Documentary Trailer -- BLACK FROM ISLAM: AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSLIM DEFECTORS

From Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs:

Recently a young writer and filmmaker named Layla Merritt wrote to me about work she has been doing researching and working on a documentary that is dear to her heart. While the film is in development, she created a rough cut trailer and uploaded it to YouTube -- it is above. The first day it was on YouTube, she received a serious distribution inquiry from California Newsreel, the premier distributor ofeducation films in ethnic studies films to institutions. But after that, Layla began receiving harassing emails and threats from angry Muslims around the world, who said things like "I can get to you easily, Jew."

Her film doesn't actually attack Islam, but it does highlight the absurd oppression and tragic challenges that American girls face in when they are kept in Islamic communities. Black From Islam also uses the girls whom Layla interviews to make case study comparisons to women in the Islamic Middle East who have been profiled by New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof. Two of Layla's interview subjects grew up in the secretive Islamic group Jamaat al-Fuqra in American cities. A group that originated in Pakistan, Jamaat al-Fuqra is suspected of complicity with the beheading of Daniel Pearl. Layla explains her intention in making Black From Islam this way:  

Black From Islam: African American Women Defectors from Islam

Black From Islam, a film by Layla Merritt, is a one-hour, educational documentary. It features interviews with three ex-Muslim women, two experts, and an informational reference. During the heat of Black Nationalism in the 1970's, African Americans converted in droves to Islam. Black From Islam identifies the historical routes African Americans have taken to Islam in America, rejecting the slavery-linked dogma of Christianity. It closely examines the cultural differences of how Americans live as Muslims in America, through the experiences of three American women. Communities such the Muslims Of the Americas (MOA) are highly reclusive. They live as large families on private compounds or buildings. They practice polygamy and home-school their children; they arrange their daughters marriages. This way of life, virtually foreign to most American teens, is a reality for some American girls who grow up Muslim. BlackFrom Islam takes an intimate look at non-secular, Muslim-American communities through the triumphs and tragedies of the women who left them.

The audience for Black From Islam includes scholars, students, libraries, institutions, African Americans, women, Americans, and internationally, anyone with an interest in the movement and spread of Islam. Says Merritt: "I have been contacted by many Muslims, some who identify with the character in the film and some who are angry and make unsolicited threats. Because the stories of the MOA are so powerful and have never been told before, I expect this film to cause quite a controversy and I realize it's dangerous for me, but I hope that in America I will have enough freedom to take the risk."

Research and Storytelling

Historically, black Americans were drawn to Islam in rejection of oppression. Islam offered a way of life and support community that was about education, respectability, honor, etc... and many poor blacks were attracted to that. At various points during the 20th Century, there were peaks of conversions to Islam by black Americans. The first was in 1930, when an Afghan who went by the name Wallace D. Fard created the Nation of Islam. The second was the 1940's, when Pakistani Muslims spread al-Fuqra, now known as the Muslims Of the Americas. Black From Islam's most powerful aspect is the interviews with former Muslim women. During the rise of BlackNationalism during the civil rights  movements of the 1960's and 70's, African Americans converted in droves to Islam.

The three women interviewed are daughters the converts (if possible, one of the mothers will join her daughter in an interview, but that's not confirmed yet). The women were raised in Muslim sects as children and defected. The film closely examines cultural differences in how Americans live as Muslims in America. Communities like the Muslims Of the Americas are highly reclusive. They live as large families on private compounds or buildings. They practice polygamy and home-school their children. They arrange their daughters' marriages. This way of life, virtually foreign to most American teens, is a reality for some American girl who grow up Muslim. The result is often difficulty co-existing as both Muslim and American, and extreme culture shock.

The story will unfold beginning with the import of African Americans to the Americas. The historical research will be accompanied by commentary from Dr. Jocelyne Cesari. The cultural expert will provide commentary on the political and cultural movements affecting African American religious demography, leading up the 1970's and the peak of Black Nationalism. The film will examine various acts of violence from Islamic groups such as the NOI and al-Fuqra through the stories of Jalila, Yasmina, and Alia. The film will explore the positive and negative aspects of these religious sects for African Americans. It will make ties to the oppression of women in Islam, using the testimonies of the three women as case studies to compare to oppression of women and terrorist foment in Middle East, drawing on research by New York Times journalists and authors of Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wuddun.

Layla has recently secured interviews with the girls from al-Fuqra. This group has rarely been exposed. They are polygamists who occupy secluded land, and the girls are often molested by their stepfathers. Because the group condones and even encourages violence, many defectors are afraid to speak out, but Layla has finally found a girl who is willing to talk. She was so damaged by what she experienced with al-Fuqra that she became a porn star before obtaining her education and building the confidence to move forward.

The trailer doesn't have any of the al-Fuqra/Muslims Of the Americas interviews in it, but that is a huge part of the documentary. Layla is the first person in the world to get insider interviews from former MOA members. It's virtually impossible, because they are afraid of action against them. But Layla needs funds to finish this project.

Layla Merritt is a woman of courage. I am impressed by her perseverance and professionalism. And now she needs money to buy copyrighted images and pay for advanced editing expenses. Please help. Watch the trailer and you will see how worthy a project this is. And then please donate to Black From Islam by clicking the donate button below. 

It is indeed courageous for Layla to speak out.  You can help Layla Merritt by donating right on Atlas Shrugs. 

Question For Blacks/African Americans: What Do You Think About This Crime?

Here is the scenario: A Bronx man has claimed that he was attacked and robbed while riding on the subway all because of the color of his skin.  The police are investigating it but they don't consider this to be a hate crime, so far.  There were four men who followed the victim to another train, surrounded him and then called the victim some nasty racial slurs.  That was outrageous! So wrong!  This racial hatred needs to stop!  Then the victim claims that the group of hooligans punched and kicked him while he was held in a headlock.  The police say they're unsure whether this assault was motivated by bias so it hasn't been handed over to the NYPD's hate crimes task force yet.

I would like some Blacks/African Americans opinions on this matter.  Do you think that this should be considered a hate crime or not?  Do you think that the police should investigate this matter further?

Black Conservatives Speak Their Minds to Al Sharpton Protesters in DC

God Bless these conservatives who are standing up for unborn babies lives.

Honoring the Noble Side of America: The New Civil Rights Memorial in Richmond, Virginia

It was thrilling to see the dedication of the new Virginia Civil Rights Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, the "Heart of the Confederacy." The statue honors an early and largely forgotten episode in the history of the Civil Rights Movement: A 1951 protest, led by local activist Barbara Johns, against the deplorable conditions in the all-black Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia. The main goal of the protesters was to push for a new and improved school house. They ended up becoming pioneers in the infancy of the Civil Rights Movement, several years before Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat on a public transit bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Many of the older figures depicted in the statue -- including protest organizer Barbara Johns (who passed away in 1991) -- are now dead. Sadly, they did not live to see the day when a glorious statue honoring their noble work was dedicated on the grounds of the state Capitol, where the Confederate Flag once flapped proudly in the wind.

A great deal has changed since 1951. Now, an African American is the Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States and he stands an excellent chance of winning the election in November. If you could somehow go back to 1951 and tell Barbara Johns or any of the other protest participants that one day, there would be a statue honoring them in the heart of Dixie, or that an African American man would be running for the highest office in the land, or even that black and white kids would one day sit in the same classroom together, they'd probably think you were a foolish, wide-eyed idealist; maybe even a raving nutjob. Back in the dark days before the Civil Rights Movement, virtually nobody -- not even liberals -- envisioned the day when the virulent Jim Crow racism so pervasive across the American South would become a relic of the past.

Most inspiring is how a small group of dedicated Virginians went from door to door, raising money to finance the $2.6 million memorial. This celebration of the Civil Rights Movement was built with private funds, including a generous donations from over 400 groups. Fund raising began in 2005 and continued for the next few years. The end result is a statue depicting 18 heroic men and women -- including young students -- in what sculptor Stanley Bleifeld refers to as a "living memorial." Similar monuments have been built in other key Civil Rights Movement battlegrounds, including Columbia, S.C.; Little Rock, Ark.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Memphis, Tenn. Another memorial will soon go up in Raleigh, N.C. Lisa Collins, former First Lady of the state of Virginia, was one of the leading forces behind raising money to build the statue. One day, several years ago, her young daughter asked why only white men were commemorated on the state Capitol grounds. Thanks to the Civil Rights Movement Memorial, that has changed. As Collins put it, "It is a statement of knowing that these African Americans, who happen to be Virginians, at great personal risk brought about sweeping change to our society and legal system."

It's easy to find what's wrong with America. All you have to do is read most of the headlines in the newspaper. Sometimes, it is important to take a moment to find out what's right with America. The country has come a long way. But as Barbara Johns said fifty years ago, "It seems like we were reaching for the moon." It's important to remember that quote. Justice is not guaranteed. It takes brave people -- ordinary people with extraordinary courage, often struggling against enormous odds -- to fight for it. This memorial is a celebration of those people.

Can Rev. Jesse Jackson's credibility be rescued?

In the United States, a lot of commentators, pundits and seasoned political observers have already written Rev. Jesse Jackson's political obituary. Rev. Jackson has apologized repeatedly for remarks he made when he was off the air in a Fox News interview earlier this month about Senator Barack Obama. Jackson, as most of us know by now, said he wanted to "cut off his nuts." It is now known that Jackson remarked, "Barack...he's talking down to black people...telling niggers how to behave."

A short time later came Rev. Jackson's apologies:

I am deeply saddened and distressed by the pain and sorrow that I have caused as a result of my hurtful words. I apologise again to Senator Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, their children as well as to the American public. There really is no justification for my comments and I hope that the Obama family and the American public will forgive me.

Well, that's a start. But Jackson has already used up some of his 9 lives in the political world. In January 1984, he referred to Jews as "Hymies" and New York City as "Hymietown." His critics have also pointed to other, lesser known flubs, strategic mistakes and errors in judgment on his part (too numerous to list here). Which begs the question: Is there any way he can rescue his credibility?

But it is important to remember that, in addition to his notorious blunders, Rev. Jackson has also been at the helm of many great progressive triumphs. His brilliantly organized Rainbow Coalition in the 1980s brought together a number of marginalized groups -- gays and lesbians, veterans, disabled people, working-class families, Native Americans, etc. -- into a massive united front that, if nothing else, showed that progressives were still a force to be reckoned with, even in the Age of Reagan. Jackson rallied this support in his two runs for the presidency, first in 1984, then again, even more impressively, in 1988. His speech at the Democratic National Convention that year was absolutely electrifying -- maybe one of the finest American speeches ever delivered in the final quarter of the Twentieth Century.

Rev. Jackson has said -- and done -- some regrettable things in his political career. It is difficult to forgive or forget his flagrant anti-Semitism from 1984.

And then there was his use of the so-called "N-Bomb" in his rant earlier this month (this is the same Jesse Jackson who condemned comedian Michael Richards for using the N-word two years ago his incendiary, self-destructive stage routine). Equally unsettling was his crass, gangster-like reference to cutting off Obama's testicles. Rapper/actor/director Ice Cube (right) offered some especially insightful comments about Jackson's outburst: “It’s kinda sad, for one thing for a black man to even consider cutting off another black man’s nuts. Especially in a country like America, where that’s happened to us over the years countless and countless times, being sanctioned by the government. It’s kinda sad that he would even think about that. Even though it’s not literal, it’s just as painful.”

It isn't enough to say that Jackson should be careful about these sorts of outbursts in the future. For every one of these crass comments Jackson makes in public -- whether it's about "Hymies" or cutting off someone else's gonads -- you have to wonder how many equally vulgar statements he makes in private, beyond the reach of the microphone. The damage has been done and it can't be undone.

But it would be a shame to allow those comments to take away from the legitimacy of the progressive work that Jackson has done and the noble things he has accomplished. Down the road, historians will likely pass a verdict on Jackson that he was an incredibly complicated man, fraught with contradictions. Compassionate yet judgmental, visionary yet reactionary, bold yet self-destructive, perceptive yet narrow minded. Sadly, many conservative commentators are pointing to Jackson's remarks as proof that old-school Civil Rights leaders who still play the "race card" are merely delusional fools who do not understand that racism is a relic of the past. On the contrary, racism still permeates and plagues so much of American society, despite Obama's grand achievements. That is why Jesse Jackson's ideas -- rooted in the age of Martin Luther King, Jr., yet tempered by the realities of post-Civil Rights America -- are so important in today's dialogue on race relations. Sadly, the more he stumbles like he did earlier this month (and like he did in 1984), the less credibility and weight his vision of social justice carries in the eyes of the American public.