If roti has a North African cousin, it must be msemen, one of the many breads of Morocco. Another is kobsz, a classic Moroccan flatbread. Or try a meloui, a pancake that pairs nicely with butter, honey and fruit. Then there’s baghrir, reminiscent of a spongy crepe. From the city to the countryside to the…
Wild, uninhabited, desolate, forbidden. Though the desert may appear devoid of life, it is anything but! It is arid land, yet it teems with life. Driving a jeep in the peaks and valleys of the desert is like being on a roller coaster, or an ocean-skimming speed boat. It takes experience and skill to know…
It’s called Zellij, the striking patterns painted or carved on plaster or wood known the world over as Moorish tile art. Endless combinations of squares, triangles, stars, diamonds, polygons and crosses, fit together in precise mosaics on walls, ceilings and floors in buildings and gardens all over Morocco. Math marries artistic expression. Enhancing these mosaic patterns are…
Among the things that are essential to living, the writing and reading of words stems from the mists of the past and reaches into the equally nebulous future. Books serve as markers along the path of evolving civilization. “Read!” That was the word revealed by an angel to the Prophet Muhammad as he was meditating in…
L to r: Vergie Hamer, Robin Hamilton, Rev. Ed King, Dorie Ladner, Dr. Leslie McLemore. Photo courtesy of Robin Hamilton The first time I met Dorie Ladner was at the March on Washington Film Festival in 2017 in the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C. She was part of a panel of movement stalwarts I’d…
That’s how Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz describes her upbringing with her siblings by their mother, Dr. Betty Shabazz, after the death of their father, Malcolm X. I had the privilege of interviewing her recently at the Shabazz Center, created as a memorial to his legacy in 2005, resurrected from the bones of the old Audubon Ballroom…
It was the 1960s, and AM radio provided the soundtrack that got the party started in parks, beaches, front stoops and backyards across the country. African American DJs, with their melodic voices and big personalities were the griots, broadcasting critical cultural and political messages to the masses. Their importance was never more evident than in…
The recent documentary, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, chronicled the riveting grassroots effort by the people of Lowndes to organize, register, and vote African Americans into key local offices in the late 1960s. While they were eventually successful at the ballot box, they soon learned that the vote was just the beginning. Being elected…
The Bus She is nationally famous for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Alabama bus and sparking the yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott. A seamstress returning home from a hard day’s work, the reason given was that she was tired. In the last decade, we have discovered that it was much more than…
Before you answer, let’s take a moment to acknowledge those not joining us in this new year. Many have made their transitions in 2022, plunging us into the ministry of death, and flooding us with feelings of sadness and fear. The passing of personal loved ones and those in the public eye can be jolting…