Brown Ink

Marriage pressures for the "modern African woman" and African mom "crisis" are myths

By Lolla Mohammed Nur, Brown Ink

A recent article titled, “African moms: Be patient with your unmarried daughters” has been making the social media rounds amongst African circles online this past week. The writer, China Okasi, a daughter of Nigerian parents, makes two main arguments: that “modern” African women – whom she defines as daughters of African parents living in the western world – have a unique problem. Their problem is the expectation of being married early and married “well,” and that their mothers are in a deep crisis because their daughters are late in marriage. Why are they late in marriage? Because they are “empowered” women who are educated and are searching for love, something presumably their mothers did not have or did not want.

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Brown Ink

My thoughts on Django and black male agency

By Lolla Mohammed Nur, Brown Ink

I watched Django Unchained last night, and in one word, I thought the movie was epic. I’m not even really that into westerns and I think it’s a classic, hands down, the best movie of 2012.

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Brown Ink

Why not voting is a form of privilege, and voting is a form of power

By Lolla Mohammed Nur, Brown Ink

I know quite a few people who say they aren’t going to vote tomorrow because of “the system,” ie, not wanting to support a broken two-party fake democracy that supports forms of injustice domestica

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Brown Ink

Rethinking "Blackness" as an African living in America – part one

By Lolla Mohammed Nur, Brown Ink

I had the chance to meet Naomi Tutu, the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, at the Black Student Union on the University of Minnesota campus last Friday (March 2). She was in town for the Nobel Peace Prize forum, and engaged the students (mostly of color) in a conversation, which was more intimate than a presentation.

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Brown Ink

Is Lady Gaga’s "Americano" a genuine political statement or cultural appropriation?

By Lolla Mohammed Nur, Brown Ink

Lady Gaga performed her newest single, ‘Americano,’ a few days ago at a concert in Mexico. You can see the video here (it’s poor quality but the best I could find).

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Brown Ink

My Middle East questions for Fareed Zakaria

By Lolla Mohammed Nur, Brown Ink

Yes, THE Fareed Zakaria - who recently called birther and joke-slash-wannabe-of-a-presidential-candidate-Donald-Trump a racist for his accusations questioning Obama's citizenship - is going to be speaking at my college, the University of Minnesota, this Friday, April 29.

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Brown Ink

Pakistan's "moderate" 500 scholars and the AP's change of heart

By Lolla Mohammed Nur, Brown Ink

"Muslim scholars praise killer of Pakistani governor" was the headline of a January 4 AP article carried by MSNBC on the murder of Punjab governor Salman Taseer earlier this week.

My first reaction? Disbelief, doubt, and a twinge of anger.

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Brown Ink

Egyptian Muslims used human shields as civil resistance

By Lolla Mohammed Nur, Brown Ink

This brief but powerful January 6 article in the Washington Post describes the grassroots demonstration of 1,000 Egyptian Muslims -- including some well-known figures such as President Mubarak's sons and Amr Khaled, a popular host of Egypti

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Brown Ink