Until I find something new to post here. you can read couple of my pieces recently published by the St. Paul Almanac:

The Kids and I

Lately I have been feeling a certain way about how comprehensively my kids have taken over my life. Nothing has come to symbolized this as how many times I have to reheat my cup of tea, sometimes even before my first sip. Pour the water…“Daddy.” Add the honey… “Daddy?” Lift the cup to my lips…”Daddy!” Sometimes I just want to be like “WHAT!!??” But I take a deep breath, put the cup down and tend to their needs. When I return, my hot tea has iced. I hate ice tea! (more…)

What I Am Voting For

Economic Security

I don’t really know what Middle Class is. As far as I can tell it is this wide sea of individuals and families between those that qualify for food stamps and those that live in mansions with enough financial wealth to have their children look forward to their death. I may be somewhere in that sea.

Both my wife and I have been employed full time for the major part of the last decade. Between us, we have a comfortable house in a comfortable part of town, two cars, and three beautiful children. Every now and then, we close our eyes, damned the budget, and indulge a family vacation. We give to charity, we go out to eat just because we don’t feel like cooking, we send money back home…few dollars in a money market account, college savings, 401K plans…you get the idea. My wife doesn’t go to church much, and I have hardly been to a mosque since coming to America, but every day we thank our gods for this life we live. (more…)

AtlanticRockers: Zaki Ibrahim

Djoliba's Worth

I was born in Kankan
Before being delivered atop old German trucks
Full of djoula musos and the wares they peddle
Between Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Liberia
To Sierra Leone and
Back to Kankan I came
After the guns knocked on our doors
And the grave diggers lost their shovels
But Guinea is a hard place to call home
When you are young and your French is… comme ci comme ca (more…)

Why I am Voting No on The Minnesota Marriage Amendment

I was born in Guinea, to a strict family in a devout Muslim community. If you have followed my writing for any length of time, you already know this. But it bears repeating here. I was about 15 when I came to America. In the few months before starting high school, I learned America from soap operas. “All my Children” was my favorite, but “One Life to Live” is where I learned that gay didn’t just mean being happy. As you can imagine I was shocked, and to be completely honest, disgusted. As a practicing Muslim, I thought it an abomination. (more…)

This Could Just be THE Election of our Lifetime

I know who is going to win the next election. Come the day after the elections in November, the next president of the United States is going to be….a millionaire male politician! And after the inauguration in January, in February your life is probably not going to be any different. If it does, it won’t be because of the ceremony in Washington the day before. That’s elections for you. In the immediate sense they don’t change anything. But in the long run, they change everything! (more…)

Maybe Cheap is Cheap

I swear I am not cheap. I shop at Target (instead of Wal-Mart), Cub Food (instead of Aldi). I even have membership at Seward Co-op. When it comes to wear, though I sometimes stray into Marshalls when I’m at the Mall of America, and I thought TJ Maxx was an high-end boutique during my college days, these days it’s Guess, Studiiyo23; hell, I’m a Banana Republic Voxx member for crying out loud! more…

Letter to my Children

You are not from there
You are not from here
You are from your mom
And from your dad
You are an African-in-America
An African and American
Proudly wear them both
Wherever you go
Knowing home is not a place
Except if that place be a space in your heart

I give you what I have
Not as dogma
But so you would have somewhere to start
Because we all need a place to land
When gravity proves too mighty a foe

With that said… more…

The Tie That Binds

It's the tie that binds
the moth to the flame
the gold plated chains
that would noose you
to the height you seek to climb

It's the pretty things that would kill you
the familiar faces that would wake you
up in the middle of the night
soaking wet in your own sweat
If it turns out to be blood
It's the lover standing over you
with a knife in one hand
a dirty underwear in the other

It's the pretty things that would kill you
the shinning things you buy
with the flesh you wear
not knowing tattoos will never skin you
The way the womb did ...more

New Year Resolution

It was a weird Sunday evening. After hanging out with some friends, I decided to run to the mall to return some shirts I bought the week before. From uptown, I got on 35W south bound. Few miles later I debated whether I should take highway 62 East or stay on 35W to 494 East. I decided to stay on 35W.
Well, as soon as I passed the exit for 62, I knew I’d miscalculated. 35W to 494 is longer than 62 to 77 route, with the likelihood of getting stuck in traffic much higher. Bad move IBé, I scolded myself. I hate miscalculating.

As I pulled into the mall on Lindau Lane, winding my way to the parking ramp, I saw a lot of people walking out of Sears. Forget baseball, I said to myself, shopping is America’s favorite pastime....more

Occupation Without Movement

I am from Africa. No, not that Africa. I was not destitute. Not this Africa either. I am not next in line to any throne, nor am I a son of a politician. I am of that middle group that is too blind to notice they are dirt poor, and know better than to care. If you asked me, I would tell you I came to America to go to school. And that is the truth. But if you boil that down, I came to America for a better opportunity. For the most part, I have found it. College educated, gainfully employed, home owner, blah blah blah. I don’t (or rather shouldn’t) have anything to complain about. more...

AtlanticDivide:

What is an Apology Between Slaves and Masters?

"...an economist could quite successfully argue there was great pressure for the Americas to participate in the economics of slave labor."

"...some 150 years since slavery was abolished in the Confederate states, there is still a perpetrator alive and present today that can and should apologize for slavery"

International Relations

Arabs are not bad
It’s just that terrorists
Wear turban and say Allah
Before blowing themselves up
At checkpoints and crowded
Roadways among Muslims
On their way to offering zakat to the needy
...more

Financial Advice from the Edge

I’m not a financial expert by any stretch of the imagination. But whenever I read an article about personal finance, I always feel like saying duh, I knew that. So I thought, maybe I know a little more than the average person. If so, maybe I should share. So here we go. ...more

AtlanticDivide:

The Rise and Fall of Affirmative Action

"The White male employee of yesteryears –the most feared group, whom Affirmative Action was to protect minorities from—is dead."

"When Workers no longer require the threat of organized strikes to work in safe environments, for reasonable hours and salaries, America will no longer require Affirmative Action"

AtlanticRockers

Wanlov the Kubolor

Misspoken Word

If you follow my blogs and other postings closely, you'd notice that I don't talk much about what I do. That is I don't talk much about spoken word, or for that matter writing. I post poems, but when it comes to commentary about the art of spoken word, I keep my opinions to myself. Mostly. I don't talk about the right way to write this, perform it, good or bad pieces, etc. I figure to each his own; eventually, we all arrive at a comfortable place, and in one's own eyes (and my opinion) that is always the right and best place to be. ...more

AtlanticDivide:

Columbus and the New Indians

"It all seemed like a festival. But inside my mother was dying. And there was nothing we could do, but wait. Such is the sad state of humanity. With all our "achievement" it gets to a point when all we can do is wait and pray."

"The Present, as in the here and now, is life's pacifier; obliging those of us fortunate to exist in it to forgive then consequently forget the most authentic lessons of our past..."

Lessons from a Rainbow

I love your green,
Black, blue and yellow;
I love your tall,
small, big and little.
I love your nots and your ares;
Your dos and your don’ts;
Your nevers and your always. …more

AtlanticVoices

Ms Melisse Nambangi
"There is no pill you take when you come here to make you American."