130 Military Interventions by U.S. in 100 years

 A CENTURY OF U.S. MILITARY INTERVENTIONS

The following is a partial list of 130 U.S. military interventions from 1890 to 1999

Left and Found

 

When the Innocent are Deemed Guilty

 

9 Parts of Speech: NAP VIA CAP

NAPVIACAP

9 parts of speech

It is easy to remember them using this acronym (by Hamza Yusuf) 

N:     Noun
A:     Adjective
P:     Pronoun
V:     Verb
I:      Interjection
A:     Adverb
C:     Conjunction
A:     Article
P:     Preposition

the source for NAPVIACAP idea is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuQFoYavWyg&t=5566s

at hour and a half into the video 1:32:00

Title is: Ramadan Book Club, and discussing the new translation of Quran by Thomas Cleary

Ode to Punk Rock and (old) Hip Hop

Ode to Punk Rock & (old) Hip Hop

I remember delving into punk rock in the early 1980's when a co-worker at Magic Pan restaurant in New Orleans introduced me to "the Clash". Their music became mainstream later with songs like "Rock the Casbah". Like you, Punk rock for me also was an outlet of expression which helped me explore spaces and approaches outside the dominant culture. I really liked the political edge in the music, and the importance of the lyrics. For example in a speech class, I talked about another song by the Clash "Know your rights, all 3 of them". In some of the songs, the Clash (band from UK), mixed Spanish lyrics, like in the song "Spanish Bombs". This multi-cultural approach was very rare in those days.

Moving from New Orleans to Los Angeles in late 1980's, it seemed like gradually Punk Rock became more influential and moved into the mainstream. Mohawk type haircuts, hydrogen peroxide streaks in hair, sleeveless T-shirts and ear piercing became more common and then fashionable. Vietnam was fresh in the minds of Californians, so the mistrust in government and anti-war sentiments were still felt in the local culture. One demonstration of this was a bumper sticker a classmate displayed, "Question Authority". Those were the good old days. Especially after 9/11, the masses became increasingly docile, passive, apathetic and a-political. (Foucault talks about Disciplinarity and Docile bodies). In a complacent and obedient society, powerful, political and empowering music with balls, seems very rare now. And its impact is painfully missed.

In the early 1980's, on WTUL, an ad-free college radio of Tulane University in New Orleans, they started playing rap music with Run DMC's, "You Be illin'". It took 6 or 7 years for this genre to become mainstream. But the beginnings of rap music was passionate, heartfelt and powerful statements from the grassroots, on the status quo of America, including social issues, political impacts on daily life, racism, poverty, inequities, etc. It is a tragedy that rap and hip-hop mostly devolved into glorification of gangs, crime, narcissism, showing off, competition, violence, guns, drugs, pimps and "ho's".

In retrospect,  the Punk rock I was exposed to was political, leftist music predominantly from White musicians. Which later influenced the birth of a new genre of Music of the 1980's, called "New Wave". Today, Punk rock is no longer significantly popular. The other genre which started becoming popular also from the 1980's, rap / hip-hop, has been mostly music made by Black people. It has become mainstream and seems to be mostly serving the purpose of entertainment (and glamorizing the prison industrial complex). It rarely seems to make any meaningful statements, like it used to, 30 years ago. For example, Ice-T who used to sing about police brutality in 1992, now seems to be promoting thug life? Rap / Hip Hop misses countless opportunities to incorporate social and political content into the music. For example, among my frequent sources of inspirations are  amazing Black authors and researches  like Joy DeGruy, Cornell West, Alice Walker, and Black Panthers like professor Angela Davis of UC Santa Cruz. Resmaa Menakem's powerful line "Black bodies are not defective" can easily be incorporated in a good rap song.

But even popular musicians with million$ in resources, rarely employ, or get inspired by, or incorporate the work of famous Black (and other) researchers and authors. When uplifting and empowering ideas are incorporated in music, it ripples and has a moving effect which resonates and reverberates in the heart of society. For example the work of the rap artist "Immortal Technique" is a breath of fresh air. It can be said that a band like "Rage Against the Machine", draws from the elements of Punk Rock and Hip Hop. That amazing band is also painfully missed (since it broke up a few years ago). It was the voice of for example, social justice and the anti-war movement. Thank God for Music. In Urdu there's a saying: Music is Nourishment for the Soul. In addition, when music also packs a punch, it can not only move the body to dance, it can also empower a person with constructive energy, and  can light up a community to impact positive movements. In the meantime, music helps us relax and chill out

 

Ode to the Social Work Student / Intern

May you get a scholarship to a good university

May you learn in a school which uses Critical Race Theory

May you find professors who care about your well being

May you meet social work professionals who become your friends

May you get mentors who give you wings

May your training empower you to be of service where needed

May you be deemed worthy of the privileges of an intern's bill of rights

May you be protected from humiliation and oppression in your internship

May you receive fair labor wages for every hour you work as an intern

May you be assigned a supervisor who will value and honor you

May you not be made invisible because of the label "intern" applied to you

May your "superiors" not be in denial that interns are a marginalized community

May you survive the implicit and explicit biases against you

May you have realistic expectations about other social workers

May the disappointment by other social workers not cause you resentment

May you be an agent of change starting at your own university

May you get fired up and inspired in classes

May you engage in nourishing dialogue with professors and schoolmates

May you find a refuge from discrimination

May you enjoy a sanctuary free from White Supremacy

May your lived experiences be deemed as valid

May your voice be heard loud and clear

May your feelings be considered as legitimate

May your heart and soul be acknowledged

May you leave your positive mark on the lives you touch

May the hypocrisy in the field not leave you disillusioned

May the double-standards applied to you, not leave scars

May the lack of social justice in the field, not make you quit

May the travails and tribulations of the work not cause you to lose hope

May the pain not leave you drained

May the tears not blur your vision

May the burdens placed on your shoulders not get you burned out

May your sacrifices be never in vain

May you truly be an advocate for change

May you throw a monkey wrench in every system of White Supremacy

May you not become a tool of the systems of oppression

May the lack of ethics by others not extinguish your passion

May you never be made to feel like a nobody

May you be the somebody who advocates for the nobodies

May you never let the bastards get you down

May you find a circle of support where you are loved

May your reduce the gap between knowledge and implementation

May you remain steadfast and resilient in your commitments

May you advocate and educate

May you graduate and celebrate... with honors

May you be fulfilled and enriched by social work

May you serve a higher purpose through your job

May you always take the high road

May you make our world a safer place

Production of Your Generous Hate

(as Martin Luther King Jr. said: Hate can not take out hate... darkness can not take out darkness, only light can do that)

 

You hated my nation, so your country I didn’t like

You said my homeland was not sacred, so your barren territory I didn’t like

You stoned us, calling us infidels, so your idols I didn’t like

You remained ignorant of my mountains, so your desert dunes I didn’t like

You laughed at my country’s passport, so your elitist nationality I don’t like

You paid me low wages based on my race, so your employment apartheid I don’t like

You never appreciated the fruit of my Indus soil, so your sand land I don’t like

You lied that I’m Hindu, so your subjective religion I don’t like

You force the women to hide so kids get molested, your deviant sexuality I don’t like

You made me beg to not void my visa, your exclusive citizenship I don’t like

You say you own the two holy cities, your puppet kingdom I don’t like

You pretend to the world as if you’re holy, your unholy beliefs I don’t like

You fund gullible extremists around the world, your fanatic dogma I don’t like

You claim your tribe is divine, your thuggish theocracy I don’t like

You act like my people are your slaves, your archaic fiefdom I don’t like

You prostate at the feet of white skins, your shattered moral compass I don’t like

You wish to imprison my heart and soul, your twisted shariatic laws I don’t like

You use religion to hold me hostage, your gangster mentality I don’t like

You want followers to kill for your fatwas, your mass manipulation I don’t like

You claim only your sect is legit, your fundamentalist patriarchy I don’t like

You tell me to shut my mouth and thoughts, your form of enlightenment I don’t like

You use fear of retribution to terrorize our souls, your godly wrath I don’t like

You kill any rival at will, your justice of mass executions I don’t like

You lack the power to hear scrutiny, your inferiority complex I don’t like

You drench yourself in gold from head to toe, your self-aggrandizement agenda I don’t like

You think we are pee-ons and subhuman, your self-proclaimed royalty I don’t like

You demand my blind faith in you, your cult of mind control I don’t like

You can’t tolerate any voice of dissent, your pigheaded arrogance I don’t like

You built a clock high-rise to overshadow the Kaaba, your tower-envy I don’t like

You sear every mosque and sajda with your footprint, your spiritual mutilation I don’t like

You obey as a willful american slave, your sense of freedom I don’t like

You waste billions on yachts and palaces, your black gold oil companies I don’t like

You segregate men and women into silos, your one-eyed godheads I don’t like

You were installed as fake kings by the Brits, your sham monarchy I don’t like

You stockpile weapons to bomb fellow Muslims, your anti-Ummah psychology I don’t like

You wage war on the poor of Yemen, your misguided jihadi’s I don’t like

You preach that all Saudi’s are holy, your White Supremacy agenda I don’t like

You flex your power upon the weak, your perpetuating the American empire I don’t like

You worship the dollar as your number one god, your corrupted faith I don’t like

You will never be my leader, your feudal oil cartels I don’t like

You feel superior to hate me, I don’t copy what I don’t like

 

(by Fazeel Chauhan, a poet or Pakistani origin who lived in Saudi in the 1970's and now resides in Los Angeles. 3-20-21. Disclaimer by poet: The points illustrated poetically are not meant to stereotype a group of people, but instead this is using a critical (CRT) lens to examine the policies made by those in power. In summary, when I was the target of injustices, I did not like it, and decided to not copy those harmful behaviors and instead learned to empathize with exploited peoples)