The Joy of Struggle.

As-salaam alaykum. Hotep. Some might consider me a bad woman (smile), but I have a short temper and I know there is a Mother... Seeing the disrespect toward Muslims of all ethnicities and older Black people in Washington, DC usually brings out my wings and sword in full force! Yesterday, I rode public transportation, something I normally avoid. An elderly Muslim woman of direct African appearance was being verbally harassed by a homeless looking white guy. I greeted her, but actually thought they might have been together because he almost literally had his arm around her. It was only after she got up that I realized they weren't actually together... So blood pressure was up.

On the way back from a discussion at GW about Africans in Pakistan, some German-speaking tourists on the bus were upsetting an elderly, walker-bound Black Vietnam Vet. I started chatting with the elder and it turned out he was Muslim, but "kept it quiet." He whispered alhamdulillah, but otherwise spoke directly. And I'm tired of Black men being afraid to say "as-salaam alaykum" and "alhamdulillah." I'm not blaming them, I'm just saying "My prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death," you know? I'm from a younger generation, and their strength made it possible for me to be here, so how can I not speak out and fight in the best manner I know?

The elderly Vet started singing a love song because "he likes to holler" and I added the Adhan because I just roll like that, and I wanted "my father" to know he was loved..:) We actually had a nice choir going by the end and when he told me that I was the bright spot in his life, and all that he had, I actually believed that elder. Then a wheel chair bound younger Black man with dreds said "shukran" to me as we got off the bus... I was too humbled...

Allah will decide whether my outspokenness is right, wrong, or unneeded, but there are so many Muslims and former Muslims being harassed daily that my combative spirit has come to hate being in D.C. One day, you may hear an off-key Adhan or Fatiha from a middle-class looking Black woman who is just trying to calm her nerves... just say "As-salaam alaykum Maryam" and I'll smile. Inshallah DC will wake up to a chorus of people of all ages and economic levels singing "there is no God but God" just for the joy of it...

What will Wall Street do on that day?
Ma salaam

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