It's funny because this afternoon before the moon joined us on the west coast, I noticed my attitude has shifted since fasting. I find myself once again unsettled with what I already have, wishing I had more or better. This reminds me of an Old Testament text that says our minds are as quickly changed as the bending reeds in the wind. I tried to accept this unsettling feeling, reminding myself I need to learn distress tolerance as much as I teach it to clients.
I just recently saw Straight Outta Compton and highly recommend it with some caution: there is a lot of nudity and coarse language. However, I picked up some great messages that really connected to my core and with what I learned during Ramadan.
And it goes back to being succumbed by wealth, power, prestige, needing more than enough. The movie did a beautiful job of depicting just how alluring are power and wealth. It's almost as if they are their own character entities in the movie who do not discriminate between ethnicity or social class.
There are three poignant scenes that caught me up in a whirlwind of emotions and couldn't help but clap during them. The first, a scene of a red and blue bandanas tied together to symbolically proclaim that regardless of gang or crew, people were coming together to take a stand against injustice done by government officials who had succumbed to the sirens of power.
Another scene captured an rap crew member dissolved by grief when he lost his brother. His crew gathered around him, holding him but giving him space to release so much anger and sorrow.
The third and one of the last scenes of the film show three members left from the crew, and they have it all: mansions, women, fame. They made it. They have risen above oppression and culture's low standard expectations. And yet.
And yet they stand alone. Have waged war (in hip hop fashion) against each other. And there's a still, empty quality to the sterile shots of the white, pristine mansions with crystal clear pools. Even the water is still. One character, on the verge of death unbeknownst to him, calls up his old buddies to reconnect. To apologize. To recognize he lost what they initially sought.
These scenes say so much. We are all so easily seduced by power and prestige. None of us are immune to it. In fasting, we are reminded that we actually can survive on much less than what we are used to and we begin to question this about our material lives.
My participation in Ramadan was also a way to tell friends and family that the oppression by some of the Muslims, ie ISIS, does not represent all of Islam. In fact, it represents 1% and the Muslim community has been the brunt of ISIS's attacks.
Straight Outta Compton comes out at a pivotal time when social media and technology has unveiled the ugliness and continued presence of racism, of societal oppression, of injustice by authority.
The Ramadan Experience is a way for us to stand against this and to promote peace and understanding, a core belief of my Muslim brothers and sisters.
I anticipate participating in Ramadan again. And be sure mark your calendars... Sept 21st is International Day of Peace. No matter your religion, gang, ethnicity, social economic status,
peace be with you.
