Category Archives: Blog

For the past year, I’ve been re-tracing the steps of Malcolm X in Lebanon and Sudan for an academic article coming out this month in a Special Issue of the Journal of Africana Religions: “The Meaning of Malcolm X for Africana Religions: Fifty Years On.” In a new Huffington Post article, Following in the Footsteps of Malcolm X, I share some of what I learned along the way…

I am telling you, my love will not leave you
Hold up my love – everywhere you go
Put my heart and yours together – everywhere you go…

When I was running a poetry workshop today with African migrant workers in Beirut, my students asked me how to say لاجئ in English. It was a word they were all anxious to learn. “Refugee,” I said. Re-fu-gee. It’s a word that gets a lot of play in Lebanon. “Last night, my friends and I were talking about the Syrian re-fu-gees,” a Sudanese student said–using his new vocabulary word in a sentence. Teaching the word “refugee” reminded me that our vocabulary is shaped by our geography. Here in Beirut, whether we’re from America, Sudan, or Ethiopia, we’re all confronted daily by the enormous suffering of the Syrian refugees–many of whom are now braving their 4th winter living in tents…

I spotted this Arabic Statue of Liberty calligraphy today, while teaching a poetry workshop for African migrant workers in Beirut…

On Friday, when I took some young Syrian refugees in Beirut shopping for winter gear to keep them warm, I was overwhelmed by how many other Syrian refugees I spotted on the street not wearing jackets in the wake of winter storm Zina. Earlier this week, several Syrian refugees (including children) froze to death in the midst of the brutal storm. Syrian refugees in Lebanon are in desperate need of warmth–both literal and figurative. For the millions of refugees suffering from war, poverty, displacement, and global indifference, the world must seem a very cold place…

Tonight in Lebanon, a suicide bombing in Tripoli killed several people and wounded over 30 others–a very sad start to 2015…

When I was out with friends tonight in Beirut, this song really got the crowd dancing…

Tonight I spotted Taylor Swift hiding out in Beirut…

It’s been about a month since I got back from excavating in Sudan, and already I’m eager to return. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than the sands of Sudan…

Recently, a Zen Buddhist teacher said to me, “If you have hope, you’re not doing it right. Give up hope.”