Dear friends
As you all know we Europeans
are today involved in a
racism against Muslims of
the same magnitude as the
one America had in the years
when blacks tried to escape
oppression in the South only
to be forced into ghettoes
in the "liberal" North. And
with the same sad results as
you saw last year in the
hundreds of burning French
ghettos.
Three
of my closest Muslim allies
and fighters in this
struggle are next weekend
coming to New York for a
conference. Therefore I and
Christina - my long-time
roommate in New York
- have decided to throw a
party for them next Saturday
evening (Nov. 18th) at 254
Elizabeth St #PH just off
Houston in Soho. In case of
warm weather we will party
outside in our
roof top garden with a view
all over of Manhattan.
The three
friends I want to celebrate
in the party are
Sherin Khankan,
whom
I am on the board with in
Critical Muslims and
who just the day before this
party will publish her new
book about Islam and
Democracy (with
my cover photo) and
Mona Sheikh, a
well known public speaker in
Denmark who last year
publized her book on Radical
Islam with American
publisher Lynne Rienner. Mahvish
Ahmad (seen to my left here)
has been my closest
co-worker in Critical (meaning
Progressive) Muslims for
several years as well as in
the Ahmajia mosque I belong
to, but is right now
studying in Harvard.
If you happen to be in or
around New York I would be
very glad to see you at this
party. Nobody can throw
parties like Christina ...as
you can get a glimpse
of here from
her summer retreat in
Switserland.
For further
instructions and to let us
know if you can come, please
e-mail or call on
917-349-4361.
My party next year
in Denmark
Also let me at the same time
announce my 60-year birthday
party on June 1st, 2007 in
Denmark. Since you may need
a lot of planning to
participate in that far away
party I already now want to
let you know. It will
coincide with the opening of
my photographic
retrospective exhibition on
racism in one
of our biggest
gallery in Copenhagen (that
way I get the party room and
the wine for free :-) where
I will show my pictures of
racism from the USA,
Denmark, Bolivia, Namibia
and Uganda. The party itself
will therefore celebrate
diversity and integration -
not only bringing my white
and Muslim immigrant Danish
friends together, but also
hopefully some of you black
and white Americans.
Let me know if there is the
slightest chance that YOU
personally can come and
possibly combine a few days
in Denmark with a vacation
or business trip to Europe.
I would love to see
especially those of you who
made American Pictures
possible - just as the Danes
would love to see some of
you who through my pictures
have become well
known to many in
Denmark.
An update on my life
1. This
summer I photographed
black (Bantu) racism against
the Pygmies in Uganda.
It was amazing to hear
blacks speak about the "inferior"
Pygmies with almost the same
words I heard American
whites speak about blacks in
the 70's.
2. A movie
is right now coming out on
Danish TV about the healing
trip I made last year
with Ku Klux Klan leader
Jeff Berry to see
all my black friends in the
South.
3. I am
working on a digital version
of my slideshow and if you
have Windows Mediaplayer you
can already see
a rough edition here on my
website. As a
result I am on Monday
showing my last slideshow ever
in America !!!!
- in Boston
University.
4. My
pictures have lately - to my
great surprise - been
discovered by the art world
and are right now touring
museums all over Europe - so
far to great reviews in the
French media.
Well, let me know if you can
come to the party on
Saturday.
With
Love
Jacob Holdt
c/o Christina Sun,
254 Elizabeth St
#PH
New York, NY
10012
Cell phone: 917-349-4361
or:
Gernersgade 63
1319 Copenhagen K,
Denmark
Tel in Denmark: +45 33
124412
JacobHoldt@american-pictures.com
If my e-mail
answer was too short or
unsatisfactory,
you can find
more information on
my 22.434 web pages:
www.american-pictures.com
My calendar
where you can see if one of
my lectures is in your area
or - if you want to organize
one - if I am available on
your preferred date
My previous 6.500 lectures
- listed after type of
school
The online version of the
show or book with 3000
pictures
Reviews of my shows
- in major American papers
and college papers
My articles
on racism, development aid,
ecology, welfare state etc.
My photographs
- from the USA, Bolivia,
Nepal, Guatemala,
Nicaragua, Thailand, Haiti ,
Jamaica, Africa and Kosovo.
My racism work with the Ku
Klux Klan - and
their healing encounters
with my black friends
And some hobbies helping me
to fill out all the
spare time as a lecturer on
the boring highways:
Genealogy
- with a family tree
containing over 10,000 of my
family's direct ancestors
through 150 generations - or
4.100 years! Click from my
children all the way back to
their x-great grandparents
such as emperor Augustus,
Herod the Great, Alexander
the Great and 1,100 other
kings, emperors - and
pharaohs such as Ramses II -
not to speak of Washington,
Jefferson and Roosevelt.
Influential ancestors:
Or see my family's
relationship with those
persons who actually talked
to or were friends with
Jesus, John the Baptist, St.
Paul, Socrates, Plato,
Sophocles, Perikles,
Cleisthenes (the founder of
democracy) and others who
shaped modern humanism......
well, even corresponded
with Jesus (as surprising as
it sounds).
Glory: And
if you finally - after this
e-mail - have difficulties
seeing my saint halo, -
well, let me try to polish
it a bit by showing you how
much saint blood runs in my
family veins - directly
descending from more than 30
saints and some of the popes
who (mistakenly?) canonized
them!!!
|