve the wages of workers and get families out of poverty?</div><div><br /></div><div>And, just to throw this out there, at what age should children be exposed to tragedy in their literature? What if the child can't go to school? What if the sick relative dies? What if the bully doesn't get her comeuppance?</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps I'm writing these mild criticisms on these for-the-most-part quality books because of a general frustration I'm feeling with the quality of Muslim life in North America. We just seem to be settling for superficial, formulaic, bourgeois religion, not religion which <a href="https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2014/today-in-media-history-mr-dooley-the-job-of-the-newspaper-is-to-comfort-the-afflicted-and-afflict-the-comfortable/" target="_blank">comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable</a>.</div><p></p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-19273659818033095182023-10-02T06:44:00.002-04:002023-10-22T06:32:31.231-04:00Book Given Away: "Calling for a Blanket Dance" by Oscar Hokeah<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinUgnvsjzjjZNtPfm7NEZfBc8-fKIuh2W2TiwK0RMRCQt87ZEIGguDfqx9L05Amep3DRkM79_dd1TQUP_Vr_Rh0B6mGTi-yoDU6h0_4d_JDlHCgnaR452hoBttDtr_0nfNurImgAknPZGXYZ4RT4qcSEH-INjZuuW93lWFrlK9kXoo3LXjkBr5g/s1132/calling-for-a-blanket-dance.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="722" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinUgnvsjzjjZNtPfm7NEZfBc8-fKIuh2W2TiwK0RMRCQt87ZEIGguDfqx9L05Amep3DRkM79_dd1TQUP_Vr_Rh0B6mGTi-yoDU6h0_4d_JDlHCgnaR452hoBttDtr_0nfNurImgAknPZGXYZ4RT4qcSEH-INjZuuW93lWFrlK9kXoo3LXjkBr5g/s320/calling-for-a-blanket-dance.png" width="204" /></a></div><strike>Would you like my copy of the novel</strike> <a href="https://www.oscarhokeah.com/calling-for-a-blanket-dance." target="_blank"><i>Calling for a Blanket Dance</i> by Oscar Hokeah</a>? Book given away. It's a good read.<div><br /></div><div>Every once in a while I give away books here. Make sure you subscribe to receive blog posts as soon as they are published. </div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-87807493711798394832023-06-25T10:06:00.005-04:002023-10-06T05:27:47.110-04:00Film: "Bilal: A New Breed of Hero" by Khurram H. Alavi and Ayman Jamal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMnujuW6O8wqIsq6WyWWMm7r1cm8iAKhSvwSfBpgM0JxCgFLHSLLGA9TveqIejGGHCn90gR6mF9HhrCMRK0nBYU0jTiyqz8lMfwD7sBpWSsbmju47wBHKZnTmlHjikQvuiFdzk9ylSSDMH_xyohAGyiYLLbC5lHKRrakDN3pUPGI3Fcvc6JIK5A/s1920/Bilal%20as%20young%20boy%20with%20his%20mother.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMnujuW6O8wqIsq6WyWWMm7r1cm8iAKhSvwSfBpgM0JxCgFLHSLLGA9TveqIejGGHCn90gR6mF9HhrCMRK0nBYU0jTiyqz8lMfwD7sBpWSsbmju47wBHKZnTmlHjikQvuiFdzk9ylSSDMH_xyohAGyiYLLbC5lHKRrakDN3pUPGI3Fcvc6JIK5A/s320/Bilal%20as%20young%20boy%20with%20his%20mother.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I watched <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3576728/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7_tt_3_nm_5_q_bilal" target="_blank">Bilal: A New Breed of Hero</a> by <a href="https://khurramalavi.com/" target="_blank">Khurram H. Alavi</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/atjamal" target="_blank">Ayman Jamal</a> on <a href="https://www.peacocktv.com/watch/asset/movies/bilal-a-new-breed-of-hero/3a515a47-df36-3a90-bc6b-b09d7eb2b7d8" target="_blank">Peacock</a>. It is produced by <a href="https://www.barajoun.com/bilal.html" target="_blank">Barajoun Entertainment</a>. Alexander Kronemer & Michael Wolfe of <a href="https://www.upf.tv/" target="_blank">Unity Productions Foundation</a> are also writers on the film.<div><br /></div><div>While the movie never is explicit that it is a story based on Muslims' common understandings of events surrounding Bilal ibn Rabah رضي الله عنه, a leading companion of Allah's Messenger صلى الله عليه و سلم, Muslim families familiar with these understandings will recognize elements. For example, in the duel before a battle scene, one of the participants on the side of the "New Movement" carries a sword ending in two points, as is commonly believed about `Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>There are other details which don't match my understanding of the life of real Bilal. For example, I never heard he had a sister enslaved in Makka.</div><div><br /></div><div>So families could study sources about the companion Bilal, watch the film and discuss the choices the directors made.</div><div><br /></div><div>For viewers unfamiliar with Muslims' common understandings of these actual characters, the film portrays uplifting and inspirational messages about the equality of human beings and vices of greed and anger. It could also be a prompt for a directed discussion and study of slavery and other forms of human exploitation.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think the choice of the word "breed" in the subtitle is unfortunate.</div><div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VhrZBHwOMUs" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><p><br /></p></div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-53465067053783141812023-04-19T09:07:00.007-04:002023-04-19T09:30:30.178-04:00Recommendation: "Savvy Yazzy's African Adventure: The Fulani Culture" by Boubacar Cherif Balde and Illustrated by Irina Conde<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSryaZeZVlihRfAGhYQnawSJYTcG880k9FaLnWhpffP94xtzZWrYFwOpRsl4Q0FSgpUEauferHfwypbZ_Wzn4-6gsSkbX_IljX22YMqEuJ7DlclhbC-ytz_9MrwCENhiMxlNaksAx2pHtHEfLPcHW5Ghq82aafnWO_OkcZYAvM8l7m4fuY00M/s656/snazzy%20yazzy%20fulani%20culture.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="493" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSryaZeZVlihRfAGhYQnawSJYTcG880k9FaLnWhpffP94xtzZWrYFwOpRsl4Q0FSgpUEauferHfwypbZ_Wzn4-6gsSkbX_IljX22YMqEuJ7DlclhbC-ytz_9MrwCENhiMxlNaksAx2pHtHEfLPcHW5Ghq82aafnWO_OkcZYAvM8l7m4fuY00M/s320/snazzy%20yazzy%20fulani%20culture.png" width="240" /></a></div><i><a href="https://www.enhanceddnapublishing.com/product-page/savvy-yazzy-s-african-adventure" target="_blank">Savvy Yazzy's African Adventure: The Fulani Culture</a></i> by Boubacar Cherif Balde and illustrated by Irina Conde is a wonderful way to introduce your young reader to travel, Guinea Conakry, agriculture and good manners which make people pleasant hosts and guests wherever they live. The illustrations are warm and vibrant. <p></p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-61060235738546304392023-03-18T09:52:00.002-04:002023-10-06T05:28:21.551-04:00Recommendation: Documentary "A Stranger at the Gates," Directed by Josh Seftel<p> Check out the documentary <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPbbl1S6foM&t=5s" target="_blank">A Stranger at the Gate</a></i> by <a href="https://www.seftel.com/" target="_blank">Josh Seftel</a>.</p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GPbbl1S6foM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>
My only reservation is the pressure Muslims in the United States place on reverts to represent us. May Allah help all those in the documentary to continue on His path, especially Richard McKinney.Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-79682013731342591752023-03-18T09:16:00.005-04:002023-03-18T09:16:57.170-04:00Recommendation: "The Blessed Bananas" by Tayyaba Syed and Illustrated by Melani Putri<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-76gJXq4SqVCIa1NG-KkFtG9gFte-foatsZotABWO_ZaoYNLVkdfgtfK8Bhhz37cArXcRLGOYWeh4pgABWw2mR_Ztil6f-WXw_uhffTckC6RQH1IQwEwCgu4LP_zytYkg7zy-kJrgpXGCgPYQBWagi6pD8ptwG11nuKu4AIuXHO2ywXToJtE/s530/blessed%20bananas%20tayyaba%20syed.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="529" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-76gJXq4SqVCIa1NG-KkFtG9gFte-foatsZotABWO_ZaoYNLVkdfgtfK8Bhhz37cArXcRLGOYWeh4pgABWw2mR_Ztil6f-WXw_uhffTckC6RQH1IQwEwCgu4LP_zytYkg7zy-kJrgpXGCgPYQBWagi6pD8ptwG11nuKu4AIuXHO2ywXToJtE/s320/blessed%20bananas%20tayyaba%20syed.png" width="319" /></a></div>I realized how much I liked <i><a href="https://www.tayyabasyed.com/bookstore" target="_blank">The Blessed Bananas</a></i>, written by <a href="https://www.tayyabasyed.com/" target="_blank">Tayyaba Syed</a> and illustrated by Melani Putri, when I started to describe the story to an elderly relative in Arabic. When I finished my version, I realize it differed in some ways from Tayyaba's text, yet it still worked, both as an entertaining narrative and a lesson in good behavior and morals.<p></p><p>I had recently read <i><a href="https://worldcat.org/en/title/730688" target="_blank">Watership Down</a></i> by Richard Adams. Apart from the dramatic action, the interspersed stories the rabbits told about their ancestor <a href="https://watershipdown.fandom.com/wiki/El-ahrairah" target="_blank">ElAhrairah</a> were entertaining. I had similarly tried to convey them to my relative.</p><p>So I feel like a raconteur!</p><p style="text-align: right;">قولوا علي قصاص</p><p>So you can use the wonderful illustrations in this book to tell your toddler Tayyaba's version of the story and then your version(s) of the story. Then, when the child grows older, you can repeat the process, and you and the child will be hearing a whole new set of stories.<br /> </p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-66913311201852247912023-03-05T08:54:00.005-05:002023-03-08T04:13:38.811-05:00Review: Film "Lamya's Poem" by Alex Kronemer<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0rtVkvAkgEc" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<p><i><a href="https://www.upf.tv/lamyas-poem/" target="_blank">Lamya's Poem</a></i>, from <a href="https://www.upf.tv/" target="_blank">Unity Productions Foundation</a>, is an imaginative and moving animated film which can appeal to a variety of audiences. It would be inaccurate to pigeon-hole <i>Lamya's Poem</i> into a category. Is it advocacy on behalf of migrants fleeing war and poverty? Is it <a href="https://www.upf.tv/unfold/">therapy for individuals who have experienced trauma</a>? Is it fan-fiction for <a href="https://www.illuminatedcourses.com/theheartofrumispoetry" target="_blank">Jalal al-Din Rumi</a>? Is it a call to Muslims to orient their religious practice in a particular manner?<span></span></p><a name="more"></a><p></p><p>There are certainly aspects of these themes in the film. Might the film have been simpler to digest had it restricted itself to a more straightforward narrative and less <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/avant-garde" target="_blank">avant-garde</a> visuals? Perhaps, but isn't it time Muslim media productions went beyond macaroni & cheese to a more nuanced and subtle dish?</p><p>The film is animated, and it portrays children, but don't make the mistake of thinking it is a children's film. Don't think that you can stick it in your DVD player and have it babysit your 8 year old while you shop on eBay. I'm no expert in what's appropriate for children based on their ages, but I'd definitely sit and discuss this with a child during and after viewing.</p><p>My favorite visual effect was the transformation of the Mongol cavalry charge which haunted Jalal al-Din's memories into the <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2020/06/9855220/what-is-kettling-police-protests" target="_blank">police kettle</a> which trapped Lamya and other migrants in an unregulated gathering site in an unnamed European city.</p><p>I have requested through my public library books which appeared in the film's credits as sources for the translations of Rumi's poetry.</p><p>For many years I've supported <a href="https://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/search/label/UPF" target="_blank">Unity Productions Foundation</a>. I urge readers of this blog to <a href="https://www.upf.tv/films/" target="_blank">watch its productions</a> and <a href="https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E203897&id=12" target="_blank">support as able</a>. I also gave the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10346674/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0" target="_blank">film a good rating at IMDB</a>.</p><p>I was able to watch this film on <a href="https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/15684590" target="_blank">Hoopla Digital</a> for free through my public library membership. As the film reminds us, the first word of the revelation is "Read!".</p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-57328215956688993542023-02-25T14:07:00.008-05:002023-02-25T14:14:16.824-05:00Favorite Quotes from "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZHQ9vPTHkqCbTVot3L8w6vYM5S2ozcdobK8L1n-k7uX4B-F55QGdHq_ZlDihXAcrwSBxC1Kb5IcYDL6BbXUHDgglsRusXOtyp1lK0MoIslLy5qlwQdBS7aZklvvMiNRtManerHMBDAPyHQsWB1pTxuOT_5r7aKg433rSwJfrYPn42gt_Jxc/s400/Book%20Cover%20-%20Aldo%20Leopold%20-%20A%20Sand%20County%20Almanac%20&%20Other%20Writings.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; padding: 0em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="246" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZHQ9vPTHkqCbTVot3L8w6vYM5S2ozcdobK8L1n-k7uX4B-F55QGdHq_ZlDihXAcrwSBxC1Kb5IcYDL6BbXUHDgglsRusXOtyp1lK0MoIslLy5qlwQdBS7aZklvvMiNRtManerHMBDAPyHQsWB1pTxuOT_5r7aKg433rSwJfrYPn42gt_Jxc/s320/Book%20Cover%20-%20Aldo%20Leopold%20-%20A%20Sand%20County%20Almanac%20&%20Other%20Writings.jpg" /></a></div>A friend recommended to me Aldo Leopold's book <i>A Sand County Almanac</i>. For more information on Aldo Leopold, visit the <a href="https://www.aldoleopold.org/" target="_blank">Aldo Leopold Foundation website</a>.<div><br /></div><div>The book, originally published in 1949, is an excellent exploration of why we need an<a href="https://iseethics.org/what-is-environmental-ethics/" target="_blank"> environmental ethic</a> (Leopold called it "the land ethic.") Here are some passages which struck me. All page numbering comes from the <a href="https://worldcat.org/en/title/796756009" target="_blank">2013 special commemorative edition</a>.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Historians Must Use the Saw, the Wedge and the Axe</b> (p.16)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInEJAmibYA0mDvFiyYhsOXYotXk2jbMnjuN2jakgM8tmyJrJglOYtWHwinF0jcwaUOcNVOfSDrTcTU8p5SN-pffEy5ZVqWJm4oB71qK6jBhRV4yaaxpUrgMG-V4NEdPWlKaWLhrUrtOLjjnITdxBkSKnZ9cP-tJxYIZLhx1ZOA_r_mm_7XO4/s570/016%20-%20There%20is%20an%20allegory%20for%20historians%20in%20the%20diverse%20functions%20of%20saw,%20wedge%20and%20axe.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="570" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInEJAmibYA0mDvFiyYhsOXYotXk2jbMnjuN2jakgM8tmyJrJglOYtWHwinF0jcwaUOcNVOfSDrTcTU8p5SN-pffEy5ZVqWJm4oB71qK6jBhRV4yaaxpUrgMG-V4NEdPWlKaWLhrUrtOLjjnITdxBkSKnZ9cP-tJxYIZLhx1ZOA_r_mm_7XO4/s320/016%20-%20There%20is%20an%20allegory%20for%20historians%20in%20the%20diverse%20functions%20of%20saw,%20wedge%20and%20axe.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6G99RyyRIjyfmcpNN7PyUqjXUWuvPY2iX-cVHX4rqa-DOVInsAl9GADAmDc5F8Y2hs-l-CSy3WFlT-xCRUgLKoc-60P9XeLvi8HWkRKh7TrpCihq57UhDoyRgE51tXyspslHjdOnJTGllCp2-8iBvwyHNjLEgw-JoZLm4KDbf-nEKJJQWEXk/s566/016%20-%20There%20is%20an%20allegory%20for%20historians%20in%20the%20diverse%20functions%20of%20saw,%20wedge%20and%20axe%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="566" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6G99RyyRIjyfmcpNN7PyUqjXUWuvPY2iX-cVHX4rqa-DOVInsAl9GADAmDc5F8Y2hs-l-CSy3WFlT-xCRUgLKoc-60P9XeLvi8HWkRKh7TrpCihq57UhDoyRgE51tXyspslHjdOnJTGllCp2-8iBvwyHNjLEgw-JoZLm4KDbf-nEKJJQWEXk/s320/016%20-%20There%20is%20an%20allegory%20for%20historians%20in%20the%20diverse%20functions%20of%20saw,%20wedge%20and%20axe%202.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Alphabetical Conservationists Destroy Wilderness</b> (p. 89)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Lr1-7pYHlxO0S7Gz1ikcyh4QlanK2gzvRLQ3tmUf8auTKJq8yM6s78TeEiumxl4T2E3opPcdRY2PHkPIeHS2_SJn9CsfPc1jUNFGa4f-xxh-s8Q0hXFEBnfqhPoQatG2NgtWdv_hZTiIPK-G7ke45pFqOCgAxGbot7zDb1FZjXM92Fh-Tx0/s290/089%20-%20alphabetical%20conservationists%20destroy%20wilderness.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="290" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Lr1-7pYHlxO0S7Gz1ikcyh4QlanK2gzvRLQ3tmUf8auTKJq8yM6s78TeEiumxl4T2E3opPcdRY2PHkPIeHS2_SJn9CsfPc1jUNFGa4f-xxh-s8Q0hXFEBnfqhPoQatG2NgtWdv_hZTiIPK-G7ke45pFqOCgAxGbot7zDb1FZjXM92Fh-Tx0/s1600/089%20-%20alphabetical%20conservationists%20destroy%20wilderness.png" width="290" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIvFPbDdQ3fe2djkNn37Qvp3cHONsPW3nErSz9pu0viyZ85i_nVh9f6ayLx876QqEYK_p6-Zj3fmywRHP-XpPfbhPr0B7LUlVupjhuyCmXgxV0bGDNCnmnJPnUhzxUomAaIoalYu4aSqmUFImanr0Yg1pWoKMSjKSO97JHc61lBO_ZS6bwTc/s288/089%20-%20alphabetical%20conservationists%20destroy%20wilderness%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="64" data-original-width="288" height="64" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIvFPbDdQ3fe2djkNn37Qvp3cHONsPW3nErSz9pu0viyZ85i_nVh9f6ayLx876QqEYK_p6-Zj3fmywRHP-XpPfbhPr0B7LUlVupjhuyCmXgxV0bGDNCnmnJPnUhzxUomAaIoalYu4aSqmUFImanr0Yg1pWoKMSjKSO97JHc61lBO_ZS6bwTc/s1600/089%20-%20alphabetical%20conservationists%20destroy%20wilderness%201.png" width="288" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Economists Don't See the Value of Wilderness</b> (p. 91)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8EcK9RKkQe8AKrqx5tFeGe_1jMAGHUcw611NNKZX0VUXU4OjVpGuGNwEXKFv3rRQ-JO-jKwwIZryor5IUBIx4yZSPuLGovC4BysYY47pw3AqfMtKJoesZMr_i6E3PoP4SiqPc0vtToeEUMN_OEQmo6V1uO_2M12FYcBpTxupb6h93sDLyq4/s518/091%20-%20economists%20ephithets%20for%20the%20Sand%20Counties.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="518" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8EcK9RKkQe8AKrqx5tFeGe_1jMAGHUcw611NNKZX0VUXU4OjVpGuGNwEXKFv3rRQ-JO-jKwwIZryor5IUBIx4yZSPuLGovC4BysYY47pw3AqfMtKJoesZMr_i6E3PoP4SiqPc0vtToeEUMN_OEQmo6V1uO_2M12FYcBpTxupb6h93sDLyq4/s320/091%20-%20economists%20ephithets%20for%20the%20Sand%20Counties.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Understanding Evolution by Natural Selection Opens a Way towards the Environmental Ethic</b> (p. 97)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"It is a century now since Darwin gave us the first</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb9szoA_Ftr2R9F6uTFjvyQ_3eI_5dXRhUWQiLAka8GIwIIn5Pg8K9SZ5NopCPvsW0RbKk6IAzY6z0hUFaSCL0jtbCrm4x-J7zHXjRa-ZYpbrbsntyy1l0Y4jYfF8HWv6R-Kk-dMnaDbsXm_Ye29_t15lVraPv8CCFStUG9lIikmYPZtix8cw/s579/097%20-%20It%20is%20a%20century%20now%20since%20Darwin%20gave%20us%20the%20first%20glimpse%20of.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="407" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb9szoA_Ftr2R9F6uTFjvyQ_3eI_5dXRhUWQiLAka8GIwIIn5Pg8K9SZ5NopCPvsW0RbKk6IAzY6z0hUFaSCL0jtbCrm4x-J7zHXjRa-ZYpbrbsntyy1l0Y4jYfF8HWv6R-Kk-dMnaDbsXm_Ye29_t15lVraPv8CCFStUG9lIikmYPZtix8cw/s320/097%20-%20It%20is%20a%20century%20now%20since%20Darwin%20gave%20us%20the%20first%20glimpse%20of.png" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Ecological Awareness, Not Technology, Is a Mark of Humans' Superiority</b> (p. 99)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEvkxZ7cTSuXQ2EgYtdoGwHo2QaXXMrryQORHGIoFIhzCchb3VDcWZIspqdyiSifANRIJFX_QYqo8zb6tXjIMx1aDB8nlZN14J8xf2I8QojxacJXvIsdnRjkxV-EOBoxSe9CPjoc19F4GNb67zmvyzsPPz0awVkyikWWz1JlRvRCzIbyw3c4/s399/099%20-%20ecological%20awareness,%20not%20technology,%20is%20potentially%20a%20marker%20of%20human%20superiority.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="399" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEvkxZ7cTSuXQ2EgYtdoGwHo2QaXXMrryQORHGIoFIhzCchb3VDcWZIspqdyiSifANRIJFX_QYqo8zb6tXjIMx1aDB8nlZN14J8xf2I8QojxacJXvIsdnRjkxV-EOBoxSe9CPjoc19F4GNb67zmvyzsPPz0awVkyikWWz1JlRvRCzIbyw3c4/s320/099%20-%20ecological%20awareness,%20not%20technology,%20is%20potentially%20a%20marker%20of%20human%20superiority.png" width="320" /></a></div>Note that "Mr. Bush's bombs" is a reference to <a href="https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/the-rise-and-fall-of-vannevar-bush" target="_blank">Vannevar Bush</a>, who became famous for marshalling engineering and science for the United States's military. "Mr. DuPont's nylons" is a reference to the DuPont company's successful commercial <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-nylon-stockings-changed-world-180955219/" target="_blank">replacement of women's silk stockings with a synthetic fabric</a>. This transition is widely considered the begining of the age of plastics.<div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Is Experience the Dilution of Essentials by Trivialities of Living?</b> (p. 107)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nyae77arbepN133hhuLY2jwSHp_LtkxWdxzvgsGbymRWKe9DeVwNIzF8eys9mQg0nk5M1o0y8w6OA2HKCXDXQNu2gzh-_-G7SmYuGfcIO6VSTji7CRZCxXkp7glYjuXrHChMVBHrtZLgTlhDzXcWVRNXFzM39VZINLNBWKN3JfoVP6AHrTs/s404/107%20-%20is%20experience%20the%20dilution%20of%20essentials%20by%20trivialities%20of%20living.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="52" data-original-width="404" height="41" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nyae77arbepN133hhuLY2jwSHp_LtkxWdxzvgsGbymRWKe9DeVwNIzF8eys9mQg0nk5M1o0y8w6OA2HKCXDXQNu2gzh-_-G7SmYuGfcIO6VSTji7CRZCxXkp7glYjuXrHChMVBHrtZLgTlhDzXcWVRNXFzM39VZINLNBWKN3JfoVP6AHrTs/s320/107%20-%20is%20experience%20the%20dilution%20of%20essentials%20by%20trivialities%20of%20living.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheIuKELX4UnxmQrxGM1S-f7CXQvCVGp29Mr-lQ-gJQqmyyiMN8RkoYykE6APdZSiGdyy9eZGOQ88846BkqWr0Jiv8XB8FtKAtOC2eNXnMq6hFgRSojfil2i2mjqXsVhLDLxVwgH9RgOCBVAAEUlkzR9ko4VuYbgO0-1V9djjy5uBEMPhxXrPQ/s405/107%20-%20is%20experience%20the%20dilution%20of%20essentials%20by%20trivialities%20of%20living%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="92" data-original-width="405" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheIuKELX4UnxmQrxGM1S-f7CXQvCVGp29Mr-lQ-gJQqmyyiMN8RkoYykE6APdZSiGdyy9eZGOQ88846BkqWr0Jiv8XB8FtKAtOC2eNXnMq6hFgRSojfil2i2mjqXsVhLDLxVwgH9RgOCBVAAEUlkzR9ko4VuYbgO0-1V9djjy5uBEMPhxXrPQ/s320/107%20-%20is%20experience%20the%20dilution%20of%20essentials%20by%20trivialities%20of%20living%202.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Striving Too Much for Safety is Not Thinking Like a Mountain</b> (p. 117)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fL76-WluCVe-EJ2ic3GowUWz5yPtd6sOVIOi020VLAP993Ut3F3CigDpErDMfz3uDDqixcTjFIQY9ErnUF6efxNQ-peenL1WxGXcxnu4-5ACoB30ZKk1zbuhM9oTrRxsEOqVL0zfyXsYiQnNlg_lBAx-24wdAUCXmyl8Rt3veALzOqyb1rU/s406/117%20-%20Striving%20too%20much%20for%20safety%20is%20not%20thinking%20like%20a%20mountain.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="406" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fL76-WluCVe-EJ2ic3GowUWz5yPtd6sOVIOi020VLAP993Ut3F3CigDpErDMfz3uDDqixcTjFIQY9ErnUF6efxNQ-peenL1WxGXcxnu4-5ACoB30ZKk1zbuhM9oTrRxsEOqVL0zfyXsYiQnNlg_lBAx-24wdAUCXmyl8Rt3veALzOqyb1rU/s320/117%20-%20Striving%20too%20much%20for%20safety%20is%20not%20thinking%20like%20a%20mountain.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>True Recreation Development Is a Mental Process</b> (p. 151)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvOg8yGQaH7OUD3cHmFh_08312i1zxI4ayThKqsUnRUuoOFy6-aHb5ZvYD-P2DBR_wcWESswbV3DSwfGkxtnAeIxU14RnXAl8_lRNC8r1kSQ3v1mIVlMa2a1wYtvOpQdEw9V3RrS2EIIRp146uAAEb_TKOB64lQD7uVGwAaAYtXeO6MzRcIr8/s400/151%20-%20recreation%20development%20is%20mental%20process.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="76" data-original-width="400" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvOg8yGQaH7OUD3cHmFh_08312i1zxI4ayThKqsUnRUuoOFy6-aHb5ZvYD-P2DBR_wcWESswbV3DSwfGkxtnAeIxU14RnXAl8_lRNC8r1kSQ3v1mIVlMa2a1wYtvOpQdEw9V3RrS2EIIRp146uAAEb_TKOB64lQD7uVGwAaAYtXeO6MzRcIr8/s320/151%20-%20recreation%20development%20is%20mental%20process.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbfWgZfHVp7ORv5o8vGtqyskOolquFFo6yS4n6stuYu_48biDy6NE0PDyM8yjWDangyAOjW2F0KBYGxBPckI23bqv0qsMrrS3ZYAf4S_kM-tr0HpZqv7Tc27TXpvkxbxipbEoP3XilEy__DlWSR5n-Qk7HXBwsGoHCnJAnidUhuUR4xV7TsM/s406/151%20-%20recreation%20development%20is%20mental%20process%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="406" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbfWgZfHVp7ORv5o8vGtqyskOolquFFo6yS4n6stuYu_48biDy6NE0PDyM8yjWDangyAOjW2F0KBYGxBPckI23bqv0qsMrrS3ZYAf4S_kM-tr0HpZqv7Tc27TXpvkxbxipbEoP3XilEy__DlWSR5n-Qk7HXBwsGoHCnJAnidUhuUR4xV7TsM/s320/151%20-%20recreation%20development%20is%20mental%20process%202.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Conservation Solely for Economic Self-interest Is Limited</b> (p. 180)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8oe5cGu5tKuJTIA0FpxJm4vKTN3y0jw2iQJRIv-8n_8bGpaQ59jWmbnsqyxJeVtjhwZrx-tFFPwbzqep5Pnhfe6sBcFQ93Zw3lzbNd92dDPjSgCKPvrDGIZ9_y40KPvIR-iHexDt4pwEnB8jFHaBFxLSh9sZJqPMcnqsX6InGjk4zO-zAx7s/s404/180%20-%20conservation%20out%20of%20economic%20self-interest%20limited.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="404" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8oe5cGu5tKuJTIA0FpxJm4vKTN3y0jw2iQJRIv-8n_8bGpaQ59jWmbnsqyxJeVtjhwZrx-tFFPwbzqep5Pnhfe6sBcFQ93Zw3lzbNd92dDPjSgCKPvrDGIZ9_y40KPvIR-iHexDt4pwEnB8jFHaBFxLSh9sZJqPMcnqsX6InGjk4zO-zAx7s/s320/180%20-%20conservation%20out%20of%20economic%20self-interest%20limited.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Releases of Biotic Capital Are Deceptively Positive in the Short-Term</b> (p 183)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyb-4Avz2WE3EdLVNQGJ9dP7cfZ71dXyqdgpyVlDguKhDsMW608WUOBFA3GFfsMMMyQVFrLAVFO5bi0G0IzIS5cTOeu5AV_16C86ljmYdfsfIN98SzuDW-ksj0VX51W-dCk5bwR-z0ESIkx3-jFHZ_KujUlsfxMHwtqb2m4I_kLzKS5la5UmY/s397/183%20-%20releases%20of%20biotic%20capital%20deceive%20in%20short%20term.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="133" data-original-width="397" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyb-4Avz2WE3EdLVNQGJ9dP7cfZ71dXyqdgpyVlDguKhDsMW608WUOBFA3GFfsMMMyQVFrLAVFO5bi0G0IzIS5cTOeu5AV_16C86ljmYdfsfIN98SzuDW-ksj0VX51W-dCk5bwR-z0ESIkx3-jFHZ_KujUlsfxMHwtqb2m4I_kLzKS5la5UmY/s320/183%20-%20releases%20of%20biotic%20capital%20deceive%20in%20short%20term.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Chemical & Mechanical Changes to Agriculture Are Improvements to the Pump, Not the Well</b> (p. 186)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkH_neBuu46k3IbkpGdaJwW7nzSnzKI_ibAOxnMJh5Zffv_9WD0Oa4VHjYQ1HYTHBatBhq3hdqYx6kKC9ogSWV7FrggvfoP4n-6_KrDdFDvY7ACKOecvmjqirb9WlOPbB2-KqVimGbJDNrCHLQgaBTnWa3xpTO_54SAemzL2snL3evonX0QPw/s401/186%20-%20Green%20Revolution%20is%20improvement%20in%20pump%20not%20well.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="401" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkH_neBuu46k3IbkpGdaJwW7nzSnzKI_ibAOxnMJh5Zffv_9WD0Oa4VHjYQ1HYTHBatBhq3hdqYx6kKC9ogSWV7FrggvfoP4n-6_KrDdFDvY7ACKOecvmjqirb9WlOPbB2-KqVimGbJDNrCHLQgaBTnWa3xpTO_54SAemzL2snL3evonX0QPw/s320/186%20-%20Green%20Revolution%20is%20improvement%20in%20pump%20not%20well.png" width="320" /></a></div></div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-46484215286404568052022-11-22T04:54:00.002-05:002022-11-22T04:54:14.970-05:00Recommendation: "In Our Own Hands: Tools for Talking Abolition and Transformative Justice with Little Ones" by Rania El Mugammar<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">You can talk to your kids about abolition & transformative (I made a free workbook to help you do it!)<br /><br />Trust they're already getting an education in copaganda & catceral punishment.<a href="https://t.co/aeESt11HpJ">https://t.co/aeESt11HpJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/AUfE4EeMh4">pic.twitter.com/AUfE4EeMh4</a></p>— ر ت ت ت (@raniawrites) <a href="https://twitter.com/raniawrites/status/1594524773484494848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Here's the link to the <a href="https://www.raniawrites.com/inourhands.html" target="_blank">page on Rania's website</a>. Rania also uses <a href="https://twitter.com/raniawrites" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/rania.writes/" target="_blank">IG</a>.Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-73059779635848934562022-11-11T07:37:00.000-05:002022-11-11T07:37:01.492-05:00Recommendation: Documentary "An Act of Worship" by Nausheen Dadabhoy<p><a href="http://www.dpdadabhoy.com/bio/" target="_blank">Nausheen Dadabhoy</a>'s documentary <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/an-act-of-worship-dnfqlh/" target="_blank"><i>An Act of Worship</i></a> uses Muslim-Americans' home movies, documentary clips of newsworth events, interviews with Muslims and a board where handwritten post-it notes with events which impacted the lives of Muslim-Americans to show the forces Muslim-Americans confront living in the United States. The film is available on <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/pov/" target="_blank">PBS's show <i>POV</i></a>, and it is <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/an-act-of-worship-dnfqlh/" target="_blank">available for free online through January 16, 2023</a>.</p>
<div class="pbs-viral-player-wrapper" style="padding-top: calc(56.25% + 43px); position: relative;"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" src="https://player.pbs.org/viralplayer/3073023555/" style="border: 0; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; width: 100%;"></iframe></div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-25716316597916447602022-09-24T08:50:00.004-04:002023-10-22T06:38:27.136-04:00Recommendation: "Minor Detail" by Adania Shibli<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOezgDMRKO-vHdxHf49ckRhHY7VvNBCZFGLszlaRcq4TbiTQPkHrKtwzh8piXjRszh27i1My9YGQhBTJzmeIkGBeYpDiWy-qqzJ9DtzOG8tjhclJ3stvgzPAeWItP6qsyYkvQevQ1bph9qEusMumb4xbNLyur1ZRUhvd6QFw8Y28FjCzxwi2A/s400/Minor%20detail.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="249" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOezgDMRKO-vHdxHf49ckRhHY7VvNBCZFGLszlaRcq4TbiTQPkHrKtwzh8piXjRszh27i1My9YGQhBTJzmeIkGBeYpDiWy-qqzJ9DtzOG8tjhclJ3stvgzPAeWItP6qsyYkvQevQ1bph9qEusMumb4xbNLyur1ZRUhvd6QFw8Y28FjCzxwi2A/s320/Minor%20detail.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><i>The incident took place on a morning that would coincide, exactly a quarter of a century later, with the morning of my birth. Of course, this may seem like pure narcissism, the fact that what drew me to the incident, what made it begin haunting me, was the presence of a detail that is really quite minor when compared to the incident's major details, which can only be described as tragic. It's completely plausible, though, for this type of narcissism to exist in someone. It's an innate tendency, one might say, toward a belief in the uniqueness of the self, toward regarding the life one leads so highly that one cannot but love life and everything about it.</i> [p. 58]<p></p><p>In 2021, the <a href="https://librarianswithpalestine.org/onebookcampaign/" target="_blank"><i>One Book, Many Communities</i> project of Librarians and Archivists with Palestine</a> selected <i><a href="https://worldcat.org/en/title/1125354277" target="_blank">Minor Detail</a></i> by <a href="https://arablit.org/tag/adania-shibli/" target="_blank">Adania Shibli</a> and translated by <a href="https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2020/06/25/textual-echoes-elisabeth-jacquette-on-translating-adania-shiblis-minor-detail/" target="_blank">Elisabeth Jacquette</a>.</p><p>Don't stop talking about Palestine.</p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-42464451442661581742022-09-23T09:19:00.002-04:002022-09-23T09:19:11.071-04:00Excerpt from "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison for Banned Books Week 2022<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vlOS_eSzXJQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><a name='more'></a></span>For more information on Banned Books Week, visit </span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbm5DeGR3bmRFY1UwZ3ZNbzBreUIwVEZNUzNPd3xBQ3Jtc0tsb2p3dlNWczc1VG5RRGswb0NnZ0xMd2E3c0Y5ZURHazM2cnZMbUpybjZxWEd5YkotOW8ydVBtc2hnbHo2NHVaQXhtRXZxdTB6b3ljdGdqUU9XNmEtclVmWHpLSkwxVmRaRWNwY2NFaTNMNVNQLUsyMA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fbannedbooksweek.org%2F&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://bannedbooksweek.org/</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">.
American Library Association, Officer for Intellection Freedom
While “diversity” is seldom given as a reason for a challenge, it may in fact be an underlying and unspoken factor: the work is about people and issues others would prefer not to consider. Often, content addresses concerns of groups who have suffered historic and ongoing discrimination. For instance, a book that often recurs in previous years’ top ten challenges is Toni Morrison’s Beloved. While it has sex in it, and that's often the complaint, many other books also have sex, and are not challenged. Is the underlying motivation for the challenge racism? Sometimes, it surely is. In other cases, of course, a complaint genuinely may be about precisely what the challenger says it is.
from </span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa3pTbG83M1FsQ2NjdkFpSW1seWh1QlJIUTZNUXxBQ3Jtc0ttQ0g0YnE5YUp0Y0VkanhnZVd0cVFWMnlkbjB6dnlDT216ckRLbTJmTWdxQXNBX3JzT2NMMVRvX3BMbUw0bW04ODRLdzJuUnlDcWYyQUJ3UW9CMzBJY18tUDBJbExVVUltQThrc01KTFdXNEwybmdVZw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ala.org%2Fadvocacy%2Fbbooks%2Fdiversity&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/d...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Toni Morrison's 1970 novel "The Bluest Eye" has been challenged many times, including Columbia County, Georgia, where I live, in 2022.
This narration comes at the end of a longer passage. You can download and listen to the longer excerpt here: </span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbkpvLW0zMlBnSi1qeUNZaW8yYWpncG9XdDJJQXxBQ3Jtc0tueGRoalFuRmhrNTRwWkZwNmtZM3prSDByOWI1RkJmMUp2WFJ6Vy1ZWURkRTFlaFlwZzZEU0dOS21LSkQxS0VjVUVfbEZZSUhuVS1WcFg1X1M1Ty1ZaEY0OGJPV1ZCTVh1QzRaMlVGVTlLRXRxQlZrYw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fapp.box.com%2Fs%2Fx2q6xqsseqxu3cc8w1c9dfr9u3ease28&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://app.box.com/s/x2q6xqsseqxu3cc...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Images in order of appearance
Toni Morrison Lecture_013 (March 28, 2013) by Mike Strasser (United States Military Academy PAO)
</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWpWN3hzNFhBWTF2d3FPVjJzWVRYMDBZaFdaUXxBQ3Jtc0tuTzI5MUtTWVlnQklKVklWWnBYaTNVX0N6RFIxd0tWUEdaTkd6RzZrYlBjYjhFNm5jSEIwYTd6MVhHbW4yUUpsOFdocU10Y3dkZXJHTHdIX0VFUElpZ2F3N1ZSM2dWeEUwY2FYZTZNWE1TTXF0b0FMbw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fflic.kr%2Fp%2Fe6Fow2&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://flic.kr/p/e6Fow2</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbXFYM1M1TkllanBvYlhRblpiT2JWT3BYd2tlZ3xBQ3Jtc0trSnJiNVRBMEFSdk5maWVuNEZHbVAzOW9GMWtTVFRzSUhjc3EzVU41UWZ3NWtwYTF6Z01raDdXR1VKVEpYTlNUNkRPY3hGcUlZRWlBMUJRLUtmN3otZzBOc3pqN25zSnU4dTdfU1Y5Sk5oTlEtUUYycw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fcreativecommons.org%2Flicenses%2Fby-nc-nd%2F4.0%2F&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Noted psychologists Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark: 1945 ca.
Washington Area Spark
</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbVJDRUttNkx1ZkdMVjFDek16REphMnAwUUlYd3xBQ3Jtc0ttai0xbVQ4TGdDRjZLc1FrcGpvandieWRUODI4SE4wRFRHdlFlTzRBU1B1aGI3cnlENHdhb2t4VDAzX2FKdk9jcldVbHZ4T09XQll2VHhtLTZ1Y01Da0ZFTXllSm9yZnFSZDc2NFJSTEU4VUZtYk9UTQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fflic.kr%2Fp%2FGwjt4S&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://flic.kr/p/Gwjt4S</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbllOb3ZYVU1vMld3Z05EdS1HZWQwZXhyUVc5QXxBQ3Jtc0tuZXdDMEFtSGIyYmtzd1l3Tk1qc0p0Q0FQdHNIdHBpYy1XXzAyVXJIRkJnLUNZQjRyamZuZDBfVG5OZ2tvUXBvY3JDamJJS3hxWmV6cl84cWpoSXVHR0pyNGV0RVVHV0p6OW9xakk0WmwtekJKVjV1QQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fcreativecommons.org%2Flicenses%2Fby-nc%2F4.0%2F&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Kenneth and Mamie Clark Doll
National Park Service Photo by Visual Information Specialist Preston Webb
Part of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Park, Topeka, Kansas
</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbnkzTVJBeTVjalJSbE1jdHA1eXV2cTlic3c3UXxBQ3Jtc0tsOGNTX012OGp4ZHpZN1J4Z2ZnQjdkZUN0akcxMmh5emgwczAzSy1MTVQwTk1wYml5empkdm5TbGRVcF9YNUVhbXowZ2JCSi1DdFRtZVZxTV95cDNWWHItbnJVZXBPRFBwVExXN3BFSzhyaU5qZTEwcw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nps.gov%2Fbrvb%2Flearn%2Fhistoryculture%2Fclarkdoll.htm&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://www.nps.gov/brvb/learn/histor...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Alexandria King, Hadar Busia-Singleton, McKenzie Frye, and Brittany-Laurelle
Photo: T Charles Erickson
From the 2022 stage production "The Bluest Eye" by Lydia R. Diamond and Directed by Awoye Timpo, January 28 - March 26, 2022, The Huntington Calderwood/BCA, Boston, MA </span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbkZHUHUtM2hrQmNFTE4zb2Vkd3ZqMHp6bWRyUXxBQ3Jtc0trSmg1M1lOel95NDhwcHdmOXhmTS1qYkJCQzFhUFBsUGw1eVZMUTR5YXhZamRGSFNmWUl6dTB4blpGXzB2V3MwcXctRHUyUE5Ub0o2cTVDSkVoY0owZzlFanFsVmdQcjJyNXd3aVEtZXBNWU5Ram1NMA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huntingtontheatre.org%2F&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://www.huntingtontheatre.org/</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWpuYkRsSENfRzU1Zkp5ZmtYeEZRS3BCVHZYQXxBQ3Jtc0trcU9HbGF2OWlxSk9qX1YzOGNWZ1JpRGRpNDBRYW5DUjlBYjZCN1JIOHVScEg2Vl9EV3Y3cENCb3dOdmhpWVdqb19tT09yeUU2elZMWElPbERGUDV1d2NlMWpVTXJTQnBIbEtVTU4zTXZYcWZpaVk1MA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fflic.kr%2Fp%2F2n17J9T&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://flic.kr/p/2n17J9T</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbGw4TDJESS1kRFgzMHU3S2wwTGY1QVZNMWlWQXxBQ3Jtc0trNmxwRHhiQk5KSUZ5cVhpd1h2MUVmUXBlX3ZNU1hMcGxSOXpVRk1EajhkVms2dFZDQkRUeHJYbTVUcmlHcVljWWFGdHA2VTlsRjQ5dDNTdVVLMXB3Nm9fWXJyMVF3SFhhaEZndjVVajJaNlBqQlNOOA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fcreativecommons.org%2Flicenses%2Fby%2F4.0%2F&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Stephanie Gainer Arts, </span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbk9MZ0g4MGNwRzNVRkVHOHZzRE9yLTN6d2pNd3xBQ3Jtc0tsNGY3TmVodXh1Z2JiYjRlbWNTMXlNNWJPRGFkWXc5Z3UwalNBaDNXc2VyTVZ6NUVmQXRZSU5BWnhpMzA3QnZzWUhnZnFCRklwNzBQTVNGVERkUnk3TV9YMXlibnNtTzdXSk9LR0ZGS0JXaEhVMDJ6RQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsgainerfb&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/sgainerfb</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Covers of various editions of translations of "The Bluest Eye."
29.GraffitiAlley.BaltimoreMD.8August2019 by Elvert Barnes
</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUdITjZ2SWc1T3FsMExLcXV0MjAxeXEya2RTZ3xBQ3Jtc0trUnlzeldSbkh1czUtZjNOLUtEOFA0Qk1QZWhQa19lTHBZZHZIVUp2N3VwQTlDdnFPV2c5Y1Z3R2hfM200OGY5cFlpMTh6eHRGajloRDh6MXVIMVNJWkx0SmRfcFFtdFBPLUNoc0pBZXp5NXVoQTR5OA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fflic.kr%2Fp%2F2gT3aFw&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://flic.kr/p/2gT3aFw</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWNGQTFfR1ptMVVEWUloQjhsZ0ZncE5oZWwyQXxBQ3Jtc0tsc1ZtV1FZWmQ4MkVHNzVmQUR3elBHLU16ZXBMTGt0ajFfU3FSMHNfb0w5VDdkTjZnc3ZuZ3JQT0NOT2FlWGhXSDNjNU85QXNhRVZ6VXM4cjZqeG4xZW9LY0Q5cGp0Y1VmZFRnSWFNTFpoX2ZoRmhJSQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fcreativecommons.org%2Flicenses%2Fby-sa%2F4.0%2F&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Reading by Ayman Fadel (</span><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbm0yWXZqTjd4Z0l6UFI1c2VQLW8tTk5nMWdfQXxBQ3Jtc0tsUVo1cnZidklhY1VIS2c0b0tKNlFHRWxjRlRqcWc1Q2VUbkF3UV90alIxX2gwaEsyWFFoRWlPemdZOEJ6TDNUS3V2T0xpODY0Q1U5UnBVaTVtN1lNcWtHU1dHVGJkQWt4ZGcxc2pNdmsycmx0ZzNMdw&q=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Faymanfadel&v=vlOS_eSzXJQ" rel="nofollow" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; display: var(--yt-endpoint-display,inline-block); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; overflow-wrap: var(--yt-endpoint-word-wrap,none); text-decoration: var(--yt-endpoint-text-regular-decoration,none); white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: var(--yt-endpoint-word-break,none);" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/aymanfadel</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-33618202711599414002022-08-04T10:42:00.003-04:002022-08-04T10:42:21.052-04:00"The Great Muslim American Road Trip" Once Again Demonstrates that Unity Productions Foundation Is Worthy of Support<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCpVzXdghKBzBC-7TyysZeVHnsiQIPHMAK54Te2QKpoZ9YhQfZng5s57Jn_Qn-rebc5LlwPuNNo6ZNRa69pcaJy9vvETvvh4S9YVKEymUlA_fitpuNo7QmcToT1UdvYWdnJCc2h0l-ewviO3a2ThbfLjO1adsRVfUFeitS8zujUrbqmbYXkc/s1024/Print-F-Banner-No-Text-1024x576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCpVzXdghKBzBC-7TyysZeVHnsiQIPHMAK54Te2QKpoZ9YhQfZng5s57Jn_Qn-rebc5LlwPuNNo6ZNRa69pcaJy9vvETvvh4S9YVKEymUlA_fitpuNo7QmcToT1UdvYWdnJCc2h0l-ewviO3a2ThbfLjO1adsRVfUFeitS8zujUrbqmbYXkc/s320/Print-F-Banner-No-Text-1024x576.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I am a long-time supporter of <a href="https://www.upf.tv/" target="_blank">Unity Productions Foundation</a>. I've <a href="https://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/search/label/UPF" target="_blank">blogged about its productions</a> numerous times.<p></p><p>I just finished watching the series <i><a href="https://www.upf.tv/roadtrip/" target="_blank">The Great Muslim American Road Trip</a></i> on <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/great-muslim-american-road-trip/" target="_blank">United States's Public Broadcasting System</a>. The series presented vignettes of Muslim life in North America through the lens of <a href="https://twitter.com/mona_haydar" target="_blank">Mona Haydar</a> and Sebastian Robins, a married couple, who traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles on the famed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYApJtsyd0" target="_blank">Route 66</a>.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>I hope that, for Muslims, the series will be another reminder that there's no single way to be Muslim and any attempt to restrict Muslim life to a particular conception is likely to exclude unjustly many other authentic expressions of Muslim life. In fact, maybe we ought to drop the concern about authenticity in Muslim life.</p><p>Of course one can nitpick on things here and there in the series. Nevertheless, since the vast majority of us can't do anything better, <a href="https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E203897&id=12" target="_blank">send some of your money to Unity Productions Foundation</a> so it can continue to tell stories about Muslims which improve the lives of Muslims in North America and open people's minds a bit more.</p><p>I also should publicly thank Mona & Sebastian for sticking their necks out and having cameras in their faces for extended periods of time. I don't know them personally, but, assuming their motives are good, I pray that Allah rewards them for sacrificing their privacy for the sake of a production which can do a lot of good.</p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-8532360980221835632022-08-02T13:02:00.005-04:002022-09-10T20:42:03.755-04:00Lessons for Muslims from "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XMs6IdGy6tLrYAK-mtLHiL7ZH-y_r77ykbnQwP3lUkxmijJuAV1ZKhblHiBSIQAaGbTboiE17RLmmoQRiPOzgtYk-oeSnbcj1q_t1aA2wKGVT5bO9YRQDH20B8c_tXA2c_e6vBl-lTKyZXyXWTRYI0Zz0v-jUC8d3MMmTylp-B8J0mSlhug/s1200/JJW-final-cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="794" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XMs6IdGy6tLrYAK-mtLHiL7ZH-y_r77ykbnQwP3lUkxmijJuAV1ZKhblHiBSIQAaGbTboiE17RLmmoQRiPOzgtYk-oeSnbcj1q_t1aA2wKGVT5bO9YRQDH20B8c_tXA2c_e6vBl-lTKyZXyXWTRYI0Zz0v-jUC8d3MMmTylp-B8J0mSlhug/s320/JJW-final-cover.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><a href="https://twitter.com/kkdumez" target="_blank">Kristin Kobes Du Mez</a> provides answers in <i><a href="https://kristindumez.com/books/jesus-and-john-wayne/" target="_blank">Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation</a></i> to those who wondered why the vast majority of self-identified Christian evangelicals supported the publicly vulgar & openly sinful Donald Trump for President of the United States in the 2016 election cycle. Historians like Du Mez and Kevin Kruse claim that the answer to this apparent dilemma lies in decades of United States history. While <a href="https://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/2015/08/review-one-nation-under-god-how.html" target="_blank">Kevin Kruse emphasized oligarchs' fear of organized labor and social welfare programs and communism</a>, Du Mez emphasized the misogynistic, white supremacist messaging in support of overseas imperialism and domestic patriarchy. I encourage readers to benefit from both books. I encourage Muslim readers to ponder the following questions:<span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p>1. Is your hatred of human rights for gays and lesbians and fear of atheists worth allying with people who are on the wrong side of issues such as environmental protection, labor rights, decolonization & restoration of the rights of the First Peoples of this continent, ending mass black incarceration, quality public education, just immigration policies towards non-European migrants, etc? I'm trying to imagine a world in which I would ever share platforms with people who cheered the occupations of Afghanistan & Iraq and ignore the existence of Palestinians. Do you think we should be adding our names in support of people who want to place <i>Left Behind</i> books and movies in public schools and remove books on evolution, cosmology, geology and history?</p><p>2. Read Chapter 16, "Evangelical Mulligans," and then tell me that we should dismiss contemporary Muslim calls for gender equity. Study materials from the <a href="https://hurmaproject.com/" target="_blank">Hurma Project</a>. Ask people who work in domestic violence shelters specializing in helping Muslim women and children. Already, we Muslims in North America have had high profile "leaders" exposed as physically and sexually abusive. Do you think that the YouTube preachers railing against "feminism" are any different from the Christians Du Mez discusses in this chapter? It is <a href="https://sunnah.com/muslim:2669a" target="_blank">reported that Allah's Messenger said</a>:</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); font-family: "KFGQPC Uthman Taha Naskh", "KFGQPC Uthmanic Script HAFS", Scheherazade, "Trebuchet MS", Arial, Helvetica; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">لَتَتَّبِعُنَّ سَنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ شِبْرًا بِشِبْرٍ وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ حَتَّى لَوْ دَخَلُوا فِي جُحْرِ ضَبٍّ لاَتَّبَعْتُمُوهُمْ قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ آلْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى قَالَ فَمَنْ</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); font-size: 19px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: KFGQPC Uthman Taha Naskh, KFGQPC Uthmanic Script HAFS, Scheherazade, Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica;">You will tread the same path as was trodden by those before you inch by inch and step by step so much so that, if they had entered into the hole of a lizard, you would follow them. We said: Allah's Messenger, "Jews and Christians?" He said: Who else?</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;">Why do you suppose that we Muslims will be immune to the harms that these Christian misogynists spread among their followers? Cease supporting patriarchal preachers. Push organizations claiming to represent Muslims to have independent women in positions of leadership. Don't settle for unequal facilities in places of worship. Don't sweep sexual "indiscretions" and physical, financial and emotional abuse under the rug, either from lay Muslims or "scholars." Make sure Muslim girls have the same educational, recreational and career opportunities as boys.</p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-71654639897112514212022-06-17T09:16:00.002-04:002022-06-17T09:16:34.418-04:00Recommendation: Bahram Rahman, "The Library Bus," Gabrielle Grimard (illustrator)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEnPGEy-WK-t9zZCT86rp02V8hgsMwN6xqPW1LbwyfhD8WlS2o1HHanxrhsl0Hoxa78GO9LOFgV8aGoJFucQ_WTP5EWEAeKhc--EkHAezWJk9UEd4HJ4bqqRwSaeg7HqW8Gb99ztgnmRuHAc-yOgFHxWkg3V4m0q0O89kDsr9agCOppvbmx8/s400/library%20bus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="363" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEnPGEy-WK-t9zZCT86rp02V8hgsMwN6xqPW1LbwyfhD8WlS2o1HHanxrhsl0Hoxa78GO9LOFgV8aGoJFucQ_WTP5EWEAeKhc--EkHAezWJk9UEd4HJ4bqqRwSaeg7HqW8Gb99ztgnmRuHAc-yOgFHxWkg3V4m0q0O89kDsr9agCOppvbmx8/s320/library%20bus.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/bahram_rahman/?hl=en" target="_blank">Bahram Rahman</a>'s <i><a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1291878367" target="_blank">The Library Bus</a></i> is an excellent means to introduce to Muslim (and non-Muslim!) children the value of reading and the harms gender discrimination causes.<p></p><p>I hope this book is eventually translated into all the languages spoke in Afghanistan and nearby countries and published and distributed widely.</p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-70558995183329233802022-05-30T12:23:00.010-04:002022-06-29T09:31:06.675-04:00Recommendation: "While I Was Away" by Waka T. Brown<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIXGgkHiS4xNwBbpEuRtr-SyVr2y6nn39GFvGdKQeiGPOpxHxAWkP5MGgyaIa9G2kFj3Uqjt2ImHJOGIzfrsp3l5boUr6b7LxQLio6gBJR7K-6aZYDpChOu7oKEgZ-X-wCf53azmarvDHSSi7ptm07HHztbj2Vpgq0u87O1eajgFqQYMN3T0/s1024/WIWA_final_front-697x1024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="697" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIXGgkHiS4xNwBbpEuRtr-SyVr2y6nn39GFvGdKQeiGPOpxHxAWkP5MGgyaIa9G2kFj3Uqjt2ImHJOGIzfrsp3l5boUr6b7LxQLio6gBJR7K-6aZYDpChOu7oKEgZ-X-wCf53azmarvDHSSi7ptm07HHztbj2Vpgq0u87O1eajgFqQYMN3T0/s320/WIWA_final_front-697x1024.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><i><a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1290311359" target="_blank">While I Was Away</a></i> by <a href="http://wakatbrown.com/about-me/" target="_blank">Waka T Brown</a> is a memoir of the author, who was raised in Kansas and had only visited her parents' homeland of Japan for short periods of time. At age 12, her parents sent her to Japan for five months to study in a regular elementary school and live with her maternal grandmother.<p></p><div>I recommend this to any child whose families send them away from their familiar surroundings to another country to bond with relatives or learn a language. In fact, even adult college students going for study abroad programs should read this. In my experience in study abroad programs, a surprising number of students don't perform well because of homesickness and failing to deal properly with the difficult and embarrassing situations Waka encountered.</div><div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>By reading this book, the reluctant child traveling abroad can gain the wisdom the author attained writing as an adult reflecting on her experiences. As a child, it's difficult to understand that your relatives may have painful episodes in their pasts which impact their treatment of people. It's also difficult to understand that circumstances may prevent you from ever seeing those family members again. This book would help your child understand why it is important to try to spend every moment of time with your extended family and hear their stories.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, one is likely to find conditions difficult. The experienced traveler knows that, when people in another place do things differently, they most often have very good reasons. It is simply a matter of being patient and flexible enough to adapt.</div><div><br /></div><div>While I've emphasized practical reasons to recommend the book, it is aesthetically pleasing! I became hungry reading passages describing Japanese cuisine. When reading passages describing flora, I remembered fondly the time I was able to see the <a href="https://cherryblossomwatch.com/peak-bloom-forecast/" target="_blank">cherry blossoms in Washington, DC</a>. I was rooting for Waka to learn her <i><a href="https://gogonihon.com/en/blog/japanese-characters/" target="_blank">kanji</a></i>!</div><div><br /></div><div>Ms. Brown participated in a webinar on May 18, 2022. The <a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/4232148221804836879" target="_blank">recording is available for free. Just fill out the registration form</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>We in the United States must also remember the thousands of people who are prevented from traveling to visit their relatives because of <a href="http://www.abrazosthefilm.com/" target="_blank">immigration restrictions</a>, custody disputes and/or ongoing conflicts. </div><div><br /></div><div>A passage reminded me of Ahmaud Arbery, whom racists in Brunswick, Georgia murdered, claiming that they suspected him of stealing from construction sites in their white neighborhood.</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"While I Was Away" by <a href="https://twitter.com/W_T_Brown?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@W_T_Brown</a>, p 22<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AhmaudArbery?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AhmaudArbery</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IRunWithAhmaud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IRunWithAhmaud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RIPAhmaudArbery?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RIPAhmaudArbery</a><a href="https://t.co/lw4fnW2sXc">https://t.co/lw4fnW2sXc</a><br /><br />I used to explore construction sites as a child. <a href="https://t.co/tBJVvDeMms">pic.twitter.com/tBJVvDeMms</a></p>— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) <a href="https://twitter.com/aymanfadel/status/1530918224711364608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><div>Another tidbit I found interesting was Waka describing how the students in the school would clean the school.</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">In <a href="https://twitter.com/W_T_Brown?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@W_T_Brown</a> "While I Was Away," the protagonist, a visiting student in a Japanese public school, informs her friend from Kansas that the Japanese students clean their own schools. Apparently that is the case. <a href="https://t.co/rCnzIh3Yow">https://t.co/rCnzIh3Yow</a></p>— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) <a href="https://twitter.com/aymanfadel/status/1530960317685108737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><div>The response in the United States to the COVID-19 pandemic revealed yet again our complete lack of solidarity and our racial and class divisions. Do measures such as eliminating the distinction between students and janitorial staff reduce these divisions? Might they reduce the gendered division of labor which makes cleaning "women's work?" I know that trying piecemeal measures to resolve structural issues is rarely effective, but it is a useful thought experiment and perhaps applicable immediately in limited situations.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Imam-Shafii/Kecia-Ali/Makers-of-the-Muslim-World/9781780740041" target="_blank">Al-Imam al-Shafi`i</a> is reported <a href="https://www.aldiwan.net/poem24704.html" target="_blank">to have said</a></div><div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">تغربْ عن الأوطانِ في طلبِ العُلا … وسافرْ ففي الأسفارِ خمسُ فوائدِ</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">تفرجُ همٍ واكتسابُ معيشةٍ … وعلمٌ وأدابٌ وصحبةُ ماجدِ</span></div></div></blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>My translation:</div><div><br /></div><div>Depart from your homeland in pursuit of achievement</div><div> and travel! In the journey are five benefits:</div><div>Easing your mental burden, earning your living,</div><div> knowledge, habits of character and majestic companionship.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-16361515764351265222022-05-08T12:30:00.003-04:002022-05-13T13:44:25.640-04:00Recommendation: "Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear" by Mosab Abu Toha<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSfZIWhnVbguN7ygFbKF07ykhC0gcRCYcpjQ4J6GZi-1pqw7GxKZ-yveW8YfuRBg1GSn_lSrOEf9WQJ53XqST3fufh5rV2BBKBI-IktOUDPSS0qmusIsJSRdITaUlBbF8jr2mfeii0HpZJaKWjCe6ZEKB7MoLoqzjplzT6QYcnqPdUi6ctM4/s2240/ThingsYouMayFind-cover.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2240" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSfZIWhnVbguN7ygFbKF07ykhC0gcRCYcpjQ4J6GZi-1pqw7GxKZ-yveW8YfuRBg1GSn_lSrOEf9WQJ53XqST3fufh5rV2BBKBI-IktOUDPSS0qmusIsJSRdITaUlBbF8jr2mfeii0HpZJaKWjCe6ZEKB7MoLoqzjplzT6QYcnqPdUi6ctM4/s320/ThingsYouMayFind-cover.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div>I'm not going to pretend I have put enough effort into reading <i><a href="https://citylights.com/general-poetry/things-you-may-find-hidden-in-my-ear/?fbclid=IwAR2m1jsEq333cfbrqVAiW652vUVflRNI9QO1zTVwse6_niCaPWc9tXIQNKk" target="_blank">Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear</a></i>, a collection of poems by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mosab.abutoha" target="_blank">Mosab Abu Toha</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/MosabAbuToha" target="_blank">Twitter</a>), to write a review. Professor Mosab is a Palestinian from Gaza. As I've mentioned in another <a href="https://muslimmediareview.blogspot.com/2020/04/favorite-quotes-conferfence-of-birds-by.html" target="_blank">blog entry</a>, poetry uses a language which requires the use of brain regions which for me are quite undeveloped. Nevertheless, I'm recommending this book for a few reasons:<p></p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>When I did put effort into thinking about the poems, Mosab's words rewarded me.</li><li>I listened to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5DrsYvlqDs" target="_blank">an interview</a> and found Mosab to be engaging. He has <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/transnational-series-mosab-abu-toha-with-naomi-shihab-nye-tickets-310614876457" target="_blank">another virtual interview May 14, 2022</a> in which you can "meet" him.</li><li>The published volume includes photographs with thoughtful captions and a written interview with Mosab.</li><li>I don't want anything to do with any activist in USA, <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/podcast-ep-25-muslim-zionists" target="_blank">especially Muslim</a>, who thinks supporting Palestinians incurs too high a cost.</li></ul><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P5DrsYvlqDs" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-29078399893291701952022-05-04T12:19:00.001-04:002022-05-04T12:19:12.104-04:00Recommendation: "I Am the Night Sky & Other Reflections by Muslim American Youth," by Hena Khan (editor)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQRK9xNPHfyHxLK0ngdKQRwXpNLiZ106VFTczME1-b47gZ9uYrUKhH_tLmjaZW7A5KRR8D8Hvoq-5NXb6SGOMkfikkL7HZuPQ2Wb7S6zqZRYMMpstbSK658407SSaV6FIrw10kxECjaJP3aTXIX6Yq1L5di5pB9p2N2hlIUzU91bhATSw7x0/s475/46158523._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQRK9xNPHfyHxLK0ngdKQRwXpNLiZ106VFTczME1-b47gZ9uYrUKhH_tLmjaZW7A5KRR8D8Hvoq-5NXb6SGOMkfikkL7HZuPQ2Wb7S6zqZRYMMpstbSK658407SSaV6FIrw10kxECjaJP3aTXIX6Yq1L5di5pB9p2N2hlIUzU91bhATSw7x0/s320/46158523._SY475_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><a href="https://henakhan.com/" target="_blank">Hena Khan</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/henakhanbooks" target="_blank">Twitter</a>) edited <i><a href="https://www.shoutmousepress.org/bookstore/nightsky" target="_blank">I Am the Night Sky & Other Reflections by Muslim American Youth</a></i>, an anthology of stories, poems and drawings by Muslim youth in the United States.<p></p><p>Being a grumpy, past middle-aged male, I don't do deep dives into most Young Adult literature, much less literature written by young adults.</p><p>Nevertheless, the attempts by the book's authors and artists to express their inner lives as they navigate a difficult time are worth exploring and may benefit others, especially younger readers.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.shoutmousepress.org/" target="_blank">publisher Shout Mouse Press</a> looks like it has a lot of cool titles.</p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-42821091526992060342022-04-04T12:53:00.008-04:002022-04-04T12:53:53.538-04:00Documentary: Brooklyn Inshallah<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="332" src="https://player.pbs.org/viralplayer/3060255710/" style="border: 0;" width="512"></iframe> <div>United States's Public Broadcasting Service promoted <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/brooklyn-inshallah-g9psmh/" target="_blank">this documentary</a> as <a href="https://www.pbs.org/articles/celebrate-arab-american-heritage-month?utm_source=whattowatchnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=secondarypromo5&utm_content=20220401&utm_campaign=pbspresents_2022" target="_blank">part of Arab-American Heritage Month</a>. I liked it.</div>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-46320963804634821102022-03-11T00:03:00.006-05:002022-03-11T00:03:54.648-05:00Recommendation: Trojan Horse Affair Podcast<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="232" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/2isrOkJ401yfYNVDEhtdey?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe>
I listened to it on Spotify. Here's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/podcasts/trojan-horse-affair.html" target="_blank">the information page at the New York Times</a>, which includes other platforms to listen to the show.Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33214784.post-30863843754711414422022-03-02T20:51:00.003-05:002022-03-02T20:51:41.623-05:00Family Event with Author Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Mar 10, 2022<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKClPw2mzObM55UaKAG8VKKeSOfRArTZ5cbosedB0MTqxqrqClyu3oLqSooIufkjxG-L70gws6Zdp7-xK2AYncVq8n2mnYnQnpG39DkrbkmwDLxS86Diy2Fh5mUy3aBDAT2X1IFqkV2--HiTA8qFgFAlobTT5RnQRiZcB9SD_x0ZN2hhXXiaM=s2000" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1294" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKClPw2mzObM55UaKAG8VKKeSOfRArTZ5cbosedB0MTqxqrqClyu3oLqSooIufkjxG-L70gws6Zdp7-xK2AYncVq8n2mnYnQnpG39DkrbkmwDLxS86Diy2Fh5mUy3aBDAT2X1IFqkV2--HiTA8qFgFAlobTT5RnQRiZcB9SD_x0ZN2hhXXiaM=s320" width="207" /></a></div><span data-offset-key="6u3ar-0-0" face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 20px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true">Join </span></span><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d9bf0; font-size: 20px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="6u3ar-1-0"><a href="https://linktr.ee/authorjamilah" target="_blank">Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow</a></span></span><span data-offset-key="6u3ar-2-0" face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 20px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true"> for "Bedtime Story Night!" A virtual event for the whole family. Thu, March 10, 2022, 6 pm EST. Register here: </span></span><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d9bf0; font-size: 20px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="6u3ar-3-0"><a href="https://augusta.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9NXSFW4jH2it6bI">https://augusta.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9NXSFW4jH2it6bI</a></span></span><p></p>Ayman Hossam Fadelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02971214697650068561noreply@blogger.com