Brainwashing Machines

by Fazeel Chauhan

(Published in Paksitan Link  ~  4-14-92)

On April 11, Muslim Media organized a panel discussion at the Al-Medinah restaurant. The two guests were Heather Allen, an executive of NBC tv and Dan Fischer, the editor of L. A. Times' World Report. Irfan Mirza was impressively articulate in serving the function of host.
The event will receive coverage in other parts of this paper, therefore, I'll take a slightly different approach. During the discussion, Heather disclosed some honest facts about the weaknesses of the media, whereas Dan stressed the credibility and excellence of his staff. I am grateful to both of them for taking the time and courage to appear before the Muslim community. Although they tried to paint a positive picture of the media, most reporting is not favorable towards Muslims. Usually, journalists get their news from government releases and hardly question the accuracy of the "facts". The media becomes a brainwashing machine of disinformation and keeps the masses ignorant.
When was the last time you saw a positive portrayal of a Muslim in the media? Usually they are shown as violent and crazy terrorists. Minorities and immigrants in general, and people of color in particular are presented in their worst case scenarios. Some people call it a conspiracy. Former CIA director William Casey owned 20% of the New York Times. The more we learn about what happens behind the scenes, through sources such as "JFK" and books like "The Insiders", the more scary and hopeless the situation seems. Big business and advertisers influence what the media talks about. Who pulls the strings behind the scenes? There are definitely powers that censor the information that you and I receive. The Soviet Union was presented as the enemy for so many years. Then it was Iraq, and by election time, maybe it will be Libya. The media has served as a brainwashing machine and has created a negative stereotype of Muslims. The media is a big authority and an individual is not. The Muslim lacks a magic cleaner to wash away the negative views in other peoples minds that stain his/her reputation.
Both Heather and Dan agreed that they could do a lot more to change the stereotype of Muslims. But they also relayed that they were small cogs in the big machine. The media is an extremely powerful tool to represent us. Other groups such as the jews learned this a long time ago and they are very influential in the world, through the media, especially the movie industry. How many jewish directors, actors and comedians can you think of? And how many movies about hitler have you seen? How many times have you seen a tv show involving nazis? These movies are shown throughout the world. But do you remember a positive movie which promotes better understanding of the billions of Muslims in the world? The jews are also powerful in government. As discussed by the panel, the more influence people have, the more coverage they get. Kirkpatrick, the former U. S. embassador to the U. N. was Jewish. Can we even imagine an American Muslim in such a powerful role? The oil producing Muslim nations did not learn the lesson from Jews to unite and command the world through their immense wealth.
Heather mentioned that the nightly news consists of only twenty two minutes. There isn't enough time to cover areas such as the Muslim world. Dan said that his paper's World Report does not make any money. And that's what the media is about - making profits. Whatever sells is what's put on tv, producing couch potatoes and vidiots. Most Americans use the tv to get their information. "If it's on tv, it must be true". They read less than one book a year. A small percentage read the mainstream newspapers and even a smaller group uses alternative media as sources of information. Even in that arena, you'll find bias, such as Santa Monica College's KCRW. It is "National Public Radio", but a closer listen will show the presence of a jewish director, who's influence can color the whole radio station. Can you imagine the type of programming we could broadcast if the director was Muslim? African Americans, East Asians and Hispanics also exercise their power through politics, business and the media. Muslims should learn to play that game. The least we can do is write letters to the editors and to our elected officials to let our voices be heard. Together, we can change the situation. In childhood, they taught us: "Knowledge is power". Today, whoever is powerful gets the most coverage in the media, making it a world where "Power is Knowledge". That's very scary for those who are not so powerful

Ali Haider Show

by Fazeel Chauhan

(Published in Pakistan Link  ~  7-31-95)

Ali Haider, Bushra Ansari, Bunny and Milestones have been touring together for the last six weeks. Los Angeles was the last leg of this tour. Unfortunately, for the artists, the end of this tour was marked by an unpleasant experience. The problem had to do with the financial contracts. This was one reason why it took so long for the performance to begin. Originally, the show was to start at 7:30. Then, in last week's Pakistan Link, the new show time was changed to 8:30pm. But it was 10pm when the curtains finally opened and Bushra Ansari took the stage with Allah-Ditta band.
I think you'll agree that it's about time that we as a community start being on time. As artists and promoters, we need to begin the shows exactly at the announced time. This is the promise that you've made. On the other side, the audience needs to be in their seats at the scheduled time. Another factor which caused the delay of this show was that many people did not arrive at 8:30. In general the attendance was low and I suppose the organizers were waiting for more people to arrive before they started the show. If the artist, promoter or audience is late to a gathering, nobody wins. We all lose. And what we lose is our most valuable asset which is time. It's about time that we discard the idea of "Pakistan Standard Time."
Bushra Ansari sang beautifully. Her voice is very melodic and her personality is very confident. When some men were making too much noise, she told them directly that it's better if they let her talk. I like seeing that positive power in women. Due to the low attendance, $10 tickets were not sold. Only $15 and above were available and this made some people angry. To ease the tension, Bushra told a good joke about miser husbands. I guess us men don't spend enough money on the women and we're miserly with our compliments too. I wish someone had taught me how to compliment a woman. So I have a request to the elder males in our community. Could you teach us younger guys what you've learned in life so that we don't make the same mistakes again? Teach us the practical stuff, not the theoretical.
Bushra introduced the stage band. The Allah-Ditta band had a bass player, guitarist, drummer and a keyboardist. They were good musicians but lacked energy. Some day, I'd like to see the Desi versions of "Flea" and Pete Townsend, jumping all over the stage. These musicians exemplify the celebration of life through their energy.
The next band to take the stage was Milestones. Unfortunately, the band's name was incorrectly pronounced and advertised several times as Mile Stone. Sounds like a rock that's a mile long. The audience didn't seem very familiar with this band. For me, It was awesome to finally see them perform and to hear "Candy's" voice leading this band. Wow. Things really have changed. A Desi woman was wearing pants and singing "Blue Suede Shoes." Her voice was very impressive and well-trained. She's the Desi "Sade." I'll bet that Sade was a great influence on her hypnotic and smoothly flowing voice. Even her hairstyle was like Sade. The best moment for Milestones was when the bassist was singing a rap song and Candy was weaving a web of harmonies over it. From the first time I heard her, I said that this woman is very talented and she will go very far.
Bunny took the stage and raised the energy in the hall with a few upbeat dance tunes. I think the bad dudes sitting in the back harassed him too much. I felt bad for the guy. An artist cannot give you his best if he's under stress from the organizers or from a ruthless audience. Us artists are usually the sensitive type. And I could see that something was bothering Bunny. Maybe he didn't feel enough cohesion with the Allah-Ditta band. They probably performed together rarely because Bunny has his own band. Bunny's performance was very good. Especially when he grabbed a guitar and played along as he sang. Bunny is a talented musician with a voice that has strength and depth. I talked to him backstage. He came across as a very friendly, humble and caring man.
Ali Haider performed about ten songs. Out of all the musicians, he had the greatest energy. He danced around on stage and got the audience to sing along with him on a few songs. Then he came off stage in the middle of a song. I thought he was going to say a few words to the rowdy guys in the back. But he went and sang to a few women instead. The audience really loved it that he came down and mingled with the crowd. Ali seems to be getting increasingly popular. He's also trying to break into the Indian market. Unlike many other pop bands, I didn't notice any stolen riffs in his music. What we need is originality and not copies of western songs. And Ali Haider definitely is original and very creative.
The show ended at 1am. The sound quality was sloppy. This was not the musicians' fault but had to do with the proper blending of all the instruments. I discovered that the musicians did not have a chance to check their instruments beforehand. And this is why the sound was not mixed properly. All these musicians were very talented. It is unfortunate that their sound quality lacked perfection and that they did not have enough time to show us more of their musical abilities.
When I protested the Gulf war, very few people showed up at the demonstrations. But a Raiders football game or a Guns 'n' Roses concert can attract 80,000 people at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Is there more peace in the world after either event? How can we gather people together and empower them to make the world a better place? How about taking 1% of the time at our functions to address the real issues of Muslims? Maybe a five minute speech on Bosnia and a donation box would've made a difference at this concert. What do you feel?