Soul on Ice

I have been re-reading a book I first read while still in high school - Soul On Ice, by Eldridge Cleaver, former rapist, convict, Muslim, Black Panther Minister of Information, etc.

It is fascinating to be able to read it with a greater awareness of the world around me, having lived and experienced more since my last reading. What scared me about the book is that there are elements that still seem so relevant to the world order we reside in today. At times, it felt like I could substitute places and names from today with those of yesterday.

I am one of those people who believes we are all doing what we should be doing in the spaces that we are supposed to be in - the cliche 'everything happens for a reason' comes to mind. Finished the book this morning and ended up being convinced to go to the movies with a friend of mine. I say convinced because I very rarely step into cinema houses; I prefer to wait for films to come out on DVD and watch them in the bosom of my own home. Everything is cheaper there and I have more control.

Anyway, we ended up watching Syriana which, through pointing the lens at issues such as the power of oil companies, the ruthlessness of multi-national business and government, the world of 'terrorism', etc. At the core of the movie, although a bit disjointed and confusing to follow, I found it delved into some of the causes behind the actions of people controlling the puppet strings, touching on some of the things that Cleaver discusses.

The world today can be a frightening place and, for those of us living outside the US, it sometimes feels like we are being pushed towards a vision that does not incorporate us and we serve merely as collateral damage and the numbers required to push certain things through.

All I know is that if US politics and business operate minutely similar to what is shown in Syriana, then we truly are in trouble.