Tree of Life Review

SEPTEMBER 2007

NEW IN THE TREE OF LIFE REVIEW

AIRMAIL: Bodhi Blues — A Year in India: Questioning The Maitreya Project by Jessica Falcone

COLUMN: Storiedmusic — The Night I Walked Out by DJ T’challah

NOVEL EXCERPT: In a State of Partition by Aneesha Capur

UP THE CREEK: Editor’s Notes — Art, Yoga, and Abu Ghraib



FEATURED IN
THIS EDITION

COLUMN: Airmail - A Year in India: Questioning the Maitreya Project

SPOTLIGHT: Believing Is Doing: An Interview with Ewuare Osayande

COLUMN: Storiedmusic - The Night I Walked Out

THE WILD RIVER REVIEW PRESENTS:

SPOTLIGHT: BELIEVING IS DOING: AN INTERVIEW
WITH POET AND ACTIVIST, EWUARE OSAYANDE
BY ANGELA AJAYI

Daringly outspoken, Osayande draws our attention to such societal ills with poetry, using it as a compelling medium to encourage critical thought and honest reflections on everything that has to do with diamonds in Southern Africa to Hurricane Katrina to Jay-Z's rap lyrics. The church, once a defender and supporter of the poor, nowadays spends much of its time condemning the poor, equating poverty with sin in many cases.

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COLUMN: STORIEDMUSIC: THE NIGHT I WALKED OUT BY DJ T’CHALLAH

One night, I was walking up the D.J. room stairs while one of my favorite James Brown grooves, “There Was a Time,” was playing, when someone yelled out, “Turn that black crap off.”

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COLUMN: AIRMAIL — WHAT WOULD THE BUDDHA DO?
BY JESSICA FALCONE

A wrinkled old man in a stained white dhoti has waited patiently, but is keen to have his chance to be heard. “I will give my life, but I will not give my land. Land is the source of life…I am seventy-five years old but I will fight.”

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SPOTLIGHT: THE WONDER OF THE TAJ MAHAL
AS SEEN BY AUTHOR SANDRA WILSON
BY BIJAN C. BAYNE

As the world recognizes the sixtieth anniversary of the partition of India and Pakistan, Wild River Review contributor, Bijan C. Bayne, spoke with Sandra Wilson, a teacher and international lecturer in Washington State.

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NOVEL EXCERPT: IN A STATE OF PARTITION
BY ANEESHA CAPUR

It was August 15, 1947, and India had finally gained her independence. Shobha wiped away the tears that traveled down her face. It was an auspicious day. She should perform her puja, she told herself, thank Vishnu and Krishna–and Nehruji–for the blessings that bring freedom… . Her husband was right when he sent word to prepare, to pack their belongings, and leave their home. Independence had been granted to their homeland but they had found themselves on the wrong side of the line: they were in Pakistan.

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A DEFIANT GRACE BY EWUARE OSAYANDE
FOR GWENDOLYN BROOKS (1917-2000)

you
Harlem Renaissance child
you
Langston’s lil’ sis
you
word-seamstress
created patchwork quilts
to bring comfort to the afflicted

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SPOTLIGHT: THE OTHER SIDE OF ABU GHRAIB —
THE DETAINEES’ QUEST FOR JUSTICE (PART 1)
BY JOY E. STOCKE, KIM NAGY, AND CHRIS TIEFEL

What happens when two lawyers join forces to prosecute defense contractors, Titan and CACI Corporations, on behalf of the detainees at Abu Ghraib prison? Meet the faces behind one of the biggest stories of the Iraq conflict. “We had come — my friend Salaam and me — to buy a car. I was sleeping and they entered my room. It was very dark. I think there were seven soldiers…They turned their helmet lights on, took us to the living room, tied us up on the ground and put hoods on our heads...”

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NOVEL EXCERPT: IN A STATE OF PARTITION
BY ANEESHA CAPUR

She smoothed the wrinkles on her forehead, massaging the deep worry lines embedded in her skin. Her husband was right when he sent word to prepare, to pack their belongings, and leave their home. Independence had been granted to their homeland but they had found themselves on the wrong side of the line: they were in Pakistan.

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COLUMN: THE GIFT — THE MYSTIC PEN
BY KATHERINE SCHIMMEL BAKI

I think of Eleanor, on her small lifeboat saying goodbye to her husband and son, perhaps not knowing this was the very last time her eyes would behold their faces. I think of her life’s greatest tragedy leading to the construction of one of the world’s greatest libraries…

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FILM REVIEW: THE PRISONER,
OR HOW I PLANNED TO KILL TONY BLAIR
BY ELIZABETH SHELDON

A quiet film. By this I mean that there is no hyperbole, no drama, just one man’s story about how he was falsely arrested and imprisoned for nearly nine months by the American forces in Iraq.

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