JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 3.03

01/27/97 - 02/09/97

CONTENTS

VOICES: First-Person Essays Linking the Private to the Public

Fasting For God -- Young American Muslim Reconnects to Religion and Family
By Nishat Kurwa

Midway through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, two young women college students write about practicing their faith in two very different urban societies. While one moves in a Muslim world, she finds no conflict between wearing the veil and taking a degree in mass communications. The other, raised in a secular world where Islam is a suspect religion, finds renewed inspiration from fasting. PNS correspondent Nishat Kurwa is a 19-year-old Pakistani American Muslim who attends San Francisco State University.

Young Women in Egypt -- "More Aware of God and Judgment Day"
By Dalia Al Nimr, as Told by PNS Correspondent Fariba Nawa

Dalia Al Nimr is 19, a junior at the American University in Cairo majoring in mass communications. She is one of thousands of Muslim women embracing Islam and the Koran as their guide to life and taking the veil while still quite young -- younger than their mothers were when they made the same decision. She talked about her religious faith with PNS correspondent Fariba Nawa, a 23-year-old Afghan-American Muslim woman who graduated last year from Hampshire College. Nawa was a founding editor of YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about young people in the San Francisco Bay Area, published by PNS.

Gender and Race -- Two "Vicotries" That Provide No Reason for Celebration
By Joan Walsh

White and black responses to the two O.J. Simpson trials may have struck predictable notes of discord, yet it is possible to feel some honest sympathy with both. This ambivalence is not pleasant, but merits some examination as it reflects some of the unhappy choices society forces us to make. PNS associate editor Joan Walsh writes widely on urban issues.

Other Voices -- Why America Needs a White Martin Luther King
By Dr. Cobie Kwasi Harris, as Told to PNS Editor Sandy Close

Some white Americans feel vindicated by the liability judgment against O.J. Simpson --as if a wrong has been righted against white America. But there isn't enough money out there to compensate black Americans for the wrongs white America has committed against them, says Dr. Cobie Kwasi Harris, a political scientist and chair of African American Studies at San Jose State University. To heal the racial divide will take a white moral leader of the stature of Martin Luther King, Jr.

THE AMERICAS: The Growing Enmeshment of the U.S. and Latin Worlds

High Profile Post for Cisneros Not Necessarily Good News for Latino-Americans
By Gregory Rodriquez

Latino groups and news organizations have cheered the appointment of Henry Cisneros to the post of president and chief operating officer of Univision, the nation's largest Spanish-language television network. But inasmuch as it promotes the view of a Spanish-speaking "market," Cisneros' presence in the highly visible post may actually work against a better understanding of the Latino community. Associate PNS editor Gregory Rodriguez, a Los Angeles-based writer and author of a new study on middle-class Hispanics, writes widely on Latino affairs.

CALIFORNIA COLLAGE: California as Trendsetter for the Country and the World

Racial Stakes High in Selection of Los Angeles Police Chief
By Michael Datcher

Flashpoint or beacon -- Los Angeles Police Chief Willie Williams is facing opposition to his bid for a second five-year term despite a hefty increase in public approval of the department and a drop in crime. The situation provides the city's several minority groups with good reason to act in concert, especially since there is a risk the removal of Williams -- appointed in the hope of bringing the city together after the 1992 disturbances -- could heighten tensions in this racially-charged city.

MOVEMENTS: Strategies For Survival, Identity and Direction by People on the Margins

Mother of Five -- Charged With Murdering Would-Be Rapist--Challenges Mexico's View of Women
By Sam Quinones

Claudia Rodriguez, age 30 and the mother of five children, has been in jail for a full year in Mexico City charged with murdering Juan Cabrera. The facts of the case are not really in dispute -- Claudia was defending herself against a rapist -- but the facts of Claudia's life have apparently made officials reluctant to release her, and this in turn has galvanized women and made Claudia's story an illuminating picture of the changing roles of men and women in Mexico today. For photographs relating to this story, please call Pacific News Service.

Who Will Inform the Reformers? Welfare Changes Put Even Best-Intentioned Mothers Further From "Empowerment"
By Margaret Engel

For all their talk about "empowerment," backers of welfare reform have ignored the most basic concerns of mothers of young children -- people who are at the very heart of their attempts to "change the culture of welfare." An account of one woman's experience in one of country's richest counties suggests that welfare dollars will continue to go to the comfortable and well-fed. Margaret Engel is director of the Alicia Patterson Journalism Foundation in Washington, DC and a former reporter and editor at the Washington Post.

CIVIL CONFLICTS: Interpretive Reports on Ethnic, Religious, and Inter-National Conflicts Worldwide

Church Stands Firm -- Anti-Gay Is Still the Rule of Law in Romania Despite Pressure from European States
By Paul Hockenos

Gay is dangerous in Romania -- those few who are out of the closet must face every sort of harassment from an elbow in the ribs to raids by gangs of thugs with little hope of protection from police. The country's laws on homosexuality, long the toughest on the continent, have changed little since the overthrow of the communist regime in 1989. Despite pressure from other European states, a report from the capital shows that the issue has become a major focus of controversy, with the Orthodox church coming forward to take a political stand for the first time since the events of 1989. PNS correspondent Paul Hockenos is a freelance writer based in Berlin who has been writing on East and West Europe for the last decade.

Peru's Fujimori -- A Latin American Pinochet with an Asian Face
By Andrew Reding

Japan's Prime Minister is meeting with the president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, in a bid to resolve the hostage crisis in Lima. But those in and out of government who hope for a meeting of minds based on a common heritage have not understood who Fujimori is -- a Latin dictator in the tradition of Pinochet or Peron. PNS associate editor Andrew Reding directs the North America Project of the World Policy Institute in New York.

The New American City According to Rappers and Rock Bands -- Color it Black and Brown
By Ruben Martinez

Two years of O.J. Simpson media coverage has largely ignored the growing Latino presence in cities like Los Angeles. But rappers and rock musicians -- from Tupac to Sublime to Bruce Springsteen -- celebrate the new American urban identity even as they warn of what will happen if the lingering cultural misunderstandings are not addressed. PNS associate editor Ruben Martinez, author of "The Other Side" and a performance artist based in Los Angeles and Mexico City, is working on a new book on the borderlands.

YOUTH OUTLOOK: The World Through Young People's Eyes

Nostalgia for the Future-- Star Wars Ages; The Force Abides
By Patrick Macias

As legions of moviegoers line up once again to view the recycled adventures of Luke Skywalker, one twenty-something fan wonders what happened to filmmaker George Lucas' promise of a second generation of Star Wars. Is our nostalgia for the future so great that we are destined to live with the force forever?

Cupid Dies Laughing at Us Teenage Wannabe Valentines
By Billy Pascual

The prognosis for at least one teenage wannabe valentine this year is not good. Caught in a twisted whirlpool of love, he can't show affection without being labeled a "captain". But if girls view him as a "playa," his chances of romance are nil. PNS commentator Billy Pascual, 17, is reporter for YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about Bay Area teens produced by Pacific News Service.

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