Review: "There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration" by Ali Noorani

 

Ali Noorani is the President and Director of National Immigration Forum. He began writing There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration in 2010, after Congress failed to pass The Dream Act, despite the Democratic Party majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Those advocating human rights for migrants were bitterly disappointed that, despite decades of advocacy and organizing, legislation which would have provided the most meager of relief for some undocumented immigrants failed. 

Ali Noorani identifies that cultural advocacy was the missing ingredient: "When Americans were looking for an answer to their questions of cultural identity, we gave them a political answer instead." [p. 30]

Review: We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders by Linda Sarsour

Author Ausma Zehanat Khan reviewed Linda Sarsour's memoir We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders in The Washington Post, April 3, 2020.

Sitting in a cafe reading Linda Sarsour’s memoir, We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders, I was afraid to expose the book’s cover, which shows the author in a hijab. As a Muslim woman living in the United States, I am well-acquainted with the different ways American Muslims minimize themselves in public. And for that reason I am all the more heartened by Sarsour’s fearlessness. -- read more -

I have not read the book.

Building Bridges 2017-2018 Grants Program of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art

Doris Duke Foundation seeks grant proposals for arts programming on Muslims. https://t.co/Rn2i0zAP8N

— Dalia Mogahed (@DMogahed) July 26, 2017

Review: "14: Dred Scott, Wong Kim Ark & Vanessa Lopez" Directed by Anne Galisky

Updated February 26, 2017: The film is now available for streaming.

Section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows:

My layman's summary of this Section is that it established birthright citizenship and forbade states from depriving persons in the United States of their Federally established rights without due process.

Dawud Walid's Thoughts on PBS's Documentary on the Black Panthers

My thoughts on #BlackPanthersPBS https://t.co/q0PSHinXd3

— Dawud Walid (@DawudWalid) February 18, 2016

PBS's website for the documentary allows you to watch it for free until March 18, 2016.

Check out my review of Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination by Alondra Nelson.

To Read - "The Gulf - High Culture/Hard Labor" edited by Andrew Ross

This week: Ibraaz is hosting the London book launch of @GulfLabor1's new book. Details: https://t.co/OlFkjRG34A pic.twitter.com/YfIuQ7f7fg

— Ibraaz (@Ibraaz) November 16, 2015

The Gulf Labor Artists Coalition maintains a website and a Twitter account. Sign a petition to the Guggenheim Foundation.

Andrew Ross, the editor, is a Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University in New York City.

I have not read the book.

"A new chapter in the expedient utilization of culture": Andrew Ross on Saadiyat Island http://t.co/1wBVn15d5F pic.twitter.com/94E0PGc5Fq

— Artforum (@Artforum) October 7, 2015

Ask NBC to Hire Iman Zawahry to Direct an Episode of "Master of None"

Hey guys! My friend Lexi Alexander (first female director of a Marvelfilm) helped start a Twitter campaign to have me...
Posted by Iman Zawahry on Thursday, November 12, 2015

Master of None is a Netflix original series.

Check out my interview with Iman from November 30, 2012.

Review: Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination by Alondra Nelson

"Quando dou comida aos pobres chamam-me de santo. Quando pergunto por que eles são pobres chamam-me de comunista."

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."

Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara (1909 – 1999), Catholic Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Brazil, 1964 to 1985

Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination by Alondra Nelson. 

University of Minnesota Press, 2011, 289 pp.

Professor Alondra Nelson (Twitter) has written a book which all activists should read. It focuses on the advocacy, activism and ideology of the Black Panther Party (BPP) in healthcare.

Download for Free: The Case for Sanctions Against Israel, edited by Audrea Lim

Leading international voices argue for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
In July 2011, Israel passed legislation outlawing the public support of boycott activities against the state, corporations, and settlements, adding a crackdown on free speech to its continuing blockade of Gaza and the expansion of illegal settlements. Nonetheless, the campaign for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) continues to grow in strength within Israel and Palestine, as well as in Europe and the US. ---- read more & download eBook or buy paperback

I don't have a Kindle and I'm not sure how to use an .epub file, so I used http://www.zamzar.com/ to convert the .epub file to a PDF.

Verso Books is an excellent publisher!

The Perils of American Muslim Politics

Abdullah Al-Arian and Hafsah Kanjwal wrote The Perils of American Muslim Politics, which Jadaliyya published on July 10, 2014.

These broader shifts across the United States political establishment showcase an increasing tendency within American Muslim activism—particularly since 9/11—to reorient its engagement with policy-making circles (including government, think tanks, private institutions, and media) in a way that risks becoming reappropriated and rearticulated for a new political reality. Read more ...

Review: The Battle for Justice in Palestine by Ali Abunimah

Ben White reviewed The Battle for Justice in Palestine by Ali Abunimah for Middle East Monitor on March 19, 2014. You can buy it at the publisher's website.

my review of @AliAbunimah's new book -- The Battle for Justice in Palestine http://t.co/kL4xv1CJ5Q via @middleeastmnt
— Ben White (@benabyad) March 20, 2014

I have not read the book.

"Gaza Writes Back" & Iran "Manufactured Crisis" Tours, USA, Mar-Apr 2014

Gaza writers & G. Porter tour US-wide soon! M. Peled in S. Africa. Other authors speaking... - http://t.co/CG0aZeUJM1
— Just World Books (@Justworldbooks) March 15, 2014

In a previous blog entry, I referred to peace activist David Swanson's review of the book. I'd also encouraged people to support Gareth Porter's book Manufactured Crisis.

To-Read: Shattered Hopes: Obama's Failure to Broker Israeli-Palestinian Peace by Josh Ruebner

Josh Ruebner is on a book tour promoting Shattered Hopes: Obama’s Failure to Broker Israeli-Palestinian Peace. If you are near any of the stops, attend. If there's no stop near you, organize one! Here are some video recordings of Mr. Ruebner.

On May 23, 2014, an Augusta, GA peace group helped arrange for Josh Ruebner to speak, and here is a recording.

Review: Black Liberation and Palestine Solidarity by Lenni Brenner and Matthew Quest

Black Liberation and Palestine Solidarity by Lenni Brenner and Matthew Quest

Authors Lenni Brenner and Matthew Quest collected in this volume some of the essays they published between 1993 and 2013 analyzing the positions of prominent figures in the movement for black liberation towards Zionism and Palestinian resistance to Zionism. These positions were reflections of their owners' evolving understandings of the liberation struggles in the United States.

Confronting Anti-Black Racism & Tribalism in the Ummah

This is a recording of the radio show I mentioned last week.

Important Radio Discussion This Saturday on Intra-Muslim Racism

From Dawud Walid's blog: (I've added the date and a few links)

Arab American Association of New York Director Linda Sarsour and Dawud Walid are scheduled to be 900 AM WURD in Philadelphia this Saturday (Nov 30, 2013) from 5pm to 6pm Eastern to discuss the issue of the usage of the slur “abeed” and the broader issue of intra-Muslim racism and tribalism.

Islam Today Radio Show is hosted weekly by University of Pennsylvania Chaplain Kameelah Rashad. The show may be listened to live-streaming at www.900amwurd.com.  Callers may join the conversation at (866) 361-0900 or (215) 634-8065.

Updated December 2, 2013: A recording is available online.

Review: Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control by Medea Benjamin

Tom Hayden wrote a review of Medea Benjamin's Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control. Medea is a cofounder of Code Pink.

I have not read the book.

Updated July 24, 2016 - I read the book several years ago. It's good. Read it!

Kickstarter: Can art save the Arctic? An experimental documentary by Saeed Taji Farouky

I've pledge to support a Kickstarter project by British documentarian Saeed Taji Farouky (Facebook).

Review: Actual Innocence by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld & Jim Dwyer

Actual Innocence by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld & Jim Dwyer, founders of the Innocence Project (Twitter).

Support Herstory Egypt: Words of Women from the Egyptian Revolution

Leil-Zahra Mortada (Twitter) is the director of a YouTube series called Herstory Egypt: Words of Wisdom from the Egyptian Revolution. I've sent in a donation to support it using Indiegogo.

Please support this project by watching the videos, helping translate them into different languages and spreading the word.

And, yes, I know that Leil-Zahra Mortada is "feminist, queer, Arab and anarchist." So?