Louis Farrakhan, King of Hip

If President Obama's election represents the beginning of a post-racial America, I guess Calypso Louis didn't get that memo.

The Nation of Islam is still out there, ladies and gentleman, and it held its annual convention in Chicago this week. Apparently, rap stars lurrv him and Snoop Dogg donated $1,000 to the NOI...seriously dude, a grand? Did you blow your event budget on those sunglasses?

Flippancy aside, Slim is getting somewhere. Remember that one time Farrakhan praised Obama in an interview and his campaign took all of .02 seconds to make it crystal clear that they did not seek such an endorsement? Ouch, I mean, Jeremiah Wright and Farrakhan are certainly both senior VPs over at Foot In Mouth Corp., why the much hastier diss?

I suppose the black separatist undertones in the NOI...and that pesky faux Muslim thing...and all of those anti-Semitic and homophobic statemnts...well, Farrakhan has been considered toxic by black politicians trying to establish credibility in traditional power circles for a long time. But other African-American leaders with the aforementioned problems - sans the Muslim affiliation - have the benefit of Obama's benevolent approval.

Hmmm. If the President is serious about healing racial and religious divisions in America, maybe he could start with the NOI, which is smack in the epicenter of racial and religious intolerance. Farrakhan may be a total ass much of the time, but he is still taken seriously by many African-Americans because his efforts to better life for them are undeniable. Reaching out to African-Americans still unconvinced of the new rosy future would be a great way for Obama match action to rhetoric.

~Slim