Important Biblical Resource

Bryonn Bain is a friend from college, and I'm working on a review of his book, The Prophet Returns. New Brooklyn Writers Join Old Hands at Fort Greene Park Lit Fest – WNYC Culture. Bryonn Bain, who is from Flatbush and spent five years teaching cultural literacy to teen inmates at Rikers Island, will also be reading from his book, The Prophet Returns, which will be released this weekend by Blackout brooklyn Press.  "You can't underestimate the power of the word, the power of stories," Bain said, who will also be performing with the hip-hop theater group Lyrics from Lockdown…

A Turkish Fashion Magazine, Ala, Is Unshy About Showing Some Piety – NYTimes.com. Except for the religious headgear, the shoot could have been for any glossy fashion magazine. But Ala — called the “Vogue of the veiled” in the Turkish news media — is no conventional publication. In an unlikely fusion of conservative Muslim values and high fashion, it unabashedly appeals to the pious head-scarf-wearing working woman, who may covet a Louis Vuitton purse but has no use for the revealing clothing that pervades traditional fashion magazines.

Nice review of the state of architecture for Muslims (not necessarily Islamic architecture) in the US. I particularly like the point Maryam makes, let’s go back to praying together, instead of this modern notion of segregating the sexes. BBC News – Muslim America moves away from the minaret. Architect Maryam Eskandari, former associate director of the American Institute of Architects, is touring the US with a photo exhibition illustrating the transition of American mosques from traditional to postmodern design.  She says Islamic architecture has long been subject to personal interpretation and set in a cultural and historical context.