The Inauguration: one feeling among many

When Barack started his campaign, I had the pleasure of managing the operations of a good portion of his market research. He took on a great and experienced team of strategist including colleagues and friends Joel Benenson and Carl Rossow. We were optomistic (we ran Clinton in 06) but cautious, but as time went on we saw the chance for history upon history. For me the inauguration is just a culmination of not only hopes of my parents and ancestors but an unlimited future for my own child, and for this nation if it dares to reach beyond it's comfort zone.

I am proud to be part of history, glad to have been cocky late '07 when I told everyone Barack would be Pres, and am glad to be alive at the same time that many of my people are who struggled for civil rights in the 60's, and struggeled with oppression in the 50's and above. I am glad to try to explain to my daughter who has no idea that about bus boycotts and lunch-ins, or names like Till, Evers, Lowry, Washington, Dubois, or Doulass.

I am happy for a horrible Bush admin that forced us to reclaim the luster of our leadership by overreaching prejudice and hate for the actual promise of the virtues we typically espouse. Bush gave us Barack, even if unintentional.

I am grateful for those who died before us, whose lives are the stones we stepped forward on. We are the best nation on earth - at least for today.

Martin, Malcolm, and Medger would be proud...

Stupid N-word excuses

I am so sick of the stupid-ass excuse I keep hearing that we (Black people) use the word "nigga" in order to take the sting and/or hatred out of it.

Bullsh**.

Why? Because, as much as we use it, as soon as we hear a White person use it, that sting is still there and still painful as hell.

Quite simply, we use the word because of the same reasons we used to conk our hair and why we still straighten it or use extentions: imitation of white culture thru racist stigmatization.

Don't believe me? Kiri Davis in 2005 re-did the 1940 Clark study about black/white doll preference...same sad results: thinking lighter skin is "better"...

We got called "nigger" so much, we simply began to use it ourselves. Saying "nigga" instead of "nigger" is simply a matter of ebonics. Nothing more, nothing less.

We need to stop fooling ourselves...

the saddest Hot Ghetto Mess ever

So I am at work at my wonderful new job with my old market research firm and we are talking about crazy websites - so I mention "hotghettomess.com" to my co-worker Julie - telling her it's one of the craziest in terms of crazy pics of people's absurd "ghetto-fab" imagery. You know, baby pictures with infants with big gold chains, cars with Louis Vutton paint jobs, etc.

As Julie pulled up the site and brought up the pictures listed under "Just Sad", I was shocked to see one of the first pics being of a young lady in what seems to be a Muslim headscarf, posing half naked (with a thong strategically pulled halfway down) with her little kid.

I told Julie to maximize the picture (don't ask why) and got an even bigger shock: I knew the young lady in the picture and yes, she's a Muslim.

I knew her and her sister from a couple years ago when we worked together at a direct marketing and communications firm, and to be honest, she pretty much ran wild, partying, etc., and wasn't really known to be devoutly practicing. Except for one thing - she and her sister were never without headscarves. Yeah, they had piercings everywhere and wore mini skirts, but they were never without a scarf. At first, I thought they were with the Nation of Islam, but I eventually talked to one who told me their mother was married to an arab Muslim and that they occasionally attended the mosque in Denver. I left off my main questions like, "Just what the hell are you two doing...?" because I could tell that oft-times their furtive glances in my direction were tinged with shame and rebuke of judgmentalism.

A couple years later, as I looked at the picture on hotghettomess, I knew in a flash what I fight against regarding my own daughter, what I've fought against with my stepdaughters, and what we all must fight against regarding the challenge and responsibility we all have - regardless of religion - in raising our daughters in the midst of our society that objectifies them and distorts their mentality into thinking that striking a stripper pose with your young'un is a "cool" thing to do.

Like the motto on the hotghettomess website - we have got to do better.

Tha Block

Man...I have had a million and one ideas that I need to write about...and for some reason, I can't seem to sit long enough to write...Ugh

Black Mystery Month

This past February, our Community hosted Imam Siraj Wahaj, a prolific Muslim activist and Imam from New York. It was a good time for me personally, because I know Siraj and have been able to hang out with him a bit whenever he comes to town. Whenever I go to New York I visit his masjid and always catch him in town for Jumuah Salat and or to be kidnapped by him for a few hours to chew the fat, trash talk about hoops or to be treated for lunch.

He came this time to CO in order to host a fundraiser for the Fort Collins New Masjid project - a worthy cause and a successful event that raised about $100k.

During his keynote speech, Siraj asked, "Does anyone know what month this is?"

It was a question that made me both smile at where Siraj was going in his speech and cringe at knowing what the answers would - and would not - be.

On cue, Muslims shouted, "February!"

"No!", was Siraj's reply.

"Ashura!", came another reply. It was wrong since the day before started the (second) Islamic month of Safar - but even that wasn't the month that Siraj was looking for.

Soon came the sound of crickets and head scratching...

..And all I could do was shake my head in disappointment - a feeling that I am sure the scattering of African American Muslims present in the hotel banquet room felt as they sat amid the hundreds of Muslims from varying and foreign ethnic backgrounds and countries.

I thought about shouting the answer, but, no - that's too easy. And I was hoping the answer would come quickly from any one of the non-Black brothers and sisters in attendance. After a few agonizing moments, I fought the urge to answer, only because my voice would certainly bear in inflection of frustration, maybe even anger...so I held off.

Finally, the answer came from a couple people, Siraj acknowledged and used the point to highlight the importance of unity and embrace of American culture and history as an underscore.

I thought to myself, why is my community so ignorant and oft-times prejudiced about my own ethnic culture? And in light of this sad reality, is my community really my community?

I couldn't help recall my daughter telling me how she attended a gathering where an Arab sister was berated by another for naming her child "Bilal" because it was a "Black name".

After 9/11, some opined that foreign-cultured Muslims, having now to go thru increased prejudice, the Patriot Act, and airport stoppages, now know how Black people feel. To that I have always pointed that nothing could be further from the truth - and I hope that my brothers and sisters never have to go thru what my ancestors did with chattel slavery, subhuman treatment, lynching, and oppression. I hope they never experience having to eat pig intestines as a staple and then learning to love it as a delicacy. I hope they never get pulled over for being in a white neighborhood or that half of the prison population is made up of Muslim males from other countries or their descendents.

Earlier tonight, Barack Obama pointed out the need to confront racial issues in this country in order to ultimately move past them. (More about his speech in another post)

No better advice can be given to the Muslim community in this country or in my State.

So, here's to Black History Month. At some point, it won't stay such a mystery.

Submission...

On Saturday (3/15) I competed in the Pancrase World Submission Wrestling Championship held in lovely Broomfield Colorado. I have been training pretty steady since my last tourney (where I gold medaled in the Masters beginners division) and really wanted to do good since I was moving up a division and in a big time tourney. I went in feeling great and even better knowing that one of my jiu-jitsu idols was actually joining our team: Ricky Lundell. Dude is an amazing practioner and the youngest American black belt. It was very cool to meet him and right off the bat we hit it off - Ricky’s personality is great, very humble but very personable - he’s a world champion for Team USA, of which a couple of our guys/gal from the Edge are too...

In my first match, I got a great take down - at 6’4 people hardly think I am going to drop level and shoot but I been training at Grapplers Edge homie!!! hahahahaha The coaches and fellas there know a little bit of everything, and I am like a sponge...

Anyway, so I get the take down and I proceed to control dude, following the expert coaching of Ricky - talk about "cool as hell" - not only was it an honor to compete with him on the team, but to have him coaching me - wow..!

So...I won the first match 2-0.

My second match was against UFC prospect and Ultimate Figher television show alum Noah Thomas...for some reason people thought he was an ass but I didn’t really think so...maybe a bit cocky, but I’d probably be the same. Anyway, I got an advantage on him because just as I was gonna do a throw, he jumped to guard which was smart but made him lose a point...he then got me in a crazy choke and a triangle, and then an omaplata arm lock, all of which I escaped, but then, being exhausted, i fell for another triangle, and I gassed out and tapped due to exhaustion...I was ahead on points due to reversing his omaplata, but I had nothing left in the tank...of course now, i wish i hadn’t tapped and I coulda had a UFC fighter as a notch in the belt...Oh well.

My day didn’t stop there even though it was a single elimination tourney, enough competitors had lost their first fight that I was eligible for no worse than fourth place, and could fight for third. So I fought another match. My opponent was much shorter than I and a great wrestler, but I figured I’d shoot anyway, and set up something else. I shot and ran smack into a finger into my left eye - and I do mean "into". I got a minute to recover, but that never really happened and I was done. We engaged again and I missed a shot, went into half guard and simply struggled to see and didn’t do much else - lost by 2 points - but hey, I got 4th place, which meant I scored for my team and got a cool medal to boot - you can see my picture at www.starzworld.com under the 2008 results.

Speaking of team, Grapplers Edge won its 5th Team World Title - we the best, maaaan!

Next up for me is the Colorado Golden Gloves boxing tournament on the 26th.

What's been up...

Wow...time really flies don't it?

I have been busy with work - working as a polling director for the Obama campaign (read: busy as heck)...training for a submission grappling/jiu jitsu and boxing tournament in March...taking over operations of my company after a promotion...

so...

not a lotta time for writing (ugh)