African Triumph

We must always explain that Black history is not only the story of a sad era in human history, but in fact a story of perseverance... Triumph, in fact.

A Giant of a Man

Paul Robeson was a towering figure. Before we knew of the valiant contributions of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X or even Muhammad Ali, Robeson was the standard barer for black male dignity and success. In a time when blacks were discouraged from education, caricatured in the media, and marginalized politically, there stood Robeson. An college educated lawyer, football player, accomplished concert performer, a cinematic and stage actor, Paul Robeson was the very definition of a "renaissance man." However, it was Robeson's activism that made him a notable figure among 20th Century personalities. Paul Robeson refused to be marginalize by Jim Crow America. He became a strident citizen of the world at a time when black people were supposed to accept their place as secondary -- or even invisible -- members of American society.

I want my children, and the students I teach, to know about Paul Robeson. Unfortunaley they live in a time when the most dubious personalities and destructive images predominate the media. Snoop Dogg, Britney Spears, Flava Flav, and countless other pop personalities and junk food activities are used to distract young people from meaning information. Information that could inspire them to successfully leap the vaunted learning gap and avoid mental slavery.

Book Review: Islam & the Blackamerican

I am recommending a book I read recently. If, like me, you are interested in sociology and religious issues, then Sherman A. Jackson wrote what I think is one of the more interesting books on Islam of late. In Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking toward the Third Resurrection, Jackson thoroughly addresses the influence Islam has made on African-American people.

Despite the prominent role of Muslims like Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and many others held in the popular conscience of America during the 1960's and 70's, the face of Islam today is no longer immediately synonymous with Black people. Vast immigration to the United States, especially by Arab and Pakistani nationals, have changed the image of Islam in America. It is this dynamic, and its consequences for the prototypical African-American Muslim, that Jackson writes about in his book.

Sherman Jackson describes the effective 'appropriation' of Islamic culture into a viable protest culture, and ultimately a contending religious movement by Black Americans. Forerunners of the prevailing Sunni Islamic movement, which most African-American Muslims identify with today, were Noble Drew Ali and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Sherman explains how these men were able to forge a new state of consciousness and activism among working class and poor urban Blacks in early 20Th century America. They accomplished this feat using only strains of what Islamic culture that were to survive slavery. Do largely to the vision and organizational brilliance of Elijah Muhammad, immaculately dressed, industrious, educated, disciplined black men became the most recognizable face of Islam in America by the 1970's.

This all changed with the coming of immigrant Muslims. With their [other-worldliness], facility with the Arabic language, social customs -- be they rooted in Islam or not -- and their penchant for non-assimilation, immigrant Muslims became the de-facto authenticators of Blackamerican Islam. This dynamic was made even more possible due to the demise of Elijah Muhammad and the radical changes undertaken by the Nation of Islam's new leadership, W. Deen Muhammad. Sherman reveals how one of the most influential religious movements of the twentieth century found itself fractured and adrift without a paddle in a sea of change.

There is more to Jackson's book than space will allow me to convey. In order to avoid a complete summary of the book, suffice it to say that the author refers, hopefully, to a new resurrection of Blackamerican Muslims. A resurrection that does not compromise either their authenticity as Muslims, or negate their own cultural heritage. This movement is possible without casting off the highest ideas of American style democracy and prosperity, contends Jackson. To this end the Author suggests that African-American Muslims give serious consideration to the wisdom and moral direction espoused through Sufism - an Islamic tradition with well established roots in the Muslim world. Jackson posits that Sufism serves dual possibilities for Black people. First, it reconnects naturally to cultural traditions in West Africa. Second, it can arrests recidivism is the Black Muslim community through its emphasis on piety. And it has a cannon of religious precepts that will stand against scrutiny.

Read Islam and the Blackamerican.