Support Georgia Innocence Project's Concept Album on Life of Clarence Harrison, Exonerated After 18 Years

I attended a talk by Clarence Harrison, a Decatur, Georgia man convicted of rape and kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment. He served 18 years before he was exonerated with help from the Georgia Innocence Project (Facebook page).

I have posted other material regarding the United States criminal justice system. And I hope you've watched the latest Ken Burns documentary, Central Park Five.

Donate to the Georgia Innocence Project. In addition, some musicians are teaming up with Clarence Harrison to produce songs about his life, in mostly his own words. That project needs support as well.

Play: "Disgraced" by Ayad Akhtar

The New York Times published a review of the play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar.

I have not seen the play.

H/t

- ‘Disgraced,’ by Ayad Akhtar, With Aasif Mandvi - NYTimes.com ow.ly/2wgzbc

— Ebadur Rahman (@i_baad) April 18, 2013

Book Review: Christians, Muslims and Jesus by Mona Siddiqui

Christians, Muslims, and Jesus by Mona Siddiqui

Stuart Kelly reviewed the book at Scotsman.com. Sameer Rahim reviewed it at The Telegraph.

I have not read the book.

Here is a recording of a lecture she gave at Edinburgh University in Scotland on March 11, 2013.

Interview with Scott Korb, author of Light without Fire

Light without Fire: The Making of America's First Muslim College by Scott Korb (Twitter) (Tumblr) (Facebook)

Religion Dispatches published an interview with Scott Korb. The interview mentions Ebadur Rahman, whose blog I recommend.

Updated May 17, 2013: Review

Dawud Walid Explains Why CAIR Urges Moratorium on Death Penalty in the United States

Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has endorsed a national moratorium in the United States on the death penalty. You can listen to CAIR-Michigan's Executive Director Dawud Walid explain CAIR's position and discuss other matters related to the criminal justice system, which I've blogged about in the past.

Note: The audio file is embedded in 4shared.com. My recommendation is to create an account on the web site, but don't download and install on your computer its "download" assistant, which will embed itself in your browser and activate every time you try to download a file.

P.S. Act on this Amnesty International alert to prevent the execution of Abdullah al-Qahtani in Iraq.

Review: The Wall by William Sutcliffe

The Wall by William Sutcliffe

Pitched as a fable, his crossover novel is set in a city split in two by a vast wall. On one side live the privileged, the occupiers – and our hero Joshua. On the other live the desperate, the occupied, and when Joshua, hunting for his lost football, discovers a tunnel that leads under the wall, he sets in action a series of dreadful consequences. Without making it explicit, it soon becomes clear that this is the West Bank, that Joshua, 13, is Jewish, and that Leila, the girl who saves his life on the other side of the wall, is Palestinian.

Read more of Alison Flood's review of March 30, 2013 in The Guardian. 

I have not read the book.