New Africa of the Palm Beaches’ Model Dialogue series kicks off Sunday, Jan. 23, 2-4 p.m. with: “From King to…Cosby?”

A forum on whether African-America’s glass is half-empty in light of Dr. Bill Cosby’s recent controversial comments. Specially invited to share unique perspective: Edith Bush, executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Coordinating Committee, 2011 recipient of Palm Beach State College’s prestigious MLK Individual Leadership Award.

Sunday, Feb. 20: “Where El Hajji Malik el-Shabazz was heading…”

On the anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X, Imam Jaabir Muhammad shares unique insight from the days of the original Nation of Islam to our current day.

Sunday, March 20: “Constantine’s Sword”

James Carroll’s compelling documentary exposes the religiously inspired violence and intolerance discovered during his personal search for a better future.

Sunday, April 17: NAPB’s  10^th Annual Family Interfaith Picnic

(Dyer Park, West Palm Beach. More details to come.)

All Programs 2-4 p.m. at

The United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches

900 Brandywine Road, West Palm Beach 33409

Moderator: C.B. Hanif, multimedia journalist

No admission fee; donations accepted

Join our gatherings featuring remarkable cultural diversity and exemplary models for interaction and cooperation.

Directions from I-95: Exit #71 west onto Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. Turn right at third traffic light and left at stop sign. UMCPB is on left. Room #115. More information call 561-309-5476.

First, fyi, here’s Michael LaForgia’s Palm Beach Post report (” ‘Lazy’ media fuels prejudice against Muslims, activist says”) on “Muslims in the Media: Separating Fact and Fiction,” my talk Tuesday at Palm Beach State College.

On to those links and resources I promised I’d get online for PBSC students and others:

• Jim Kenney is exactly on the mark with what we’re talking about and what we’ve been doing: Why The Mosque Melee Actually Signals A New Era Of Religious Tolerance
• Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s is the Quran translation I recommended, for its extensive commentary, footnotes and context.
• I also cited Muhammad Haykal’s “The Life of Muhammad.” Imperfect, but authoritative and comprehensive for context, and online here.
• Last, for Muslim audiences and non-, my own Hajj account is available for reading online, but:

For more perspective on the Hajj, I can’t recommend highly enough the profound compendium of Hajj travelogues, One Thousand Roads to Mecca. Excellently edited by the noted Muslim journalist Michael Wolfe, this collection documents ten centuries of travelers writing about the journey that Islam prescribes at least once in their lifetime for Muslims who are physically and financially able to answer the Almighty’s call.

All for now, more to come.

— C.B. Hanif

Sharing thoughts on "Muslims in the Media: Separating Fact from Fiction," Tuesday with the capacity crowd in Meldon Hall on the Eissey Campus of Palm Beach State College.

Once again it was the kids — this time Palm Beach State College students — who reminded me why I’m hopelessly optimistic about the possibilities for humanity.

For example I so appreciated the young man who, as we approached the two-hour point in the scheduled hour-and- a half program, stood in the question-and-answer line to comment:

“I want to start off by saying I came here today because I was supposed to be here for class. But — I learned a lot…Before I came here, I thought that in the media, that’s what I saw as Muslim…I learned more about the Muslim religion today than ever before.”

Even more gratifying were the thoughts of a young woman who has served in Iraq. Regarding the healing mission of the proposed Islamic cultural center in Manhattan, she said:

“I agree with you totally: Why not? If they had mosques already there, before it went down, then why can’t you put it there again?…America is a place where everybody can be whoever you are, and you can have your religion, your beliefs, your faith, whatever you want. Why is it so much trouble to educate everybody, to let them know that, ‘Even though you think one thing, there are other things out there that are good for those people too.’ I don’t understand how are you supposed to educate people, and to stop the hatred toward other people, if you are not allowed to?”

A lady deserving our salute.

I responded that my thought is it’s an education process, and we just have to keep working at it. Later as we shared a few words (and I gave her a salute) she added: “I think the problem is with the people, not with the religions.”

Still, as usually is my experience in these dialogues, a minuscule few looked past all the good unifying  information that was presented, from varied perspectives besides my own, and focused on what they fear.

One Egyptian-born elder said he had studied the Quran in Arabic for nearly decade. Yet unlike Chiara Lubich, the blessed Christian lady who moments earlier had appeared on a video screen in excerpts of her historic 1997 address at the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque, he seemed to have gleaned little of the spirit of the book.

Another lady seemed worried about sharia law becoming American law. I didn’t get the impression that she was interested in my recommendation of the definitive recent commentary on the subject, by Sumbul Ali-Karamali. But I hope she takes time to read it so that — borrowing a line from a former U.S. first lady — she can be informed, rather than just rhetorical. As Ali-Karamali writes: “If you read the anti-Islam fear-mongering websites, all you’ll learn will be tall tales.”

If there was something that disturbed me, it was the Muslim student who said she was tired of having to defend herself. In fact the Muslim students I met, from Bengladesh, Ethiopia and elsewhere, were a joy. For their being on the defensive — something that I as a Muslim American refuse to accept — our news organizations’ lazy, religious-profiling approach is complicit.

Generally, it was the overwhelmingly positive comments of the young and younger adults in the room that warmed my heart and reminded me why the future is bright. Just as I had little tolerance for any shout-you-down debate session, the kids showed there was little room for small minds and narrow thinking. Beyond the preponderance of bright minds, another sign that they appreciated the discussion is the fact that so many stayed for so long.

Once again, however, the prevailing sentiment in response to the myths debunked and background shared was: Why is it we don’t know this?

We’re still going to have to work on the media piece, which was my talk’s centerpiece. These days, the more I try to talk about the performance of our media organizations, the more folks want credible information about Islam and Muslims instead. Having that provided by our news media continues to be a challenge.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to have shared some perspectives that folks tend not to get. For that I again thank the Eissey Campus Diversity Committee, the Student Activities Office, Dr. David Pena and Christie Bravo of the Library Learning Rescources Center, the Spanish Club, PBSC’s faculty members, directors, President Dennis Gallon and all of today’s guests.

And once again, the kids.

Signing a program flyer at the request of a new friend who said: "Thank you, I wish everybody thought more like what you’re talking about today. It would be a much better world." We agreed that it’s an ongoing learning process. And in her words: “Eventually we’ll get there.”

— C.B. Hanif

Gholam Rahman (center) of the Muslim Community of Palm Beach County is flanked by Dr. David Pena of Palm Beach State College (L), as a smiling Judy Bonner of the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palm Beaches chats with Rabbi Barry Silver during last month’s event.

With G-d’s Name, the Merciful Benefactor, the Merciful Redeemer

Join Us As We Again Spotlight

“Model Interfaith Dialogue & Unity”

Featuring the unprecedented documentary:

“8 Centuries of Muslims in America”

Chronicling the history and contributions of Muslims in America dating from before the arrival of Columbus right up to today. Former Palm Beach Post writer/editor C.B. Hanif leads this fourth in a series of public-interest DVD & discussion gatherings featuring remarkable religious, ethnic and cultural diversity and unity:

Sunday, Sept. 26, 2-4 p.m.

United Methodist Church

of the Palm Beaches

900 Brandywine Road, West Palm Beach 33409

This monthly series continues in the spirit of the Interfaith Clergy Committee’s annual Institute Day program (“Promoting Civil Discourse in a Polarized Nation: People of Faith Respond”); the Delray Beach Interfaith Clergy Association’s First Interfaith Harvest Dinner; the 9^th Annual Family Interfaith Picnic hosted by New Africa of the Palm Beaches; and the recent examination of Focolare founder Chiara Lubich’s 1997 address to a gathering of 3,000 at Harlem’s historic Malcolm Shabazz Mosque.

Journey with us as we again seek to learn about each other rather than define or convert each other, learn to be the first to love the other, and develop exemplary models for interreligious interaction and cooperation.

No admission fee; donations accepted.

Organized by New Africa of the Palm Beaches and the Focolare of South Florida.

DIRECTIONS FROM I-95: Take Exit #71 west onto Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. Turn right at first corner then left at next (three-way stop sign). UMCPB is on left. For more information call 561-309-5476.

Mistress of ceremonies Liz Quirantes (R), PBSC President Dennis Gallon, and the PBSC Troubadours onstage to perform "The Star Spangled Banner."

This morning promised yet another chamber of commerce day. But given the lingering coolness in the air, Palm Beach State College President Dennis Gallon made the right call to move the 11th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Breakfast inside the Duncan Theatre on the Lake Worth Campus. The former Palm Beach Community College also made another outstanding choice of keynote speaker. Sheila Johnson, whose credits include part owner of three professional sports teams, spoke in depth of the nexus of sacrifice and deep friendship between Dr. King and another great servant of humanity, Jackie Robinson.

(R-L): PBSC President Dennis Gallon, keynote speaker Sheila Johnson, mistress of ceremonies Liz Quirantes.

Check back later for more on the PBSC program and the comments of Ms. Johnson, founding partner of Black Entertainment Television and herself a legend.

For now I’m behind on several deadlines, and also have more to prepare for Monday’s 8th annual MLK Day Celebration during which I’m honored to be speaking, at the invitation of Carribbean Americans for Community Involvement in conjunction with the Village of Royal Palm Beach.

In addition, earlier that morning, West Palm Beach’s beloved Edith Bush convenes her MLK Coordinating Committee’s umpteenth annual MLK Breakfast at the Palm Beach County Convention Center — from which I’ll be rushing out at bit early this year.

For now, for those who wanted to be present but couldn’t, a few more scenes from PBSC:

PBSC Criminal Justice Institute Academy students with the presentation of colors and pledge to the flag.

The Troubadours.

Wendy S. Link, PBSC board of trustees chairperson, giving opening remarks.

Keynote speaker Johnson...

...had everyone's attention...

... including, to the far right in the balcony, a man after this multi-tasking writer/editor's own heart...

... who paid rapt attention even while working with his red pen.

So did students who lined the balcony.

PBSC's Black Student Union Gospel Choir performed "Lift Every Voice And Sing," the Negro National Anthem.

Student Angela Fontenot delivered a stirring vocal solo.

PBSC Professor Allen L. Webber leading the gathering in "We Shall Overcome."

Go forth and "Dream. Act. Serve." I have long been a fan of Dr. Gallon, his administration, the board and staff at PBSC, for always keeping it all about the students.