Operation Africom in full-effect:
Jan29
Monthly Archives: January 2014
Jan27
Leaked records reveal offshore holdings of China’s elite
No one should ever be surprised at things such as this:
Jan25
All-American/Non-American:
I remember in middle school, my nickname became Saadam Hussein.
I used to wrap a towel around my head so they’d all laugh.
Their laughter used to ease the insults and pain
But i realize I wasn’t their friend, I was just their joke.
It was an early morning on tuesday.
I was a young 8 year old boy in the 3rd grade.
We look out the window and see what makes us all gasp
The plane strikes the towers and just like that they collapse.
But those 19 aren’t the only blamed for this evil
Because my teacher points at me and says it was done by “his people.”
My people?
Cuz they grew up basketball
Cuz their favorite food is pizza
Cuz they speak english
Cuz they were raised in brooklyn
Oh yeah I forgot. They’re my people because i’m muslim.
The next years became a little brown boys mental torture
Everywhere I go they call me terrorist and treat me like a foreigner.
Do you speak english good?
Yes i speak english well.
If one more person asks me that question, i’m swear i’m going to scream and yell
My boss asked me if i’m scared to assimilate to american traditions
I laughed because it just showed me this country’s disgusting condition.
It didn’t matter that I grew up here
All that matters is my skin is brown, and I have a beard.
To be american that means you have to be white.
Look at how people change themselves just so they could “fit” right.
Asians change their names
Indians refuse to speak their native language
Anybody that follows a religion doesn’t have a brain
Anybody who doesn’t change is a savage.
I refuse to change to what you want me to become
I thought america was where anything can be done.
But I guess i was wrong.
Because this country just keeps telling me I don’t belong
Land of the free and home of the brave?
More like change your “barbaric” ways and become our mental slaves.
I thought America was supposed to be a safe haven of freedom.
Freedom of speech, freedom of choice, freedom of religion.
But it seems like you americans have lost that vision.
But i still have my perceptions
Not of this America where black kids in hoodies are killed or arrested
Or have to undergo procedures like stop and frisk inspections
And the ones who put on suits are socially accepted
Where “illegal immigrants” are seen as pests and
Can’t go to the doctor for any medicine or injections
Where” niggas” in the hood will never be offered proper careers and professions
Where to fit in the crowd you have to be your gender, race, color or creed’s exception
Where if you speak out against corruption you are stripped of your freedom of expression
And are subject to prejudice and oppression
Where intuitive thinking is seen as some sort of cranial defection
Where emulating white culture is considered the best thing
Where different skin, clothes, hair, and appearance is considered some sort of imperfection
But I have a dream of an America which is pure from its inception
Where from any bigotry we have a complete disconnection
Where instead of dropping bombs on other countries, we drop love and a great impression
Where we don’t teach our kids hate and difference, but we teach them unification and affection
Where it doesn’t matter what shade your complexion
Where evil ideas are always subject to correction
Of An America where we all live in contentment
Without all these lies racism and deception.
A country where when I have this towel on my head, they ask me how was my day and if I’m carrying a bomb is not the question.
This America is not some really some sort of far fetched invention
If we hurry, I think we still might have time for redemption
We can lead this country into the right direction
Where our social constructs become the closest to perfection.
I hope what I said has grabbed your attention
And that you all are undergoing some sort of self reflection
And that we’ve unified through some sort of mental connection
And building this America I speak of has become your next intention
My name is Saad Najam, I am a muslim illegal immigrant raised in New York and I am the epitome of American.
Saad Najam/2014
Jan23
The Evolution of my Confidence:
Author’s-Note:
I’ve arrived at a beautiful realization, today, based upon a much-needed epiphany, decided by Divine-Providence, from Allah, the Creator/Lord of the Universe.
For every person who has ever told me that I wasn’t good enough for them, there have been thousands who would tell me they want me by their side…
…for every person who has ever said that I’m “too-dark”, there have been thousands who have said your skin is beautiful…
…for every negative comment about my beard, there have been thousands of positive comments about it…
…for every person who has mocked where I come from, there are thousands who wish to hear about how I became the person that I am, despite the challenges of my life-experiences…
…for every person who has discriminated against me for being a Black-Man in America, there are thousands of their children who want to walk, talk, dress, act, be just like me…
…for all of those haters out there who have slandered me, Allah, my Lord has shielded me against their lies, and protected me from their hands being the cause of my demise.
So, for all of you who can’t appreciate me, you’re the minority, and those who do appreciate me, greatly out number you.
Gareth Bryant/2014
Jan20
Gareth Bryant vs. Annam Choudhry:
Author’s-Note:
Every month I’ll be conducting a Poetic-Challenge, challenging various poets, whom I personally know/interact with, just for the sake of sharpening/improving my own poetry, general-goodwill, respect for my fellow “Brethren of the Paper & Pen”, and to just see who from among us has the best “Poetry-Skillz”…Every month, I’ll be picking a brand-new Poetic-Challenger, via Facebook/Twitter, to compete with. This month, it’s Annam Choudhry. Next month, it could very well be anyone of you. So, just be prepared, with some fresh-rhymes.
Topic: Mothers
Gareth Bryant
Mother are like no Others:
She carried you inside her womb…
…Inside them, we grew to bloom.
In Arabic, Womb means Protection…
…From disease, as well as infection.
We were evolved, developed inside her, for 9-months…
…Though we occupied her space, she didn’t care much.
That’s how much she really loved you…
…The mark of commitment that’s true.
When we came into the Mundane, they dried our tears…
…She rocked us to sleep, calmed our freights and fears.
She taught you how to spell, read and write…
…She taught you how to dress and be polite.
While our Fathers taught us about toughness, they taught, showed, us to love…
…When our peers encourage us to seek vengeance, they teach us to forgive.
Fed you from her plate, starved herself, so that you would have the lion’s share…
…But, when they need us, to help them, we cast them aside & we don’t even care.
Our mothers kept us in their bodies, for almost a whole year…
…The protected us, but, now, we fill their hearts with much fear.
We have the audacity to raise our voices, when they tell us something that we don’t like…
…And, as mothers do, they always are willing to do for us, like nothing happened, so nice.
When Fathers die, or run away, it’s the Mothers who stay the course, and hold things down, without any such complaint…
…This is why Ummah, meaning Society, is from the word Umm, which means Mother; their contributions to our lives great.
Gareth Bryant/2014
Annam Choudhry
A Mother’s Love:
A void that cannot be filled with anything other than Allah
Because when her soul has departed from her body,
There will be no one on the face of this Earth
Who could love you like she did.
Accept you like she did.
Hold, mold, break, shake,
Make you like she did–a mother’s love.
Her body made you, flesh and bones, only by His Will
And no matter how many times you would break the fragile flesh of her heart
The shattered pieces would come together, a perpetual miracle
Because of the Mercy and love placed in it from Allah
A mother’s love.
When you entered the house late at night
Wiped your feet all over your mother’s rights,
Know that it was her love for you that wouldn’t let her go to sleep
And her love for you that gave her grief
And her love for you that kept her pleading to Allah
To protect you from harm’s way, to guide you,
To make firm, in Him, your belief.
A mother’s love.
She enjoyed your childhood for a fleeting moment
Working to feed you, check by check, time stolen
Diapers, Gerber, Similac;
Tears and wailing, she often thinks back.
Though times were harder, it was much sweeter
Because her baby couldn’t disrespect her
But you could as a teenager
With your oppressive behavior
She didn’t know her baby would become her slave master–
Sign of the times. But even when time’s a changin,
What remains the same is
A mother’s love.
Don’t abuse her, ‘cause one day you’ll lose her
Place yourself in the future
Nothing will bring back your mother,
your mother,
your mother.
So love her.
Nothing will bring back her love.
Annam Choudhry/2014
Jan16
A CULTURE OF VIOLENCE – NEW YORK TIMES
Jan16
4 Work-Related Mistakes That Can Cost You Your Job
Jan16
Tales From Your Police State: California to Allow Bureaucrats to Steal Your Property
Jan16
Many Americans facing challenges of freezing Winter-Weather:
Courtesy of Press TV:
A deadly blast of strong winds shattered records of decades-old temperature, as it moved towards the eastern parts of the United States earlier this week, halting air, road and rail travel, driving energy prices higher and overwhelming shelters for the homeless. Roughly 60,000 people spend the night at a homeless shelter in New York City, including 22,000 children, the highest number since the great depression. These numbers have almost doubled, as the city broke a 118-year-record Tuesday, when temperature dropped to below minus 15 degrees Celsius.
Gareth Bryant who is with the charity organization, Muslims Giving Back says despite news of warmer weather being on its way, the homeless and hungry will continue to face the challenges of fighting the harsh winter cold and finding warm food to eat. At least 21 cold-related deaths have been confirmed across the country since Sunday. In Missouri, a 1-year-old boy was killed when the car he was riding in struck a snow plow, and a 20-year-old woman was killed in a separate crash after her car slid on ice and into the path of a tractor-trailer. At least five people died after collapsing while shoveling snow, while several victims were identified as homeless people who either refused shelter or didn’t make it to a warm haven soon enough to save themselves from the bitter cold. According to Accuweather.com, the frigid air and “polar vortex” that affected about 240 million people in the United States and southern Canada is expected to depart and a far-reaching January thaw will begin. With thousands of delayed or canceled flights and power grids straining as people cranked up the heat, the effects of the “Polar Vortex” is expected to be felt for days to come.
Full report here:
Jan15
Gareth Bryant 