History

This is part one of our special Series On Apartheid. As the leaders of the various anti-Apartheid movements pass away, we take the time to look back at one of the most interesting and unusual periods in Human History. 

In part one, we trace the origins of the Apartheid system back 1400's HRE, when Roman legal concepts entered the Low Countries. We then continue through the colonization of the Cape Colony by Dutch, French, and finally British forces. I discuss the various independent Boer republics, and how these efforts were extinguished by the most powerful empire in the world. 

Finally, I explore how the repression of the Boer people could have laid the groundwork for the Apartheid racial ideology that would emerge more than 40 years after the last Afrikaaner state was conquered.

Let's Learn Together!

The Word: Series On Apartheid 1

My musings on an infomercial I saw earlier this selling 1970's musick on CD's. Because this is one area I can speak on fairly well, & am especially familiar with the 1970's, I could pick up on several distortions. You may be surprised as to what was going on behind-the-scenes while you were enjoying 70's musick.

Jakob Musick's Audio Blog -- 'If It Was Good, It Was On The Radio'

In this editorial, I discuss the Jewish State, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, & recent developments from the region. I, & many others, would argue that the modern state of Israel constitutes an Apartheid regime in its dealings, colonization, & isolation of the Palestinian Arabs. Like its old ally, the Union of South Afrika, Israel is attempting to neutralize its dangerous minority populations by crafting reservations & delineating citizenship laws that exclude the majority. 

In the wake of the Israeli cabinet's deceleration of Israel as the "Nation-State of the Jewish People," and the concept's addition to the nation's Basic Law, the discussion surrounding the seemingly never-ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues. While the fortunes of Israeli Jews seems to rise & fall, the lot of the Palestinians, Arabs, & Muslims has continually gotten worse since 1945. I expect an unfortunate increase in violence toward the end of 2014, and the beginning of the New Year, as the 3rd Intifada accelerates. 

Note: This editorial originally aired on the HCC Radio Programme "HCC Radio News" in December 2014

You can read my blog Agitprop here -- http://jakobmusickmiller.blogspot.com/

Jakob Musick's Audio Blog:  Israel Is An Apartheid State

Saffiya joins me to discuss a unique topic in the history of Abrahamic exegesis today -- The concept of 'hell'. Contrary to what contemporary Fundamentalist Evangelical Protestants and other Christians may believe today, what we think of as 'hell' is not a Christian concept at all. In truth, it appears to derive from the East, not the holy lands of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. We trace the importation of the 'hell' concept from Zoroastrianism, but also discuss the fact that 'hell' is a real, visible place on earth....and it looks nothing like what you have been told.

Saffiya Reveals Hell Is A Place On Earth

Saffiyya leads us through another topic of great interest to the post-modern world: Homosexuality, & its' relationship to the Abrahamic faiths. Today, thousands of years after the purported lives of the prophets, scores of Christians & Jews worldwide oppose Homosexuality on religious grounds. But what are they objections based upon scripturally? 

In this episode, we focus mostly on Jewish texts & the Old Testament. The stories of Onan & the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah are commonly cited as 'reasons why' Christians & Jews oppose homosexual sex. We look into these stories further, and go back into a time before these tales were even told.....When Homosexuality didn't seem to be much of a concern at all....What changed?

Join us & find out!

The text version of the video: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1klF2XdzFlQslc6Xj60p3-IXpPPzoUOfyEQo-gKwLCs0/edit

Playlists for very much more academic overviews of these things, by Yale University:
Jewish texts playlist -- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWi

Christian texts playlist -- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0

Saffiyya On Homosexuality & The Abrahamic Faiths 1

Saffiyya joins me yet again, and instructs on the latest installment of her new series! Continuing the story of Homosexuality and the Abrahamic faiths, she delves into early Christian canonical, and non-canonical texts. She explains why Martin Luther left out the book of Maccabees, while it was retained the Catholic Bible. How did the Maccabees, pre-modern Jewish fundamentalist zealots, become symbols of anti-homosexuality while never writing a single word on it? Also, what do the Romans have to do with our current views of masculinity & homosexuality? Saffiyya explains it all!

The history of homosexuality in religion continues!

Saffiyya On Homosexuality & The Abrahamic Faiths 2

Saffiyya comes to enlighten us once again on a new topic. Veering from our study of homosexuality & the Abrahamic religions briefly, she speaks about gender in the ancient world, the myth of the 'traditional family,' and why these ideas of gender and marriage narrowed for Jews & Christians.  

Our idea of men & women in the ancient world are not as clear cut as one would think, Saffiyya says. She talks specifically about Torah injunctions against cross-dressing, and also discussing the phenomenon of the 'eunuch' a gender which, for the most part, we do not have today

Join us!

Saffiyya On Pre-Modern Gender

2nd compilation of highlights from the late podcast The Word. This compilation focuses on the period from July to August 2013

Feat. Annika, Charlotte, Elizabeth, & Dilda

Clips from-
The Word Episode 4 - Will Rupert Murdoch Ever Be Brought To Justice? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqKUu5CgumI)
The Word Episode 5 - This Fucking Royal Baby Media Complex (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFzZQiQDRDc)
The Word Episode 6- Hitler Fried Chicken (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-S_6UV4nv8)
The Word Episode 9- 'He's A Token! HE'S A TOKEN!' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nEBK_ndB8)

Musick-
Schindler's List Theme (Guitar) - John Williams


Best Of The Word #2 (July-August 2013)

Safiya & I conclude our series on the Abrahamic faiths & their relationship to homosexuality with this- an exploration of homosexuality within the Islamic tradition. Drawing from Judaic & Christian foundations, but also from disparate other sources, Islam has developed a distinct relationship with transgenderism & sexual orientations. Safiya explains why the population of Pakistan is upwards of 10% what we would called 'transgender' in the west & also reveals the nuanced understanding of gender re-assignment in Iran; why the western perspective is inadequate.

Safiya On Homosexuality In The Abrahamic Faiths 3

5th compilation of segments of the defunct programme The Word. This compilation covers the twilight of the programme's first year, & features Annika Wolf, Charlotte, & Elizabeth

Musick-
Special Love- La Toya Jackson
Friends- Amii Stewart
What's Your Fantasy (Remix) - Ludacris, Lil Kim, Trina, Foxy Brown, & Shawnna
Do It Like Me- Shawnna

Best Of The Word #5 (October-December 2013)

This is the first in a new series where Safiya Mukhamadova leads us through the (often dark) story of women in the scriptures of the Abrahamic tradition. 

We start with these women found in the books of the Tanakh-
*Wisdom
*Folly
*Deborah
*Jael
*Jezebel
*Athaliah
*Huldah
*Abigail
*Bathsheba
*Michal
*Hannah 
*Ruth
*Naomi

Safiya's Women Of The Abrahamic Tradition 1 (Wisdom, Folly, Jael, Huldah)

This compilation covers the period of time between March & May 2015 on The Word, featuring my discussion of Islamic State with Safiya Mukhamadova & my second interview with CK Brooke

Feat. Safiya Mukhamadova & CK Brooke

Clips From-
*The Word: Islamic State Destroys Artefacts (https://soundcloud.com/jakob-musick/the-word-islamic-state-destroys-artefacts-1)
*The Word CK Brooke II (https://soundcloud.com/jakob-musick/the-word-ck-brooke-ii-the-duchess-inheritance)

Musick:
*Wild Side (Full) - La Toya Jackson
*He's A Rebel - The Crystals
*Nobody Till You - Lindsay Lohan
*Moonboots - ORS

Best Of The Word #9 (March-May 2015)

In this Memory Lane, I talk to an Indian woman who now resides in the United States. Her name is Lopamudra - 'One who does the hand motions' -- & she explains her very layered life. If there is a woman who has lived what is an abstract concept for many people -- multiculturalism -- it is Lopamudra. Her family entered the post-colonial Anglified Bouergoisie of the Indian nation after the partition and the intercine conflicts that followed. After they fled, they were able to rise in social strata in their new home & send their children to private Catholic schools. Educated in the Catholic way, from a Anglified Hindu upper-class family, Lopamudra brings with her the layers of history, colonialism, & later Feminism, that would characterize her unique experience & outlook.

Lopamudra starts from a memory of a lie. A lie that, in retrospect, was not that consequential, but for her it marked her moment of symbolic castration. From here, her guilt grew. Listen to this story of a woman situated in the matrix of the multicultural- an academic feminist who imagines a death that pre-dated her. 'That little baby haunted me', she says of her dead brother. 

Listen to Lopamudra's story

Musick:
Rebel Heart (DJ FmSteff 2015 Totalmix) - Madonna
Hit Em Wit Da Hee (Instrumental) - Missy Elliott

Memory Lane - Lopamudra

This 12th compilation of The Word includes my final recorded original episode of The Word, where former porn star Howie Gordon (Richard Pacheco) promotes his book, & then in the second half, CK Brooke talks about her novel "The Duchess Quest" after we lost the first audio to the depths of Youtube

Musick-
Clown - Switchblade Symphony
Ever Changing Times - Aretha Frankin & Michael McDonald
Wild Side- La Toya Jackson

The Best Of The Word #12

Using another clip from American Talk Show "The View" we discuss three topics near to the heart of the new American version of "The Troubles" -- gun violence, police & race, & mental health, and how the bourgeois parties manipulate the discourse and constrict its social development through channels such as these

The Bourgeois Parties Constrict The Discourse On Mental Health

Safiya Mukhamadova's Survey through the Women of the Abrahamic Tradition continues in this long-awaited 2nd addition.

In this episode:
*Michal
*Pharisees
*Hellenistic Judaism
*Ruth
*Naomi

Musick-
Keep The Faith- Faith Evans
When Christmas Comes (Instrumental) - Mariah Carey

Safiya's Women Of The Abrahamic Tradition 2 (Michal, Ruth, Naomi)

In this third episode of the ABC's of LGBT we discuss the two main sexual orientations - heterosexuality & homosexuality. Ria gives us figures and background on the overwhelming prevalence of heterosexuality and the definition of hetero-normativity. Also, we each provide information gleaned from our particular different experiences -- Ria talks about identifying as a 'Lipstick Lesbian' & I talk about deep divisions and prejudices that relate to the over-all devaluing of the feminine in the gay community.

Musick-
Sweet Madness - Sons of Maria & Angelika Vee
I Hear The Bells On Christmas Day - The Starlite Orchestra

The ABC's Of LGBT 3 (Heterosexuality & Homosexuality) (Corrected Audio)

Safiya's series continues as we cover Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, Bilhah, Ketura, Tamar, & Dinah in this installment, with a focus on the political implications of the growing emphasis on Hebrew 'racial purity', attempts to toady toward the Persian empire, & how these activities shaped modern Judaism, & formed the bedrock of racism in modern-day Orthodox Judaism

'Racism, Sexism, & The Double-Standard': Safiya Mukhamadova's Women Of The Abrahamic Tradition 3

Safiya & I continue through the Torah, from the Persian Empire, back to the 'Holy Land', where the Kingdom of Judah exists under Assyrian authority, & the Kingdom of Israel "is but a distant memory. We comb through books of prophecy, where the presence is women is not only non-existent, but when it does appear, is completely allegorical. The only 'woman' we encounter in this period is the female personification of the 'Israeli'-Hebraic nation. 

The exit musick, J. Cole's "False Prophets", is apt -- With a dearth of women, we examine the actual prophecy given by the male prophets -(Hosea, Isaiah etc) and we find them utterly lacking. Unlike with some earlier books, the time between the books being written & the events that they describe is very short. So short that *while being written*, the political situation changes, rendering the 'prophecy' purportedly given by these books fairly useless. In some cases, namely the book purportedly written by Isaiah, the prophecy given is more and more inaccurate as the book goes on.

We also examine the changing political situation of this period, with the two poles of the Hebrew world -- Cosmopolitan Persia & the back-water Holy Land -- struggling for control of the tradition. 

All in all, women are nearly invisible. As Safiya notes, prostitutes were the only women in Hebrew society during this period that were given any modicum of free movement or latitude with regard to their lives, though the practice was not approved of in general, & the Hebrews had abolished the 'shrine prostitute' position years before.

Subscribe! Whether on Itunes or on Soundcloud (as well as to Safiya's Youtube page!)

Thank you!

Safiya's Women Of the Abrahamic Tradition 3 (False Prophecy in the 'Prophetic' Books)

Part II of our discussion on 'Diet Pill Democracy' & new president Trump (USA). This is the 2nd part of the 2nd Communist roundtable featuring:
Stingray handler Luke Ford
New School Student Activist Dakotah Lily
International Television News Journalist Caleb Maupin
&
Jakob.

The Communist Roundtable, starting with the 3rd, will be its own, hour-long programme. For Brotherly Internationalism!

Musick -
Destiny - Mission Space
Why Don't You Want My Love? (Bruce Forest Instrumental) - La Toya Jackson

History

Jakob Kesava Moscow