Daily Archives: December 21, 2007

Slice of American Muslim History

Posted in Hip Hop, Muslim Communities in America by


Hat tip to Zaynab Aden for writing me the following email:

There is an African American sister here in the area who entered a mini documentary about the Bean Pie into a contest geared towards Muslims. I think you will like it, if you do could you vote for it? I think what is refreshing about her take about the Muslim American experience is that unlike many of the others, it does not center around 9/11, how Muslims are patriotic or setting out to prove we are people too. It is just about the bean pie-simple.

You can see documentary here.
Umar Lee, Tariq Nelson, and AbdurRahman have also spread word about this delightful documentary. I am really excited about this type of work and I’m proud of Hassannah Tauhidi for pulling this together. She’s been working it out in DC. It is about time that we start to give our sisters like her their due props and support.

On of my friends who went to University of Chicago pointed out that many of the academics were really into “exotic” Islam. They enjoyed going to concerts with Middle Eastern music, eating Middle Eastern or South Asian food, wearing “Eastern clothes.” But when the students organized an event that was rooted in American Muslim culture, few of the academics showed up. Muslim hip hop didn’t do it for them, nor did the fusion of traditional Moroccan and jazz. Sadly, both academia and the media overlook African American Muslims and our cultural production. This is why this documentary is so important. It really touches upon the contours of Black American Muslim life. Sure, in the 90s many Black American Muslims began to distance themselves from Black nationalistic movements and Afrocentricism. Some brothers and sisters pushed aside the bean pie (and other American deserts) and turned towards baklava and Gulab Jani. But this documentary does remind us that there is a Black American Muslim culture and that we are a salient and dynamic community.

The film’s description states:

Bean Pie is an authentic American Muslim experience! Hailing from the Blackamerican Muslim community, Bean Pie has taken on iconic proportions. It has been the butt of many jokes, and dare we say, may even have been a catalyst for the proliferation of the Islamic faith, as we have come to learn while filming this documentary that many connoisseurs of this delectable confection have been introduced to Islam and have developed deep affections toward the Muslim community. So please, watch and learn and see if you don’t get a hankering for some Bean Pie!

Tariq Nelson pointed out that Hassanah and Imam Johari are working on a television series called, “Living Islam in America. Please support these projects by any means necessary. In the meantime, you can support sister Hassanah by voting here (I can’t cause I’m out of the US). So check it out and vote!!

🙂

Race and the Flip Side of Sex Tourism

Posted in Black Women Travel, Gender Relations, Interracial Relationships by

While visiting the Tafilelt, Morocco in 2004, I passed by an odd couple in a resort hotel. The woman looked old enough to be the young man’s grandmother. But they weren’t related. He was clearly Moroccan, a beautiful bronze complexioned twenty year old with large doe eyes, and a head full of big dark curls. She was clearly a European woman, her pale liver spotted skin loosely draped on her thin frame. The woman made a romantic gesture towards him, making it clear that he was not merely a tour guide. The young man had a new set of designer shades and a crisp new outfit. The woman seemed self satisfied as if she defeated something. He was her brown prize, even if only for that moment. That air about her made her almost radiant, even through her sun damaged skin. The man seemed slightly annoyed, impatient, as if anticipating something more.

I think that was the closest I’ve come to Female Sex Tourism (see wiki entry here). But I’ve heard that it is popular in several locations where there are large numbers of unemployed brown men. In fact, someone told me that making out with a Moroccan was part of the travel experience. From the wiki article, it looks like Morocco ranks up there in the female tourism industry. I’m also familiar with stories about female sex tourism in the Caribbean. A close friend of mine, a guy originally from Guyana but grew up in the Virgin Islands told me stories about his friends. Many of the local guys hung around the docks waiting for the cruise ships to unload white girls. It was an easy hook up, no strings attached, and sometimes they’d get something out of the deal. It was especially the case if the woman was less than attractive. They might receive more than free drinks, but clothes, watches, and even money.

In November Reuters featured a story Older White women enjoy Kenya’s Sex Tourism . I found it interesting because the year before I was in an ongoing debate about Black men and Sex tourism.
During that time, there was a flurry of articles and commentary responding to William Jelani Cobb’s expose. like this and a One brother pointed out that Terry McMillan’s When Stella got her Groove Back opened doors for professional Black women to travel to the Caribbean for a little bit of relaxation and hook-up

Sex Tourism by Annan Boodram

Annan Boodram wrote an interesting <a href=”http://www.caribvoice.org/Travel&Tourism/sextourism.html”>piece</a&gt;.

Dr. Phillips emphasized that sex tourism, a product of slavery, was not new to the Caribbean. White women always wanted to sample black men, while the latter saw them as their hope of financial and social boost, she added.
American sociologist Klaus de Albuquerque agrees with the erotic element to sex tourism. He believes that for the white woman who flock to the Caribbean for sea, sun and mostly sex, it’s a ‘phallic sojourn’ in search of the ‘big bamboo’.
If an ‘escort’ plays his cards right, being with a tourist sexually can raise him a pretty penny. Most of the women are into oral sex, largely taboo among Jamaican males; for this act, some of the women are reportedly willing to pay as much as US$100. According to a Jamaican beach bum ‘Jim’, this is normally played out in their hotel room.
The success of the Terry McMillan’s book and film ‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back’ added a fillip to sex tourism as many successful American women flocked to the Caribbean beaches to find sex and romance.
Indeed the majority of these adventurous tourists travel to Jamaica in the winter season. They are single women in their mid-forties and are from major cities in the United States. They are not necessarily into long-term relationships, but Jim says they return regularly to their island boy, bringing gifts like jewellery,designer sneakers and clothing.
But while they like the gifts the ‘escorts’ ultimate hope is to be like Winston, Terry MacMillan’s lover – marrying and migrating, preferably to the United States. It gives them an opportunit for a new life and better days for their children. But to Dr Anthony Bryan, a prominent Caribbean scholar and professor of international relations at the North-South Centre of the University of Miami, the desire of white women and men to pay for sex can be traced, in part, to “The racist stereotype of the exotic and erotic black or mixed-race woman or man”.

I find this whole trend disturbing. I actually didn’t know it had been going on as long as it did. I really find the apologetic tone troubling. But clearly, from the media representations, Female Sex Tourism captures a lot of people’s imagination. There have even been a film about Female Sex Tourism, “Going South”and a play. While people have argued nobody had a problem with the film “When Stella Got Her Groove Back” people critique Black men who travel to exotic locales to hook up. I take pride in not ever having read a Terry McMillan book, but I have been subjected to several of her films including Stella. From what I remember, Stella did not go to Jamaica to hook up. But she did find her groove an other things. This story was loosely based off of McMillan’s life. And if you want to see how that story ends read here.