Islam in ya Hip Hop

As a young man I grew up always believing in the concept of tauhed even if I didn’t know the name for it in Arabic. There is no god but God and nothing is equal or comparable to him. Openly I broke with my parent’s Christian faith and tradition and chose to follow God’s way through the avenue of Islam. Not having a lot of materials to read about it, my intellect was stimulated through constant contact with hip hop culture. Through verse after verse I wasn’t taught about Islam, but rather reminded of words associated with it. So at times I felt that I was being slowly introduced to something that was changing my life.

The changing ideology of rap music and hip hop culture as a whole appeared to me over time. As a 15 year old boy I listened to people talk about making it through hard times with street smarts and rebuilding broken communities through educating the youth. As Inspectah Deck put it, “I kick the truth, for the young black youth.” Now as a 30 year old man I hear men talk about sexual exploits and the worship of money. At times it saddens me to see that hip hop in general became the very thing it preached against in my childhood. It became a sell out corporate tool only to make money for the few rich white CEO’s and not to rebuild those broke communities that so many rappers came from that has now become a badge of honor rather then a source for change.

One artist in particular shaped my thinking in ways I didn’t understand until I was older. I cherished her conscious understanding of the religious diversity of the Black community. She cleverly wove words of intelligence to plant the seeds of consciousness that the community so anxiously craved. It seemed that she tried to speak to all to awaken not just a single person, but the world. In Lauryn Hill’s song Doo Wop she starts the song off “Yo, my men and my women, don't forget about the deen, Sirat al-Mustaqim.” As she continues on, her words later divulge more:

To begin, how you think you really gon' pretend
Like you wasn't down then you called him again
Plus when you give it up so easy you ain't even foolin’ him
If you did it then, then you’d probably fuck again
Talking out your neck sayin' you're a Christian
A Muslim sleeping with the jinn

In another song entitled Final Hour she recites perhaps one of my favorite verses she’s composed:

I'm about to be in it
For a minute
Then run for senate
Make a slum lord be the tenant
Give his money to kids to spend it
And then amend it
Every law that ever prevented
Our survival since our arrival
Documented in the bible
Like Moses and Aaron
Things gon change, it's apparent
And all the transparent gonna
Be seen through
Let God redeem you
Keep your deen true
You can get the green too
Watch out what you cling to

This verse doesn’t need any translation for me, although for others it might. But I believe that she tops the song off perfectly in parts of her last verse:

Now I'm a get the mozzarella like a Rockerfeller
Still be in the church of Lalibela
Singing hymns a cappella
Whether posed in Maribella in Couture
Or collectin' residuals from off the Score
I'm makin' sure
I'm with the 144
I've been here before this ain't a battle this is war
Word to Boonie
I make salaat like a Sunni
Get diplomatic immunity in every ghetto community
Had opportunity went from
Hoodshock to Hood-chic
But it ain't what you cop
It's about what you keep

Song like these reinforced my ideas that all religions are just paths to the same destination. For me, my path is Islam but listening to people like Lauryn gave me much pride since too often it seemed that in the African-American community Muslims are at odds with their Christian neighbors. But at that time rap music brought younger people together and isn’t that what it’s all really about? Lauryn Hill isn’t Muslim, but then again why does she need to be. Hip Hop is a tool that made public the voices of the neglected and disenfranchised.

“Leave it up to me while I be living proof/ To kick the truth to the young black youth/ But shorty's running wild smokin sess drinkin beer/ And ain't trying to hear what I'm kickin in his ear."
-Inspectah Deck

My Friend Moammar

Today, Libya’s President Moammar Gadhafi gave a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Personally I’m always interested in what he has to say. Moammar Gadhafi might be the only leader who not only says what’s on his mind, but also speaks up for those who are afraid to speak for themselves in fear of loosing their economic aid from countries like the United States.

Both CNN and BBC dedicated a large block of their programming to inform the world just what they thought of him. “A terrorist and a madman” said Jim Caferty from CNN. “An odd speech” stated a BBC correspondent. But as many of us know, corporate media outlets never offer a diverse number of opinions. So for all of us who consider ourselves as free thinking citizens of the world, I take up one side of the discussion to offer a rebuttal to all of those who remain blissfully unaware of how world history continues to shape the modern world.

His speech was rather long for my taste, he none the less mentioned some things that people don’t pay attention to in our world of white dominated media. One point that he made which was an excellent point was about the structure of the United Nations. Even Hugo Chavez has made some similar remarks in the past. Gadhafi begin reading from the UN charter preamble stating “Armed force can ONLY be used when it’s a common interest of all nations. Since this was signed, 65 wars have broken out.” As the camera cut to other members of the assembly, mainly European nations, they looked upon with amusement. He continued by stating, “According to the charter, all nations are equal, large and small. But do the smaller nations have the power of the veto?” Honestly he makes an excellent point. The other 180 nations that have signed onto the charter are almost held hostage but the 10 members of the Security Council. These 10 nations are mainly comprised of the most powerful countries on earth either economically or militarily. Fortunately since the creation of the charter, the world has changed to say the least. If things in the world have changed though, should the place that reflects the diversity of the world change as well to accommodate that change. If not, then we are truly living in the past with a unholy superiority complex. “Why is it that all the articles that come after the preamble of the charter contradicts the preamble? This is what we are against,” he said at one point during his speech.

Watching CNN, for some reason I found myself almost in awe by the way they commented on the speech. A few things that he made remarks about seemed to go over the heads of many of the reporters. At one point Gadhafi talked about how he was tired and let-lagged. How most of the countries that were represented are asleep right now and that maybe the UN should move to India or China. Donna Brazile from CNN called him crazy from these statements. Well Ms. Brazile let me break it down for you. Everyone is the world is tired of bowing down to the American Empire. Like it or not we are an Empire that patrols the world, taking what we want and leaving the scraps for the natives. Gadhafi is tired because he had a 15 hour flight from Libya. He wishes to have a more fair and just UN, not some kind of European aligned dictatorship which it has become. Interestingly enough, when Gadhafi and Chavez make comments about how the UN and power of the veto are unfair and undemocratic, the majority of the UN Assembly applauds. This is the most they can do without loosing their funding from the US that keeps their destroyed economies alive. Economies that we helped destroy thanks to globalization.

I must say that one of the biggest applauds given during his speech was when he actually said one bad thing about Obama. Gadhafi made a comment about that fact that Obama gave his speech and walked directly out of the building, like he was Elvis himself. All of the other leaders stick around and listen to everyone else’s speeches. Sorry Barak, but this is also part of the job. That kind of attitude is exactly what the world can’t stand about America.

Many people in the world don’t like Libya and what it stands for. Although in America we seem to not like a lot of things that we know nothing or have very limited information about. From now on it should be a prerequisite that all people applying for jobs with international news outlets should have an intermediate understanding of the world and more then just the watered down history of America they learned in our already malnourished education system. Hugo Chavez and Moammar Gadhafi my not be friends of the American government, but they speak a lot of truth when given a public forum to share their ideals.

Who is the Unbreakable Leo?

The name should say it all, but it doesn't. Unbreakable Leo is only a part of me, but a large part none the less. For some it might be easy to tell, but I an a Leo and proud of it. Born in the month of August to two free thinking intellectuals.

Being a Leo is unlike most signs. Not being a person who fully subscribes to the idea of horoscopes, I better understand each year what people mean when they say I have a fire sign. All my youth I felt that I made it to where I am today by the grace of God and a strong will and determination. I take much pride in being a Leo, mainly because until recently I considered myself unique due to the fact that I'd come in contact with few other Leos'.

But I'm sure where you'd never guess where I got the name "Unbreakable." On April 28th at 2:30am I crossed the burning sands into the land of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. As is tradition we all give each other nicknames that speaks to each brothers personality. A few of my close friends gave me the name "Unbreakable." They said it was because I refused to break under the pressures I face. But I think it's better to say that I bend and don't break.

So there you have it, the reason for my name. Nothing profound. No knowledge to be dropped. With any name this rose would still smell just as sweet.