Vintage Car Show in Our Neighborhood

The annual vintage car show in our neighborhood took place on a gorgeous Spring Day. Modern cars are far more efficient and safe, true, but cars of olden times had more class and character. They were unique products of love, not of impersonal assembly lines that make today's cars look and feel the same. Modern cars maybe marvels of engineering and technology but vintage cars were works of art.

Terrorists Target Sacred Places

You can also read the article in the San Jose Mercury News.

One constant in my life as a Muslim-American is the Friday congregational prayers, a constant I share with many of my coreligionists. I organize my work and travel schedules around it so as not to miss this weekly spiritual experience. Known by the Arabic word Jumah (to gather together), the prayer is important for Muslims because of its emphasis in the Quran and because it brings the community together, from babies in strollers to the aged in wheelchairs. At our Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, an average of about 500 Muslims attend the Friday prayers.

In the last few years, with Islamophobia on the rise, I often found myself imagining my worst nightmare: One or more gunmen walk into the congregation and start mowing down worshipers. They could do this with impunity because most mosques have flimsy security, with one or two surveillance cameras at best.

My worst nightmare has just been realized, not in San Jose, CA, but in Christchurch, New Zealand, 7000 miles away. But it could just as easily have happened here.

I am thinking of Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white supremacist who murdered nine African Americans in June, 2015, at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. “I did what I thought would make the biggest wave,” he wrote, “and now the fate of our race is in the hands of my brothers who continue to live freely.” I am thinking of Robert Bowers who killed 11 worshipers in October, 2018, at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. While receiving medical care from a Jewish physician, he said he wanted all Jews to die.

Now we have the 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, killer of at least 49 worshipers at two mosques in Christchurch this past Friday. He too is a white supremacist who wrote of his need to defend “our land” from “invaders” to ensure “a future for white children.” His online manifesto was starker: kill Muslim immigrants. During the carnage that he was streaming live, he was heard sayings: “There wasn’t even time to aim, there were so many targets.” He was shooting fish in a barrel, much like the white supremacist Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage in July 2011 in Norway. For such fascists and fanatics, no school is too secular and no sanctuary too sacred.

What does this mean for Muslim-Americans? Do we believe Islamophobia and anti-Semitism is on the rise, with encouragement from on high? Yes, we do. 

Do we see white supremacy as an ideology that poses an existential threat for us? Yes, we do.

But will we let our fear and concern overwhelm our striving for a more inclusive society in America? No, we won’t.

At the same time, we have decided that lax security in our mosques is an invitation for disaster. At EIC, for instance, the board of directors is urgently laying plans for posting armed guards during every Friday prayers. With Ramadan less than two months away, security will also likely be beefed-up throughout the holy month. 

In San Jose, CA, we are heartened by the support from Mayor Sam Liccardo’s office and from police chief Edgardo Garcia who have promised more frequent patrol of our mosque. We hope this will become the norm throughout America until threats from terrorists of all persuasions are neutralized.

Muslim-Americans cannot afford the luxury of psycho-analyzing fascists like Brenton Tarrant or debating the finer points of the second amendment and gun rights. It’s a clear case of cause-and effect for us: More anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism, more killing of Jews, Muslims, African-Americans and minorities. We, therefore, resolve to strengthen our alliances even more with people of all faiths and no faith for a more inclusive and largehearted society in America.

Spike Lee Nails It at the 91st Oscars

If you can look past the mawkish, annoying acceptance speeches of most of the winners at the 91st Oscars last Sunday (2/24/19), and focus on the startling candor and heart-felt speech of just one of the winners, it can redeem the entire ceremony.

That’s how it was for me. I am, of course, talking about director/producer Spike Lee who reflected on the African American experience of slavery and achievement while accepting the best adapted screenplay award for his film “BlacKkKlansman.”

"The word today is irony. The date, the 24th. The month, February, which also happens to be the shortest month of the year, which also happens to be Black History Month. Four hundred years,” said Lee, each word and sentence a combination of restrained emotion and resolve, evoking the oratory brilliance of Malcolm X in impact if not in style. "The year, 2019. The year, 1619. History. Her story. 1619. 2019. 400 years. Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and bought to Jamestown, Virginia, enslaved. Our ancestors worked the land from can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night. My grandmother, who lived to be 100 years young, who was a Spelman College graduate even though her mother was a slave. My grandmother who saved 50 years of social security checks to put her first grandchild — she called me Spikie-poo — she put me through Morehouse College and N.Y.U. grad film. N.Y.U.!”

A rapt audience of celebrities and surely millions from around the world absorbed every word that Lee uttered with wonder, tempered by a sense of tragedy.

Lee continued: “Before the world tonight, I give praise to our ancestors who have built this country into what it is today along with the genocide of its native people. We all connect with our ancestors. We will have love and wisdom regained, we will regain our humanity. It will be a powerful moment.”

Then came the coda: “The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love and hate. Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there.”

Of course you had to, Lee! Without your speech, the 91st Oscars would have devolved into a saccharine display of the obvious and the ridiculous. Lee brought the sublime into the picture. Americans, he exhorted, do your duty in 2020 because that fateful year will be here before you can (my embellishment) even pause to say “Trexit!”

As predictable as the waxing and the waning of the moon, the Narcissist-in-Chief fired off his risible tweet, claiming that he did more for African Americans than almost any other Pres! That “almost” must have unconsciously slipped through but it also showed the limitless mendacity of Trump for whom lie is truth and wrong is right. Far better to terminate Trump's fake presidency than his emergency.

“Let’s all mobilize.” 

Indeed let’s, for when the history of America is written 50 or hundred years from now, it will pivot on a single fact: Did we Americans have the courage and the urgency to regain our love, wisdom and humanity and vote out the worst president ever to disgrace the White House?

Americans Denounce Fake Emergency and Tell Trump His Days are Numbered

Two words summarize the dire national emergency that confronts America today: Donald Trump.

Yet this venal, vindictive and vengeful president had the gall to declare a national emergency on Friday, 15 February, because of what he called an “invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border, the racist language he has been using to describe the refugees and the Muslims who, in his bigoted vision, are about to destroy America.

Americans erupted in protest on President’s Day – February 18, 2019 – in cities big and small – declaring what has been obvious from Day 1 of the Trump Presidency: The real national emergency is the president himself and his unprincipled, unscrupulous enablers.

There were 277 such events in 48 states, with at least 50,000 attendees, and with just 72 hours notice! Americans are united as never before and flexing their power to rid Trump of power.

As part of the nationwide protest, I joined about 200 of my fellow-Americans at the corner of Winchester and Stevens Creek Boulevards in San Jose, one of the busiest intersections in San Jose. We gathered at noon on a mild sunny day, filling the 4 corners of the intersection and lining the streets, to denounce this fake emergency and this un-American attack on immigrants who built America into what it is today.

Fear-mongering, hate and violence constitute Trump’s policies and energize his dwindling base. But change is in the air. The will of the people shows signs of sweeping away this incompetent, corrupt narcissist who, after declaring the phony emergency, flew to Florida to play golf at the taxpayer’s expense.

Well, we have the power of the ballot at our disposal, and even if impeachment may not be a realistic option at this stage, we can surely boot this arrogant, amoral person out of the White House in 2020. That’s the possibility that can be transformed into inevitability if we do our part with our vote. It is what brought us together on this charged President’s Day across the nation to tell Trump in one strong, clear and unified voice: “You are fired.”

Here are some images that I hope will give you an idea of the passion, the courage and the faith that brought us together on President's Day 2019, that will see us through the darkest days of our nation until the nightmare of the Trump presidency is over.

Even if impeachment isn't on the table (yet), we can vote this rogue president out with our vote in 2020, but only if we vote! Don't forget that in the 2016 election, nearly 2 million fewer African-Americans voted than did in 2012. Also, when will the Mueller investigation disclose its findings and take legal actions as necessary? Justice delayed is justice denied!

The busy intersection of Stevens Creek and Winchester boulevards resonated with our slogans: "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Donald Trump Has Got to Go!" and "No Hate, No Fear, Immigrants are Welcome Here" and "Fake Emergency, No Wall."

We sang "This Land is Our Land" and "We Shall Overcome."

It's Mueller Time!

No Trump in 2020 but only if we democrats and "Have seen the Light" Republicans and Independents vote. Don't forget: EVERYONE from Trump's loyal base will vote.

Trumps rage-tweets have disgraced America and made us the laughingstock of the world.

Jaleela has a long history of activism. She participated in anti-Vietnam protests in the '60s in San Francisco. and has joined all the anti-Trump protests since the liar-in-chief became the president.

As a math teacher, I hesitated to tell this committed protester that, while the square root of 2 is irrational, the square root of -2 is imaginary! But she smiled and acknowledged the mistake. The idea is clear, though: We have an irrational, that is, dangerous, president who can set the world aflame at any moment with his demonic inclinations.

This said it all. And honk they did, from family cars to Valley Transport Authority (VTA) buses to 18-wheeler trucks. All of San Jose came through. Proud to be a San Josean!