American Muslim

The "F-word"


Asalaam Alaikum (Peace be with you),


Alhamdulillah, what a crazy but fulfilling week! Had a lot of stuff to do for work and graduate school, including an article analysis and presentation; film screening of Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" (2000); and a trip to Athens to judge a couple of competitions for the Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament (MIST). But it was one of those weeks where it was almost a pleasure to wake up every day at 5 a.m. and get stuff done because you know in your mind that the pay-off for doing the work will be so worth the result and the satisfaction of knowing you did good.


The highlight of last week was definitely the film screening at GSU and the commentary provided by my friend, Dr. Bilal King, at Morehouse College as well as myself. If you have never seen "Bamboozled," it is an African American-focused satire on the television industry - inspired to some degree by Mel Brooks' "The Producers" - as well as a vehicle for social commentary on intr-black relations as well as the American "art" form of blackface. One of the topics discussed during the film and afterwards during the discussion was the use of "nigger," the oft-used "n-word." [Note: That might have been the first time I have ever typed it out and trust me, it was hard to do so.]


I often tell my students that language is powerful and words can be used to do good and do bad, to break people down and then lift them up. Although the "n-word" debate rages on, I wanted to focus on anothe word that has almost become a bad word, especially among Muslims - feminist or the "f-word." While I was judging prepared essays at MIST, I mentioned that I was a feminist and there was a giggle throughout the room from the women present who thought it was humorous and strange that a Muslim man would call himself a feminist. When one of the young women asked why I thought I was a feminist, I basically said that a feminist was someone who believed that a woman's perspective was important and believed that women and men are equal in the eyes of Allah SWT. That is what I believe and I think more Muslim men need to indentify as feminists if they [men] truly believe in Allah SWT.


Interestingly enough, I happened upon this article by Byron Hurt about why more Black men need to identify as feminists. Please read it and let me know what you think!

Jazak Allah Khair!