POPPING THE MARKS
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Michael Muhammad Knight vs. Hamza Yusuf
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had to spend a lot of time thinking about Hamza Yusuf. In a recent academic article, Mahdi Tourage places Hamza Yusuf and myself at opposite ends on the spectrum of white male converts: Yusuf represented the shining white superstar of American Islam, and I was the undesirable asshole. Full story
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The Problem with White Converts
You’d think that two white guys embracing Buddhism and Islam in the age of colonialism could have become champions of antiracism. But no. They treated their new religions like other white men treat entire nations: they marched in and claimed to own it. Full story
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I Tripped with Allah and Wrote a Book About It
Ayahuasca drinkers report experiencing the divine in female form. They choose to interpret this in different ways, depending on their backgrounds. As a Muslim, I decided that I would drink with the intention of having a visionary encounter with Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muh… Full story
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Remembering Master Fard Muhammad
February 26 is Saviors’ Day, the birthday of the founder of the Nation of Islam. Master Fard Muhammad will probably never get his due for his contribution, but the biggest challenge to fully appreciating him may be that he so effectively escaped history. Full story
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Kanye West in a Kilt Has Lord Jamar So Hard Right Now
If heterosexuality is natural, as Lord Jamar seems to suggests, and Jamar is himself resolutely heterosexual, then seeing Kanye West in a kilt shouldn’t make him want to give blow jobs. Or does it? Full story
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Lifetime’s Assassination of Malcolm X
In the Lifetime Original Movie 'Betty & Coretta,' they present cardboard versions of what I like to call "Early Malcolm" and "Real Malcolm." But Early Malcolm and Real Malcolm are not real. They are both fabrications that serve to oversimplify a complex human being. Full story
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Islamophobes, Go to Sleep
When I agreed to write a column for VICE, I was granted this space, and I am responsible for what happens in this space. Today, I’m going to use this space to rub your racist and bigoted shit in your own faces. Full story
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What I Learned from the Five Percenters
The first lesson I learned from the Five Percent was simple: Fuck white people. I'm not talking about "white" as a biological category. I’m using the term more in the sense of what it means to have privilege in an unjust society. Full story
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How Not to Sound Like an Asshole When Talking About Islam
When non-Muslims operate on the assumption that Islam exists as one singular, absolute, and coherent entity that is understood and experienced by each of the world’s billion-plus Muslims in more or less the same way, they look like total douchebags. Full story
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Being the Muslim at a Christmas Party
As a Muslim from a Christian family, Christmas has historically been complicated for me. Converting to Islam as a teenager, part of what I wanted from my religion was a new identity; the differences between Christians and Muslims held more value for me than the similarities, so I… Full story
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Paris Hilton in Mecca
Paris Hilton’s new store in Mecca is not “poisoning the holy city.” Mecca has been overrunning with assholes long before Islam. If you’re trying to find peace and avoid shitty people, don’t go there for hajj, just go on vacation or smoke blunt. Full story
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Obama = Yazid
I have voted twice for a man who launches drone strikes on innocent civillians and defines what is happening in Gaza right now as "self-defense." As it stands, I have voted for Yazid. Full story
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Queering the Qur’an
Al-Kisa’i al-Kufi is the man who gave us one of the seven canonical readings of the Qur’an in Sunni Islam. He devoted his life to knowing and teaching the Qur’an. Along the way, he apparently fucked dudes. The lips that he used to recite divine scripture touched men. Full story
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Blood and Islam: Between Eid and Ashura
Many people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, would say that spilling blood is disgusting and pain has no place in spirituality. But between these two holy days, Eid al-Adha and Ashura, we remind ourselves of the violence of our own lives—a violence that continues to feed us—and ou… Full story
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'Law & Order: SVU' Sucks at Depicting Muslims
Last week’s 'Law & Order: SVU' episode, “Acceptable Loss,” reminded me that if I want to see a TV drama treat Muslim characters as capable of full human complexity, cop shows might not be the best place to look. Full story
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The Theological Consequences of Seeing Hulk Hogan’s Penis
Being surprised that Hulk Hogan has a sex tape is kind of like being surprised that there’s a Burger King in Mecca. The “sacred/profane” binary often turns out to be artificial, but sometimes we need to imagine that the binary exists. The time will come when I’ll watch Hogan body… Full story
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Who Will End the Undertaker's Streak at Wrestlemania?
Yes, the Undertaker’s 20-match undefeated streak at WrestleMania, which began back in 1991, needs to be broken. It’s wrestling’s cycle of life. The stars of each new generation must feed on the bones of the generation before them. Full story
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Brother Ali and the Secret Islamic History of Hip-Hop
Meeting Brother Ali after his tour’s stop in Chapel Hill, I didn’t ask him for his “How did you come to Islam?” story, and he didn’t ask for mine, but our shared matrix of references and anecdotes told me that we might have walked similar paths. Full story
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That Muslim Punk Thing, Ten Years Later
Imagine the nastiest, most rebellious things that anyone could say or do with Islam, the kinds of things that supposedly start riots; the fictional Muslim punks of my first book did of them all. It was a sincere and loving blasphemy, I thought. But today, it seems immature. Full story
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The Innocence of White People
As an artist, I support everyone’s right to make shitty, cheap-looking art, and I do not believe that bloodshed is ever an acceptable way of responding to art. But in the big picture, this isn’t really about violent religion vs. nonviolent art; it’s violence vs. violence. Full story
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Confession of a Muslim Psychedelic Tea Drinker
The place of drugs in Islam is much more complicated than most people recognize. Because the Qur’an only speaks specifically of wine, Muslims have had to figure out Islamic positions on other substances, like weed or psychoactive tea made from an Amazonian vine. Full story
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Rob Ford, the World's Greatest Mayor, Smokes Crack
What's the big deal? Everyone finds themselves in this position once in a while.
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Who’s Getting Rich off the Prison-Industrial Complex?
A rundown of some of America's incarceration investors.
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Dodging Water Cannons and Sound Bombs at Israel's Catastrophe Day
The Israeli police force still isn't warming to Palestinian protesters.
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Tubesteak: How to Hone Your Gaydar to Perfection
First and foremost, let me say that butch gay guys are the hottest men on Earth. Period.
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Kai, the Hatchet-Wielding Hobo Wanted for Murder, Says He Was Drugged and Raped
A truly bizarre and tragic twist to the "homefree" tale.
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Horrible People Are Exploiting Cambodia's Orphans
Unlicensed orphanages are stealing donations and trafficking children.
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Bob Odenkirk’s Page: VICE Endorses Jipson Talmadge
Jipson Talmadge is VICE's choice for the next mayor of New York City.
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Austerity's Drug of Choice
Greece's infamous new drug, sisa, is meth mixed with filler ingredients like battery acid.
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“Fitch the Homeless” Is Backwards-Ass Activism
"Fitch the Homeless" is a great idea, until you think about it.
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VICE News: This Is What Winning Looks Like
A documentary about the ineptitude and corruption of the Afghan security forces.
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Hearing from Three Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Who've Been on Hunger Strike for 100 Days
What life is like inside the prison camp.
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The People VS Flatbush Zombies
It's Flatbush Zombies turn to wade through comments.
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Thought and Memory
Back in 2008, when my first novel came out, my publisher sent me on a West Coast tour.
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Rev. James Logsdon Doesn’t Know Art, but He Knows He Likes Racist Art
If You’re a Big Racist, This is Your Kind of Art
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Rachel Wotton Screws Disabled People Literally, but not Figuratively
Sex Workers and the Disabled Have a Lot in Common
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Love Marcus: Big Dogs and Hot Tubs
Marcus Picks Up Right Where he Left off: Detroit.
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We Went to Wee Waa
The local paper read 'Dog Jumping and Daft Punk'.
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I Went Snooping Around Nicolas Cage's House
And it was kind of upsetting.
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Weirdo Club
Things get weird when somebody breaks out the unholy fermented ichor.
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Some Photographs from the All About Pets Show
Canada's largest pet convention has a lot to see, apparently.
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Rat Tail: The Debut Single
Here is an excerpt from the liner notes of Rat Tail’s only album.
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Meet the Malaysian Neo-Nazis Fighting for a Pure Malay Race
They realise that Nazis generally don't like Asian people, but apparently that doesn't matter.
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Taji's Mahal: Shredding with Galen DeKemper
Galen DeKemper has been shredding New York City for the last decade.
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A New Episode of Our TV Show Is Airing Tonight
Hanging with cigarette-smoking children in Indonesia and addicts kicking smack in Mexico.
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A Few Impressions: 'Gatsby'
In the end, Luhrmann made it work, and that’s all that matters.
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The Wizard of the Saddle Rides Again
The KKK protested renaming a park that memorialized one of the most infamous racists ever.
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VICE News: This Is What Winning Looks Like
A documentary about the ineptitude and corruption of the Afghan security forces.
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VICE on HBO Extended: Egypt on the Brink - Women Under Assault
VICE co-founder Suroosh Alvi meets with some local activists around Tahrir Square.
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The Creators Project: Daft Punk's 'Random Access Memories' Collaborators: Paul Williams
As well as winning an Academy Award he was also nominated a number of times, most notably for his song from 'The Muppet Movie,' "The Rainbow Connection."
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Art Talk: Matt Mignanelli
A chat about his work, life, and strong American work ethic.
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VICE News: Sisa: Cocaine of the Poor
A new drug called sisa is tearing its way through Athens' poor.
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Truckers in the Wild: Philadelphia
The brothers look for some uniquely Philly customs that have shaped the city’s character.
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Bob Odenkirk’s Page: VICE Endorses Jipson Talmadge
Jipson Talmadge is VICE's choice for the next mayor of New York City.
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Munchies: Hatos Bar
We all got suitably wasted before cooking up some barbecue.
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Late Drone Age Civilization: The Fossil Record
Everyone wishes it would all be something else, but exactly what, nobody can say.
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The Noisey Guide to French Rap
In America, we don’t pay attention to French rap.
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If Julia Gillard is Such an Atheist, Where’s All the Gay Marriage?
Australians are Proud of Separating Church and State, but Don't go Far Enough.
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Cry-Baby of the Week
This week: a guy who destroyed his neighborhood versus some guys who arrested a kid for mooning.
The Wizard of the Saddle Rides Again
The Dark Specter of History in Memphis 
Hung Like a Gastropod
The Rigors of a Snail-Genital Illustrator 
Austerity's Drug of Choice
Sisa Is Nasty Shit 
This Is What Winning Looks Like
Chaos and Corruption in Afghanistan 
The Fat Farms of Mauritania
Pack on Those Pounds, Ladies 
Jerks Are Exploiting Cambodia's Orphans
Get It Together, People 
