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"Mosque" in New York – Relapse

August 23, 2010 by

Ever since my original post on the controversy surrounding the construction of a supposed "mosque" (I will explain the quotations later in this piece), I have had several conversations with friends and relatives, both in favor of and against the project. I want to take advantage of this space to respond to some of the criticisms I have heard as well as reiterate some of the points I made in my original post as I feel they are important to emphasize. First is my response to the critique I seem to continually come across from people opposed to the … [Read more...]

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Why is a mosque different from a church? Or a synagogue?

August 17, 2010 by

Well a mosque is different from those other two houses of worship in some very important ways, but most obviously, they are different because each structure is designed and built for the purposes of practicing a particular faith. A church, Christianity; a synagogue, Judaism; a mosque, Islam. In the United States, we have all three of these structures in many different cities and towns, sometimes right across from one another. We have all three of these structures in the United States because of the founding principle of this nation that we shall not … [Read more...]

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Recap: Prince Among Slaves – First Installment of the Hope Not Hate/20,000 Dialogues Film Series

August 9, 2010 by

Well, last Thursday, we officially launched the Hope Not Hate/20,000 Dialogues Film Series that has been months in the making, and is only just getting started! Oh, and by "we" I mean not just AIDemocracy, but also our invaluable partner, Unity Productions Foundation (UPF). Our first screening took place at Busboys and Poets and we screened Prince Among Slaves, a documentary about an African Muslim prince that was enslaved in the American south. It was actually my first time seeing the film, so I was just as anxious as the audience was, and at the … [Read more...]

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"Twitter Will Undermine Dictators"

May 4, 2010 by

Now I don't usually look to Foreign Policy magazine for my advice on revolution, but this article just seemed too relevant not to share.  Not only have I long struggled against this country's over-enthusiasm for online organizing (seemingly at the sacrifice of actually rolling up sleeves and getting out in the streets talking to people), but as some of you know, my college classmate Adnan Hajizada was jailed last July for his politicized video blogging as a part of his effort to organize Azeri youth for democracy in Azerbaiajan. Food for thought to … [Read more...]

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Improving American Education – Harder Than You'd Think…

April 21, 2010 by

In the Friday, April 16th edition of The New York Times, Trip Gabriel and Damien Cave reported on the recent actions of Florida governor Charlie Crist.  In a move that split with the Republican majority of the Florida State Legislature, Governor Crist vetoed a bill that would have linked teachers' pay to student performance on new end-of-term assessments. The NYT article calls attention to two different implications related to the Governor's veto: It runs contrary to the intentions of the Race to the Top program, created by Arne Duncan, the Secretary … [Read more...]

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Progressive Foreign Policy "on Tap"

April 13, 2010 by

This past Thursday I attended the last installment of ‘Progressivism on Tap,’ a discussion series from the Progressive Studies Program at the Center for American Progress (CAP). We heard from Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow at CAP, and Spencer Ackerman, national security correspondent for The Washington Independent, while John Halpin, founder of the Progressive Studies Program, moderated their conversation. The topic of the evening was “Progressive Foreign Policy”: what exactly might that mean, what would it look like, what would its core values … [Read more...]

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Cuba's Young People in Pictures

April 8, 2010 by

You've heard about Fidel, Che, and the Bay of Pigs. But what about the Red Bull-sponsored skating demos and parks dedicated to British rock stars? Cross post by Chris Lewis, CampusProgress.org Competitive skateboarding--and the bravado that goes along with it--are one of the many things Cuban young people have in common with American counterparts. (Chris Lewis) Arriving in Cuba, I was caught off guard by all the young people. It may sound a bit silly, but for some reason, it never occurred to me that this nation would be full of citizens the … [Read more...]

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Politics is…

April 4, 2010 by
Politics is

Discovered an inspirational sign posted in someone's yard on my walk through a Minneapolis neighborhood this morning: One of my uncle's told me something similar when I was still a teenager.  What an empowering definition of politics!  But it can be so easy to loose sight of in the face of petty party politics and corporate media.  I think the better we can do at keeping this definition in our hearts and in our minds, pushing the power of the possible in everything that we do, the more equal, just and sustainable this world will be for all … [Read more...]

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Sorting through stories: two tales of protest

March 19, 2010 by

There were two different stories published at two very different online locations over the past two days. The stories themselves however, had a lot in common. The first, published on the 17th, recounted the tale of the San Patricios, also known as the St. Patrick's Battalion. The San Patricios were 175 odd first generation Irish immigrants to the United States, who were recruited or conscripted into the U.S. army at the time of the Mexican-American war and later defected to Mexico's side to fight against invading U.S. troops. According to Alexander … [Read more...]

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Throwing an Open Mic 101

March 16, 2010 by

Although it’s taken a little while, here is the promised post on how to throw your very own Open Mic Night!   No matter where you find yourself, open mics are a great way to bring communities together and generate creativity.  College campuses are especially good places since there are often lots of places to hold open mics and/or venues with sound equipment already there. But before I get ahead of myself…. The workshop, part of Split This Rock and led by poets Dan Wilcox, Toni Asante Lightfoot, and Reuben Jackson, included a suggested timeline … [Read more...]

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