Culture

Jazz, the art form dubbed ‘ America’s Classical Music’ by pianist and composer Dr. Billy Taylor, has garnered a world-wide following in the century since its birth in New Orleans and other cities. Rooted in the African-American experience, jazz has attracted practitioners and listeners from all ethnic groups, religions and nationalities. And from a uniquely […]

Books

Why Kahlil Gibran is one of the Best-Selling Poets of All Time

The Conversation

By Antonia Pont | – (The Conversation) – Kahlil Gibran (original spelling at birth “Khalil”) is a strange phenomenon of 20th Century letters and publishing. After Shakespeare and the Chinese poet Laozi, Gibran’s work from 1923, The Prophet, has made him the third most-sold poet of all time. This slim volume of 26 prose poems […]

Featured

Remembering Stan Lee

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I write today to honor a titan who has passed on, who once did me a great kindness when I was a mere college student. Meeting him was the thrill of a lifetime. A saying is attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad […]

Featured

Top 7 Signs Willie Nelson Might not be a Republican (That’s ‘TeaPot Party,’ not Tea Party)

Juan Cole

Music legend Willie Nelson is doing a benefit concert for Democratic senator hopeful in Texas, Beto O’Rourke, provoking the anger of some Republicans who had been his fans (but apparently were not very observant people). Here are some signs that might have signaled to those fans that Willie Nelson is not a Republican and does […]

Brazil

Corrupt Gov’t Kept slashing Nat’l Museum, Now Brazilian History up in Smoke

AFP

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Brazilian officials on Monday blamed years of government cutbacks for an inferno that gutted the treasured National Museum, described by President Michel Temer as a “tragic” loss of knowledge and heritage. Even before the embers had begun to cool Monday, grief over the huge cultural loss gave way to anger […]

art and photography

From State Censorship to Western Stereotypes. Interview with Iranian Artist Maryam Palizgir

Omid Memarian

This is part of a series done by Omid Memarian for Global Voices called How globalization, identity and culture intersect in art. ( GlobalVoices.org) – Maryam Palizgir is an Iranian-born artist and designer who currently lives and works in the U.S. Her work is interdisciplinary in nature, combining two and three dimensional drawing, sculptural painting […]

African-Americans

Aretha Franklin’s Reminder to Trump Era: Women, Minorities, Humans owed R E S P E C T (Video)

contributors

The Guardian: “Aretha Franklin, who has died at the age of 76, reflects on her 1967 cover hit Respect in a collection of archive clips. The queen of soul discusses how she and her sister injected Otis Redding’s song with their own twist and its subsequent use as a ‘battle cry’ and ‘women’s anthem’ 1. […]

art and photography

Haider Ali, Pakistan’s Truck Art, and Islam’s Message of Peace

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – We have been honored to have with us in Ann Arbor the past few days the celebrated Pakistani truck artist, Haider Ali of Karachi. As his art has become celebrated, he has become a little itinerant, going off around the world to fulfill commissions or grace gallery and museum exhibitions […]

Cartoon

America was Asking ‘Where’s Melania?’ when the Question was ‘Where’s Razan?’ (Cartoon)

Paul Jamiol

Via: Jamiol’s World – Get Paul Jamiol’s latest book of political cartoons, Hatred Rising Related Informed Comment Posting: “War Crimes: Israeli Snipers Kill Palestinian Nurse, Injure 100, at Gaza March of Return” .