Tribute to Soon-Chi Ali with poetry readings and religious marriage discussion

Homeboy Memories Fathers were not favorites on the farm For he could do some harm He could wreck them and have to ski For he, brothers, could dream Your mama ain't no saint Your daddy died in a shallow stream But your uncle, Dr. King Didn't have a dream, my brother And what is your real excuse? Why can't you study your lessons And stay in school? Why can't you study your lessons And stay in school? School Free love And Sex ain't nothing but a game Don't never last Try hope Take a chance on love Register to vote Money ain't everything But you could buy her a ring Listen to little Blackbird sing Buy you a record of a yardbird With wings Get into the swing of things Homeboy Buy some tenures For a change Home is where your history is Home is where your history is Home is where your history is and it's not too late. Your uncle Dr. King wrote a book called Why We Can't Wait. Homeboy! Birmingham was yesterday. The mad dogs, the mad dogs came to call on your mother's mother and sister. Your granddad had the blackened boots. You know what I'm saying, cuz. It ain't but one blood. It's called Fight for Freedom. Homeboy by Soon-Chi Ali. Welcome to the Qumran Report. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson, coming at you live from Skid Row Studios, and I'm in the studio with my co-host Earlene Anthony. This week on the Qumran Report, we will do a tribute to the poet Soon-Chi Ali, the founder. of Soul Vision. And in the latter part of the show, we will have the final segment of Positive Perspective with Willis Boyd and Shante Duncan, cuz they'll be starting their own show next month on Sundays. Now I'm delighted to have with us in the studio some of the original members of Soul Vision, Shirley Simmons over there. We got Dr. Mongo in the house. All right. Yes. Jamal Asalam. Hey, hey. Later on, Isaac Clay is coming in. Over here, we got the musician S.S. Jones. All right. We've been talking to him in the latter part of the show. He'll be our guest coming up in a couple weeks to talk about how he organized the Skid Row musicians down there in the past. Now, Soon-Chi Ali, who passed a few years ago, was a founder and guide. He was a founder and guide. He was the guiding light of Soul Vision, which was a collection of frontline poets that he held together for almost 40 years. Now, Shirley, you are spearheading an event for Soon-Chi coming up Sunday, September 7th, 2014 at 7 o'clock p.m. up in Englewood. Can you tell our listening audience about that event? Yes. This event is a tribute paid to the late, great Soon-Chi. Soon-Chi Ali. We are having friends and all the old Soul Vision poets to come and pay their tributes of what Soon-Chi meant to them, of what Soon-Chi brought to them in the past that they still hold dear to their heart and want to talk about, to express a lot of the mentoring that Soon-Chi gave to us who were begotten. Soon-Chi Ali. In her poets, like myself, he saw something in us poets that we didn't know we had in us. And he had the gift to bring it out and given us the opportunity to share that gift with others. And this is one of the powerful lessons that we learned from Soon-Chi. He was like, oh, God, how can I say? He had done so much for so many people in the Leimert Park area. You mentioned the name. Soon-Chi Ali, people will just spark. That's right. Oh, yeah. We remember him. Short little guy, right? Yes, but he had a powerful way with words. Mm-hmm. Okay. Now, we also got Dr. Mongo in the house. We got Jamal. We got Isaac over there. But, Sheryl, first of all, tell us, how did you first meet Soon-Chi? Did she? Yes. Okay. I met Soon-Chi at an event. I'm from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was my first event I went to when I arrived in Los Angeles, California, 2002. He was doing a poetry event at a park. I'm not too sure exactly where it was some time ago, 2002. And I just walked into the event, and he was on stage in a white, I guess it was an African-American type garb. Yeah. Garb. And I thought he was from Africa. So I said, that guy is teaching poetry, and he has an event? I want to get involved in this. And when the event was over, I walked up to him and presented myself and told him what I would like to do in poetry. He said, come along. Mm-hmm. You're with the right person. And it started there. Okay. Now, Dr. Mongo, we got Dr. Mongo over here, a great poet. Can you just tell us a little about your background? How you first met Soonji? Well, I met Soonji Ali when we were having a monthly poetry reading of international black writers and artists. And I don't recall at this time when, who, who, who's guest, Soonji Ali's, who, who, who brought him there. But anyway. After we had performed and did our little thing, I said, who is this guy here? And he said, my name is Gene Williams. He didn't go by the name Soonji Ali at the time. So I said, well, why don't we let him get up? You know, we all do our thing together. So why, why not let him get up and see what he does? So he got up and he was somewhat shy. But. His delivery was okay. And we decided to ask him to come back again to our next monthly meeting. And he was so enraptured because the welcome that we gave him was really heartfelt. And as Shirley just mentioned, he was doing a thing. He started doing a thing in Leimert Park at the Fifth Street Dicks. I don't know if you guys remember Fifth Street Dicks. They have a monthly, weekly program. Yes. So Soonji, after that, he became more involved with the international black writers and artists. And he became a member. And before long, we realized that Soonji just kind of broke away from us and started his own thing. I think he started the Frontline Poets. And then he started the Soul Visions. So he would come to me for advice. And I would give it to him because I didn't consider myself as a poet. I considered myself as a. Dramatic enunciator. Yeah. He wanted to learn. You know, he wanted to pick, you know, tune into that type of thing. And before long, I mean, doggone. He was getting all down like a country preacher, doing his poetry, wiping sweat from his head. Okay. So, you know. Okay. So I had a very long. Long experience with Soonji. He would invite me to most of his events during that time. And this was in the late 80s, I believe, about 84, 85, 86, like that. And for a while, he was going by the name Gene Williams. And then before he blossomed, he became Soonji Ali. Yeah. Okay. Jamal, what's your experience? What was that? Yeah. My experience is similar to Dr. Mongo's. I wasn't a member of the Black Writers, but my friend Yvette asked me to come and check out some poets that were meeting over in Leimert Park. And it was real exciting because I, again, just like the sister here, just come to Los Angeles. And I was excited about being in the theater and excited about being a slam poet. And it happened to me. And I was excited to meet Soonji and his frontline poets. And we did a couple of shows and a couple of events. And next thing I knew, Black History Month was coming around. And we'd always celebrate Black History Month. And Soonji always did something for Black History Month. That I can remember in the late 80s up until the time that he passed. And it was just absolutely a genuine spirit, an inspirational brother. And he gave a lot of himself and also worked on his work. He would often ask me, because I was a performance artist, he'd often ask me, well, what do you think about this? And I'd tell him. And he took the criticism and definitely moved ahead to try and do it. Okay. How about you, Isaac? Turn that around to you. Yeah. I was on a bus one time. I was trying to think of exactly what year it was. It must have been maybe the early 90s. And there was a young lady on the bus kind of mumbling to herself. This is going to sound crazy. Shirley is nodding her head. She knows what I'm talking about. I heard this story before. You heard this story before. And this young lady was saying, Soonji Ali. Soonji Ali. Soonji Ali. And I was trying to pretend like I didn't see her and look the other way. And she pointed to me and said, You need to meet Soonji Ali. And I said, Yes, ma'am. And she said, Call him. Gave me his phone number. And I called Soonji Ali. So he said he was having auditions for a play, Sweetwater Blues. Oh, man. That is one of the best musicals to introduce people to jazz and the origin of jazz and blues. Sweetwater Blues is incredible. Melvin, we've got to do it sometime. Anyway, I went over and auditioned for Sweetwater. Sweetwater Blues got a part in it and started getting to know this very unique human being. Soonji, he was unique in a lot of ways. One thing that he and Melvin do that I've never seen a lot of local artists do, struggling artists, and that is they compensate their actors to the best of their ability. And to me, that impressed me. I don't care if it's $5 or $10, but Soonji's going to look out for you. And sometimes he would compensate us more than Screen Actors Guild does for 99-seat waivers. Because they have this little token thing they give you. But Soonji and Melvin's compensation is higher than that. And that impressed me. He loved the blues. He loved the blues. He talked about how his uncle. He introduced him to the blues and jazz. And he described. I'm not a jazz lover. But Soonji would describe it so well that I was falling in love with jazz, even though I don't like jazz. Okay. That's what Sweetwater Blues was all about. Okay. Good. We're going to do some poetry in a few minutes. Because that's what Soonji was all about. Poets. And we're going to hear some in a few minutes. But let me ask a question. Because this is the same question that right after we finish with Positive Perspective, we're going to do a roundtable. We're going to open it up to everybody. And this is going to be the question. Why do you think so many organizations fade off the scene after the passing of a charismatic leader? Good question. And we got many examples of that. You know, Marcus Gottlieb movement. We got Malcolm X. Dr. King. You know, we look at all of these. And we look at Soonji's organization. You know, and it's one of the things. Because we got all of them. I was talking to Dr. Mungo. I was talking to Shirley about it. I always feel that all of these old timers, all these people that's around that was part of Soul Vision should become the board of directors. To revive Soul Vision. You know, because it's all about poets. For the next young generation that's behind. We can't let Soul Vision die out. And it's up to you guys. And me too, being part of that. But we got to sit down and talk about that because we see that happening all over the black community as a whole. When you have a charismatic leader, something happens. That leader get assassinated. That leader die. Organizations die. Organization fades out. You know, just a glimmer. You know, people, even the Black Panthers. They still trying to revive the Black Panthers. Oh, yeah? Nation of Islam. It's not like it was when it was the honor of Elijah Muhammad. You know, Malcolm's organization. Gone. You know, Dr. King's organization. A glimmer of itself. Marcus Garvey organization. You know, same thing. So, we're going to look at that closely. But first. Let's do some poetry. Let's do a few poems. I want to start off with Shirley. What piece are you going to do? One piece going around. Now, what piece are you going to do, Cheryl? Yes, I selected a piece from Sunji's last book that he wrote titled Obama's Dream Walk. He dedicated it to our president. And it's a very interesting book. And it pertains to mostly as we know. It's a very interesting book. And it pertains to mostly as we know. It's a very interesting book. It's a very interesting book. We know jazz and blues and history. Sunji was a history teacher. And black history was something that he taught at the school in the Compton area. So, I'm going to read a poem titled A Poem is a Metaphor. A poem is not literary take. It's a dream walking and talking. A mountain moving. Thunder raining in despair. Lightning Hopkins singing the blues early in the morning while his mind was still on vacation. A poem is an exceptional truth that you can see forever. Like when I first saw the Mississippi River, it was almost staring me in the face as I was traveling high and looking low. The blues was all around me. One false move and I would have lost everything. The blues was all around me. One false move and I would have lost everything. The blues was all around me. One false move and I would have lost everything. A journeyman not long ago said, The metaphor is the crowning jewel in the post arsenal. He said, You better wake up, America. Freedom's on the run. You better wake up, America. And you better change your wicked ways. Or our cities will burn for days. Sunji Ali. Okay. Let's go to Dr. Mongo. What are you going to do? Tell me about it a little earlier. Okay. Well, this is a poem I... This is the second time I'll be doing this poem. But it's, Thus said the Lord, I am that I am. Om. Om. Om. Omnipotent. Omniscient. Omnipresent. Without equal and unblemished as our snowflakes and solar flares fire and smoke. Perfect without kind and likeness. As with cobwebs and shadows. Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. Ors. OM Om. Om. Life. Joy. Pain. Death. Ah. Om. Om. Ah. Triumph. Ah. Joy. Ah. Pain. Ah. Death. Ah. Triumph. Ah. Surprise. Ah. Pleasure. Ah. Om. Ah. Sheer as lightning and grains of sand. Om. Ah. Above and beyond comprehension, spotless and sacred. Yahweh. Brahma. Allah. Thus said the Lord. I am that I am. The Alpha and Omega. Gene Williams. A.K.A. Sunji. Ali. Is here with me. Dr. Mungo. Okay, let's move on to Jamal. Wow. Thank you, Dr. Mungo. Thank you, Melvin, for having us as poets. The legendary voices that we lost this year are incredible. Maya Angelou and Mary Baraka earlier this year, and of course, Ruby Dee. These are great people, people of theater, people of, you know, voices that gave us light. Yes, indeed. And in remembrance of Sunji Ali, I just wrote this. He spoke of muddy waters deep down in South. The blues was his manner. Blues people like me. I was a singer. I was a singer. I was a singer. I'm a singer. I'm a singer. I'm a singer. a raw box guitar with five strings. He sang poems, spit poems about us and our history. All right, now let's move over to Mr. Isaac Clay. Okay, I'd like to do a poem. That I wrote, and as soon as you like this poem a lot, and it's called, You Never Bring Anything to the Table. There's a lot of people in L.A. who never have anything to give. Yet, for some odd reason, they'll always say, come on, let's go out and party, paint the town red and really live. But we'll have an absolute ball. Then you'll say, hey, that's a good idea. How much money should I bring? Because I'm on a budget. And I want to spend it all. And they'll say, yeah, I know what you mean. My money's pretty funny, too. As a matter of fact, you'll have to come pick me up. Then you'll say, hey, wait a minute. What's wrong with this picture? Okay, my user friend, tell me what's really up. You're the one that invited me to go out now, and you're telling me that your money is funny? Well, look here, lady. I sure hope you don't expect me to pick up the check, because I want to spend. Okay. Okay. I'm going to have to put my money on my honey. Come to think about it, aren't you the one that said that we are only friends? Strictly friends? Friendship is all we have, no matter how hard I might pray that friendship is the only thing that's between you and me that's here to stay. Well, I got news for you, darling. Friends pay their own way. Come to think about it, didn't we have this conversation last week? And last month? Whoa! Now that I really think about it, this has been going on for five years now. And to call this a friendship is definitely the wrong label, because friends share. And my darling, you never bring anything to the table. Looking back over these five years, Jesus and I both can plainly see, young lady, that you ain't never done nothing for me. You've never even given me a piece of bread. Now, you know that's sad. Yet every time I pull out my credit card, you start rubbing your slime and greasing. Your hands looking awfully glad. Your whole attitude is take, take, take. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Well, I think that it's time that I set myself free. No more having to hear you say, I seem to have left my wallet home again, baby. Could you also get a hamburger and coke for me? And look at you, sweetie. Since we're already here in the mall, you think you could advance me 50 bucks to put that dress in the window on real call? And could you buy me some cigarettes? And could you buy me some shoes? As a matter of fact, could you just take care of me for the rest of my life, even though I'm just a friend? I know it's a little frivolous, but it's not my money, so spin, spin, spin. Well, there's one more thing I've got to say to all you professional users before this poem ends. And that is, if you don't man, you're evil, parasitic, anti-human, anti-Christ, anti-love, anti-anti-greedy, greedy, greedy, selfish ways before you die, then you're right forever. And you're... You're a useless hater, all the time saying, knowing that you were able. If only I could have gotten off my lazy backside and figured how I could have brought something, at least something, to the table. Excuse me for being so anticlimactic, but there's just one little last thing that I've just got to say. Saying you don't bring anything to the table, young lady, just ain't quite right. There is one thing you do bring to the table, and it's your all-consuming, whirling, guffing, universe-inhaling, vacuum cleaner suctioning, volcano-erupting, greedy, greedy, greedy, greedy appetite! Okay, Isaac's play. Look, let's take a break for our community calendar, and then we'll come back with positive perspective with Willis Boyd and Shante Duncan. This is the community calendar for upcoming events. Drama Stage Kung Wan Veteran Community Theater Workshop is in session, and it's held on Wednesdays from 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. This is a 10-week session consisting of creative writing, which deals with working on scripts and getting them ready for production, anti-violent situation coping groups, dealing with veterans' trauma, young people dealing with, and the community. bullying and other violence. Also, basic elements of stage management. Participants are currently working on original 10- to 15-minute stage plays that focus on veterans. We're learning about the log lines for scripts. This tells what your script is about in one or two sentences. Also, to help you verbally pitch your script and help you focus your script. The goal for these playwriting will be to help you to get the best out of your script. The original plays will be read for a stage reading with professional actors at the Vortex or the No-Hold Theater in Hollywood. The location of the workshop is the Vortex, 2341 East Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, at the corner of Santa Fe and Olympic Boulevard. The Metro bus number 60 and 66 stops at the corner. Contact information is available at www.vortex.com. For more information for the workshop, is Drama Stage 1 at yahoo.com or 213-479-1764. And there's a note. The workshop will not be held this Wednesday. We will be participating with the Veterans Project, which is hosting an open house or a community mixer. That's this Wednesday, August 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. And it's the Homefront Raising, a campaign, to house all veterans. Activists and community leaders are expected to be there. City Council members and many others will be there. The location is 1018 South Santa Fe Avenue, downtown Los Angeles, and this is in the Art District. And for more information on the open house or community mixer, you can contact info at theveteransproject.org. If you have a community event that you would like announced on our show, send the info to dramastage1 at yahoo.com. Attention, Earlene Anthony. Also, there's another event. This is coming up in October, so you have time to prepare for this. Ash Grove Music presents at the World Stage in Leimert Park, S.S. Jones and the new Ash Grove Players performing the music of Lead Belly. There will be a special guest artist, and this is Saturday, October 11th from 2 to 4 p.m. This is at the World Stage, 4344 Deacon Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Admission is $20. Seating is limited to 50 guests. To purchase tickets or RSVP, please contact 310-428-3586. Now, back to our host. Hey, thank you, Ms. Earlene Anthony. Now, we're back in our studio with our in-studio guests, and as I mentioned at the top of the show, Positive Perspective with Willis Ward and Shante Duncans will be starting their weekly show next month on Sundays at 5 o'clock. It's a time slot that they're looking at. And let me play a little short 30-second clips about Positive Light Ministry, and then we'll go into Positive Perspective with the theme, and then we'll go into the song, Here I Am. Positive Light started programs and started doing stuff for kids and youth in 1998, and we were formally established as a non-profit in 2004. We are a catalyst for inspiring the youth and anyone else who will listen, creating opportunities and giving hope to all who will participate. PositiveLight.org can like us on Facebook at Facebook.com slash WeArePositiveLight. We are a podcast. Here I am, Lord Here I am Lord, here I am To worship Here I am To bow down Lord, here I am To say that you're my Lord Here I am To worship Here I am To bow down To say that you're my Lord Ben Seiler from Bright Hope Worship Center International in San Bernardino, California. A brilliant young preacher that's coming up. My name is Willis Boyd. And I'm Shante Duncan. And you're listening to Positive Perspective. Where we shine a positive light of Jesus Christ on scriptures, music, our communities, and world issues. Tonight we will be discussing the Quran and the King James Version of the Bible. And their instructions on how a man should love his wife. We at Positive Perspective are Christians. And we believe that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross. And rose on the third day. We believe in the King James Version of the Bible from cover to cover. And that's what we believe. We are not experts. But we want to talk and learn about what other people believe. So let's talk about it. Okay, I have a quote from Dr. Walter Martin. I don't know if you guys know who he is. King Mother Colts. Of that, yeah. And he used to have a show. Go ahead, Earlene. The Bible Answer Man. Yeah. I love that show. It still comes on. So he used to have a saying. And it was, even little cannibals can't clean their plates. And what that means is that we can find some good in everything. A little cannibal just ate all the food on his plate. It just happened to be a human being. But his mom told him he's a good boy. You know, so we can find good in everything. And what we're trying to determine is what these religious systems say about how a man should treat his wife. Okay, I would like Shante to read something. 2 Timothy 3, 15 through 16. And that from a child, all has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Okay, and I'd like to add to that, that there are millions of Scriptures that I don't know about. There's millions of writings that I don't know about. But what we're trying to determine, if in these books are these words inspired of God. And the reason I say that is that, that not every, everything is inspired of God. Not all books and writings and quotes and people throw at you. They come from left field, aliens and all kinds of stuff. So what we're trying to determine here is, can these words that we're reading from these two Bibles, can they or are they inspired of God? So what I'd like to do is open it up for discussion. But Melvin, did you, were you able to get those? Okay. You wanted some Scriptures from the Quran that deals with that. And I wanted to go to, yeah, it's quite a few Scriptures. Well, we just need two. Yeah, just two. But we want the most powerful one. Okay, I got two. Surah 30, Ayat 21. And let me read that for you. And it reads, Surah 30, Ayat 21 reads, And among his signs is that he created for you mates from among yourself, that you may dwell in tranquility with him. And he has put love and mercy between your hearts, verily in that are signs for those who reflect. And then the other one is Surah 30, Surah 16, Surah is like a chapter. Okay, can we kind of discuss that first one a little bit? Okay, the two go to together. And then there's another show on the 16th. Okay, okay. Surah 16, Ayat 72. And Surah 16, Ayat 72 reads, And Allah have made for you mates and companions of your own nature and made for you out of them, sons and daughters and grandchildren and provided for your substance of the best where they then believe in vain and be ungrateful for Allah's favor now all they saying is that is that Allah have made these mates together as to be equal to be equal to put a family together to put love towards each other in terms of raising the family mm-hmm in a nutshell is what they're saying there okay so what what is there any further instruction on how a man should love his wife yeah well see that is the thing when you come to Judaism Christianity and Islam mm-hmm mm-hmm mm-hmm right all three of them come out of the same source you know starting from Abraham starting from April and here's what you got to understand about all three of them when it come to marriage when it come to the family and all of all of that the covenant that Abraham was given to reflect this on the mother flying your seed was a covenant of circumcision which means and all three of these these major religions follow that through a Abraham which means that everything that comes through your seed you're gonna teach the knowledge of God now when you look over the Quran the Bible or the Quran the Old Testament the New Testament I talked about the same thing when it comes to marriage and the family and when you go all the back in the history closer to you for him you're see that they did similar things even the concept of polygamy you know when you look at like Ephraim and Moses and all of your early Isaac and all of them practice the concept of polygamy when it come to marriage and when you what what through a lot of people is when they look at what Islam what's happening in Islam today and they take that as this is endorsed by the Quran and when it comes to Islam the Quran is Islam when you see it happening out there today it's a lot of stuff that's cultural in nature I was reading about that yes that's what I was thinking when Willis had me like look up some some stuff about how they treat their women in Islam and I brought up how they're kind of domineering and how they don't really have a lot of rights but he was saying based on the Quran it's it's different you know how then how we see it today and so can you read that yeah first Peter first Peter 3 7 and what the King James it's in the NIV this version actually says husbands in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life so that nothing will hinder your prayers okay now we kind of had a discussion about that but to me that's kind of self-explanatory there God is instructing a man okay to love his woman he calls him a weaker vessel so anybody physically well don't say that anybody got anything to say about that the Bible calling the woman a weaker vessel yeah absolutely I mean it doesn't mean that the women are weaker than men they're saying that Adam was created first and that the woman was created out of Adam so therefore the man has authority over women but as far as ministering working thinking women are not the only women that are the weakest but we are the 108 billion men including a few of our priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests including priests the Bible and the Quran are not from the same source. Right. Because God inspired the Bible with 66 books. And the Quran came from, well, I can't say over the lines that it's satanic, but it's a form of religion. And they don't believe that women have rights, which is why Muhammad believes that most of the people in hell are women. Well, let me just say, let me just correct you on the Quran. That's totally untrue. That's just not true when you talk about the whole history of Islam and what the Prophet Muhammad believed in relationship. Two female. There's no historical documents that support that. And you have to check. If you want to check the historical document, you check the Hadith. That's what provides the historical documents. But when it comes to Islam, it's the Quran that provides that. And none of that is around. Yeah. Again, I'm glad you checked that point. And it is that women, the daughter of Muhammad, was considered very much an elder in the church. And one of the things that Islam was embodied with was the death of many, many, many, many young men because of the many, many wars that were going on. And therefore, that's where the polygamy parts come in. Women didn't have the rights to be able to buy things, to buy land, to control families or anything like that. That was a right that wasn't issued at that time. Yeah. But Islam made it available because they married a man. And if they married this man, then they could do what they had already done with their previous husband who died in war. And one more thing I would like to say real quick is that also as far as the rights of females, another thing that's incorrect about that is that Islam is the one that brought the rights to the female with the... Revelations. And most of your early outstanding figures in Islam were females. When you talk about Khadija, when you talk about Aisha, you just go whole down the list that really played a very important part of that. And then as far as African Americans is concerned, is when Islam... And then I'll let her slide back over to what we're talking about. When Islam spread and went out to Africa, see, it was Islam in two places that laid the educational system that we use today. Islamic North Africa and Islamic Spain. Islamic Spain, they educated the European nations and stuff. See, you got a lot of stuff that have come into Islam today that has nothing to do with Islam. Let me slide back over. Yeah. I think in 1 Peter 3, 7, where it says that if he's not respectful to his wife, that his prayers won't even be heard. I think the Bible, and God places a huge importance on women in a relationship that he cares about them so much that if their husband isn't respectful, he won't even hear the prayers of the man. And see, that's another thing. It's like we're talking about instruction for a man loving a woman. And I understand where you're coming from. And in my opinion, they're not equal because they don't have Christ. The Quran does not have Christ. And they can't, in my opinion, they can't describe... describe the love that the Bible is talking about here because they don't know it. That's another thing that's incorrect that I would like to correct. Because see, what a lot of people don't know is that the Prophet Muhammad, Beliah, you can just go down the whole list, right, that came into Arabia to educate the wild tribes was a Christian group called the Hannafites. Right? Right. And, this is the eastern part of Christianity that was oppressed during 325 A.D. during the Council of Nassim when they decided to adopt the western part of it. See, so, as far... And then when you pick up the Quran, you know, Christ, just another word for Messiah, the same way that they view the Messiah, Jesus, you know, that whole eastern portion of Christianity, that's what ended up in the Quran. So, there's no difference. No, but, that's what I'm saying. All over the world. Yeah. Agree, you know, this is the part that we do agree on and then there's some parts that we don't agree on because of the, because of the different approaches to the religion and the disciplines of the religion. But basically, that's correct. Yeah. But what I'm getting at though is instruction for a man to love his wife is, and that's when she reads this and it talks about them being a weaker vessel. Now, you say, you know, what we're looking at in Iran, and, and, um, um, Arabia, these women are being oppressed and they have to wear these things. And, yeah, I know, I know what you're saying. That's not in the, that's not in the Quran. Okay. And maybe it isn't. But the reality is, is they're not respecting their women and they are using them as weaker vessels and they are oppressing their women. Okay. And they're, they're getting it from somewhere. All I'm saying, if they had this scripture. No, all I'm saying is this, and see the reason that you can't say if they had, this scripture, because you got to look at, uh, the Christians over here, they had the same scripture. No, that's true. You're right. And they endorsed slavery for over 300 years. So, you know, to me, that argument, uh, uh, don't hold up. That's true. See, what, what, what I'm, what I'm saying about this, uh, when it comes to, um, uh, marriage in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, it's basically the same. You're talking about raising your family. You're talking about loving and respecting each other and all that. But I'm also, I'm talking about instruction. Okay. Now you have a book there and I have a book here. And this book that I have, can you read that second? Yeah. Second scripture. Um, Ephesians 5, 22 through 26 and verse 28. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Okay, wait, just, I mean, how powerful. I know, but, huh, is that also? It's also in the Quran. I mean, I couldn't, I couldn't find, finish that. Cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Mm-hmm. Okay, now what I'm saying, is that scripture in the Quran? Of course, all of that is. Okay, there's no difference in there. Yeah, where in the Quran? I gave you two scriptures, but let me say this before you get away from that, because here's what you got to understand about what you just read. Mm-hmm. You just read from Ephesus, Ephesians, right? Ephesians. Right, and what you got to understand, we're talking about an area, right, that was totally different in every way that you could think about in the area where the Messiah Jesus grew at. Messiah Jesus grew up in Judea, the Holy Land, Jerusalem, where all of that is at, and now you're talking about an area in which the Apostle Paul took the teachings to Asia Minor. I know, but who taught Paul? Jesus was the one that taught Paul, so everything that the disciples taught us was from God, was from Jesus. And see, that's another thing what I'm saying is like, you can say this and you can say that, but I'm not a genius. I can read this and understand. I think you missed my point. What? The point that I was making, right, is that the teachings of Jesus that went to Asia Minor was a basically polytheistic Isla Worshiping area at that particular time, which was totally different from the area where the Messiah Jesus grew. I know, but what's the point? Well, I'm trying to show you the same point that you're trying to point out about Islam by jumping from one point to the next, by jumping from something that was revealed in the 7th century, the Quran, and now you look at what's happening in Iran, you look at Iraq, you look at Syria, and you try to make sweeping statements and connect the two, and it's no connection at all because you're not dealing with Islam when you look over there at those oppressive situations and what's happening with women. So is that the majority? Okay, now, I'm just asking the question. Is that the overwhelming majority that of women of Islam, are they being oppressed? No. I bet if you see, if you talk to the most, it's more Muslims in Indonesia than anywhere else in the world. That particular country have more Muslims over there than Saudi Arabia and all that kind of stuff. Now, when you look at all of those areas, the first thing that condemns these areas is the fact that Islam, and I say Islam, I'm based in Afghanistan, on the Quran, do not allow a monarchy over there. And see, you got kings and all that got set up over there. And Islam do not allow breaking off into Sunnis and Shiites. See? They've broken away from that. See? And the only thing I'm trying to say, when you examine something like Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, examine it fairly. You know, examine the contributions, that these three major religions, not just a shortcoming, but when you look at Islam, when you think about the whole scientific world, the whole medical system world that we have in existence today, see, look at that too. I know, but remember what I said. I asked you to bring the Quran and I asked you to find... To find scriptures that are comparable. That will instruct a man on how to treat his wife. That's what I asked you to do. So I don't think that I'm being lopsided here. Yeah, we're just trying to compare. I gave you the scriptures that I have. There's a whole surah, our niece of the woman, the whole surah deals with that. And I quoted from that surah. I think surah 31. Well, to me, that's just saying stuff. That's not teaching a man or saying, hey, look, buddy, you have to respect this woman or I'm not going to even listen. Exactly what it says. If we were to get testimony of these women from Iraq and Iran, which I'm sure we can, then they will probably tell you a whole different story what their lifestyle is overseas. Why don't you get testimony from Masjid Bila'i or Masjid Ibn al-Qatib of the Muslim woman here and let them speak for themselves? See, it's a big difference. And sitting over here in the United States and sitting over here in these areas like Iran or Iraq, what's going on there is way past when you're talking about Islam. If it was all about Islam, they wouldn't even be fighting each other because all of them claim to be Muslims. See, what I'm trying to say is the same thing. Well, you have the same to the Christian history. You know, Islam is still trying to catch up to the brutality that was laid out in Christianity when you're talking about the Crusades and all of that. But that's here for another discussion because we're kind of winding down. I thought we were going to do a tribute to Suji. Yeah. That was a good one, man. Hey, we got a couple minutes to wind down. Take it back. Yeah, so anyway... We need to do a whole show on that. Oh, yes. I mean, when you just start getting into it, it just opens all these other questions and stuff. Because you guys will have a whole hour on... I'd like to say just one thing before we go back to it. I was sitting here listening and I've asked God to help me to keep my mouth shut if I'm not supposed to say anything. But if I'm supposed to say something, then let me say only what the Holy Spirit would tell me to say. And one thing the Holy Spirit says is be loving. Be loving, be kind. Whatever you say, be led by the Holy Spirit. Now, hear me out, okay? But I hear what you all are saying. But it doesn't matter if you don't have Jesus. It doesn't matter. It's Jesus. Jesus says, I know the way, the truth, and the life. No man come to follow but by me. So you can treat your wife right as a Muslim or whatever race or religion you are. But if you're not saved, it doesn't matter. Now, let me say this. Because we're winding out of time. Go ahead. Yeah, we're winding out of time. And I've got to get a couple things in. I've got to mention that Brother S.S. Jones will be the guest coming up two weeks from tonight. He's a very important musician down in the Skid Row area. Ms. Mellon wanted to quickly make an announcement. Brother S.S. Jones, say something to us real quick. We've got less than a minute, so take about 15 seconds. Say something. Yeah, I just wanted to take an opportunity to let everybody know that the Skid Row Musicians Network and the Ash Grove Music got together with the world stage and we're going to be doing a show on October the 11th. That's going to be a big tribute to the Lead Belly Show. Okay. And we're hoping that to get, Sonny War, who's a real popular new female finger-picking guitarist, plays some real good blues. And I'd just like to say that I'll be back talking with you next week when I come on and I'm going to sing some songs. Okay. And then my new song, the song that's out right now that they can get is Take That Ho to the Hotel, and that's on Ash Grove. Okay. All right. Ms. Mellon, you've got about 15 seconds to get something in because I've got to wind it up. Well, September 17th is the new season for the Music Center, and the next play will be... will be A Trip to Bountiful. That will be starring Miss Cicely Tyson, who was on a 30-year vacation, so to speak, from Broadway, starring Cuba Gilding Jr. and Vanessa Williams as well. And if anybody wants a ticket, please contact Mellow Desire at 718-510-4803, or you can email me at theyerofthediamond at gmail.com. These tickets will be free. They are $85 to $120 each. But if you contact me and say, I want to see the show, then I'll... arrange a way for you to see the show. Okay. I just auditioned for that show a few weeks ago. I'm hoping you'll give me a call. I've got to wind down. Thank you for tuning in. I'd like to extend a special thanks to my in-studio guests, and thank you for tuning in to the Coombran reporting from your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving, creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. I leave you with the song that opened the show, Homeboy, by Suni. And she, Ali. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Brothers, there's only one blood cousin. Ain't no sense in us trampling on the stones. It's us, down, down to the bone. Blood is thick. Waters were known well. Cousins were kept apart. Mothers were off. Memories. Fathers were not favorites on the farm. For he could do some harm. He could wreck the master's skin. For he, brothers, could dream. Homeboy. Your mama ain't no saint. Your daddy died on a shallow stream. But your uncle, Dr. King, didn't have a dream, my brother. And what is your real excuse? Why can't you study your lessons and stay in school? Why can't you study your lessons and stay in school? School. Free love. And sex ain't nothing but a game. Don't never last. Try hope. Take a chance on love. Register to vote. Money ain't everything. But you could buy her a ring. Listen to little blackbird sing. Buy you a record of a yardbird with wings. Get into the swing of things. Homeboy. Buy some tenderness for a change. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. boots. You know what I'm saying? Cause it ain't but one blood. It's called fighting for freedom now.