Born Into Povery

I wake up confused, devoid of direction
Trying to achieve some semblance of perception
In a dream a once questioned God about my conception
and God struck me down with vehement aggression
I am a victim of extraordinary rendition
Taken to hell without permission, endlessley tortured, beaten and brought to submission.

The piercing wind ravages the essence of my core
I plead with God, please no more, no more
I inject the needle of necessity info my designated pore
As euphoria rushes through my soul like a tsunami approaching a sea-side shore
For a moment, my body isn't sore
For a moment, I am an invincible hero in folklore
For a moment, I forget I am poor
For a moment, I forget I am poor.

My mundane life loses colour gradually
My reality becomes black and white like conservative ideology
Subjected to solitary confinement damages me psychologically
I scream out in anguish to expel the demon from inside of me
To escape the solitude I reach for the flute in my trolley,
while weeping tears of blood incessantly,
I peform the monotonous melody of malignant melancholy.

Stereotypes reign supreme for those like me
They don't realize I was born into poverty
Unable to free myself from the clutches of darkness - I want to see
I again inject myself with the venom of veneration - I am an exception to God's mercy
My vision blurs and my veins freeze, I see my tombstone standing in my memory
etched with the phrase "here lies Mr. Nobody"

I forget I am poor, for eternity
I forget I am poor, for eternity

Def Jam Poetry - Gemineye

simply sublime...

Benazir Bhutto is No Fallen Angel

I find the media’s constant veneration of Bhutto as some sort of demi-god quite biased and puzzling at the same time. Of course, the manner in which she and other civilians were killed should be condemened, but have we forgotten that this woman was charged of corruption not once but twice during her tenure as prime minister? Have we forgotten that the Taliban regime was at its peak in Afghanistan during her reign in office? Have we forgotten that in 2006, Interpol issued a request for arrest of Bhutto and her husband Asif “Mr. 10 per cent” Zardari who were involved in money laundering scams in several different countries? So much for her being the “beacon of democracy” and an example of “enlightened moderation”.

Pakistanis were not happy when Musharraf dropped corruption cases against Bhutto during the US-brokered power-sharing negotiations. The first assassination attempt on her in Karachi was a reflection of that frustration. The people of Pakistan are also tired of the same tried and tested failures who are trying to catapult themselves into power, because they realize that a corrupt democracy is worse than a dictatorship.

Let us not fall prey to personality politics and for a minute try to look beyond the articulant, charismatic persona and consider the reality of the situation. Benazir Bhutto was obsessed with gaining power for her own interests and had robbed the nation at the expense of her own people.

Annapolis peace talks nothing but a PR stunt

Hosting so-called “peace talks” between the Palestinians and Israelis without the presence of Palestine’s democratically elected government and the Iranians are failed negotiations from the start. Washington has been unsuccessful in trying to isolate Hamas, whether politically or by arming the US/Israel-friendly Fatah against it. Now it continues this useless charade by trying to negotiate peace without involving Palestine’s elected government.

The US has also decided to ignore another key player in the region, namely Iran. Iran has historically had major influence with groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and it needs to be on the negotiating table if peace is to be sought. If the US were serious about peace, one would think the leadership would put aside all differences and include all parties – that is what serious negotiation entails. However, a fair peace is the last thing the Jewish lobby and right-wing neoconservatives would want. It is obvious that these talks are nothing more than a public relations exercise from an American perspective amid the continuing carnage in Iraq and the fledgling war in Afghanistan.

Commercialization of Religion – Recent Fad or Future Reality?

As capitalist culture inculcates itself whether through the commercial image of Che Guevara, mass-produced consumer magazines that preach the illusory virtues of fashion, or the nonsensical music that glorifies sex and materialism, it is hardly surprising that this degenerative cultural phenomenon has now trickled its way into religion.

Molding potentially subversive ideology into a commercial trend has altered and trivialized the very concept of revolution and civil dissent, thereby rendering such ideas useless. Once the artistic rebuttal to inequality and poverty, hip-hop has now become the musical manifestation of redundancy and insignificance.

The same holds true for political ideologies that challenge the status quo. The hammer and sickle logo and T-shirt’s bearing the images of liberal personalities have become so commercialized to the extent that they have lost all meaning. In our consumerist society it is just “cool to be the bad guy”. Osama bin Laden merchandise will become a hot commodity in 15 years when the U.S. will be busy invoking fear against another fictional enemy.

Power and profit are essentially the chief motivating factors that advance the capitalist/consumerist system. Mainstream corporate media veneration of societal scum such as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and other wannabe talent is not only a reflection of what society demands, it is also a means to keep the masses from critically examining issues that actually matter. Hence, the average, low income African-American does not wear a Malcolm X T-shirt because he is socially conscious, he wears it because 50 cent wore it during a hip-hop concert last night.

So the question arises: should we as a society let religion become prey to this monster? With clothing bearing text such as “Jesus is my homeboy”, the multitude of Muslim teenage boys donning over sized Allah medallions in a futile attempt to look “gangsta”, and the plethora of so-called designer Hijabs, it certainly seems as though religion is taking a step forward commercially, but a step backward from a spiritual sense.

My assertion is not of a dogmatic mullah, neo-conservative Christian, a Zionist Jew, or someone pretending to be religious (we have enough of those people), but as someone who sees religion as the deepest and most beautiful expression of human nature and does not want to see it corrupted. I cannot help but think that grills (diamond encrusted teeth worn by hip hop “artists”) etched with the star of David or the 99 names of Allah is not the type of religious expression God had in mind. On the contrary, such absurdity would only serve to trivialize the concept of religion as a whole.

Let’s not fall farther down into the commercial trap than we already have.

CNN Gets Blitzed by Michael Moore

Watch as Micheal Moore takes Wolf Blitzer to task.

Inactive Activism

We talk about the suffering of Palestinians over a mixed-meat donair at a local Arab restaurant. We talk of American brutality in Iraq while casually sipping a Tim Horton’s iced cappuccino. At work we talk in hushed voices about the torture of innocent Afghanis perpetrated by Canadian-backed Afghan soldiers. In the thicket of shisha smoke, we talk about the plight of innocent Chechens who’ve lost their homes.

We talk, and we’re pretty darn good at it.

We complain about the torture in America’s offshore gulags, but we complain even louder when told to exercise our democratic right by marching through the streets in solidarity against it. We complain when journalistic integrity takes a dive to attack Islam, but we complain with ferocity when told to write a rebuttal – our pens conveniently run out of ink. We complain when we hear of imperial designs against the Third World, but we complain when unity beckons because we cannot work with “those people”.

We complain, and we’re pretty darn good at it.

Instead of lobbying for those who would serve our needs, our local Muslim organizations pander to conservative politicians giving credence to the phrase “if you can’t beat’em join ‘em”. We embrace conservative ideology excusing our actions by claiming that we’re trying to change the system from within, when in reality we just want to bank in on the lenient tax policies put in place at the expense of the poor. We see Muslims who support the existing power structure becoming prey to capitalistic greed, yet they are seen as gifts to the community. Similarly, we see Muslim’s in Darfur committing heinous atrocities, but we excuse their actions because of their faith.

We make excuses, and we’re pretty darn good at it.

We pretend to side with Malcolm, Chomsky, Said, Sheehan, and Finkelstein but fail to follow their example. We pretend to care for those ravaged by war but our large donations are only a means to boast of our status in the community. We pretend to be tolerant towards other races and ethnicities, but in some Muslim cultures the conception of beauty does not extend beyond fair skin and blue eyes.

We pretend, and we’re pretty darn good at it.

We must change ourselves before we think of altering the status quo. We must reflect, ponder, and innovate. We must think, question, and elevate. We must progress, debate, and articulate. We must activate our inactive mental state.

And we better become pretty darn good at it.