Daily Archives: September 13, 2012

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Tavis Smiley & Cornel West on “The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto”

The second part of this discussion:  http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2012/4/19/part_2_tavis_smiley_cornel_west_on

DemocracyNow.org – The latest census data shows nearly one in two Americans, or 150 million people, have fallen into poverty — or could be classified as low income. We’re joined by Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley, who continue their efforts to spark a national dialogue on the poverty crisis with the new book, “The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto.” Smiley, an award-winning TV and radio broadcaster, says President Obama has failed to properly tackle poverty. “There seems to be a bipartisan consensus in Washington that the poor just don’t matter. President Obama is a part of that,” Smiley says. “I take nothing away from his push on healthcare, but jobs for every American should have been priority number one.” West, a professor of religion and African American studies at Princeton University, says that after the historic U.S. struggles against monarchy, slavery and institutionalized racism, “the issue today is oligarchy. Poverty is the new slavery, oligarchs are the new kings — the new heads of this structure of domination.”

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Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan on the Growing Mideast Protests and “Islam & the Arab Awakening”

Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan on the Growing Mideast Protests and “Islam & the Arab Awakening”

As anti-U.S. protests spread across the Middle East, we’re joined by Tariq Ramadan, professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University and visiting professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Qatar. Ramadan is considered one of the most prominent Muslim intellectuals in Europe and was named by Time magazine as one of the most important innovators of the 21st century. He was barred from entering the United States for many years by former President George W. Bush. In 2004, Ramadan had accepted a job to become a tenured professor at the University of Notre Dame, but nine days before he was set to arrive, the Bush administration revoked his visa, invoking a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act. He was not allowed into the United States for another six years. Ramadan is the author of a number of books, including “Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation” and, most recently, “Islam and the Arab Awakening.” [includes rush transcript]

 
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Tariq Ramadan, professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University and visiting professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Qatar. He is the author of a number of influential books on Islam and Europe, including Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation. His most recent book is Islam and the Arab Awakening.