Slummin’ It After Hollywood
Have you been reading the controversy over the child star of Slumdog Millionaire whose home in the slums of Mumbai was bulldozed a couple of weeks ago? Head over to UrbanFaith.com to get my take on Hollywood’s responsibility to ongoing support for the stars of its films living in depressed areas of the world.
Also, in this week’s installment of Pop & Circumstance, I’m talking about the rumors flying over the possible fall of Ebony and Jet, my hesitations on the new cast of The Real Housewives Washington, D.C. and Ashanti’s role in the revival of urban classic “The Wiz.”
Malcolm X: The Ballot or the Bullet
May 19th is the birthday of black activist Malcolm X. In honor of his birthday, I’ve been watching a few of his speeches and in doing so came across this great excerpt from his 1964 speech “The Ballot or the Bullet.” During the first five minutes, he affirms his belief in Islam, however, he adds that religion should be a private matter, absent from our common work of political and social progress. It’s an interesting perspective as people of differing faiths partner to work toward social justice. He says,
“Islam is my religion, but I believe my religion is my personal business. It governs my personal life, my personal morals. And my religious philosophy is personal between me and the God in whom I believe; just as the religious philosophy of these others is between them and the God in whom they believe. And this is best this way. Were we to come out here discussing religion, we’d have too many differences from the outstart and we could never get together.[...] If we bring up religion, we’ll have differences, we’ll have arguments, we’ll never be able to get together. But if we keep our religion at home, keep our religion in the closet, keep our religion between ourselves and our god, when we come out here we have a fight that’s common to all of us against an enemy who is common to all of us.”
What do you think the role of faith should be in social justice? Are conversations about faith more divisive than helpful in working toward shared political goals?
Feel free to click below to watch a video of the first 10 minutes of his speech.
Style Files: Israel Houghton
I asked gospel music favorite Israel Houghton his thoughts on what’s currently fashionable in faith. Here’s what he had to say:
“Trends” is always a scary word for me because I think that also epitomizes something that is going to go away. Many people would call worship a trend. It’s gone beyond just the four walls of church, and it’s on radio. It’s one of the few genres in music that based on how much goes into it versus how much comes out of it makes a significant profit every year. It’s a small part of the music industry, but it’s one of the most profitable parts of the music industry. So, some would call it a trend. But I would say no, we’re just a little more aware of it, and you have more people who aren’t necessarily worship artists becoming worship artists because it’s working. That does concern me a little bit.
I would say if there are certain buzz words right now, things I am hearing a lot of are a new emphasis on the grace of God, the love of God, the compassion of God, and the finished work at Calvary that took place for us. I find myself writing a lot from that perspective right now, helping people understand that you don’t have to achieve God’s love; you just have to receive it. It’s amazing when you start feeling something in your heart and then you get out and realize this other guy in Singapore is feeling the same thing, this other worship leader in London is feeling the same thing, and this gal from Vancouver is feeling the same thing. You think okay well good—I think I’m in the right zone with this.
To read more of Israel Houghton, go to UrbanFaith.com for my full-length interview with him on his latest album The Power of One, as well as his ideas for building diversity into a church.
Check out “Pop & Circumstance”
Head on over to UrbanFaith.com for a new installment of our brand new pop culture column, “Pop & Circumstance.” This week we’re giving you our take on Disney’s first African-American princess, the ongoing saga with Miss California Carrie Prejean, a double-dose of the Obamas, and a bit of American Idol news.
Be sure to chime into the discussion and leave your comments.
Enjoy!
Diddy Says to “Lock In”
I don’t know what to do with P. Diddy. Of course he doesn’t subscribe to any religion in particular, but the former altar boy does operate out of his monotheistic Catholic and Baptist background. He’s been known to call God his “secret weapon,” the explanation for his continued success.
Last year, in an interview with UK newspaper Telegraph, he said, “To be honest I don’t follow a religion now. I just follow right from wrong, so I could pray in a synagogue or a mosque or a church. I believe that there is only one God.”
While we could certainly spend all day critiquing his faith, listing the number of inconsistencies between his supposed beliefs and actions, I’m not sure what that would prove. Okay, so one day he tweets “God is great” and then another he tweets about a 12-hour tantric sex session. At the basis of our analysis we’d probably find that he’s overwhelmed, struggling to reconcile his understanding of God’s power with the allotment of power he’s been given due to his success in the entertainment industry. For a man who’s building a multi-million dollar empire on the premise of a slogan like “I Am King,” it must be difficult to get off the throne of his own life.
But that’s neither here nor there. I wanted to talk about Diddy today because of his recent campaign to encourage fans to “lock in” (see above video). For the past year Diddy has taken over the internet, maximizing viral marketing through YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, etcetera. You name the social networking media, and he’s using it. He’s even created his own language, what he refers to as a set of “P. Twitty Nation terms” like “let’s go,” “don’t stop,” and “let’s get it.”
Recently Diddy has added “lock in” to the mix. On a mission to spread positivity and encouragement to a million people, the man who’ll probably be remembered as the definition of an opportunist is mobilizing an army of optimists. In the face of economic stress, he’s asking fans to stay focused, ignore distractions, and trust that things will turn around for the better.
What do you think of this “lock in” movement?
More than Cells, Synapses and Sex Drives
Charles M. Blow, The New York Times
Does anyone else feel like the Pew Forum is everywhere lately? For a few weeks, I’ve been seeing different references to the forum’s studies on the latest trends in religion pop up around the web.
One article I thought worth sharing is an op-ed piece from Charles M. Blow called “Deflecting to Faith” that ran in The New York Times. The article debunks the myth that most people are religious because they were raised that way. Referencing the Pew Forum’s “Faith in Flux” study, Blow says most people who are not raised with any religion later choose to affiliate themselves with a faith because their spiritual needs are not being met outside of the church. If the nonreligious movement wants to pick up steam, it has to step up its game and address the immaterial part of human existence. “We are more than cells, synapses, and sex drives,” he warns. “We are amazing, mysterious creatures forever in search of something greater than ourselves.”
I love this article because it embodies the essence of Cocoa Chanel. We can form all of the arguments we want and try to rationalize faith by logic. But at the end of the day, people will always have a hunger for spirituality.
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