Excerpt from Companions of the Garden, Chapter 5

     Dig and Abida drive through central Virginia:


     The weathered green signs that whizzed by on their right said Stonewall Jackson Memorial Highway, and even without this periodic reminder, it seemed to Dig as if the landscape were in a perpetual state of outcry.  The soil still rich with the memory of blood.  Every tree and hill and gully bearing out the textured virtuosity of cannon balls and chain gun fire.  Sweaty palms and fingers carving auditory scars on the landscape with their crank crank cranks on the chain gun winch.  Beards and coats and uniforms – both gray and blue – all soaked in the stink of the unwashed and the first latent strains of the Unforgetting, and older still the crack of the whip and the choking hovering pathology of cotton.  A land overwhelmed with sensory assault, and at once knowable and unmistakable for the northern visitor and his anticipated pageantry.  At once his nation.  At once his own.

Egyptian court rules against the use of "virginity tests" on female detainees

    Yesterday, an Egyptian court issued a ban on the military's performance of so-called "virginity tests" on female detainees, a stirring articulation not only of civil society's resistance to martial oppression, but also of the refusal of Egypt's women to be silenced by assault and intimidation.
     The ruling comes in the case of 25-year-old Samira Ibrahim, a marketing manager, who took Egypt's military junta to court in August with the allegation that she'd been subjected to "tests" of this nature during a violent crackdown on protests on March 9th.
     Rights groups contend that the military has implemented such practices to shield themselves against accusations of rape. Leaving aside the profound fallacy of using sexual assault to guard against sexual assault charges, the practice is perhaps most nauseating when one considers the junta's unshakeable confidence that the survivors of such atrocities would remain silent.
      Ibrahim refused to allow them that privilege, and the courts have reinforced her stance. The three-judge panel attested that the virginity tests were "a violation of women's rights and an aggression against their dignity." Confirming aforementioned suspicions, the ruling also claimed that a member of the junta had admitted to Amnesty International in June that the practice was indeed indented to safeguard against rape charges, and indicated that it was in fact an administrative order and not an individual decision.

     This ruling offers an encouraging companion narrative to a December 20 issue brief from the Center for American Progress, which looked at rape as a weapon of oppression in the context of the Arab Spring.   Amidst a roster of injuries already grimly familiar to anyone who has worked in the field of women's rights - the devastating impact that sexual assault exacts in conservative religious communities, wherein assaulted women are seen to have lost their honor and are ostracized on that basis, or the inability of forcibly impregnated women to obtain abortions - the issue brief also comments on the degree to which women in much of the Arab world, Egypt included, are systematically denied access to the legal sphere. "Rape," it argues, "is not a matter of public justice . . . Public places where rape victims look for legal remedy, such as courts and police stations, are 'no place for respectable women.'"    

     Amidst a regime that makes a hobby out of squashing most forms of democratic expression, it remains to be seen how much yesterday's ruling will do to reverse that trend. But in lending solidarity to Ibrahim's statement  - "I will not give up my rights as a woman and as a human being -" the courts have at least given the green light to women across the country who might otherwise have despaired of their grievances ever being heard. 

Excerpt from Companions of the Garden, Chapter 2

     As a means of getting more visitors engaged with the novel itself, and not just the social or political issues surrounding it, I'll now be posting every Thursday through mid-March an excerpt from the book, encapsulating some portion of the text that I find poignant.
    Enjoy, and know that I'll always equate questions, feedback, and criticism with that thing called gold!

---
     (Chapter 2, Washington, DC)

     “You read the Qur’an,” she said.
     “Yeah,” he replied.
     “In college?”
     He smiled, said, “No. 10th Grade.”
     “You’re kidding.”
     “Not exactly.”
     She shook her head, bewildered, as if he’d just revealed a mental defect; the kind of defect that made her quietly happy.
     “Can I ask the infamous why?” she said.
     He looked across the Mall. The sun clung soft to its three o’clock posture, the Washington Monument stark on the skyline.
     “There’s this guy called Thomas Jefferson,” he said. “He buys a copy of the Qur’an from the Virginia Gazette, reads it cover to cover a dozen times over . . . even teaches himself basic Arabic . . . all in the name of wrapping his mind around something fresh, something totally new.”
     He laughed and turned back to her.
     “That’s how my sophomore history teacher opens his lecture on the first day of school. We’re all thinking, wow, that’s cool. That’s really, really cool. Then seconds later he blows the whole thing up, telling us, all Jefferson ever did with that knowledge was to bolster his case for the invasion of North Africa – the good old, ‘I know our enemy now’ routine. I guess the point of the lecture was how things never change, but that’s not what I took away from it. Instead I bought a copy of the Qur’an that night and skipped class the next three days so I could finish reading it.  I don’t know. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”
     She smiled. Shook her head again. Folded up her book and slipped it in her bag.
     “Tea?” she said.
     “Please.”

Thousands of women march on the streets of Cairo

    Though I don't have time to post on it properly, I'll take a moment to champion the women of Egypt, who in Cairo have turned out by the thousands to protest the atrocities committed on protesters by security forces.
    Said a veteran female Egyptian journalist at a news conference on Monday, "the next revolution will be a women’s revolution for real."
 

Tribute to Tawakkol Karman

    From the opulent fanfare in Oslo, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Tawakkol Karman returns home to her tent in Yemen, to continue her protests of the Yemeni autocracy.
     The image of three women of color sharing the conventionally masculine accolade is itself an incredible morale boost, but of course, the women in question are many universes removed from mere symbolic gratification: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Africa's first democratically elected female head of state, who helped resuscitate her country from a devastating war; her Liberian compatriot Leymah Gbowee, head of the Women for Peace movement, who succeeded, among many accomplishments, to unite Christian and Muslim women against her country's warlords; and Karman, politician, mother of three, head of Women Journalists Without Chains, and chief architect of the Yemeni Revolution, who gets the starring role in this post  in part because she embodies so much of what Abida - hero of my novel - strives to become.
      Karman's reinvention of the public imagination is as storied as her own identity.
      First and foremost, her unwavering commitment to peace and democracy, and the vast ensemble of voices who cheer her on, challenge the construction of Yemen as a splintered, terrorist-breeding basket case. "After the revolution," Karman told Reuters, "you will see the real Yemen, which is peace, dreams and achievement."
      Second, she breathes life into what for many (however unduly) is the fading promise of the Arab Spring.  "The Arab world is today witnessing the birth of a new world, which tyrants and unjust rulers strive to oppose," Karman said in her acceptance speech. "But in the end, this new world will inevitably emerge.  The people have decided to break free and walk in the footsteps of civilized free people of the world."
       Third, at a point where Islamist electoral victories in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco have sent the world cascading into a fresh orgy of Islamophobia, Karman staunchly opposes the idea that Islam and democracy are inherently incompatible: "All the religions, they respect democracy. They respect human rights, they respect all the values that all of us carry . . . The only problem is the misunderstanding from the people who act -- Islam, Christian, Jewish or any other religion -- (as if to say) 'this is the religion'."
     Finally, at the end of the day, Karman is an Arab woman in a headscarf leading a nation out of bondage. As I've stated in past posts, I can think of no blow more lethal to the notion that Muslim women are inherently oppressed, or that the women of the Middle East are in need of rescue by the West.
     Adept at the destruction both of stereotypes and despots, Karman declares "I am not afraid of the future. If we did we would not make this revolution. We should not marginalize anyone. Participation in the political life is the only way that will drive extremism (away), so I am not afraid."

Stand in defense of "All American Muslim"

    In a gag-inducing turn of events, the Florida Family Association successfully pressured Lowe's, the national hardware chain, to withdraw its advertising from "All American Muslim," a new reality TV show that seeks to challenge Islamophobia.
     "All-American Muslim is propaganda clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many Muslims who are advancing Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia law," the Florida Family Association statement read. "The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to the liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish."
     Once again, we're treated to that unrepentantly bigoted construct that transforms the entire Muslim community into a caricatured gaggle of terrorists - that casts the overarching majority in the light of an extreme minority - only this time, the corporate giants of America have given the perpetrators of this hate-mongering a colossal victory. Lowe's, for one, made plain the fact that its decision stemmed directly from the Florida Family Association's actions.
     Health researcher and Huffington Post commentator Abdulrahman El-Sayed sees echoes of the infamous Jim Crow.
    "By pulling its advertisements from a television show meant to normalize the Muslim experience," he argues, "Lowe's and other corporations have tapped into that murky history of institutional discrimination. They have chosen to give way to fear and hate over mutual understanding and inclusiveness, implicitly barring a minority community from access to the public debate on account of the reviling hatred of a few."
    Worst of all, "All American Muslim" is precisely the kind of show America needs right now. Set in Dearborn, Michigan, home of America's largest Muslim community, the TLC program chronicles the lives of several Muslim families, and works always to emphasize the ways in which their lifestyles resonate with what it is understood to be conventionally American. One of the stars is a police officer, another a football player.
    "For a show meant to convey the truth about the diversity and honest normalness of the lives of average Muslims in the US, it succeeds brilliantly," El-Sayed says. "But some can't believe Muslims could be so normal."
      Please join me in singing this extremely articulate petition, demanding that Lowe's reinstate its advertising, and put a stop to a culture that complies all too often with hatred and ignorance.
      I would also encourage readers, again, to check out the compelling website My Fellow American, which allows visitors the opportunity to express their views on the Muslim community and Islamophobia through both the written word and video testimonials. As such, it offers the perfect forum for any and all individuals outraged by Lowe's decision to vent their frustration in a capacity that others will hear.      
     

Belated words of support for Mona Eltahaway

     Though I'm a bit tardy in doing so, I wanted to make certain to extend my support for Mona Eltahaway, a renowned columnist and speaker, of whom I've blogged on many an occasion, and who was recently and brutally assaulted by security forces in her native Egypt.
     To visit such attrocities on any human being is completely unconscionable, and I stand with Mona as I would stand with any survivor, in solidarity against evil. Yet ever since hearing her speak in New York last April, I've deeply admired her energy, optimism, and commitment to democracy in the Middle East, traits that persist in spite of her recent hardship, and that further augment my respect.
     Left arm and right hand broken, Mona told MSNBC that what happened to her was in fact "tiny compared to what has happened to so many Egyptians."
     Rather than bemoan her own condition, she kept the focus on Egypt itself, calling on the U.S. administration to stop sending military aid to the very junta responsible for the recurring crackdowns.
     "Three thousand people were injured during that time when I was injured," she said. "And not all those people have access to media the way that I do . . . The reason this revolution began was to fight exactly this type of brutality."
      I'm the first to admit that I haven't agreed with Mona on all points, but no amount of criticism should take precedent over the basic support that her strength of character deserves.
      To Mona: I'm with you. They'll fail in the end.

Revised version of chapters 1-6 available on the blog

    I don't believe I ever made a former announcement of such, but Chapters 1-6 of the novel can actually be read on Scribd by clicking the picture on the right of the page. (It was originally Chapters 1-5, but the sixth chapter ends on a note that more accurately anticipates the tension that later develops in the characters' relationship.)
       This document reflects the most recent revisions to Chapter 2, which I discussed in Friday's post: spiffed up dialogue between Dig and Abida (more realistic, less forced) and a more direct, less ranting, conclusion.
     To anyone who's not yet had the opportunity to read a sample of the text and would like to do so, I strongly encourage you to check out. As I've said in the past, feedback is always appreciated, but even if you don't have any to provide, it's great to know there are people out there reading it. (It is, after all, what people do to novels.)
 

A shout-out to Jerin Arifa

      It having been much too long since I've done so, I wanted to give another shout-out to my wife, Jerin Arifa, whose tireless activism continues to brighten the world for women and minorities of all walks.
      On Monday night, Jerin participated in a panel, held at Hunter College, that addressed the issues of sexual harassment and violence in New York’s subways and public spaces. Sharing the table with such notable figures as Emily May, Executive Director and co-founder of Hollaback!, Jerin performed in typically fine form - with eloquence, clarity, and conviction - in her discussion of the mindset and process that makes violence possible. Violence, she said, is a spectrum of behavior, one that begins with dehumanization of the individual (name calling, verbal abuse, unwelcome sexual advances, groping and exposure, etc.) that in turns makes easier, on the other end of the spectrum, the performance of physical violence toward that individual. Jerin chairs the National Young Feminist Task Force for NOW, the activities of which further informed her discussion.
     I'll hold off on further extolling, as the sweetness therein begins to corrode the integrity of the message, and say simply that it's been a pleasure - indeed, more than a pleasure - to work in her company.
     Jerin - keep up the awesome. You're just that.

Back from the dead . . .

     Needless to say, this blog has spent the better part of two months lying by the wayside, conspicuously silent on the Egyptian and Tunisian elections, the end of the Libyan Civil War, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's re-election in Liberia, and so forth.
     Rather than dwell on the causes behind the lapse, I'll focus instead on what I've accomplished in the blackout:

     1. Responding to feedback from readers and literary agents, I performed a number of much-needed revisions to Companions of the Garden, rewriting Chapter 2, where the energy dragged, and where the initial dialogue between Dig and Abida had an academic quality that felt forced and unrealistic. I also axed my self-indulgent attempts to be Faulkner via the drunken rant at the climax of the chapter, going instead for sustained realism. It was the same philosophy I used for my other big re-write: Chapter 22, another rant that turned off most of the people who read it. The overwhelming majority of the text reveals itself through simple, direct language, which I've now extended to the trouble spots. The product? A much better novel, with more room yet for growth!

     2. I wrote a short story. Entitled (for the moment) "First Prophet," it offers a feminist re-imagining of the tale of Eve. Readers will be getting back to me shortly with thoughts. I'm excited to see what comes out of it!

      All glowing aside, though, neither endeavor needed to preclude the existence of the blog, nor will they do so going forward.
      As with the publishing process itself, my philosophy on this project is not to get back on the horse until I've found a better way of riding the darn thing. To that end, I'll be looking at ways to spice up the blog, with the aim of making it more engaging, more interactive, and more conducive to exploring the text itself.
      More on this soon.
      Thanks, as always, for the support.

Tawakkol Karman's Nobel Peace Prize energizes the women of the Arab world

    Activist and revolutionary Tawakkol Karman's receiving of the Nobel Peace Prize last week has provided further galvanization not only to the uprising in her native Yemen, but also, specifically, to its women.
    On Sunday, 15,000 women took to the streets of Saana, Yemen's capital and largest city, with additional marches occurring in Taiz and Shabwa provinces. They gathered not only in celebration of Karman's win, but also to send the signal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh that he is no more popular with the nation's female populace than he is with his fellow men. "Saleh will stand trial," the women of Taiz chanted, and in Shabwa, female protesters called on the United Nations to place sanctions against Saleh and his family.
    At a presentation I attended last spring, Egyptian columnist and social media artisan Mona Eltahaway, gesturing to a photo of Karman that she'd displayed to the audience, remarked - unforgettably - "In that face lies the death of all preconceived notions of the Muslim woman."
   Not only has Karman consistently proven Eltahawy's point - obliterating the uninformed assumption that any woman with a headscarf by definition must be docile or oppressed - but now she's energized other women to destroy those assumptions on their own. Women who take to the streets by the tens of the thousands in the face of brutal reprisals can't exactly be labeled the brow-beaten type. As Roula Khalaf of the Financial Times argues, the Nobel decision "sends a powerful if symbolic message of western acceptance of Islamist movements, an alternative view to the simplistic belief that they are incompatible with women’s empowerment."
    I mentioned violent reprisals. There has already been at least one disgusting occurrence of such, with multiple sources confirming the attacks by pro-government thugs on 38 women in Taiz's Freedom Square. I therefor call on readers to keep Yemen's female Muslim revolutionaries - and future Founding Mothers - in their hearts and minds, and praise them for the singular role they play in steering their nation to the state of liberty it deserves.

Maria Gunnoe - A Voice for Appalachia

     With the Nobel Peace Prize going on Friday to two of the women I most admire on the international stage,Yemen's Tawakkol Karman and Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge a home-grown hero - Maria Gunnoe, a resident of West Virginia who leads the attack on mountain-top removal coal mining, a practice that poses dire consequences not just to the environment but to the very existence of the people who live in its shadow.
      As I write this post, an instrumental folk station I created on Pandora Radio delivers tune after heartbreaking tune from Appalachia, an incessant reminder of the invaluable role that this region has played in the formation of our national identity. Ironic, then, that corporate interests would augment their assault on civilizations abroad with attacks on what could rightly be called one of the keystones of the American spirit.  “They are blowing up my homeland,” says Gunnoe, not one to mince words.
        The daughter, granddaughter and sister of coal miners, Gunnoe works for OVEC (Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition) and in 2009 received the Goldman Environmental Prize, a Nobel equivalent in the field of grassroots activism. On September 30th, she and Bo Webb, another leading mover-and-shaker, testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. The two were in fact the only coalfield-residing witnesses to present at the hearing, the title of which made plain its bias - "Jobs at Risk: Community Impacts of the Obama Administration’s Effort to Rewrite the Stream Buffer Zone Rule."
      "The coal industry obviously wants to bury and pollute all of our water and all of who we are, for temporary jobs," said Gunnoe, at the hearing. "Jobs in surface mining are dependent on blowing up the next mountain and burying the next stream . . . How could anyone say that these temporary jobs is worth the permanent displacement of our people and the destruction of their waters, mountains and culture?"
      Later: "My nephew reminds me of what surface mining looks like from a child's eyes. As we were driving through our community he looks up and says, 'Aunt Sissy, what is wrong with these people? Don't they know we live down here?' I had to be honest with him and say, 'Yes, they know. They just simply don't care."
      You can view the testimonies on the sub-committee's website, clicking to 99:20 for Webb's testimony, and 106:18 for Gunnoe's.
      Interestingly, Mr. Webb drew a link between the apparent congressional appetite for environmental catastrophes and its recent trend towards curtailing a woman's right to reproductive freedom.
     "Statistical research on Appalachian birth defects has found that a woman pregnant has a 42% greater chance of a baby born with birth defects than a pregnant woman living in a non mountaintop removal community," he said. " . . . If that does not get your attention, then you have sold your very heart and soul. Your pro life claim is no longer credible; it's false, and transparent. You stand on your bloody pulpit claiming to be pro life, yet allow our babies to be poisoned, disregarded like yesterdays garbage! A dog has more rights and protection than an unborn baby in a mountaintop removal community!"
      Gunnoe made a similar observation in a recent Op-Ed for The Charleston Gazette, entitled "Where’s the church in this disaster?"
       "It would seem that children in the womb are of great concern," she says. "But apparently that concern extends only to not killing the child outright. Insidious damage, disease and life-long problems seem not to matter, at least not enough for them to speak out. Could it be that their anti-abortion stance is really less about the health and well being of infants and children than about hatred of women?"
      A rhetorical question if ever I heard one.

French feminists rally to retire "Mademoiselle”

    Galvanized by the deeply disturbing implications of the Strauss-Kahn/Diallo case for women worldwide, French feminists have rallied to put paid to a deeply entrenched form of sexism in their society: the legally mandated distinction between "Madame" and "Mademoiselle" on the basis of marital status.
    Unlike Spain, which has formally retired "Senorita," and Germany, which recently parted ways with "Fraulein," France still delineates between married and unmarried women, requiring French women to indicate marital status on everything from job applications to parking tickets.
      Marie-Noelle Bas, president of the feminist group Watchdog, argues that the distinction is problematic for precisely the same reasons that "Mrs/Miss" troubles Anglophone feminists; namely, that it defines women on the basis of their relationship to men. "In old days, women went from the domination of their father to the domination of their husband," she says. "They were 'mademoiselle' when they were girls, and 'madame' when they were married. For the men, there is no two states, only 'monsieur' from the youth to the elder."
       It's been a while since I've read 1984, but Orwell's testimony on the overarching importance of language is as fresh in my mind as ever. Orwell addressed it in the characteristic negative - that the key to suppressing thought rests in the obliteration of one's access to the language that makes such thoughts possible - but so, too, is liberation born through the obliteration of the language that maintains oppressive structures. As a lover of language in all its forms, I can't emphasize enough my support for the movement.
      Thalia Breton, of the organization Dare Feminism, argues that the ongoing Strauss-Kahn fiasco has made it crucial for feminists to act, and to act now.
     "People have really woken up about inequalities and sexism since the Dominique Strauss-Kahn affair," she says, "and we think these issues will be a part of the presidential debate leading up to next May's election."
      I can only hope for the same.

Another heartening gesture from Tunisia on the status of women

     As Bothaina Kamel continues to gain attention in her pursuit of the Egyptian presidency, more good news hearkens from Tunisia: on Friday, the nation formally withdrew all reservations to CEDAW - The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
    Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, CEDAW is commonly described as an international bill of rights for women, and defines the oppression thereof as "...any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field." Any country that accepts CEDAW must commit itself to measures aimed at curbing that oppression.
     Though Tunisia was one of the first countries to go onboard with CEDAW, as early as 1980, its pre-revolutionary establishment had lodged a series of reservations on four somewhat crucial rights that CEDAW had intended to preserve, these being:

     - Equal rights to pass on nationality to their children.
     - Equal rights and responsibilities in marriage and divorce.
     - Equal rights in the guardianship and adoption of children.
     - Equal personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a family name, a profession and an occupation.

     The interim government's decision to withdraw these reservations signals the likelihood that a newly elected parliament will amend whatever oppressive laws the original reservations were meant to protect. Along with a decision by Tunisia's National Electoral Commission in May to ensure gender parity in any future parliament, Tunisia's renovated relationship with CEDAW reinforces its reputation as the Middle East's leader in women's rights.
     As a somewhat noteworthy aside, if any readers are unaware of CEDAW, it might perhaps stem from the fact that the United States is one of only seven countries in the world that has not yet ratified the convention. Given our penchant for slinging allegations of sexism at various regions of the world, this detail has always struck me as a little bit . . . curious.

The woman who wants to be Egypt's first female president

     Amidst the turmoil in Egypt, there remains at a least a few encouraging signs, a prime one being the visibility of a female candidate for the presidency.
      Bothaina Kamel, a former TV and radio host, recalls vividly the Mubarak regime's incessant assertions that February's uprisings were the product of a "foreign agenda." Highly critical of the construction, Kamel now operates under the slogan Egypt is My Agenda,  and cites among her chief objectives combating corruption and bringing a voice to marginalized ethnic groups nationwide. Says Kamel, "I promise by the election I will be the most informed of the candidates about the Egyptian people. I know the demands of the Bedouin, the people of Upper Egypt, the Coptic Christians, the workers and different groups from all parts of the country."
     With respect to the former objective, she can cite among her accomplishments the creation in 2005 of Shayfeen - "We Are Watching You" - a movement that contested the largely fraudulent elections taking place that year, and yesterday reiterated her demand for the creation of an independent body to monitor and fight corruption in Egypt.
    In terms of what scores points with me personally, Kamel shares my criticism of the perception that Egypt's revolution ended with Mubarak's ouster. "I know that we have just started a revolution," she says. "We haven't made a revolution yet. There's a lot more to do."
    And lest there be any doubt as to her cognizance of the gendered dimensions of her campaign, Kamel tells the Guardian, "By putting myself forward I am making this democratic right – the right of a woman to be president – a concrete reality, and that alters expectations."
    Her past projects include the radio show "The Egypt We Don't Know." Says Kamel, speaking of her experiences there, "I traveled all over the country collecting various songs, community traditions, local ideas about the Nile or the desert . . . On reflection, I think it was the most important program I've ever been involved in."
    Someone to keep an eye on.

Reminder to check out "My Fellow American," an anti-Islamophobic website

    With the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 and everything it entails fresh in our minds, I wanted to remind everyone to check out the compelling website My Fellow American, which I blogged about in June, and which strongly enforces one of the chief goals of my novel: countering Islamophobia.
     As a refresher on the site's nature, My Fellow American allows visitors to contribute video testimonials challenging negative stereotypes about Muslims. The library is both diverse and compelling, articulating an agenda that in my estimation can't ever be stressed enough.
     One particular video that moved me this second time around features a young Mennonite discussing his interest in facilitating dialogue with the Muslims in his community. His motivation to better understand the faith includes experimental fasting during the month of Ramadan:

Inspiration from a Mennonite Journal

    
     My Fellow American also features a short video teaser, which, as stressed in my last post, is a much-needed reminder of just how much hideousness has been voiced regarding the Muslim faith and its followers:

My Fellow American

Manal Omar: Another Extraordinary Woman

    I thought I'd celebrate the end of Ramadan by recognizing another one of the Arab world's movers and shakers: Manal Omar, director of the Iraq, Iran and North Africa programs for the United States Institute for Peace (USIP).
    Omar launched her career in 1996 as a journalist in the Middle East. Less than a year later, UNESCO  recruited her to work on one of her first lead assignments in Iraq, from 1997-1998. She then served as regional coordinator for Women for Women International in Afghanistan, Sudan, and Iraq, residing in the latter and setting up operations throughout the tumultuous period of 2003-2005. She also served as regional program manager for the Middle East for Oxfam - Great Britain, where she responded to humanitarian crises in Palestine and Lebanon, and worked more than three years with the World Bank’s development economics group.
    At USIP, Omar works with the Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations, which manages the Institute's activities in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Liberia, Sri Lanka, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She has also carried out training programs in Yemen, Bahrain, Sudan, Lebanon, Kenya, and Palestine.
     Not to be excluded, the written word has, in addition, excelled under Omar's direction. Her publications include: "In the Sea of National Building: Anchoring Women's Rights in the Iraqi Constitution," "Barefoot in Baghdad: A Story of Identity -- My Own and What it Means to Be a Woman in Chaos," and "Islamic Feminism."
     As implied by the above, Omar compliments her commitment to international peace with equally fervent investment in the Muslim community, both abroad and at home. In 2007, Islamic Magazine named her one of the ten young visionaries shaping Islam in America.
     I learned of Ms. Omar via a recent article in the Huffington Post, which also featured my perennial favorite from Yemen, Tawakul Karman.

The Nature of the Tragedy

    The outcome of the Strauss-Kahn criminal case was, in the purest sense, a low-down dirty shame, but one need not invite debate over the meaning or the application of "reasonable doubt" to label it as such.
    Indeed, I can think of no substitute for reasonable doubt as a standard of evidence, and would even admit - though it breaks my heart to do so - that Ms. Diallo's testimony and accompanying credibility would not, at the time of the case's dismissal, have been sufficient to yield a conviction.
    The tragedy, the hideous outcome of it all, is that no one seemed to try. The case never made it to trial, an environment in which Diallo's testimony might have grown into something less doubt-provoking than it had been before; an environment wherein, failing all else, the seriousness of her claims would at least have receivd the legal attention it deserved.
    Had the case gone to trial, prosecutors might have balanced the holes in her credibility against a detail the media circus, and the court of public opinion it informed, never managed to address - the corresponding holes in Mr. Strauss-Kahn's credibility. Why, for instance, did he fail to provide details of where he went immediately after the alleged encounter until three weeks later? Why did French Journalist Tristan Banon come forward the day after Mr. Strauss-Kahn's arrest and claim he had attacked her in 2002?  How were these details not assigned even a tenth the importance of Ms. Diallo's botched asylum application, or her murky financial history?
    Had the case gone to trial, prosecutors might have countered the construction of the malicious, gold-digging maid with claims that stressed its unlikelihood. After three years of employment at the Sofitel Hotel, Strauss-Khan was hardly the first wealthy guest with whom Diallo came in contact. Were the accumulation of wealth her motive, the proximity of rich folk her opportunity, and the fabrication of rape her means, would she not have attempted such a stunt long ago?
    At the end of the day, it may still have devolved into one person's word against another, which would not have been enough to convict Strauss-Kahn, but the poignancy of these matters makes repugnant the move that silenced them forever.
    Rob Clyne of Sabotage Times puts it a bit more bluntly: ". . . this is rape we’re talking about. This is an accusation of a man forcing his penis into a woman’s mouth. Doubt, reasonable or otherwise, is not a strong enough reason to dismiss a case of this nature. The law protected DSK to such an extent that he didn’t even have to face cross examination. Justice, it seems, is in hiding. A depressing outlook for women’s rights and brave victims of sexual assault."
     Indeed.
     And now the would-be case is utterly vulnerable to media postulations, a process that has already canonized Diallo the Liar while leaving Strauss-Kahn ambiguous.
    Ms. Dialo may or may not be a victim (I of course think she was) but her treatment in the media aligns closely enough with the victim-blaming paradigm that I, for one, feel justified in puking.


 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn can't silence the survivors

    Though I'm not religious, I couldn't help swooning over the thought that yesterday's earthquake might have bespoken some cosmic anger over the outcome of the criminal case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
    Luckily, I didn't have to bring God into the equation to enjoy this gem of a video: the earthquake's pulverization of Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance's nauseating press conference on his rationale for dropping the charges.
    It was almost enough to provide momentary solace.
    Almost, but not quite.
    For now, I'll avoid discussion of the enormity of yesterday's travesty, as there are no doubt many others hosting such conversations at this moment. Instead, I'll add my voice to what I can only hope is a surging chorus in support of assault victims worldwide. No outcome of this case would be grimmer than the dissuasion of survivors from bringing their abusers to trial.
   The stigma, the inhibited access to proper legal representation, the misogynistic leanings of a plurality of America's judges . . . all have conspired to not only thwart the attempts of assault victims to successfully prosecute their abusers, but have discouraged a mast majority from even trying.
   To any and all survivors who might be reading this, I, for one, stand fully behind you. You have as much a right to justice as you have to existence.
   And yes, Ms. Diallo: that includes you too.

Interview with Nadia Al-Sakkaf, Editor of the Yemen Times

     As the battle for Tripoli approaches what many analysts consider the endgame, the revolution in Yemen toils onward, having largely followed Bahrain into the Western media's radio silence.
     Shedding some light on the ongoing struggle, and the nation in which it unfolds, Nadia Al-Sakkaff, editor-in-chief of the Yemen Times, partakes in a compelling interview with TED, featured below.

      

    Charismatic, driven, and undeniably empowered, Al-Sakkaff echoes the character of her fellow national Tawakul Karman, whom she implicitly references when describing the Yemeni uprising as "a revolution started by women."   

     The interview mixes photos of the revolt with Al-Sakkaff's own biography, the inspiring story of a woman who moved forward with an unprecedented business venture in spite of widespread criticism from the more conservative factions of her society.

     "Everybody was betting that I will not be able to do it," she says. ". . . It was very hard at first. I didn't want to clash with people. But with all due respect to all the men, and the older men especially, they did not want me around. It was very hard, you know, to impose my authority. But a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do. And in the first year, I had to fire half of the men. Brought in more women."

     It goes without saying that Al-Sakkaff offers yet another challenge to the stereotype of the docile Muslim woman. Ironically, my one hesitation with the interview is that Al-Sakkaff herself is a bit generalizing where Muslim women are concerned, constructing as oppressed all women who choose to cover their faces.        

     On a related note, it should come as no surprise that Al-Sakaff vents frustration about the monolithic way in which Western media constructs her country as a whole.

    "A lot of reporters come to Yemen and they want to write a story on Al-Qaeda or terrorism," she says. "And I just wanted to share with you: there's one reporter that came. He wanted to do a documentary on what his editors wanted. And he ended up writing about a story that even surprised me -- hip hop." 
     God bless the unexpected.

Muslim Women's Fashion: Dispelling Another Myth

     Another widespread misconception about Islam centers on the wardrobe: namely, that a Muslim woman's choice to dress conservatively precludes her ability to be fashionable, to be expressive in her attire. Quite to the contrary, modesty as a fashion choice is a booming industry in the Muslim world, stretching from the fledgling runways of Kabul to the aisles of Egypt, the undisputed trend-setter in both clothing and the arts.
     A recent article in the Lifestyle section of the Washington Post snapshots the latest trends in conservative summer attire for Muslim women, focusing on an Egyptian-American couple and the warehouse they own and operate in Falls Church, Virginia.
     Says a quoted fashionista, speaking to the one of the garment combos featured at the store,  "On a typical summer day, I choose a skirt and a cute tunic with a lightweight scarf that coordinates . . . A popular staple in the Muslim lady’s wardrobe right now is the maxi dress with a body shirt underneath or a lightweight cardigan over the top."
     The starring role of the article goes to the burqina, a "two-piece like a bikini and smaller than a burqa," which allows even the most conservative Muslim woman to take respite from the heat without compromising their modesty. Designed by Lebanese-born Aheda Zanetti, "the burqina and other 'Islamic' swimsuits resemble wetsuits used for surfing or scuba diving, except they are available in various colors and styles."
    If any of the above strikes the reader as surprising, it likely stems from the pigeonholing parameters in which the West frames feminine beauty, parameters in which the attractiveness of a woman's clothing is so often proportional to the degree to which her body is revealed.
    Muslim women's fashion - or, at least, the fashion discussed above - by definition conceals the body and de-emphasizes sexuality, but nothing in this philosophy countermands the capacity for clothing to be expressive, evocative, or aesthetically pleasing.
    I'm not about to express a preference between philosophies, or put forward an opinion on which of the two is more empowering to women. I wish only to offer this up as another reminder that a planet of universally divergent belief yields plenty of room for all.
    Says another interviewee for the article, “As a Muslim woman, I wear clothes that are flattering, yet don’t show the details of my figure . . . I do this because I believe that God has called upon Muslim women to conserve their beauty to those closest to her. So, one does not have to wear a miniskirt to look beautiful.”
 

Gender electoral parity in Tunisia

     In March of this year, rallying around International Women's Day, Tunisian activists drafted a constitutional wish-list aimed at effecting gender equality on all levels of society. A month later, their demands, deemed far-fetched at the time, were taken up by the national electoral commission when it began drafting rules for the constituent assembly elections. To the joy of feminists worldwide, the commission adopted a gender-parity system for candidate lists, requiring political parties to alternate men and women on their lists from top to bottom. Any party that does not adhere to this rule can face immediate rejection by the commission.
    History has proven, again and again, that a democracy's claim to legitimacy can face few stricter litmus tests than the manner in which it treats its women. Tunisia's decisive stance in favor of gender equality bodes well not only for its own revolution, but for the world at large - a world in which democracies are far scarcer than the testosterone-driven media would have us believe.
     Tunisia's constituent assembly elections are slated to take place on October 23rd. I'm sure I'm joined by many in devoutly hoping that the gestures of the electoral commission will result in the women of Tunisia assuming a meaningful and transformative role in their nation's evolution.

Back from Alaska . . .

and catching up on the work that accumulated in my absence. My book does still exist, and I do still care about the world! Real posting soon . . .

Flying north from Juneau

     Returning home to Alaska, much like riding a foreign bus through Brooklyn or Queens, is a constant discovery of the radically new amidst the so-called familiar. 
    The plane that brought me up here to Haines from Juneau was a striking reminder of such.
     It also functioned nicely as the latest installment of what I call "The Lenseless Chronicles": those breathtaking occasions of my life in which I managed not to have my camera on me, narratives spanning everything from the Berlin Wall to that frigid November day in 2001 when in British Columbia my dog cornered a mountain goat on the brink of a precipice. (Both goat and dog emerged unharmed.) 
     It's a five hour flight from New York to Seattle, and a two hour flight from Seattle to Juneau, and even at the end of that exhausting pilgrimage, one is still eighty miles south of Haines, my childhood home.
     There exist two options for closing the remaining gap: a five-hour ride on the Alaska State Ferry, or a forty-minute ride on a single-prop, eight-passenger airplane, the like of which Alaskan mythology is based upon. Though the ferry is my preferred mode of transport, not to mention the cheaper of the two, connection times prevented me from partaking this time 'round, so instead I hopped a veteran performer of the tireless Wings of Alaska and headed north into the 5PM sun.
     We sped off the runway and banked to the right. Seated as I was on the starboard side of the aircraft, directly under the wing, I watched the wingtip cut a line across the body of the sprawling Mendenhall Glacier; watched the balloon tire of the plane's landing apparatus slide past the bottomless blue of the Pacific Ocean and the fishing port that huddles to the north of the Juneau Airport.
     I've flown this route dozens of times in my life, and never failed to find it astonishing in its beauty, but have nevertheless grown at least to anticipate the landmarks of the journey. It would be a straight shot up the salty reach of Lynn Canal, North America's deepest fjord, and a final bank and vulture-like circle to the Haines air-strip at the end of the line.
     Only this time it didn't play out quite like that.
     Our pilot, impromptu-style, dropped the suggestion of a "more scenic route," and when the passengers voiced their adamant support of the idea, we cut west off the Canal and up the Endicott River valley, thereby entering what felt to me like a parallel universe, existing in elusive proximity to the route I knew so well.
     A ridge to our right eclipsed the ocean. Jagged peaks on either side soared to a height half again the altitude of our plane. Ice fields and miniature glaciers spilled over their crowns, and newborn streams, fresh from the ice, rushed down the sides of the mountains, down into the encroaching green of the alder jungle.
     We left the Endicott River and continued north.  Ridges beneath us brought the ground within a thousand feet of our posteriors, and then broke without warning into valleys of mud-brown rivers that quintupled the gap between our plane and the Earth, paralyzing abysses that cut out of nowhere. The white points and thin brown wings of Bald eagles circled at the fridges of visibility, as high above the valleys as we were above them.
     At last we came to the Davidson Glacier, a stunning mass of ice that lurches right to the fringes of the ocean, which throughout my life I'd known only from a distance, and only in small part, and now we flew with the whole of its mass right before our eyes, stretching from mountains to saltwater, our pilot turning us to the east to rejoin the Lynn Canal, banking so the plane stood almost on its side, the wingtip pointing out the fissures in the ice, the blue-on-black, the chasms that reached down into that for-God's-sake-I-don't-want-to-think-about-it underworld where fallen hikers just vanish.
     We landed on the airstrip in Haines, my first time home in two years. Shaken from the abruptness of it all, I stepped out onto the runway, the Davidson Glacier Valley still faintly visible in the distance, the smell of cottonwood saturating the air.
     All and all, it felt like a reasonable welcome.

The Norway Massacre: Islamophobia Again Spills Blood

     I've spent the last week visiting my family and childhood home in Haines, Alaska.
     As such, I haven't made it a priority to post on the Norway massacre, a detail for which I apologize, though my feelings on the matter should come as no surprise to my readers.
     People often ask me what inspired me to write a novel on Islamophobia. My answer is brief: Islamophobia is, I feel, the most unacknowledged bigotry of our era.
     I by no means intend to downplay the severity of sexism, or racism toward America's black population, or of xenophobia toward our immigrants, but insofar as I've witnessed ignorance and hatred toward Muslims penetrate even those circles of individuals who oppose the preceding triad of idiocy, I feel the message of my book is one that very much needs to be heard.
    By now, most should be aware that when Anders Behring Breivik put his finger on the trigger, Islamophobia, as articulated on a global scale, was a tremendous part of what inspired him. His manifesto denounced his perceived failure of Norwegian politicians to defend the country against Islamic incursion, and quoted Robert Spencer, operator of the Jihad Watch website, 64 times.       
     Marc Sageman, a consultant on terrorism and a former C.I.A. officer, cited the darling argument of anti-jihadists that the fundamentalist Salafi branch of Islam “is the infrastructure from which Al Qaeda emerged. Well, they and their writings are the infrastructure from which Breivik emerged.”
     Mr. Sageman tempered this claim by saying it was unfair to hold anti-jihadist writers responsible for Mr. Breivik's behavior. Given my belief that everyone must at some point be responsible for his or her actions, I agree, but to claim that a culture of fear and hate can be divorced from fearful and hateful actions is nothing short of absurd.
    Sadly but predictably, this is precisely what the Western media appears to be doing. A recent report from the New York Times suggests that Mr. Breivik is likely insane, a claim that gives me horrifying flashbacks to Jared Lee Loughner and the shooting of Representative Giffords in January. That too was an atrocity that seemed so obvious an extension of the hateful climate surrounding it, but the media quickly de-politicized and de-contexualized the act with the self-same designation of insanity.
     Meanwhile, New York Representative Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he had no plans to broaden hearings about the radicalization of Muslim Americans to address terrorist threats from non-Muslims, and proceeded as planned.
      Where and when does it end?

An article I wrote on Islam and feminism has been published online

     I'm excited to announce that an article I composed on feminism in Islam for Encompassing Crescent, an online publication, has now been posted. Thanks to all those who helped me with the editing thereof, and thanks again, Fatih, for providing me with the publishing opportunity.
     The article deals in large part with the subject of Islamophobia, an overall focus of the issue. There are plenty of other articles that are worth checking out as well, and I'd encourage anyone who's interested to take a look.

The Arab Spring: Widening the Lens

   Trying to ascertain the current state of the Arab Spring is a task uniquely vulnerable to the age-old accusation of idealism. To place any meaningful hope in a democratic, sustainable outcome, as I continue to do, is immediately subject to attack.
    This week's issue of The Economist ran a feature on the uprisings.
    Given that The Economist has, on a number of occasions, drunk from the idealist chalice, its overall optimism about the Arab world is perhaps not itself encouraging. It does, however, have a solid track record for promoting broad strokes, big-picture frames of discussion, and, as such, puts a crucial detail in perspective: the fact that the Arab Spring is bigger than the five states that dominate the news.
     If Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, and Yemen predominate the public imagination, it is due only to their uprisings' having a more overt and recognizable character. But while pundits extrapolate from Egypt's struggles an overall breakdown in the pace of reform, a swelling protest movement in Morocco persuaded King Muhammad VI in March to draft a new constitution, that was overwhelmingly improved on July 1st. Jordan, too, has implemented democratic reforms. And while the Gulf States, minus Yemen, have so far succeeded in keeping their populations quiet through bribery and cash-showers, their actions are, by definition, a response to the mood of the people.
     Constraining the aspirations of an entire region of humanity to the struggles of select states in their midst is much like limiting the breadth of, say, Egypt's revolution to the toppling of Mubarek.
     The moral of the story is to reject myopia. Only from that basis can skepticism, for good or for ill, be properly fostered.

The Egyptian Revolution & the Fallacy of the "Done Deal"

     Every time I encounter another commentator gloomily opining on the "failed outcomes" of Egypt's revolution, I find myself wondering why the devil people were foolish enough to start talking about it in the past-tense. I was dance-in-the-streets happy with Mubarak's fall, and I'm happy to admit it, but how could anyone have expected a tidy solution with a military junta swooping in to take his place?
      Much of the public imagination, along with the media that helps inform it, seems to have chopped Egypt's narrative into two mutually exclusive chapters: "the revolution," ending with Mubarek's ouster, and "the outcome," encompassing everything that followed. Because this model precludes the concept that the revolution is an ongoing process, one that could in fact encompass a very large amount of chapters, any given challenge in the present can be used as a brownie-point deduction  - just one other thing the revolution "failed to make possible."
      Pascal Boniface, a prominent French political analyst, and Director of the Institute for International Relations and Strategies, assures the readers of Egypt's Al-Ahram Daily that what Egypt is going through is normal. "You cannot pass from one system to the other in one day," he says.
     While this outlook might appear to swing to the opposite, permissive side of the spectrum, broadening the time-frame over which we assess results is, I believe, imperative.
      Just yesterday, the Egyptian government fired 669 police officers, recognizing a key demand from protestors that murderous raping factions of the so-called law enforcement body be brought to justice.
      Are these grounds for rejoicing? No, not properly, but it should be grounds enough for remembering that no perception of Egypt is acceptable unless it makes room for surprises.
      Such is the nature of transformation.
   

Asylum applications in the context of the Strauss-Kahn case

     I've maintained throughout, and will continue to maintain, that no amount of indiscretion on the part of the plaintiff in the Strauss-Kahn case gave DSK the right to rape her. Indeed, to assume that her character deficiencies lesson the severity of her trauma is to perpetuate the myth of the "perfect victim" - that is, in order for someone's injury to be valid he or she (but overwhelmingly and regrettably "she") must be unblemished, an extremely oppressive and destructive stereotype.
     That said, it doesn't hurt to point out that the maid's dishonesty on her asylum application might in fact have been completely understandable, and a far cry away from the slyly self-serving gesture the media would have us subscribe to.
    Jesse Ellison, a writer for the website of MSNBC, makes a highly illustrative argument to this effect:

     "Those who, like . . . the woman at the center of the case against Strauss-Kahn, apply for asylum after entering the United States represent just one-tenth of 1 percent of the world's refugees, and for them, according to [Ms.] Arnold-Fernandez [legal expert] it's been, on average, 17 years since they left their home countries. Legal representation is scant, and language is often an issue. But most notably: judges are given tremendous leeway. Approval rates swing wildly from courtroom to courtroom. One court officer can approve 90 percent of the cases that come before the bench, and just down the hall another might decline nine of the 10 that come before him. It's a discretionary system—a 'refugee roulette'—that has contributed to myth-making within immigrant communities, where the stories that 'worked,' are passed around like lucky charms."

     Ms. Arnold-Fernandez, quoted above, goes on to say:

    "'When you're going into a legal proceeding that hasn't been explained to you and you don't have adequate or ethical legal counsel and you know that your life or death may hinge on what you say, the temptation to use a story that worked for someone else is incredibly high . . . We have had clients whose real circumstances are more compelling than the stories they have been advised by others to use. But there's such a lack of adequate legal advice…. And in the absence of accurate information and legal assistance, refugee communities may end up filling in the gaps with inaccurate information.'
    The temptation is so great, she says, that some asylum seekers have been exploited by people charging $100 a pop for stories that "work."

    A non-refugee passing judgment on how a refugee should behave is a lot like someone who is not a victim of sexual assault passing judgment on how a rapist should behave.
    In short, unacceptable.

I refuse to give up on the Strauss-Kahn Case

     Let's get something straight: the charges aren't dropped until someone drops them.
     No matter how many news sources bludgeon us with the purported likelihood of their being dropped, no matter how oppressive the incessant construction of the case's being "in tatters" or "teetering" or "likely to fail," no matter how overwhelming the voices who refer to the prosecution as if it's already collapsed, it's not over until it's biGod over.
     Therefore, with respect to the standing allegation of sexual assault against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, I'd like to champion two encouraging moves.
     One, Keven Thompson, the plaintiff's attorney, has called upon District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. to step aside. Mr. Thompson is quoted as saying "District Attorney Vance, we ask in earnest that your office voluntarily recuse itself from the Strauss-Kahn case and that you appoint a special prosecutor."  Seeing as Mr. Vance has in fact been prognosticating the failure of the case even more loudly than Strauss-Kahn's defense team, this seems a more than fair demand.
     Second, the maid is seeking damages for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the New York Post for calling her a prostitute. According her suit: "All of these statements are false, have subjected the plaintiff to humiliation, scorn and ridicule throughout the world by falsely portraying her as a prostitute or as a woman who trades her body for money and they constitute defamation and libel per se."  Speaking as one who, reading the article, wanted to blast the Post's headquarters with sheep excrement, I can only say amen.   
     It bears mentioning that the Post has already dropped at least one other bucket of slime on the plaintiff: its privacy-breaching revelation in May that she lived in housing reserved for individuals with HIV. HousingWorks.org rallied people across the country to contact the Post and condemn its decision. Not content to play the AIDS card on her, the Post went on to call her a whore.
      For that matter, Mr. Vance Jr's counter-productive behavior toward the plaintiff's case has some precedents of its own. Indeed, authorities in New York City have a less than impressive track record where rape is concerned: it took a Change.org campaign to get NYC to look into counting sexual assaults properly.
      It's been said before, but I'll say it again: this a case of critical importance for rape and assault victims all over the city, the country, and the world.
      I, for one, refuse to lose faith.

Chapters 1-5 of Companions of the Garden are now available at Scribd

    I'm excited to announce that Chapters 1-5 of Companions of the Garden can now be read or downloaded from Scribd. You can access them by clicking here, or by clicking the picture on the right side of blog page.
    Both readers and reader feedback are encouraged.
    Thanks, everyone, for their support.

National Organization for Women: National Conference of 2011

     On the downside, the constant deluge prevented us from leaving the hotel for any great length of time, so Sunny Florida might as well have been the rainy five boroughs we left behind. It was just as well, since the 2011 National Conference for NOW was the kind of thing from which it was difficult to disengage.
     Attending the conference last weekend, to say nothing of presenting therein, was an incredible honor, if only to breathe the same air as the countless movers and shakers who have worked so hard to bring gender equality to fruition.
     I took part in two separate panels in the course of my time there.
     The first was part of the Young Feminist Task Force panel. I spoke on the subject of male feminism, and how to recruit men in the struggle for women's rights. Other panelists, including the monumentally inspiring Erin Matson, Action Vice-President of NOW, addressed means of bridging the generational gap between feminists - how to foster mentor/mentee relationships and make the feminist movement a truly ageless machine.
     My other panel also addressed the subject of male feminism, this time in the company of two other men whose commitment to achieving gender equality lent much to admire.
     My presentation began by focusing on my own story of becoming a feminist - what worked for me, what held me back - and then, echoing my focus on the previous panel, how to recruit other men to the cause.
      I was followed by Ben Atherton-Zeman, author of Voices of Men, a one-person play that offers incredibly moving portraits of men and boys making stands against sexism and violence against women. Ben spoke on the stumbling blocks that can arise once men join the movement, including but by no means limited to their tendency to act in a domineering capacity toward fellow female activists.
    Our panel wrapped up with Ken Gruberman, a music copyist, librarian, contractor, orchestrator, score  supervisor, researcher, and six-time winner of the Grammy Award, who in typically humble fashion discussed none of his own accomplishments, but spoke instead to his experience of "living with a powerful woman" - his wife, Ellen Snortland, an astonishing artist and activist in her own right. Ken's presentation also included recordings from his exclusive interview with Dr. Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade, who endorsed the need for all genders to participate in the struggle for equality.      
     Long story short, I felt great about the presentation, and working with Ben and Ken was as much of an honor as any I experienced in the course of the conference.
    Jerin moderated my panel with Ben and Ken. She was also involved with two other workshops, one on the intersection of feminism and the immigrant woman's experience, and the other looking at feminism in the context of Islam.
    As Jerin has frequently brought to my attention, I speak from a certain bias where she's concerned. Nonetheless, I have no reservation saying she was outstanding on both panels, particularly the latter, which attracted a number of people whose attitudes toward Islam were, to put it gently, less than enlightened.
    Those who arrived with an inflexible mindset left with an inflexible mindset, but from my vantage point at the video camera, clumsily trying to capture the discussion on tape, I could see many an attendee who were simply misinformed, whose faces slowly shifted from criticism to curiosity as Jerin and the other panelists discussed the Qur'an's strong declaration of equality between men and women, and the role that women have played through the development of the faith. It was a beautiful thing to see.
     Participating as we did in a total of four different discussions, we had limited opportunities to partake in the rest of the conference, but we made sure to attend the closing plenary. Its speakers included Maya Rockymoore, President and CEO of Global Policy Solutions, who made the outrageously cool suggestion that someone wrap the Capitol Building in saran wrap with the label "misogynists work here." Maya was followed by Patricia Shroeder, a former member of Congress and a lifelong activist, who said, "You know your dreams are big enough when they scare you. They have to scare you." As a testament to the thoroughness with which gender norms have saturated my thinking, I'm halfway embarrassed to admit that the line brought me to tears.
     To round out the experience, and to raise the bar on just how many honors a single weekend can contain, Jerin and I closed out the night by sharing dinner with Sonia Fuentes, one of the founding members of NOW, who was gracious enough to give us her time.
     Alongside her incredible strength of character and her immense capacity for story-telling, I was most struck by her willingness to listen, and her openness to new ideas.
     More and more, I feel as if it's the world's most unsung virtue.

DSK & the credibility factor: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"

     News sources have erupted across the world with the purportedly devastating revelation that Dominique Strauss-Kahn's alleged victim lied on her asylum application and thus, by implication, could have lied about the assault. Coupled with her potential connection to criminal activity, this detail has, as the headlines would have it, led to a sea-change in public perception of the case.
     Never mind that other women have come forward and accused Strauss-Kahn of assaulting them: these "major holes in the maid's credibility" are enough to put the case in jeopardy.
     Even when scenarios don't pit immigrant single-mothers against the world's most powerful men, rapists have an overwhelming tendency to get off free, while the victims are left with the pain of blunted justice to augment the pain of the assault itself. While bloggers, columnists, and commentators go wild with renewed commitment to conspiracy theory, I see this as just another installment in the age-old tradition of victim-blaming.
     The maid has a spotty history, so she must be a liar.
     Strauss-Kahn has a spotty history, but ladies and gentleman of the jury, that has no bearing on the case.
     I read opinions that question why Strauss-Kahn appeared to act so calmly after the alleged assault, how he seemed surprised by his arrest . . . in short, how antithetical his behavior was to that of a guilty man.
        Excuse me: could it be because guilty men are often of the opinion that they've done nothing wrong, that this is in fact a prime characteristic of the criminal? Could it be because he thought himself immune to repercussions, an attitude completely in line with past behavior? And if we want to play the game of logic where people's motives are concerned, why would the maid have fabricated an assault against Strauss-Kahn when she knew the deck was so heavily stacked against her?
      Toying with motives is a slippery slope, but there's nothing ambiguous whatsoever about the reality of power, privilege, and sexual atrocity. While the conspiracy theorists see proof of their positions in the progression of events, I see yet another manifestation of innocence by force and the oppression of the powerless.
      Has the maid lied in the past? Do her phone calls to an incarcerated man indicate that she herself is a criminal?
      Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.  

Some other noteworthy heroes of the Arab Spring

    An impassioned post for the Common Ground News Service, the latter an online initiative aimed at exploring "Muslim-Western relations," contributes to an effort I hold very dear - celebrating the women of the Arab Spring, whose names are largely absent from public discourse.
     In addition to Tawakul Karman, one of the most critical figures in the Yemeni uprising, whom I've committed myself to following, the article celebrates two other women: Aasma Mahfouz of Egypt, who in the early stages of her country's revolution posted a hugely influential video calling for young people to demonstrate en masse, and Munira Fakhro, an organizer and spokesperson for the Pearl Square demonstrations in Bahrain, who stressed that the movement was "not Sunni, not Shia, but Bahraini." I confess that I was not aware of either of the two prior to reading this. You can expect more from me soon!
     The post also reiterated the critical point that the women of the Arab Spring risk being shut out of whatever changes they help to implement.
     Per Dr. Natana J. DeLong-Bas, author of the post:

     "As we look at the Arab spring today, we must remember the lessons of Algeria and Kuwait. Although many courageous women risked their safety and gave their lives in the struggles for  independence, once the conflict was over and independence declared, women were thanked for their contributions – and sent back home to leave the 'real' work to the men. The ruling entities may have changed, but the patriarchal order remained intact."

      It's an observation that can just as readily be applied to the feminist movement here in the U.S., and one that in fact has an interesting resonance for me personally.

      On Saturday, I have the honor of speaking at a panel in Tampa for the NOW National Conference. Our conversation will address men's involvement in feminism, and will include among its topics of discussion the danger women face of having control of the movement wrestled away from them, by men who, often with good intentions, say "thanks for your work, ladies, but we'll take it from here." 

      Just as the experiences of Arab's female revolutionaries are the precise opposite of a vacuum, so is the abuse of power universal: power, its consequence, and the cost it exacts. 

      

An infuriating end to the Wal-Mart sexual harassment suit

     If any of the recent Supreme Court decisions offered up a cause for mourning, it would be yesterday's dismissal of the Wal-Mart sexual harassment suit, the largest employment class action in American history, and a critical development in the depressingly volatile field of women's rights.
     There is nothing short of tragic irony in the Court's rationale for the decision - that the prosecution needed to prove a nationwide policy or practice on the part of Wal-Mart to discriminate against its female employees - when in fact discrimination against women either through hiring, promotion, or inappropriate conduct is not only national but near-universal, and not just by Wal-Mart. The critical factor is the Court's naive assumption (or not so naive) that said discrimination would be blatant and codified, and that the existence of an anti-discrimination policy was enough to preclude it, when of course the abuse of women is overwhelmingly under the radar.
     Needless to say, the decision is not only a blow to women, but also to to ethnic and racial minorities, the LGBT community, persecuted religious groups, and any other routine target of abuse, in that it sends a message to all of the above that even a colossal articulation of resistance won't be enough to sway the tide of big-business.
     That said, I know I'm joined by many in claiming with defiance that this won't be the end of it, though it's most certainly the end of my ever setting foot in a Wal-Mart store again.

Tawakkol Karman - Yemeni Revolutionary

     I've spoken earlier about Tawakkol Karman, a Yemeni journalist, human rights activist, member of Yemen’s main opposition party, founder in 2005 of Women Journalists Without Chains, and a mother of three . . . in short, one of those women in the world of whom you really want to keep track. Unfortunately, the news hardly ever manages to land on her, and I have Google Alerts to thank for this outstanding article in The New Yorker, which offers an excellent briefing both on Karman and the turbulent nation whose freedom she's struggling to realize.
     Block out some time on a weekend: it might be a lengthy writeup, but it's shorter than any book you're likely to encounter, while still conveying a volume's worth of information. Now that Yemen has joined the ranks of nations we bomb in secrecy (did you know we're bombing it now?) we owe ourselves, and our so-called enemies, the barest margin of knowledge .

Mona Eltahawy on "The Power of the 'I'"

     Before I follow through on my promise to stop irritating my readers with my fanboy relationship with Mona Eltahawy, I wanted to share a dynamite video of a speech she offered at the Personal Democracy Forum 2011, where she discusses "the power of the I"; that is, the transformation of revolution and war from the abstract to the intensely personal. The latter, she argues, is the most effective means for revolutionary thinking to spread. 

      It's ten minutes long, but very much worth it: 

Happy Birthday, Merrick!

     I wanted to take a moment to wish a happy birthday to my sister Merrick.
     I'm not sure the term "Renaissance Woman" has come into vogue yet, but when it does, she should be first in line to receive it. Without any kind of exaggeration, I can attest to her incredible skill as a painter, sculptor, poet, carver, dancer, and world traveler.  
     Here's to 26 years of astonishing talent, sis. The world can't wait for at least 52 more.

A surprisingly happy ending to the flooding of Atchafalaya

    In mid-May I blogged in dismay on Louisiana's bayou country, the Cajun community therein, and the profound danger both faced at the hands of an imminent flood.
    One month later, the waters appear to be receding, this thanks to a series of engineering miracles and the perseverance needed to see them through. The damage was much less severe than expected - negligible in some areas - such that Paul Naquin, the President of a local parish, remarked, "everything is working in our favor right now."
    It's the kind of ending that one might find habit-forming.

Some scattered but encouraging threads from the Strauss-Kahn case

    With the Strauss-Kahn case poised at the brink of getting ever more hideous, it's worth noting at least a few heartening threads in the narrative.

   First, Kenneth Thompson, one of the attorneys representing the maid, has appealed on French television for other potential victims of Strauss-Kahn to come forward and testify. His statement is stirring: "My law firm champions the rights of people who are taken advantage of all over the world. And so we take this case because we feel that no woman should be sexually assaulted anywhere."

     Nor - as I pray this case will help to establish - should any assaulter ever be able to operate with impunity. 

    Second, the increasing visibility of French feminists who protest the actions of Strauss-Kahn is helping to challenge what at times seemed a monolithic image of French chauvinist tolerance. Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, an analyst of French politics and culture, argues that "this is a key moment, a watershed moment,” and that, while "France is a difficult country to budge," the case is "an important step." 

    "Women are emboldened," she concludes.

    Third, the case has shed some light on the exhilarating power of the New York Hotel Worker's Union, rated one of the strongest worldwide. The Union provided buses to hotel workers who wanted to protest at Mr. Strauss-Kahn's arraignment, and has opened dialogues with hotel associations about equipping chambermaids with panic alarms. Since the commencement of the Strauss-Kahn case, at least one other cry for help has been honored:, a former chairman of one of Egypt's banks was arrested at another Manhattan hotel, also on charges of sexual abuse.  

     Finally, and perhaps most encouraging of all, two Democratic lawmakers responded to the Strauss-Kahn case by introducing legislation that would require hotel owners in New York State to provide sexual harassment training to their employees, and establish reliable system for reporting incidents of sexual assault.  

     Am I always on the lookout for a little dash of morale-boosting? Certainly, but these reports at least make it apparent that I can do so without grasping at straws.

A compelling anti-Islamophobic website & video teaser: My Fellow American

    It's an inspiring moment for any blogger to be reminded that someone is reading his or her work.

    I was therefore heartened, and honored, when someone from the Unity Productions Foundation reached out to me and requested that I blog about one of their projects: My Fellow American, an anti-Islamophobic website aimed at re-asserting Islam's rightful status as a vital component of the national community.

     A short video teaser is featured on the site. Among other strengths, it offers a morbid recap on the sheer mass of hateful discourse that's been shed on the Muslim faith:

My Fellow American

     Visitors to the site can browse through a series of video testimonials and written anecdotes, compiled by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, which challenge stereotypes and offer refreshing counter-narratives to the ones put forward by our paranoid media.

      See below for a personal favorite, where a non-Muslim resident of Northeast Tennessee recounts a simple but ingenius solution to a Muslim's neighbor's feeling of isolation:

Sandy Westin's Neighborhood

     Visitors to the site can submit their own stories as well.

     Finally, the website features a pledge, which, like most articles of its nature, shouldn't be necessary, but nevertheless hearkens from a place of gritty demand:

     Muslims are our fellow Americans. They are part of the national fabric that holds our country together. They contribute to America in many ways, and deserve the same respect as any of us. I pledge to spread this message, and affirm our country’s principles of liberty and justice for all.