Hello UUSS friends!

I thought of a memorable moment to share with you regarding me and my friend, Muhammad Ali. . .No, not that one. ‘My’ Muhammad Ali, now probably over thirty, was a student and also president of the American Muslim Association student club at ARC (I was its faculty advisor 12+ years ago). He’s about 5 foot 6, very slim, with soft warm dark eyes that sparkle when he introduces himself. Yes, he knows he shares that name with someone else! Born in Somalia, raised in Ethiopia, escaped to the USA, he was one of several active club members — all of whom went on to earn degrees at top universities.

One spring I helped arrange for our club officers to speak at a religions conference at UC Santa Cruz. Several of them, men and women, piled into a couple cars and headed out. But they’d never been there, and so I think they got lost (or made a very late start after work and study). I think they ended up sleeping in their cars, or driving all night, or maybe they found a motel. Interestingly, neither they nor their parents worried about anything, (unlike me, a seasoned & worrisome faculty chaperone) Devout Muslims do not drink, do drugs, or engage in any inappropriate behavior. They insisted on taking me to dinner following the event at their expense. They also taught me the only Muslim joke I know: “How do you get most of the guys’ attention?” “Poke your head into a mosque or MSA meeting and say, ‘hey, Muhammad!'”

And before Muhammad Ali left for UC Berkeley, and later — last I heard — law school and / or Washington D.C. political activity, he gifted me with an expensive, hard bound, bilingual Qur’an with extensive scholarly footnotes. Now nearing my retirement, I passed that remarkable reference work to my younger colleague & religions department chair at ARC.

Those of you who have worked with youth probably have other touching stories, and wonder as I do, “where are they now?”

I have two music items to share tonight. One of you suggested “Emma’s Revolution,” and I found a fun cover of Bette Midler’s “From a Distance” with Covid lyrics:

Also, thinking about some of my former students from many places — Somalia, Pakistan, Ukraine, Palestine, — I recalled the “Playing for Change” series of quite a few (pre-Covid!) recordings with musicians from many countries participating.

Here’s “La Bamba”:

a salaamu alaikum, dear ones (“peace be upon you” in Arabic)

Keith