I love Islam and cream soda

As a Muslim speaker and lecturer, I constantly engage in or observe conversations that inevitably center around contributions of Muslims to societies at large. As a weird hobby I flit through various social media forums that have islamophobic leanings and invariably they are rife with criticisms of Islam and Muslims that note the absence of any scientific or influential contributions by Muslims – a claim supported by the notion that Muslims world-wide are too busy with trying to convert or kill their non-Muslim counterparts to be bothered with education or any interest in making the world a better place. It goes without saying (or does it?) that nothing could be further from the truth. 

Written By Taj Ashaheed Much of what characterizes the issue of the “Park51” community center or the commonly referred "Ground Zero Mosque" is misunderstood or unexamined context. From the start of the controversy, it was clear as the community center was generalized in the media as a mosque and touted as being built at Ground Zero (as opposed to its actual location) that opponents of the center and the media itself were complicit in crafting a position that was both narrow in mind and critical thought. Indeed the current controversy of Park51 is an excellent study of where we as a national community can find some true insight and even understanding if looked at it from a wider scope. Opponents of the community center rally around the presumption that Park51 and its attached mosque is an affront to the victims of September 11th; however, this generalization is troublesome as it ignores the fact that among the families of the victims are those who are Muslim. Indeed, it i...

Posted: 09/02/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT As Muslims near the end of Ramadan, I among many find this annual practice of fasting a refuge. Since last Ramadan, the Colorado community has been marked with media notoriety linked to terrorist activity. In February, Denver resident Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty in a suicide bomb plot. In March, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, from Leadville, was arrested in connection with a plot to murder an anti-Muhammad cartoonist in Sweden. Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square bomber, brought a spotlight to Colorado in May because his wife had been living in Aurora. And then there is Anwar al-Awlaki, put on the U.S. government hit list in May, who also spent time in Colorado. Local controversies are coupled with newer national issues, such as the emotional debate swirling around the proposed Muslim community center near ground zero and the proposed Koran-burning event planned for Gainesville, Fla., headed up by a church group there. Despite these media storms, Muslims find ...

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, Dub...

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...

Like many Denverites, I couldn't wait for the DNC to start and Monday was the day. Actually, Sunday really was the launch. I attended the first DNC Interfaith gathering and was pretty impressed. It was great to see Imam Ali (Northeast Denver Islamic Center) participating and we planned on using the aftermath as a meeting for the next day's planning for the American Muslim Democratic Caucus event. Monday came, and the first order of business was attending the Colorado Democratic Party's opening breakfast. I have worked with the local party for about a year now and they asked me to recommend a Muslim to give the opening invocation - I asked Imam Ali. So, he and I met downtown at 7:30 to attend at the Grand Hyatt. Food was okay, standard fare, and there was the buzz of opening day in the air. The governor and a few CO congress-folk stopped by, as well as the embattled ex-governor of Alabama. As I was leaving Party President Pat Waak asked me about Thursday...

I actually cropped this to spare you her thong shot... 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 dire...