Podcast Episode 10: The Occupy Movement

Photo Credit: Jen Palacio 2011

On this episode of the There is No Spoon show, we discuss the Occupy movement, which has spread from Occupy Wall Street to hundreds of towns and cities across the United States and the world in the past 1.5 months. Topics include: our own experiences with Occupy, police brutality at the protests, the movement's messages, macro and micro level impacts, and discussions about the movement's next steps. Hosted by Fouad Pervez, the No Spoon team of Joe Soler, Reggie Miller, Junaid Ahmad (joining us from Lahore), and Shahid Buttar (joining us from Oakland on the night of extreme police violence) welcome guests Al Butler and Annabel Park to the episode. Al is the host of the "Al B! in the Afternoon" radio talk show on WURD in Philadelphia, and Annabel is a founder and coordinator of the Coffee Party, an alternative to the Tea Party.

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Follow us on Twitter: Al, Shahid, Fouad, and Reggie.

Podcast Episode 9: Troy Davis and the Criminal Justice System

On this episode of the There is No Spoon show, we discuss the recent execution of Troy Davis, the criminal justice system, and the death penalty. Hosted by Reggie Miller, the No Spoon team of Jen Palacio, L'Heureux Lewis, and Fouad Pervez welcomes guests Al Butler and Aisha Mohamedi Richard to the episode. Aisha is a criminal defense attorney and immigration specialist, and Al is the host of the "Al B! in the Afternoon" radio talk show on WURD in Philadelphia. We discuss the incentives in the criminal justice system to prosecute for harsher sentences, the effect of the changing media structure on enabling a move towards tougher punishment, the politics behind the death penalty, the privatization of the prison system, and some of the specifics of the Troy Davis case, along with similar cases of high visibility.

To get more involved in these topics, check out: the Innocence Project, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Amnesty International, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.

Follow us on Twitter: Al, Aisha, L'Heureux, Jen, Fouad, and Reggie.

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Music Credits:
Start of the episode, excerpt from: Strange Fruit (For Troy Davis) mixed from Billie Holiday's Recording by LolasChildMusic
Close of episode: Troy Davis Lives Forever by Rebel Diaz.

A Morning at Occupy Philly - Guest Post by Ally Nauss

It's a cool autumn morning. The hussle and bussle has yet to begin. I sit on a cold granite slab and sip at my coffee, rub my eyes, and look up through the trees toward the towering building in front of me. Here I am, starting day eighteen in protest against what this building has come to represent. What was once a place to symbolize freedom and a voice for the people now serves as a bitter reminder of what greed has done to our political and economic environment.

A group from Occupy Wall Street has come to see us, pass on information from OWS, and see how we are running things. Word has spread of our growth and of the lack of resistance we have seen from the police and the mayor. Although tension exists, we have remained peaceful and respectful. The police have been amicable and hardly seem a necessary presence here. They nod as we pass, tell us good morning, and carry on with downing their burnt coffee and smoking their cigarettes.

My daughter plays in the children's area.

The MLK Memorial, the Occupy Movements, and Social Justice

I was watching/listening to some of the ceremony this morning at the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial here in Washington, DC. It was an interesting assortment of voices. Some reflected on the past, taking a stroll down memory lane. Others were grateful to see Dr. King being honored - even though the memorial may have been built with unpaid Chinese labor, something Dr. King would absolutely demonstrate against (not the Chinese part, but the unpaid part - remember, he was very pro-labor). Some tried to keep the message alive by pointing out that MLK was not some simple "can't we all just get along" man, and that he would be outraged by the growing economic and social disparities in American today. He'd also certainly be protesting the wars. In other words, the timing couldn't have been better, considering the massive October 15th protests the day before associated with the Occupy movement across the globe. MLK was not a docile spiritual leader who made this one famous speech on the National Mall in 1963, highlighted by four special words. He was a  tireless social justice fighter. We get our MLK watered down in America, so I wanted to repost something I wrote a while back about the good Doctor, with the hope that people realize, with the attention on MLK and his memorial, that he would have been out there marching the previous day. The Occupy movements are very much in line with the ideal Dr. King fought for, and ultimately died for. Let us not forget the real MLK in these hard times. Read More >>

I Feel Wrong About Having Columbus Day Off

Happy Columbus Day, everybody. Yeah...it doesn't feel so good, does it? It feels wrong to celebrate somebody who massacred an indigenous population, huh. It feels worse because kids are generally taught that Columbus was some sort of hero, and learn pretty much nothing about the atrocities he committed. Should we be teaching young kids about genocide? Well...at the very least, we shouldn't be teaching them to lionize somebody who did horrible things. Just keep in mind what Columbus actually did. We've known about the specifics, in pretty specific and graphic detail, for quite some time now, thanks to La Casas.

Anyway, I wanted to refer you to 3 things on Columbus Day. One is last year's post about it from me. Two, check out this video from the National History Day documentary competition. It's relatively short (10 minutes). Three, it's high time to rethink Columbus Day.


Columbus - The Hidden History from Nonchalant Filmmakers on Vimeo.

Hero Worship - Redux

I got a chance to meet one of my heroes last night, John Carlos, and it got me thinking about hero worship again. Hence, this post. A few months back, we had a great discussion on our podcast, reflecting on our thoughts of Malcolm X in light of Manning Marable's new book on Malcolm. One of the main topics we discussed was hero worship  on that podcast. We talked about what it is to be a leader, and why it is problematic to engage in hero worship - not only is it not what our beloved leaders would want, but it is also potentially dangerous to the movements they seek to help. Hero worship, of course, has happened to many who we admire. The backlash to Marable's account of Malcolm was a prime example. Instead of recognizing Malcolm's flaws as a way to remind us that he was, indeed, human (which should have actually brought us closer to him), there was anger at the idea that Marable would tear down our hero from his exalted place in our hearts and minds. This, of course, had something to do with Haley's Autobiography, which wasn't entirely accurate and definitely separated Malcolm from us.

For Your Safety - By Kate Sloan

The song Flyin by Regina Spektor isn’t about air travel, but when it came on as I was headed to Logan airport last Thursday, 9/15, it seemed appropriate in its quirky sadness. If you don’t know it, it’s a really upbeat-sounding song about abuse.

I was flying to Chicago’s O’Hare and continuing on to Detroit Metro, an airport that that had recently made news after it wrongfully detained passengers on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, four days before.

 I remember sitting in my high school psychology class, watching the fall of the second tower. I remember the moment the first plane crashing went from being a possible horrific accident to a very deliberate attack. I remember feeling stunned and frightened and like it was all possibly a dream I’d wake up from to find I was late for school. It’s hard to describe the moment of realization that those planes were full of passengers just trying to get somewhere, possibly home. At that point in my life I had never flown, and was in that moment I was certain I never would.

Podcast Episode 7: Sports, the Lockouts, and Politics

On this episode of the There is No Spoon show, we talk about sports and politics, from connections between owners and the media, the labor politics in the NFL and NBA lockouts, the role of fans, and the connection between American society and the conflicts raging between owners and players in sports. Joining host Fouad Pervez are Dave Zirin and Brian Fredrick. Dave writes for The Nation, The Progressive, SLAM Magazine, and Sports Illustrated. He hosts the Edge of Sports radio show on Sirius XM, has appeared on numerous media outlets (including the Rachel Maddow Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Democracy Now!, All Things Considered, amongst many others) and has written several books, most recently Bad Sports and The John Carlos Story (collaborating with John Carlos). Brian is the Executive Director of the Sports Fans Coalition, a national non-profit organization dedicated to giving sports fans a voice on public policy issues, including public subsidies for stadiums, TV blackouts, the NFL and NBA lockouts, and a college football playoff. Brian has a PhD in Communications and was a senior editor at Media Matters for America. Check out this cool New York Times article about Brian here.

All sports fans (liberal, conservative, or barely interested in politics) should join the Sports Fans Coalition's email list, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter. It's an important group, and really the only one advocating on behalf of sports fans. You can email Brian directly if you have ideas or want to get more directly involved: brian@sportsfans.org. Follow Dave and Brian on Twitter as well.

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The 9/11 Decade - A Leadership Gap

We've just recently seen the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. There have been countless articles and pieces of analysis in the media about the topic, but I wanted to touch on an issue that I think many have neglected: the lack of political and civic leadership in framing 9/11 as a tragedy to connect Americans with others across the globe, which I'd argue has resulted in mostly a lost decade. Instead, 9/11 became an event to separate America from others. This helped enable hyper-nationalism and increased American exceptionalism, both very unusual given the nature of the event. Many leaders, particularly political ones, played this up. A consequence has been that Americans are, today, more likely to distance themselves from various out-groups, both outside of, and in, America (the Islamophobia industry is one of the downstream effects of this).

The greatest casualty of 9/11: The America we knew

Shahid Buttar is the Executive Director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee.


Reflections on the 9/11 attacks are important and moving. But most overlook the enduring legacy of the attacks, in the form of the vastly greater damage done to American principles over the past decade. Whether in the context of surveillance, torture, or the congressional cowardice that has enabled them, our leaders have sullied the legacy of an America that once inspired the world.

Earlier this summer, when facing a crucial accountability moment for an agency that continues to abuse the rights of millions of Americans, members of Congress asked no tough questions, avoided controversy, and submitted to a White House proposal to entrench the FBI leadership—at the same time as they fought to the knuckles over issues that Congress created in the first place by spending the country into a fiscal black hole and absurdly cutting taxes in the midst of multiple wars.

Most astounding in all this is Congress's apparent abandonment of its own institutional interests. Even in the face of documented lies by the FBI's leadership to congressional committees and repeated proof that Congress, the press, and the public are hearing only tiny slices of the whole truth, Congress has failed to use its many tools to seek transparency and investigate executive abuses.

Credit ratings agencies, the debt ceiling, and AA+

So, apparently Standard and Poor's (S&P) downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+, the first time America has been listed as anything but AAA. Now, there are problems with this move - for one, S&P seems to have screwed up their calculations by at least $2 trillion. They are also the only credit rating agency to downgrade the U.S. to AA+. That being said, this may have an impact on the global financial markets come Monday. Those things are as stable as Charlie Sheen on a bender these days, and this will probably be yet another factor that messes with them (though I suspect the problems in China [where the government is attempting to control an economic growth slowdown], and Europe [where it seems likely that Greece will default, possibly leading Spain and Portugal to default as well], are really what is driving the markets tanking) come Monday. So, you know, panic! There are two points from all of this that I find interesting. One is the main critique from S&P re: the U.S. downgrade. The other is the credibility of credit rating agencies.

Skin color and the Oslo attacks

Breivik, the white, right-wing, Christian fundamentalist,
terrorist suspect in the Oslo attacks.

I wanted to direct you to a good article about the media's coverage of the tragedy in Oslo, in which a white, right-wing Christian terrorist killed 92+ people, including children in a youth camp swimming in the water while he was dressed as a policeman. You will probably never hear those words associated with him because, like Joseph Stack, Jared Lee Loughner, and many others, he is simply crazy and not a terrorist with that background. For the press, it seems only brown people can be labeled terrorists, and only with them can we make sweeping generalizations about their race, nationality, political ideology, or religion.

Lupe isn't a Fiasco

“I think I’m Malcom X, Martin Luther/ Add a King, Add a Jr.” –Lupe Fiasco Building Minds Faster (B.M.F.)

Recently, Lupe Fiasco has been catapulted to national media attention, not (just) for his music but his political commentary. Two weeks ago on an internet interview with CBS Fiasco said, “To me the biggest terrorist is Obama in the United States of America. I'm trying to fight the terrorism that's causing the other forms of terrorism. You know the root cause of terrorists is the stuff the U.S. government allows to happen. The foreign policies that we have in place in different countries that inspire people to become terrorists." While this set off a firestorm of angry comments and media attention about Lupe’s uncritical eye and virulent condemnation of the continuing trope of Barack Obama as a terrorist, most of these comments miss the mark. Lupe Fiasco, as his name signals, routinely finds himself in controversial positions that are both contradictory and illuminating at the same time. Lupe’s comments about Obama and politics, in a way, channel Malcolm X’s and Martin Luther King Jr’s political commentary.

In November of 1963, Malcolm X commented on President John F. Kennedy’s assassination by suggesting the violence that took Kennedy’s life were “chickens coming home to roost.” At this time, Kennedy was thought of as a friendly president to Black folks and ultimately this became a wedge comment that alienated him from many Black Americans who identified as politically progressives but found his comments irresponsible given the contentious political climate.

New Developments in Egypt

A short follow-up - as many of you know, our very first podcast was on the uprisings in the Middle East, particularly in Egypt. There have been a lot of developments on the ground there, most of which (not shockingly) have not been covered particularly well by the media. Our guest on that first show, Hesham Sallam, has a great write-up on what's going on right now. Hesham is a friend and colleague who is a PhD candidate at Georgetown, studies the persistence of authoritarian regimes, comparative Middle East politics, and is the co-editor of Jadaliyya, and online e-zine produced by the Arab Studies Institute. Give it a read on Jadaliya by clicking here.

Podcast Episode 6: The Death of Osama bin Laden

On this episode of the There is No Spoon show, Fatima Ashraf questions Fouad Pervez, Junaid Ahmad, and Reggie Miller about their thoughts on the death of Osama Bin Laden. Fouad is an International Relations doctoral student at Georgetown University and a writer for Foreign Policy in Focus. His latest article, "Pepsi, Pot, Porn...and Politics" looks at the bizzarre discovery of those items on bin Laden's compound, and why they really illustrate the importance of politics over culture in al-Qaeda's modus operandi. Junaid is a faculty member at the Lahore University of Management Sciences and specializes in law and policy. He recently wrote an article, "Pakistan-U.S. relations in the post-Osama era" that examines the heightening tensions between the two countries after the raid. Junaid and Fouad have co-authored several pieces on U.S. foreign policy in South Asia, including this relevant and prescient article, "The US War on Pakistan." Reggie Miller is a non-profit management professional with significant insight into America's post-9/11 culture.

While many in the country celebrated his death, the No Spoon team ponders why it was okay for Americans to celebrate now and be upset at the thought of celebrations abroad on 9/11. They also discusses the serious issues surrounding Bin Laden's death including extra-judicial assassination, the state of affairs in Pakistan, and why Osama drinking Pepsi shouldn't have been a big deal.

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Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire: Why the FBI Needs New Leadership

The last ten years have witnessed an assault on the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans, led largely by the FBI. Appointed mere days before the 9/11 attacks, Director Robert S. Mueller III has guided the bureau through the resurrection of many long discredited practices from its COINTELPRO era. Yet, the Obama administration has proposed extending Mueller's term as FBI director. Congress should reject the proposal and insist on a nominee from outside the bureau to restore accountability, law and order. Just ask Nick Merrill in New York, Joe Iosbaker in Chicago or Ahmadullah Niazi in Los Angeles: three law-abiding Americans whose constitutional rights are among the casualties of the last decade.

Podcast Episode 5: Malcolm X and Hero Worship

On this episode of There is No Spoon we discuss the legacy of Malcolm X. X has become an icon of human rights activism, Pan-Africanism and Islam. Panelists Dumi L'Heureux Lewis (City College of New York), Fatima Ashraf (Community Activist), Fouad Pervez (Georgetown University), Ibrahim Abdul-Matin (Author of Green Deen), Mayatha Alhassen (University of Southern California) and Zaheer Ali (Columbia University) discuss the recent publication of Manning Marable's "Malcolm X: A Life of Re-Invention" and its influence on X's legacy.



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Podcast Episode 4: On The PATRIOT Act

Today's installment of the There Is No Spoon podcast series examines civil rights and civil liberties issues raised by the PATRIOT Act (portions of which are set to expire in May 2011) and FBI stings authorized under the 2008 Attorney Generals' Guidelines issued by then AG Michael Mukasey. We're joined by a distinguished panel of experts who have engaged these concerns from multiple perspectives. 

Emily Berman is Counsel to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and author of Domestic Intelligence: New Powers, New Risks, a 2011 report documenting problems with DOJ and FBI policies under the 2008 Mukasey Guidelines. Kay Guinane is Program Manager at the Charity and Security Network, and author of the 2009 report, How the Work of Charities Can Counter Terror, which addresses the material support standard of the PATRIOT Act and how it exacerbates some of the root causes of terror. Christina Abraham is Civil Rights Director at CAIR Chicago and has represented numerous individuals interviewed by the FBI, while also speaking and writing about abuses by the Bureau and other government agencies. Shahid Buttar from the No Spoon team is Executive Director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and submitted a FOIA request to the FBI in 2008 that eventually prompted disclosure of the Bureau's internal regulations implementing the 2008 Mukasey Guidelines.


Listen here:

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Podcast Episode 3: The Peter King Hearings

On this edition of the There is No Spoon show, we discuss the congressional hearings on domestic terrorism, organized by Congressman Peter King (R-NY).  The hearings, divisive and controversial, offered divergent perspectives of Muslim Americans: one as law-abiding people who are unjustly targeted, the other as a community ignoring radicalization among its own.

Joined by Corey Saylor, the Director for Government Affairs of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), the No Spoon team of Fouad Pervez, Reggie Miller, and Fatima Ashraf puts the hearings into context.  Several minority communities throughout history have been "McCarthy-ized" by the government.  Mr. Saylor provides insight into the importance of the hearings, the commendable reactions of the Muslim American community, and next steps.  For additional, interesting perspectives on the hearings, Peter King, and Muslim Americans, check out: this Huffington Post piece by Ingrid Mattson; this Washington Post article by Michelle Boorstein; and Representative Keith Ellison's (D-MN) testimony from the hearings.

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Podcast Episode 2: On Wisconsin

Protesters pack the State Capital building in Madison

On this edition of the There is No Spoon show, we discuss the organizing happening in Wisconsin to prevent the passing of a bill that would end public sector unions from being able to collectively bargain.  We provide a basic overview of the situation, some stories from on-the-ground protesters, and historical context of labor unions and labor organizing in Wisconsin and beyond. Our guests, Awais Khaleel (long-time Wisconsin political organizer and Howard Law Student); Marla Delgado (UW-Madison graduate student and community organizer); and Michael Paarlberg (Georgetown graduate student and freelance writer for the Guardian) discuss important issues such as inconsistencies in budget deficit claims and blames as well as the truth behind who makes more - private or public sector employees. Now that the bill has passed the Wisconsin state assembly, tune into the podcast to understand the national repercussions if it passes the state senate.




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Bigotry, Omitted Variable Bias, and Bill Maher

Bill...can we have a word?

I've been entertained by the comedian (he's not a journalist, people, he just follows some mainstream media news and talks about it with some celebrities, fake experts, and [occasionally] actual experts) Bill Maher for many years. I appreciate his show, enjoy that he uses his name and stage to bring about discourse on politics, and often find myself agreeing with what he says. However, on one specific topic, Maher makes me very angry...and, as Mr. McGee learned many years ago, don't make me angry; you wouldn't like me when I'm angry. You see, when it comes to discussions about Muslims and/or Arabs, Bill Maher is a bigot, or at the very least, bigot-ish. He's bigot-ish because he uses a level of analysis that would make most high schoolers uncomfortable. He uses this preposterous thinking to come to some really dangerous, reductionist conclusions that smell of the worst kind of Orientalism. And the audience ("liberals" who seemingly don't get it and enjoy cheering on their hero) goes along with the sham. Except it's not just a sham. It's quite dangerous. See the impact of Islamophobia on Muslims in America today? See the overt venomous racist discourse we see and hear so often right now? Well...Bill Maher is part of the problem. And somebody needs to call him on it and knock his discourse straight out. Enter (stage left): me and my foot to break off in Maher's ass.

Military Re-Training?

Egyptian soldier in Tahrir Square

It's celebration time! Hosni Mubarak has resigned and turned over the reigns to...the military. Oh wait...last three military rulers in Egypt? Nasser, Sadat, Mubarak. Oh right. Okay, so I do think this is still a big deal, and I'm cautiously optimistic the military will serve as a transition government until free and fair elections are held. They saw the numbers in the streets, and I do believe they realize those numbers will come out again, if not more, if they make this transition not happen. That being said, even if we see a move towards democracy in Egypt (after, presumably, civil institutions are rebuilt somewhat from their hallow roles during the rule of the semi-autocrats for so long), there is this problem. The Egyptian military is huge and probably doesn't want to see itself shrunk.

Podcast Episode 1: The Revolts in the Middle East

On this edition of the There is No Spoon show, we discuss the unrest in Egypt and how it relates to the region as a whole. We cover the Muslim Brotherhood, American foreign policy, authoritarian persistance, social movements, and political and economic roots of the uprisings. Our guest is Hesham Sallam, a PhD candidate at Georgetown who studies the persistance of authoritarian regimes, comparative Middle East politics, and is the co-editor of Jadaliyya, and online e-zine produced by the Arab Studies Institute - it is a great resource for analysis of the Middle East. Now that Mubarak has resigned, listen to the podcast and be informed about the issues that will develop in the coming days, weeks, and months.

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Episode 1 was recorded on February 8th, 2011 at 11pm EST.

Changes at There is No Spoon - Podcasting Soon!

To all our readers: we'll be making a big change to the blog in the coming week or two. While there will still be occasional posts on the site, we'll be shifting to a (we hope) every-other-week podcast. We enjoy blogging, but feel that it would be more efficient for us to do a talk show. It is probably going to be easier for all of you as well. Instead of reading through a post, you can simply download the mp3 file for each podcast and listen to it on your subway ride, car ride, gym workout, etc. We're planning on having guests on our show when possible. Think of Real Time with Bill Maher - except with smart people! Anyway, we're excited about this transition, and we hope it makes it easier and more entertaining for all of you. Expect our first podcast any day now. The first show will be focused on the revolts in the Middle East.

How to Follow the Latest Developments in Egypt

Al Jazeera has kind of owned the coverage of the revolt in Egypt, though apparently their Cairo offices were just raided (according to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now this morning). If you're like many in the U.S. who don't get Al Jazeera on TV, you can stream their around-the-clock coverage online here. Another one of my favorite sources is Democracy Now's Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who has been on many news shows in the past few days, including the Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz shows on MSNBC. Sharif has been one of the best sources on the ground in Cairo, and his tweets have gotten picked up by everyone. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here. Sharif's latest tweet, as of an hour ago: "Thousands continue to stream across Kasr El Nile bridge. Very festive atmosphere. What a contrast to Wednesday's govt-sponsored brutality."

This is what Democratization in the Middle East Looks Like - with Caveats

Wait a second...I though Arabs and Muslims and the Middle East region in general couldn't really handle democracy? That something about their culture explained that these people needed strong man running their states, not (real) popular electoral contests and a representative system of government. Well, I am shocked to see what is happening in the streets of Cairo right now. I am a bit surprised about what has happened in Tunisia, what is starting up in Yemen. Actually, I am a little alarmed by the level of repression used by the Mubarak regime in Egypt to try and silence the political dissent when it is clear the whole world is watching. But in terms of what is happening in the streets, this moment has been building for a long time. And no, Arabs, Muslims, and people in the Middle East are not predisposed to authoritarian rule. That's just the system that's been forced on them by force by some of their own elites and great powers abroad.