As part of its Black History Month speaker series, the Sol Collective is sponsoring “Roots of Democracy: Islam, Black Nationalism to Hip Hop culture. Guest speaker Rashad Baadqir will address the early roots of Black Nationalism and Afro-Islam to the impact of Hip Hop music and culture. Baadqir is a Multicultural Competency Consultant, author, and speaker The program starts at 7pm at the Sol Collective located at 2574 21st/near Broadway in Sacramento. For more information you can contact the Sol Collective via Facebook.  

Dave Eggers spoke about his book, “Zeitoun,” at the Crest Theatre Wednesday in the feature event of the sixth-annual One Book Sacramento: Connecting Our Communities. In her opening remarks, Sacramento Public Library Director Rivkah Sass mentioned the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (Aug. 29) and the flood threat to the Sacramento region as reasons the library selected “Zeitoun.” Eggers took the stage in hiking boots and a pinstripe jacket. He was joined by interviewer Joseph Palermo, associate professor of American history at Sacramento State. Palermo has written two books on Robert F. Kennedy and blogs at The Huffington Post. “Zeitoun” narrates the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun,

The Muslim Mosque Association of Sacramento announced plans to expand its presence in the Southside Park community by converting a nearby building at 2110 Fifth St. into a multiuse facility and community center. Southside Park Neighborhood Association President Beverly Bumpas said it was the first time the MMA had sent representatives to a neighborhood meeting. Bumpas said she believed their desire to build a new facility has now given them “reason to make the effort to be involved.” A vibrant Muslim community has existed in Southside Park since the first mosque west of the Mississippi River was constructed there in 1946. The Muslim presence in the community has aided in transitioning Mu

The California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) recently published an annual report revealing civil rights abuses, and harassment against Muslims in California. Verbal harassment, employment discrimination and the denial of religious accommodation all increased by double digit percentage points, 41 percent 19 percent and 12 percent respectively, while the number of workplace incidents rose from 88 cases in 2007 to 103 cases in 2008. In 2008 CAIR-CA processed a total of 480 incidents, a decrease from the 553 reported in 2007. The report noted that despite the number of incidents against Muslims is down from the year prior, certain areas of discrimination saw a

In the wake the recent presidential elections or re-selection of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Islamic Republic of Iran, supporters of the opposition Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi have staged massive protests within the country to show their displeasure of the announced results. With a record voter turnout in what amounted to as a very heated contest for the top public post in Iran, observers, reformers, and analysts alike across the globe felt that popular candidate Mousavi could unseat Ahmadinejad when it was all said and done. However those hopes were all but dashed when the official reporting came out that in fact Ahmadinejad had not only won by a close ma