Delfin's Social Anth Blog

1. Why do various American Hip Hop artists often claim that they are from the "hood" or the "ghetto"? How does this contribute to their social identity or social front? 2. What does Latifah's situation tell us about the intersection of racial identities between US Black American culture and US Muslim culture? How do these two cultures come together and sometimes contrast with one another? 3. Why is US Black American culture emulated so often in many other cultures? Would you consider this to be "cultural appropriation"?  4. Why do you suppose the author named the chapter "Blackness as a Blueprint for the Muslim Self"? How does this relate to the theme of the book overall? 5. Do you see other cultures or communities adopting US Black American Culture? If so in what ways? Can this adoption of culture cause the dying out of other more traditional cultures in the world?

1. How might Khabeer's perception of how others interpreted her body while dancing at the "girl party" have been affected by her experience as a Black woman? 2. How was the election and presidency of Barack Obama simultaneously a step forward and backward for social equity? 3. Why is religion so often decoupled from music, or certain musical genres, despite their historic connections? Why does it seem like religious music is not quite as popular as music that is either secular or not explicitly spiritual? 4. Khabeer regularly capitalizes words like "Black", "Blackness", and "Whiteness". How does this affect the reader and their interpretation of the ethnography's message? 5. Regarding the chapter title, "Policing Music. . .", how does broader American, or even global, society "police" or "democratize" art (music, literature, film, etc.)? In what ways should artists be afforded relative autonomy in the...

Why was Khabeers race, ethnicity Gender, and regional identity more important in the field than simply being Muslim and how would her experience be if she was another race or gender? Post 9/11 really seperated Hip hop and Islam as well as racializing muslim as brown and not black. How would the the relationship between Hip hop and Islam be if the events of 9/11 never occured? According to Khabeer Muslim Cool is a move towards blackness and a construction of a US based Muslim identity. Why is it important to have a US based Muslim identity? How do you think Khabeer writing of Muslim Cool would be and turn out if the genre was not Hip Hop and another genre of Music and why is music important for connecting with Islam and being Muslim in the US? How would Khabeers writing be different if she was Male or a different race? Why is being black essential to find a connection through Hip hop and Islam? Forgive me, I was having a hard time figuring out how to post on the Blog. But I u...

1.) How does religion affect a  person's  sense of self?   2.) How can food have a large impact on the course of your life?   3.) In what way does Islam create a feeling of unity that crosses racial  boundaries ?   4.) How did the author go about making the book interesting to people outside of the anthropology  discipline ?    5.) Why was music chosen to relate Islam instead of any other form of pop culture? How books or movies have differed as the main subject?   

Facilitation Q MC CH#1(pgs 46-76)  Did it appear obvious that the author’s former interactions with significant Muslims shaped her idea for the book, if yes discuss an example, if not why do you think it is not present? “Black Islam was everywhere”. By taking a closer look at the quote, can you share how you may come across it whether directly or indirectly? “My teachers are diverse”. Khabeer presents herself as being taught by Muslims of different races. How big of a role does skin color play in the understanding and treatment of religion? Discuss if “Muslim cool” and the incorporation of hip hop into religion is a generational change. What are your thoughts on the structure of Chapter 1, was it easy to follow or did it appear displaced in some areas?

How do you think the fact that Popmaster Fabel marking certain songs as “an extension of the proper Islamic tradition” underscore how Muslim Cool and its ties to blackness are implicated in tensions over orthodoxy in the history and experience of Islam in the United States? The umbrella term, “Black Islam”, is used by the author to describe a wide range of Muslim beliefs and practices among U.S. Black Americans such as Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Moorish Science Temple, the Nation of Islam (NOI), and many more. Why do you think the wide breadth of this term might be controversial to some? How do you think the term will affect the black Muslim population in the U.S.? How do we as a society or as an individual acknowledge or fail to acknowledge the systemic inequality that black Muslims in the United States had faced? Why do you think the author implements other people’s accounts into her writing? How do you feel about being included in her conversations with other ...

Do you believe any other music genre could play the same amount of influence as hip hop has on the islamic culture? If so, why? In your own opinion, do you think music plays a role in your own culture?  In what ways do you think Man-O-Wax and Tasleem views differ? Why do you think Khabeer felt compelled to write a book about the experience of young urban muslims?   Why do you think Khabeer focuses on the term “cool” when describing muslims? 

1. In what ways do you think Islam has a stronger connection to music rather than to art or literature? 2. Why do you think it was important for Muslim artists to have to be better than the popular artists of the time? One example in the book is that they had to be better than Lil Wayne. 3. Why do you think it meant more for these Muslims to have Islam be perceived as something "cool" as opposed to some other description? 4. What do you think would have been the impact of this book if it had been written by a non-Muslim?  5. Do you think this approach to research can be applied to different religions and through different forms of art apart from music? 

 How can the influence of hip hop and hip hop culture affect one's religion/religious beliefs? (Islamic in this case) Many hip hop artists have come from Chicago; thus, building a reputation of being a legendary place in which to experience music or even start off in the music industry itself. How do you think this influenced Khabeer to do research in Chicago? In your opinion, how do you think Black Islam played a central role in the development of hip hop's epistemology? How do you think this research study would have differed if it was conducted outside of the United States? What do you think about Man-O-Wax's view on how this mentality "has no geography." (p. 31) Does this go against the theory of environment shaping who you are as a person (in a sense)? How can everyone from Chicago have the same view as everyone from Los Angeles? Can they?