Rashid Darden's Blog, page 2
February 12, 2013
January 24, 2013
January 14, 2013
Delta Sigma Theta Centennial – From the Outside Looking In
(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
My fraternity enjoyed its Centennial Celebration in 2006. While the celebration had some bumps in its execution, it was by and large a decent event. We got some good swag (medallion, pin, leather convention bag), some great literature (Centennial Book of Essays and Letters), a huge photo op in a stadium, a concert…. you know, all the stuff that makes for a nice five-day long celebration.
Since that time, I’ve eagerly awaited the Centennials of the remaining black Greek letter organizations of the so-called “Divine Nine.” None have disappointed me yet. In 2008, the AKAs set world records with the largest sit-down dinner ever. I attended a Howard University sponsored-event during the AKA Centennial in which they raised an AKA flag over the campus. And of course there were fireworks, wax statues, and over 20,000 women all dressed in white.
Then came the Kappas and Ques in 2011. While I did not travel to Indianapolis to see the Kappas, I saw many photos of the great time they had with their pilgrimage to Indiana University and the world’s largest cake. And as for the Ques, well of course I was in the mix. I went down to their host hotel just to stand in the middle of it all and I wasn’t disappointed. They brotherhood was high, their souvenir journals were hard cover, and their spouses were chatty.
So far, I think each Centennial has reflected the personalities of the organizations. Delta Sigma Theta was no different. They did it big for 2013 and this is only the beginning. Delta Days in the Nation’s Capital and Women’s Suffrage March Re-Enactment are coming up in March, and the 51st National Convention is coming in July.
Below, you will find a collection of photos and videos I was able to collect from the weekend of official and unofficial events as documented through social media. Even if you weren’t in the thick of things, you certainly couldn’t escape Delta Sigma Theta Founders Day Weekend 2013 or even the weeks leading up to it.
First, the Deltas had a float in the 2013 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. KTLA’s Gayle Anderson had a lively interview with the volunteers who helped make the float possible.
And here is HGTV’s coverage of the Delta float:
And here is the NBC coverage. I got a kick out of “Sami Brady” and Al Roker announcing the float:
Later that evening, Delta had a star-studded Hollywood Gala. The Federal City Alumnae Chapter has an album of those pictures on their facebook page, but I couldn’t resist sharing this photo of my fraternity brother Tim Reid and his Delta wife Daphne Maxwell-Reid.
Photo by Federal City Alumnae Chapter
A few days later, Deltas descended on New York City to participate in the various morning shows. I don’t normally even turn on the television that early, but I was glad I did. Here’s Al Roker again. (He’s an honorary Sigma, by the way.)
The next day was the first official day of the weekend celebration. It was Howard University Day, and the Deltas not only convened on the campus to celebrate, but to give and to serve. The “Deltas for Howard” group donated a total of $50,000 for the university and 22 distinct service projects were conducted all over the city. The concept of a new stained glass window in Rankin Chapel was revealed to the members, and Centennial Chair Gwendolyn Boyd said it would be the first stained glass window in the chapel to depict faces of African American women. Howard University Day concluded with the singing of the Sweetheart Song around the Fortitude Statue in “The Valley.”
Local media was on top of things, as Delta Allison Seymour interviewed Gwendolyn Boyd for Fox 5.
Other events took place in DC as chapters had mini-reunions and the national organization sponsored a sisterhood luncheon and an awards dinner. But, as they used to say, “The nighttime is for sisterhood.” The Valley was once again ablaze as thousands of Deltas descended upon Fortitude to ring in the new Delta year.
Needless to say, it was bananas out there.
The next day, the official activities included a marathon Ecumenical Service and a Founders Day Dinner which included pre-recorded greetings from Barack Obama as well as surprise musical guest Eric Benet.
Elsewhere in the news:
On Sunday morning, Delta Melissa Harris-Perry closed her show with a tribute to the sorority, in which she revealed she had been chapter president.
The Washington Post reported on the Centennial.
And the Detroit Free Press gave a shout out to Alpha Chapter President Erin Keith.
If you want to see the Centennial Founders Day activities from the point of view of the members that lived it, just type in #dst100 on Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram. It seems as though social media is advancing exponentially with each passing Divine Nine Centennial, and I’m grateful for it.
And now I leave you with Deltas on the Metro:
December 30, 2012
Number One in African American Gay Romance. And Two. And Five.
Great news, readers!
As 2012 comes to a close, I am really humbled that so many of you voted for me to appear on the GoodReads African American Gay Romance list! Epiphany has been voted number one, Covenant has been voted number two, and Lazarus has been voted number five!
Listopia uses a formula that somehow multiplies number of votes with rankings and reviews….hell, I don’t know how it works, but I am glad that it puts the power in the hands of the readers! Self-published authors rarely get that courtesy.
By the end of the day, this list could change and another worthy author could be on top. But I’m just glad that right now, at this moment in time, my readers thought enough of my work – and of the epic love story of Adrian Collins and Isaiah Aiken – to vote for it and share it with the world. Thank you for giving my books this shine. Adrian and Isaiah appreciate it!
To vote for your favorite black gay romance novels, click here!
December 26, 2012
2012 Photography!
Do check out my 2012 in review! Every year I put together a collection of my best photos. And 2012 was pretty awesome for photography!
November 26, 2012
I got this off tumblr from my friend Brittany. I have be...
1: What eye color do you find sexiest?
Brown. However, there was once someone in my life who had beautiful blue eyes. I had a crush on him, but he was much younger. He will likely end up in a future novel.
2: White, milk, or dark chocolate mocha?
I don’t drink cafe mocha.
3: If you could get a Sharpie tattoo on your back, what would it be?
wtf, I don’t know what a Sharpie tattoo is. Okay, I just googled it. That’s dumb. I’d get a real tattoo. And if I get one, it will be of an African killer bee.
4: Did you grow up in a small or big town? Did you like it?
I grew up in a big city – DC – and I loved it.
5: Your favorite adult as a child? (and not your parents, if they were your favorite)
Probably Ms. V. Perkins, who was my second grade teacher at Bunker Hill.
6: What kind of smoothie sounds really good right now?
Something green.
7: Most embarrassing moment from your elementary school years?
Bending over at my desk in fourth grade and farting. Only one person heard it though. I was mortified, but it was still funny.
8: Most embarrassing moment from your middle school years?
I had paralyzing crushes on girls in middle school. There’s no specific moment, but it was an awkward two years.
9: Most embarrassing moment from your high school years?
I guess I just have a good sense of humor as I don’t recall being embarrassed in high school. I was really disappointed that I lost the election for junior class president though.
10: Pirates or ninjas? Why?
Pirates. Because pirates have booty. Giggity.
11: Have you ever climbed a tree more than twenty feet off the ground?
Fuck no.
12: Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing set?
Fuck yes.
13: If you could have any pet in the world, illegal or not, what would you get?
I would love a big cat, like a panther or a tiger. No Siegfried.
14: What’s your most favorite part of your body?
Eyes, I guess.
15: What’s your most favorite part of your personality?
Irreverent sense of humor.
16: Madonna or Lady Gaga? Neither? Both? Who cares?
Madonna Louise Ciccone, all day, every day.
17: Have you ever watched the Superbowl all the way through?
Sure I have. Men in tights.
18: Have you ever watched any major sporting event drunk?
I don’t think so.
19: What’s the most delicious food you’ve ever eaten in your life?
Many foods are good. Angel hair pasta ranks up there for me.
20: Margarine or butter? Which did you grow up with?
Margarine. Margarine.
21: Whole, skim, 1%, or 2% milk? (Did you know they make 1 1/2% milk?)
Soy milk. No, I didn’t.
22: Which continents have you been on?
North America and Europe (Shout out to England and Russia).
23: Do you get motion sickness? Any horror stories?
Yes. Stop and go traffic makes my stomach cramp.
24: Backpacks or satchels?
Satchels sound gay. So, satchels.
25: Would you wear a rainbow jacket? A neon yellow sweater? Checkered pants?
I’d wear all three at the same time and STILL be shittin’ on em.
26: What was your favorite cartoon growing up?
So many! Smurfs, ALF Tales, It’s Punky Brewster, He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats, GI Joe.
27: If you had to have a cow or a pig, which would you take? Why?
I’d take the pig. Why have the cow when you could get the milk for free. ;-)
28: If you had to look at one city skyline for the rest of your life, which would it be?
Washington, DC. Home sweet home.
29: Longest plane ride you’ve ever been on?
I suppose DC to Frankfurt to Moscow.
30: The latest you’ve ever slept?
Okay, so this is a terrible but great smutty story. When I was a senior in college, I met this dude. Our first and only date was “just watching movies” in my dorm room. All I know is I was turned all the way out and didn’t seem to wake up until 3pm the next day. I think he might have spent the whole weekend.
31: Would you buy a sweater covered in kitten pictures? Would you wear it if someone gave it you for free?
No.
32: Do you pick at scabs?
I have been known to do so, luckily I haven’t had that serious an injury lately.
33: Favorite kind of bean? Kidney? Black? Pinto?
You know what? Beans are good in general.
34: How far can you throw a baseball?
LMAO.
35: If you had to move to another country, where would you move?
I’d go back to England. Would consider France.
36: Have you ever eaten Ethiopian food? Vietnamese? Korean? Nepalese? How was it?
Of these, I have only had Vietnamese and I loved it. I would try any of these.
37: Small, liberal arts school or public university? Why?
Small liberal arts. I was very close to attending Hampshire College and often think about how different my life would be had I gone. Going to Georgetown was a great compromise – the feel and education of a small liberal arts school with the school spirit of a big state university.
38: A relationship with love or one with sex?
Love. Always.
39: Do you eat enough vegetables?
No. I need more spinach. Seriously.
40: Do you like horror movies? How about thrillers?
I fucking love horror movies, especially the more recent foreign ones from Asia and Europe. [REC] was awesome. Thrillers are okay, but give me a legitimately scary movie.
41: Would you scratch a crotch itch in public?
Yup! Subtly, but it will get scratched.
42: Do you swear in front of your parents?
Yup.
43: Coolest thing you’ve ever been for Halloween?
In fourth grade, I was a hippie. Used nothing but things from my mom and grandparents’ closets.
44: If you could change your natural hair color, would you? To what?
I would try blond once. Kinky blond hair looks cool to me.
45: Do you want to get married? Have kids?
My dream for a long time, maybe still is… get married to an accomplished dude in a career field totally different from mine and be a stay-at-home dad while writing books.
46: Do you use a reusable water bottle? If not, you should.
Fuck you.
47: City or nature person?
City.
48: Have you ever used something other than “makeup” as makeup? (Like paint? Markers?)
wtf
49: Can you walk well in high heels? Even if you’re a guy?
Never tried. Not since I was like 8.
50: Post 5 awesome things about yourself. BRAG AWAY!
I am a good author.
I am a good photographer.
I have high ethical standards.
I can curse well.
I don’t suffer fools gladly.
November 18, 2012
Lazarus: Fantasy Casting
EVERY novelist…I mean, evvvvvery novelist does one of two things when writing their novels:
Create a playlist which is the soundtrack to the novel.
Imagine which actors would play their characters in the inevitable movie (or television) version.
I am no exception. So let’s hop to it.
Tyler James Williams as Adrian. When I finished the first draft of Lazarus, Tyler was ten years old. When it was released, he was 13 and had the lead role in Everybody Hates Chris. I’ve selected Tyler because I’ve always imagined Adrian to be a slim, brown-skinned dude who was handsome, but not necessarily confident. Tyler has a lot of great, strong moments as an actor and I think he could pull off the nuances of Adrian’s character.
Honorable mention: Degrassi’s Jahmil French, who would also do very well as Peter, the Ace of the line.
The search for the perfect Nina is a lot harder. I like a lot of young, black actresses for this role, but one that comes to mind also comes from the Degrassi family:
Shanice Banton as Nina. The “Gal Friday” of the novel, Nina is sassy, sexy, and confident – the antithesis of the “awkward black girl” movement that seems to be afoot right now. Shanice Banton (with a kinky hairstyle for the role) would bring everything to Nina. If you haven’t caught her as the bitchy girl with a conscience on Degrassi, please do so! I’m looking forward to seeing a lot from her in the future.
How about Evan Ross as Savion? Granted, I am basing this casting decision purely on looks. If Evan can pull of “scruffy artist” then I think we might have a winner.
Royce White as Isaiah? I’m going to have to meditate on this one for a while, because not only should the “actor” look like how he’s described in the book, he’d also have to match Adrian Collins. I’m not sure Royce and Tyler would look right… but then again, it’s possible that Adrian and Isaiah don’t look right together, either.
Viola Davis as Mrs. Collins and *spoiler alert*
Kristoff St. John as Mr. Collins.
Now, one of the quirks about the novels is that Adrian is supposed to be the spitting image of Mr. Collins. I could get over that if Kristoff was the daddy for this movie/show. I could so get into this family dynamic: the cold, aloof, stern mother raising the college kid by herself while the relatively wealthy businessman pops in and out of Adrian’s life. I want the reader to feel for both parents in different ways and I think each actor could pull it off. You want to hate Mrs. Collins because she’s so emotionally distant from Adrian, but you love her because you see and feel her vulnerability and her anger. And Mr. Collins? I want an actor that can make you forget that he’s left his son for the past ten years. I want you to see what Mrs. Collins saw in him and why Adrian is able to ultimately forgive him. I’ve seen Kristoff handle some meaty material on The Young and The Restless, and I think he can pull all these elements together.
There are a ton of other, smaller roles in all three novels that I’d love to see properly cast, like Aubrey Graham as Mohammed. But those will be for another day. Hope you had fun fantasy casting with me!
November 2, 2012
Happy Homecoming, Coolidge Colts!
One of the great joys of my life has been the pride I feel as an alumnus of Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, DC. I am a legacy Colt – my mom graduated from Coolidge in 1967 and my uncle graduated in 1983. I graduated in 1997. If I ever have or adopt kids, of course I’d like for them to attend as well.
Coolidge means a lot to me. Certainly it’s not a consistent athletic powerhouse like other schools in DC have been known, nor is it a Banneker or School Without Walls, with their reputations for academic excellence.
It’s just a regular neighborhood high school in a quiet, northern section of DC that needed a school. It used to be all white, then it became mostly black, now it is a mix of African American, Latino, first generation African and Caribbean immigrants, and other growing populations.
We’ve never been perfect. But Coolidge has always been ours and we love it just the way it is. Our loyalty will e’er be strong.
September 6, 2012
Why National Anti-Hazing Awareness Day Failed
“You all know I’m not much for words. I hate public speaking. I panic when I think about our probate show—if we’re still having one, that is. But I want everyone in this room to know a few things.
“First, I have wanted to be a Beta since I was twelve years old. The only teacher I had in middle school who gave a damn about me was a Beta. He was young, fresh out of college and determined to save young black boys in Shaker Heights. He taught English all three years I was there, and he was so successful that they just kept looping him up with the classes.
“Because of him, I knew what to expect out of the process. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. So I stood there and I took it. I took the verbal shit with no problem. I knew it was a game and I could take it. And I took the physical shit, too. I knew that just because I took it didn’t mean I had to be that kind of brother if I crossed.
“But now I see there is no end to it. No matter what, I’m going to do the same things that were done to me. I survived, so why not, right? It’s just the way things are, right?
“I don’t think so. My teacher, Mr. Nelson, taught me better than that. I know that much of what we were going through was wrong and didn’t make any sense. We weren’t getting to know you all like we should—hell, half the things we were learning in set were neither accurate nor universal. What’s the point of learning ‘Excuses’ when every chapter does it differently? What’s the purpose behind these challenges if they are specific to Sigma chapter? It’s like I’m not even pledging Mr. Nelson’s fraternity at all.”
–Rick Brown, Epiphany
***
According to Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., yesterday (September 6, 2012) was the first annual National Anti-Hazing Awareness Day. “On National Anti-Hazing Day,” the Sigmas said, “Sigma chapters, Black Greek-lettered organizations and organizations all over are encouraged to host sensitivity training workshops on campuses using the newly developed anti-hazing sensitivity training curriculum material.”
It seems as though the Sigmas have created what they consider to be cutting edge, trailblazing materials to help stop hazing. They can be found here. Joining their constitutionally bound brothers, the Zetas came up with Finer Women Don’t Haze.
In press releases posted on each organization’s respective websites, the day was conceived by a coalition of organizations including Sigma Frater Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Curiously, the National Action Network did not seem to post anything on their website or facebook page commemorating this day.
Most Black Greek Letter Organizations have been ardently opposed to brutality against their prospective members from the earliest days of their existence. Indeed, the 1990s brought in a new era known to most as “MIP” or Membership Intake Process. MIP among most Greeks outside of the chapter room is a four-letter word, while the word “pledge” remains a slur among the party faithful.
Books have been written about hazing among people of color: Black Haze by Ricky Jones, and of course Lazarus, Covenant, and Epiphany by yours truly. Obviously, I suggest that you buy them all.
Anyway, I’m just going to put it on out there: National Anti-Hazing Awareness Day was an abject failure.
I did a search of my facebook friends (as you can imagine, many are Greek), and just two Zetas posted about Anti-Hazing Awareness Day. No Sigmas on my friends list helped make this effort viral. No other NPHC organization participated nationally in this event, which may explain why none of my Pan-Hellenic brothers or sisters posted anything.
But that’s not why National Anti-Hazing Awareness Day failed.
It didn’t fail because the coalition’s national theme is the utterly unbrandable “LET’S NOT BEAT THE LIFE OUT OF A BEAUTIFUL LEGACY.” Nor did it fail because of the questionable administrative support that each effort receives outside of the national elected officers who volunteered to lead the effort. (And let’s face it, if you are on the national board of a BGLO, you better be about the business of governance, not the administration of a flimsy advocacy effort.)
No, National Anti-Hazing Awareness Day failed because it misses what needs to be the true target of any effort against hazing:
Middle school students.
Degrassi Community School: Haze-Free since 2001
Why middle school? Because this is an age where many students first experience more ritualized bullying than what they may have experienced in elementary school. It also may be the first time that young people begin to think of college as a very real opportunity for their futures.
I totally made that up. But I still believe it. I am not a social scientist, so I need for the scholars out there to really do research into this. Or if you’ve done the research already, consider submitting your findings to “Bullying and Hazing: An Interdisciplinary Journal.” Email Hank Nuwer at hnuwer@franklincollege.edu for details.
In order for National Anti-Hazing Awareness Day to have been a success, it needs to look at changing the culture of hazing over a period of time by investing in middle school students, high school students, and the college brothers and sisters.
First, every NPHC organization needs to engage children and families as they navigate their middle school years. Yes, I know, most BGLOs already have mentoring programs in middle schools. Well you know what? Do more. And do them better.
This article at the National Education Association’s website, written by Peter Lorain, states that “Middle school students are concerned about values, right and wrong, and the behavior and unfair treatment of others. Classroom and school activities should promote this emerging social awareness and concern.”
So, Greek teachers, why not encourage your students to learn about hazing and why it is wrong? Middle schoolers are smart. Many will immediately make the connection between bullying and hazing and they will wonder why college students make even dumber mistakes than the bullies in middle school. And we know that middle school students are already oversaturated with messages about bullying in the first place, so let’s step it up a notch.
NPHC organizations themselves should develop a hazing prevention lesson for the middle school level. And I don’t mean just for the kids who opted to be in the special programs of our organizations like Guide Right, GEMS, or a beautillion. I mean really make honest attempts to present a hazing prevention lesson to every middle schooler in your city or town. It can be done.
By the time these students reach high school, the problem of hazing will already be in the back of their heads. Therefore, the next thing NPHC organizations must do to stop hazing is for the graduate NPHC chapters in every city and town to present a workshop for graduating seniors and their parents about what to expect when they go to college when it comes to fraternities and sororities. The consequences of hazing need to be reiterated to them. Their parents – many of whom will undoubtedly be inactive fraternity and sorority members themselves – will also need a refresher on what is currently allowed and what is not. How many stories have we heard about the dad who was insistent that his son be made “the right way” only to be horrified that being “made right” now resembles something a lot more like torture at Guantanamo Bay than the pledging scenes we know from School Daze?
Teenagers leaving home for the first time need to know that they don’t have to submit to hazing. The “old school” Greeks back home will respect them more if they refuse to be hazed. This needs to be said and it needs to be meant.
By the time the student has reached college, NPHC organizations have invested in them from sixth grade to twelfth grade, teaching them about hazing in middle school as a social studies project, welcoming them into their various mentoring programs to teach them positive values, and giving them the facts about hazing as they leave high school. By this time, we should be invested enough to trust that they will refuse hazing. Attention then turns to how a chapter can learn activities which are alternatives to hazing.
But first, organizations need to know what exactly is happening on college campuses today. They need to know precisely what people think constitutes a pledge process these days. We cannot afford to wait until after the most brutal hazing occurs in order to study it. We need to know the steps which led to it. Therefore, Black Greek Letter Organizations must offer full amnesty to those members who step forward in an effort to change the hazing cultures in their chapters.
Did somebody say amnesty??!!!
Yes, I am suggesting that hazers out themselves. And yes, I am suggesting that NPHC organizations forgive them and let it go, so long as everyone is committed to moving forward. Our organizations are so focused on doling out the consequences of hazing that the cloak of discretion now obscures even the smallest of warning signs.
Just as bullies are often stereotyped as kids from broken homes with self-esteem issues, “hazing chapters” often seen as lazy, thuggish, ne’er-do-wells. In all actuality, bullies are often quite smart, articulate, and charismatic – that’s how they get away with it at school all the time. Knowing this, I’d bet good money that many chapters that have been busted for hazing have won national awards and campus awards and have more than a few members who have been leaders on campus. Just as we don’t want hazers to “beat the life out of a beautiful legacy” we want to reform and rehabilitate these otherwise good and decent campus leaders who have gotten caught up in a culture they didn’t create and have never been given a way out from.
Yes, let the hazers have a semester when they can come to safe spaces with their chapter advisors, grad chapter presidents, task force members – whoever – so that they can put it out in the open and ask for solutions. Most hazers know what they’re engaging in isn’t the right way, but they don’t know how to change the culture of their chapter.
We already know the consequences of hazing. With apologies to True Blood, we all know that hazing is a one way ticket to The True Death – for your own membership and for your chapter’s charter. We get it. Hazing is bad. It can cost you your letters. In some states, it can cost you your professional license and your freedom.
This is your chapter if you keep hazing.
But let’s focus on the brotherhood and the sisterhood by allowing those who want to change the opportunity to do so with a helping hand. Let’s help our own members understand that they have already been seasoned to be hazers because they survived middle school and high school bullying, but that they can break this cycle if they want to.
Let’s say farewell to these puffed up national initiatives and focus on the fortification of our own communities, starting with the youth and the re-humanization of our college brothers and sisters. They are our legacy. Just as we attempt to protect adults from abuse at the hands of other adults, we have to put energy into giving young people the tools they need to make the correct decisions in the first place.
August 16, 2012
Jesus, take the wheel of this Yellow Cab
I caught a cab today to run an errand before work. The driver was Muslim and African American. I had my earbuds in, so OBVIOUSLY I looked like I wanted to have a conversation about religion.
He asks me what I’m listening to, and I said “Dancing til Dawn” by Lenny Kravitz, off the “It’s Time for a Love Revolution” album.
Then he randomly asks me if I know what “la ilaha illa l-ah” means.
So I said “Excuse me?” And he repeats it. And I said, semi-playing dumb, “That’s the shahadah, right?” (The declaration of faith in Islam.)
(Note number one: Professor Maysam al-Faruqi didn’t teach no fools.)
He asks me what my faith is, and I said “I am a Quaker.” (I say it the same way I say “Georgetown” when I am asked where I went to school.)
He asks me what that means, and I said “It means for most Quakers that the Bible is not necessarily the infallible word of God and that the personal testimony and revelation is most important. Our services consist of sitting in silence for an hour.” I also explained that most Quakers are liberal-leaning and tend to be involved in causes of social justice and equality.
Because he’s never heard of such a thing, he then goes into how “corrupt” the world is today and everyone should have a religion which addresses the corruption.
Then he starts listing the corruptions. Apparently getting a tattoo is a corruption, and that’s when I mentally checked out of the conversation.
We were almost at our destination when he starts making the ultra-conservative, right-wing statements about how if you come out in favor of religion and morals in this country, you get attacked. Then he asked me if I had heard about the Chick-fil-A incidents….
At this point I was like JESUS, TAKE THE WHEEL! All I wanted to do was run my errand and listen to my husband on my mp3 player.
All in all, I was pretty taken aback because I don’t know many Muslims who proselytize in the first place, and I felt it was discourteous to engage someone in a conversation about religion in a situation they couldn’t escape from, unless I bailed out of the cab while it was rolling down 16th street, even though that would have been pretty bad-ass.
I may not be a very good Quaker, but I do believe in the fundamental part of it that insists that personal revelation is most important. I sit. I listen to God. Sometimes he talks to me. Sometimes he doesn’t. It’s good enough for me.
