Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Marvin X tops list of notable alumni at Edison High School, Fresno

Edison High School (Fresno, California)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_High_School_(Fresno,_California)
Updated: 2015-08-22T08:08Z
Edison High School
Location
540 E. California Avenue
Fresno, CA 93706
Information
TypePublic high school, Magnet School
MottoOne Tiger, Many Stripes[3]
Establishedc. 1906
School districtFresno Unified School District
PrincipalLindsay Sanders[1]
Faculty90.6 (on FTE basis)[2]
Grades9 - 12
Enrollment2,326 (as of 2009-2010)[2]
Student to teacher ratio25.7[2]
Color(s)Black and Gold          
Athletics conferenceCounty/Metro Athletic Conference
Team nameTigers
Information559-457-2650 (Phone) 559-457-2742 (Fax)[3]
WebsiteSchool website
Edison High School is located in Fresno, California, United States, as part of the Fresno Unified School District. It is a public high school located next to Computech Middle School.
Founded c. 1906, the school was first named Edison Technical High School until a major renovation in the 1960s, when the name became the current Edison High School. In 1982-1983, Irwin Junior High School, located adjacent Edison High School was finally integrated by 1985, forming a larger campus; Edison Computech High School.
It is currently a Magnet school in the academic areas of Math & Science. Academically, it is one of the highest ranked schools in the San Joaquin Valley. It is also competitively ranked among the highest on an academic level among all high schools in the State of California.
Edison is also a public school. The school integrates neighborhood students with magnet students.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,326 students and 90.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 25.7.[2] Budget cuts have allowed a wider ratio.

Awards and recognition

Edison High School has been consistently recognized as one of the country's top high schools in Newsweek magazine's rankings since their inception, which are based on the number of Advanced Placement Program (AP) exams. On May 13, 2011, Edison has created an all-time state record of the most students taking the AP Human Geography Exam at one time. The school has been ranked #79 in the 1998 listing,[4] #83 in 2000,[5] #166 in 2003[6] and #331 in 2005.[7]
The school was recognized by the California State Board of Education as a California Distinguished School in 2001.[8] The school was also honored with the award in 1990[9] and 1992, and again in 2007.[10]
In 1975 Edison High School Football Team won the Valley Championship with an UNDEFEATED 13-0 Record.

Extracurricular activities

In 2009, the school's Academic Decathlon team had its historic run of 13 consecutive titles of the Fresno County Academic Decathlon competition ended. They have since managed to win one title.[11][12]
In 2007, the National Forensic League recognized the school's forensic team with its "Leading Chapter Award".[13]
As of 2006 holds weekly meetings of The Simpsons Club. This particular chapter is titled EHS DOH, Edison High Schools/Edison Honors Simpsons Divine Order of Homers.
As of 2007 published Feckless, the first student run humor magazine.
As of 2008 Feckless is now available on iTunes as a weekly podcast simply titled "Feckless Film".
FHA-HERO club has competed in several events such as Apparel Construction, Prepared Speech, Fashion Design, Chapter Activities Manual, Consumer Education, and other competitions. Not only do the students win awards for their achievement in these events, but a number even won sewing machines, cash, and scholarships that range up to $24,000.
Other student-run clubs include Hmong Club, Philosophy Club, Model United Nations, Thread (literary and artistic magazine), Future Business Leaders of America (F.B.L.A.), Science Olympiad, Bad Movie Club, Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), German Club, French Club, Rock Paper Scissors Society, Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA), the award-winning Math Team, and Students With Amazing Talents (S.W.A.T.).

Notable alumni

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Black Bird Press News & Review: Marvin X drafts 27 City Black Arts Movement National Tour Advisory Board

Black Bird Press News & Review: Marvin X drafts 27 City Black Arts Movement National Tour Advisory Board
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Marvin X interviewed by Wanda Sabir

 
Journalist/Professor Wanda Sabir


Wanda's Picks Dec. 18, 2015


This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay!

1. Taiwo Kujichagulia-Seitu, speaks about her 4th Annual "Go Tell It: A Harriett Tubman Christmas Story", this year, Dec. 19-20, at City of Refuge Church, 8400 Enterprise Way, Oakland. Saturday, Dec. 19, 2 & 7 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. Visit http://www.gotellit.info/


2. Pope Flyne, Ghanaian Music, Educator speaks to us about his One-Man Orchestra featuring classic Hi-Life, Reggae at Miliki Restaurant, 3725 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland.

3. Yvonne Cobbs, Musical Director, LHT's Soulful Christmas: A Gospel Holiday Concert, continues Dec. 18 through Dec. 24. Visit lhtsf.org, call (415) 474-8800 or email: BoxOffice@LHTSF.org

4. Marvin X, Poet, Playwright, Scholar, Activist, BAM West Founder, joins us to speak about the Black Arts Movement Cultural District in Oakland. Save the dates: January 4, 12, 2016 at Oakland City Council. For information: jmarvinx@yahoo.com   http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/black-arts-movement-cultural?source=s.icn.em.mt&r_by=14691340

Music: Selection from LHT's Soulful Christmas, "Emmanuel" & "The Africans Are Coming" from Pope Flyne's Sankofa GrooveHere is the link to show: http://tobtr.com/8044831

blog post:http://wandasabir.blogspot.com/2015/12/wandas-picks-dec-18-2015.html


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Sunday, December 20, 2015

How does it feel to be treated like a nigguh?


You do not eat when hungry
do not consume water when thirsty
Oh, how does it feel to be treated
like a nigguh
to be wanted watched betrayed
mocked derided
your presence
"crime against the state"
no rest no space
how does it feel to be treated
like a nigguh
they convinced you
you are above nigguhs
nigguhs ain't shit
pimp them rob them
beat them kill them
worthless things
even God rejected
you were told
then it was your turn
to be a nigguh
sand nigguh
sikh nigguh african nigguh

no prayin on the street nigguh
no prayin on the job nigguh
no fly list nigguh
no internet nigguh
how does it feel
down in the bones
in the blood
clothes give suspicion
face hidden
are you a bank robber
act like a European
American
act like a nigguh
head bowed
slow walk
blues smile
nigguh
why do you have a bomb in your backpack
didn't we allow you here
didn't that nigguh woman invite you with open arms
pray to jesus
forget allah
it's jesus now
so what if we don't believe in jesus
you better
allah don't work here
get over it
blend in submit
yeah be like toby
or go home
take that nigguh with you!
--Marvin X
12/20/15
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Saturday, December 19, 2015

Black Peter (the Moor) and White Santa; 15 things you didn't know about the Moors

Dutch self-image shaken by "Black Pete" debate

THE HAGUE | By Thomas Escritt
 
Saint Nicholas (C) is escorted by his assistants called 'Zwarte Piet' (Black Pete) during a traditional parade in central Brussels in this December 1, 2012 file photo.
Reuters/Francois Lenoir/Files
 
The Dutch see themselves as tolerant pragmatists, especially adaptable if social harmony or commercial interests demand it.
But that self-image has taken a battering in recent weeks as a growing chorus of voices inside and outside the country protest against a Christmas tradition that many Dutch see as harmless fun but critics say is racist.

According to the folklore, Saint Nicholas arrives in the Netherlands in mid-November accompanied by his servant Black Pete - a part usually played by a white man in "blackface" with a curly wig and large, red-painted mouth.

Now the Dutch are being forced to confront the possibility that their enormously popular Christmas tradition might point to a latent racism which many thought was anathema to their culture.

Few debates have stirred such emotion among the cool-headed Dutch. Millions flocked to "like" a Facebook page backing Black Pete after an independent expert who reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council criticized the tradition.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte has rejected depictions of the Netherlands as insular and xenophobic.
"I do not recognize ourselves in that portrayal," he told reporters last week when asked whether the Netherlands no longer tolerated outsiders.

But that is the point that has been exposed by the debate, according to Quinsy Gario, an artist who has campaigned against the Black Pete tradition for years.

"We've lied to ourselves about our tolerance for so long that we don't recognize discrimination anymore," he said. "There has been structural exclusion of minorities for decades."

He said the children of the many immigrants to the Netherlands were becoming increasingly vocal about confronting signs of racism that their parents may have chosen to ignore.
"You have third- and fourth- generation people who see it as their own country and they want to take responsibility for their own and their kids' sake," he said.

IMMIGRANT DESTINATION

The furor over the revered tradition, which some art historians say has its roots in a 17th century fashion for well-to-do Amsterdam families keeping a black house slave, has exposed the sensitivity of race in the Netherlands.

Wealthy and fast-growing in the years after World War Two, the Netherlands was a major destination for economic migrants from southern Europe, Turkey and Morocco in the 1950s and 1960s.
In 2010, around 11 percent of the population was foreign-born, according to Eurostat. Most have acquired Dutch citizenship, a sign of the country's successful integration policies.

Out of a population of around 16 million people, more than 3.5 million are foreign-born Dutch citizens or the children of non-Dutch immigrants, according to the official statistics agency.
The largest immigrant populations include those from Turkey, the former Dutch colony of Suriname and Morocco.

Some Dutch blame the influence of outsiders, from Muslims to interfering European Union bureaucrats, for the erosion of Dutch culture and social benefits, particularly at a time when many Dutch are feeling the pinch of the economic slowdown.

"Many Dutch people feel fundamentally threatened," said Laurens Buijs, a sociologist at the University of Amsterdam.

"As if they feel Brussels, or the UN, want to take away who we are, our identity."
Such fears have boosted support for Geert Wilders, the populist anti-Islam politician who wants to stop immigration by Muslims as well as eastern Europeans, and wants the Netherlands to leave the euro and claw back powers from Brussels. He has even set up a website where people could file complaints about eastern Europeans.

Andre Krouwel, a political scientist at Amsterdam's VU University, agreed an intolerant streak has been exposed.

"It's evidenced by the strength of anti-Muslim parties compared to other countries like Germany," he said.

The Dutch record in fighting discrimination has been criticized in recent months by Amnesty International and the Council of Europe, the continent's human rights watchdog.

"EVERYDAY RACISM"

Most big-circulation Dutch newspapers leapt to the Netherlands' defense when Verene Shepherd, a Jamaican academic who heads a U.N. working group of independent experts on discrimination against people of African descent, said in late October that the tradition of Black Pete was racist.
On Tuesday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay made clear that Shepherd was speaking in her own capacity and not for the Geneva-based office.

The daily Algemeen Dagblad gave over its front page to a montage of portraits of black and Asian Dutch citizens, all of whom said they supported the tradition.

But in an opinion piece for the Volkskrant newspaper, Roomyla Choenni, a Dutch consultant of Surinamese descent at IT outsourcer Capgemini, said Black Pete "keeps alive an atmosphere of everyday racism."

"In many people's eyes, the Netherlands is meant for white people, preferably with blue eyes and rosy cheeks," he wrote.

Many of the Africans who work at the international courts in The Hague as judges, prosecutors, lawyers and court officers - services which contribute to the region's economic growth - privately admit that they have experienced racism.

When one African judge told a taxi driver she worked at one of the international courts, he asked her if she was the cleaner, the judge told Reuters. Another senior court official said she spent months trying to find a place to live when she first arrived.

"Each time they saw it was an African, I was told the apartment was not available any more," she said.

Polls show that the main opposition in the Netherlands to the tradition of Black Pete is in cosmopolitan Amsterdam. The local council in the southeast part of the city, where many immigrants live, voted to ban the festivities this year.

But the majority still want Black Pete. In a survey by pollster Maurice De Hond last month, 91 percent of a representative sample of Dutch people said the tradition should not be changed to suit the tastes of a minority, and 81 percent thought it would be unacceptable to turn Pete another color.
Rutte said the debate was inevitable and healthy given the number of immigrants now in the Netherlands.

"It's unavoidable that when you have a huge inflow of people then you get tensions," he said. "Initial reactions from society are for no big changes at the moment ... (but) traditions can change over time."
But many Dutch eyes have been opened, Gario said.
"People are starting to realize that some people here are staunchly, obtusely racist."
(Editing by Anthony Deutsch and Sonya Hepinstall)



15 Things You Did Not Know About the Moors of Spain





1. The Spanish occupation by the Moors began in 711 AD when an African army, under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from northern Africa and invaded the Iberian peninsula ‘Andalus' (Spain under the Visigoths).


2. A European scholar sympathetic to the Spaniards remembered the conquest in this way:
a. [T]he reins of their (Moors) horses were as fire, their faces black as pitch, their eyes shone like burning candles, their horses were swift as leopards and the riders fiercer than a wolf in a sheepfold at night . . . The noble Goths [the German rulers of Spain to whom Roderick belonged] were broken in an hour, quicker than tongue can tell. Oh luckless Spain! [i]
[i] Quoted in Edward Scobie, The Moors and Portugal's Global Expansion, in Golden Age of the Moor, ed Ivan Van Sertima, US, Transaction Publishers, 1992, p.336



 3. The Moors, who ruled Spain for 800 years, introduced new scientific techniques to Europe, such as an astrolabe, a device for measuring the position of the stars and planets. Scientific progress in Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Geography and Philosophy flourished in Moorish Spain

4. Basil Davidson, one of the most noted historians recognized and declared that there were no lands at that time (the eighth century) "more admired by its neighbours, or more comfortable to live in, than a rich African civilization which took shape in Spain"


5. At its height, Córdova, the heart of Moorish territory in Spain, was the most modern city in Europe. The streets were well-paved, with raised sidewalks for pedestrians. During the night, ten miles of streets were well illuminated by lamps. (This was hundreds of years before there was a paved street in Paris or a street lamp in London.) Cordova had 900 public baths - we are told that a poor Moor would go without bread rather than soap!


6. The Great Mosque of Córdoba (La Mezquita) is still one of the architectural wonders of the world in spite of later Spanish disfigurements. Its low scarlet and gold roof, supported by 1,000 columns of marble, jasper and and porphyry, was lit by thousands of brass and silver lamps which burned perfumed oil.


7. Education was universal in Moorish Spain, available to all, while in Christian Europe ninety-nine percent of the population were illiterate, and even kings could neither read nor write. At that time, Europe had only two universities, the Moors had seventeen great universities! These were located in Almeria, Cordova, Granada, Juen, Malaga, Seville, and Toledo.


8. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, public libraries in Europe were non-existent, while Moorish Spain could boast of more than seventy, of which the one in Cordova housed six hundred thousand manuscripts.


9. Over 4,000 Arabic words and Arabic-derived phrases have been absorbed into the Spanish language. Words beginning with "al," for example, are derived from Arabic. Arabic words such as algebra, alcohol, chemistry, nadir, alkaline, and cipher entered the language. Even words such as checkmate, influenza, typhoon, orange, and cable can be traced back to Arabic origins.


10. The most significant Moorish musician was known as Ziryab (the Blackbird) who arrived in Spain in 822. The Moors introduced earliest versions of several instruments, including the Lute or el oud, the guitar or kithara and the Lyre. Ziryab changed the style of eating by breaking meals into separate courses beginning with soup and ending with desserts.
11. The Moors introduced paper to Europe and Arabic numerals, which replaced the clumsy Roman system.
12. The Moors introduced many new crops including the orange, lemon, peach, apricot, fig, sugar cane, dates, ginger and pomegranate as well as saffron, sugar cane, cotton, silk and rice which remain some of Spain's main products today.


13. The Moorish rulers lived in sumptuous palaces, while the monarchs of Germany, France, and England dwelt in big barns, with no windows and no chimneys, and with only a hole in the roof for the exit of smoke. One such Moorish palace ‘Alhambra' (literally "the red one") in Granada is one of Spain's architectural masterpieces. Alhambra was the seat of Muslim rulers from the 13th century to the end of the 15th century. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site


14. It was through Africa that the new knowledge of China, India, and Arabia reached Europe. The Moors brought the Compass from China into Europe.


15. The Moors ruled and occupied Lisbon (named "Lashbuna" by the Moors) and the rest of the country until well into the twelfth century. They were finally defeated and driven out by the forces of King Alfonso Henriques. The scene of this battle was the Castelo de Sao Jorge or the 'Castle of St. George.'










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Thursday, December 17, 2015

The Sixteen Crucified Saviors before Jesus

  1. The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors (1875)
    The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ, Containing New, Startling, and Extraordinary Revelations in Religious History, which Disclose the Oriental Origin of All the Doctrines, Principles, Precepts, and Miracles of the Christian New Testament, and Furnishing a Key for Unlocking Many of Its Sacred Mysteries, Besides Comprising the History of 16 Heathen Crucified Gods is an 1875 book written by American freethinker Kersey Graves,[1] which asserts that Jesus was not an actual person, but was a creation largely based on earlier stories of deities or god-men saviours who had been crucified and descended to and ascended from the underworld. Parts were reprinted in The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read edited by Tim C. Leedom in 1994, and it was republished in its entirety in 2001.
    The book is often used as a source by Christ myth theory proponents, such as Dorothy M. Murdock,[2][3] Tom Harpur, and John G. Jackson. Many of the same theories espoused in the book are repeated in the documentaries The God Who Wasn't There, The Pagan Christ, Zeitgeist: The Movie and Religulous.
    American Atheists leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair was a fan of the book. While modern-day American historian Richard Carrier found the book to be incomplete, he appreciated some of its points.[4]

    Contents

    Summary

    Graves, often citing Anacalypsis and other works by Godfrey Higgins (1772-1833) as his source, asserts in the book that many messiah-like "saviors" were crucified on a cross or tree before ascending into heaven.
    "One thing is clear — the mythos of the Hindus, the mythos of the Jews and the mythos of the Greeks are all at bottom the same; and what are called their early histories are not histories of humankind, but are contrivances under the appearance of histories to perpetuate doctrines." (Higgins, Anacalypsis)
    Here is Graves' main list, arranged chronologically:
    He also lists a number of other holy figures who took the form of men and then ascended into heaven, including:
    The book claims that a number of these deities or god-men shared at least some traits of Jesus as described in the New Testament, drawing the strongest similarities with Krishna. For example, some figures had miraculous or virgin births, were sons of supreme gods, were born on December 25, had stars point to their birthplaces, were visited by shepherds and magi as infants, fled from death as children, exhibited traits of divinity in childhood, spent time in the desert, traveled as they taught, had disciples, performed miracles, were persecuted, were crucified, descended into hell after death, appeared as resurrections or apparitions, or ascended into heaven. Graves also devotes chapters to the pagan roots of baptism and the eucharist, and concludes that Jesus was not a real person.

    Quotes

    Here I desire to impress upon the minds of my clerical brethren the important fact, that the gospel histories of Christ were written by men who had formerly been Jews (see Acts xxi. 20), and probably possessing the strong proclivity to imitate and borrow which their bible shows was characteristic of that nation ; and being written many years after Christ's death, according to that standard Christian author, Dr. Lardner, it was impossible, under such circumstances, for them to separate (if they had desired to) the real facts and events of his life from the innumerable fictions and fables then afloat everywhere relative to the heathen Gods who had pre-enacted a similar history. Two reasons are thus furnished for their constructing a history of Christ almost identical with that of other Gods, as shown in chapters XXX., XXXI. and XXXII. of this work.[21]

    Criticism

    American historian Richard Carrier, a supporter of the Christ myth theory, has written online about his concerns with The Sixteen Crucified Saviors. For example, Price argues that Graves often omits citations, uses dubious sources, mixes opinions with facts, and draws conclusions beyond the evidence presented. However, according to Carrier, there is no comprehensive rebuttal of the book, and although many of his facts are wrong, others assertions such as a December 25 birthdate among Greco-Roman sun gods are now acknowledged to be correct. Carrier argues there is a better case for the resurrection of Thracian god Zalmoxis (also called Salmoxis or Gebele'izis) and the crucifixion and resurrection of Sumerian goddess Inanna (also known as Ishtar), neither of whom are mentioned by Graves.[22]

    See also

    References


  2. Graves, Kersey (1875). The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors: Or, Christianity Before Christ, Containing New, Startling, and Extraordinary Revelations in Religious History, which Disclose the Oriental Origin of All the Doctrines, Principles, Precepts, and Miracles of the Christian New Testament, and Furnishing a Key for Unlocking Many of Its Sacred Mysteries, Besides Comprising the History of 16 Heathen Crucified Gods. Freethought Press. pp. 22–23.

  4. Maurice Casey Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths? T&T Clark 2014 p21-22

  6. http://www.truthbeknown.com/beddru.html

  8. infidels.org

  10. Graves, p. 125

  12. The Ball Shell Walls: Awaken Your Mind to New Spiritual Realities by Joseph Kantor Higgins

  14. aryanity.com

  16. www.bharatonline.com

  18. see_the_truth.web.com

  20. www.flyingchariotministries.com

  22. The Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1870

  24. ronaldvhuggins.blogspot.com

  26. The World's Sages, Thinkers and Reformers: Being Biographical Sketches by De Robigne Mortimer Bennett

  28. Phoenicia by John Kenrick

  30. A New Universal History of the Religious Rites, Ceremonies and Customs by William Hurd

  32. www.kingdavid8.com

  34. www.kingdavid8.com

  36. www.kingdavid8.com

  38. www.kingdavid8.com

  40. www.kingdavid8.com

  42. Graves, Kersey (1875). The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors: Or, Christianity Before Christ, Containing New, Startling, and Extraordinary Revelations in Religious History, which Disclose the Oriental Origin of All the Doctrines, Principles, Precepts, and Miracles of the Christian New Testament, and Furnishing a Key for Unlocking Many of Its Sacred Mysteries, Besides Comprising the History of 16 Heathen Crucified Gods. Freethought Press. pp. 22–23.

    44. http://infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/graves.html
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Top 10 Myths: Akhenaten was the World's First Monotheist (Ancient Art Po...

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The Birth of Monotheism: Great Hymn to the Aten

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Black Hollywood unChained

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A History of God

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Karen Armstrong - Religion and the History of Violence





Karen Armstrong is one of my favorite scholars of theology and
spirituality. I love her because she has that eclectic vision so
necessary to unravel the conundrums of the present intellectual morass.
We are happy to hear her explain her understanding of religion and
violence. Too often we want to attribute world issues to one cause or
another, sometimes politics, religion, economics, ecology, but Karen is
careful to sift through all such isms, schisms, ideologies and
mythologies to arrive at some modicum of truth that we can savor. She is
not always optimistic at the human condition. After one lecture on her
current book, she said she felt dreadful. We share her dread, for the
world has become very dreadful. She notes that men are essentially
predators or killers. She told how men kill and plunder often because
they are bored. This hit us in the gut because we recall when some young
men in the ghetto told us, "OG, you know what we do when we get bored? We
get our bulletproof vests, UZIS and ride through the hood killing
nigguhs." This made me consider that we have become lower than the KKK,
at least they killed because they hated us, certainly not because they
were bored. But I tried to think deeper on this predatory condition of
men. As I grew up in the country where men to hunt, I
wondered was it because in our move to urbanity we were unable to
exercise the hunter myth/ritual. In the absence of deer, duck,
pheasants, quail rabbits and other animals to hunt, in our urbanity we must now resort to
hunting each other, humans killing humans in lieu of animals. How
can we back up from this precipice and return to some level of humanity and/or civility?

Is there any possibility of us reclaiming our divinity which I am want
to maintain is our essential nature. Karen never imagines we are capable of such high spirituality.

This notion of our predatory nature being essential appears to be pervasive in our 
slippery slop into nothingness, dread and absurdity.
-- Marvin X
12/18/15
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Karen Armstrong - Religion and the History of Violence




Karen Armstrong is one of my favorite scholars of theology and spirituality. I love her because she has that eclectic vision so necessary to unravel the conundrums of the present intellectual morass. We are happy to hear her explain her understanding of religion and violence. Too often we want to attribute world issues to one cause or another, sometimes politics, religion, economics, ecology, but Karen is careful to sift through all such isms, schisms, ideologies and mythologies to arrive at some modicum of truth that we can savor. She is not always optimistic at the human condition. After one lecture on her current book, she said she felt dreadful. We share her dread, for the world has become very dreadful. She notes that men are essentially predators or killers. She told how men kill and plunder often because they are bored. This hit us in the gut because we recall when some young men in the ghetto told us, "OG, you what we do when we get bored? We get our bulletproof vests, UZIS and ride through the hood killing nigguhs." This made me consider that we have become lower than the KKK, at least they killed because they hated us, certainly not because they were bored. But I tried to think deeper on this predatory condition of men. As I grew up in the country where men used to go hunting, I wondered was it because in our move to urbanity we were unable to exercise the hunter myth/ritual. In the absence of deer, duck, pheasants, quail and other animals to hunt, we must now resort to hunting each other, brothers hunting brothers in lieu of animals. How can we back up from this precipice and return to some level of civility? Is there any possibility of us reclaiming our divinity which I am want to maintain is our essential nature although this notion of the predatory nature being our essence appears to be on a slippery slop of nothingness and absurdity.-- Marvin X
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