I love Islam and cream soda

Today I returned to Limon Correctional Facility after I first entered there as a convict 29 years ago. It was there that I converted to Islam and forged ties with people  like my brother who became family, and more importantly,  it's where I began the mental and spiritual evolution and elevation  away from the young hoodlum I was then toward the man that is "Taj Ashaheed"  Today we took the first steps towards continuing/restarting our Second Chance Center  programs and presence inside of the Department of Corrections, an effort I will be spearheading under the direction of the Executive and Deputy Directors. I walked in with security clearance, got my visitors badge and was taken on a tour by correctional staff. We stopped to talk to several inmates including brothers who were here when I left and I've been here ever since. As I walk through I was struck with flashes of nostalgia and sadness- not much has changed about the way the facility looks, smells, and fe...

It is often reported that the "Al Aqsa" (arabic: "the farthest") mosque in Jerusalem is the "third holiest shrine" in Islam, due to its mention in the Quran and prophetic tradition. There's a bit of historical confusion here, which also gives fodder to islamophobic arguments about the Quran having a questionable origin, since the present mosque at the Jewish holy site was built AFTER Muhammad's death and not completed until 705 CE. Technically the "Al Aqsa" mosque - the third holiest Islamic site - is the actual site of the Jewish Temple II. The Quran itself mentions the mystical trip Muhammad took to the "farthest mosque", a reference to the temple site, in 621, which had no structure there since 70 CE. (In Islam, a mosque does not have to have a specific structure, and is technically any place a Muslim regularly prays/prostrates). One night, Muhammad was transported there by a mystical horse-like creature. There, he p...

Had an interesting talk with the DAs office re: The Harpy's case. One thing that has happened because of covid19 is the courts are straight jacked. In Colorado, the supreme court rulings have scaled back how current cases will be handled. The ex was initially supposed to go to trial last week; the case was delayed to the end of this month, at which time the best case scenario for her will be to get a mistrial because jurors cannot be seated due to social distancing. Looks li ke once again, ol' girl will get away with being a predator. At least in part... Ironically, sis Shamma, whose house she stole, filed and won the lawsuit that not only got her house back but she also won a $120k judgement against the Harpy which has resulted in a lien against the house she owns (which is next door). Talk about karma...  🏠 💰 In an attempt to gain sympathy and avoid charges, the Harpy basically framed me using evidence doctored so horribly, it eventually embarrassed the police/DAs ...

إِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَجِكُمْ وَأَوْلـدِكُمْ عَدُوّاً لَّكُمْ Verily, among your wives and your children are enemies for you - Quran 64:14 Lemme, tell you a story. First a prologue:   My mom and I had a horrible relationship as I grew up. One day, I made the resentful comment that she "wasn't even my real mother".  I really had no idea how asinine that comment was until my father sat me down and deconstructed my pseudo-intellectual assessment of my mother. I will save the details for my book - but I learned that children are hardly able to give a just estimate of their parents - even into adulthood. It is always up to parents to bear that cross - and bear the witness where kids can't see. ***** Once upon a time: A man went to jail facing charges for crimes that he did not commit, He sadly realized he was fighting a case that everyone but a handful of people thought he was actually guilty of.  That realization made him even more determined to fight and beat...

Most states give money to people leaving prison. But some formerly incarcerated people say it's often not enough to meet their basic needs. EXCERPT: When Taj Ashaheed was released from prison and dropped off in downtown Denver with $100 of gate money on a debit card, he used it to buy a cheap cell phone. Then he went to Subway and ordered a meatball sub. Ashaheed was able to stay with a family member for the first month or so after prison. But for people who aren’t so lucky, housing is an expensive and immediate need, said Sean Taylor, the deputy executive director of the Second Chance Center, a reentry organization in Colorado.Taylor, who himself was released from prison and received $100 in gate money about eight years ago, said the shelters his center can refer people to cost around $60 a week, and a bad motel might cost about $350. For Ashaheed, $100 felt like a “token gesture” on the part of the state, not like a real attempt to help people get on their feet. “It fel...

By Brother Taj   - June 2019 In 2007 and 2008 while working as a political market research manager I had the privilege of having then–candidate Barack Obama as a client. However, I would have voted for him anyway on the basis of one consideration: he was Black. Voters who would admit to this motivation are decried as reverse-racist and a traitor to the idea of post-racism, but given a national culture that rides on 4 centuries of enslavement and exclusion, no apologies are needed. We have had enough of inhumane consideration and treatment. Enough of institutionalize bigotry. Enough of racially motivated violence and murder. Enough scourging by drugs and brutal policing. And, enough of mass incarceration. It should all cause Black Folk to rise up in protest, refusing to perpetuate anything similar with our own hands. What more effective repudiation to white supremacy and its insidious effect, then for a Black person to refuse to shoot, rob, assault, rape, chea...

Islam (and by extension, Arabia) has always been connected to (and saved by) Black people and Africa. First, notice on the map that the most populated regions of (western) Arabia are bordered by Africa. Among the first/original tribes of people called "Arabs", the majority of these tribes originated in the southern region, especially Yemen. The Qahtanite tribe, whose progenitor is held to have originated the Arabic language, after whom it is named, has a grandson that all Yemenite tribes trace their lineage thru.Muhammad also traces is lineage thru the Qahtanites. Yemen has always been connected to African peoples - dark ones from Ethiopia. For centuries, Yemen was run by the Abyssinian/Aksum (Axum) empire, (think, modern day Ethiopia and Somalia - as well as Sudan, since Aksum conquered the Kush empire). For centuries not only were Yemenis a mix of cultures but an ethnic mix of Semitic and African peoples. It was these dark tribes that migrated northward as far a...