Charles Michael Byrd (Charukrishna)’s Blog

Namaste:

Instead of composing a commentary on Illinois Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech on race, religion and politics in America, I have decided to simply put forth the Table of Contents — including a synopsis for each chapter — from my book “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness” in this missive.

After reading the Senator’s March 18th speech delivered in Philadelphia, certain sentiments struck me as being somewhat in accord with my own philosophy vis-à-vis the race notion and transcending race-consciousness. Now, mind you, I have substantial disagreement with Mr. Obama’s refusal to recognize this country’s growing multiracial population as being other than a subset of the major racial groupings, but it is almost as if he actually read my book and took notes.

Why do I say that? I do so because I mailed him a copy a few months ago, and I received a letter from him regarding same. Click here to view and read the Senator’s letter to yours truly. (Click on the letter with your cursor for larger text.)

Of course, it is possible that he never read my work, that an Obama underling composed, typed and mailed the letter that I have reproduced for your online perusal. It could also be that Barack Obama actually sat down with “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness,” and — just perhaps — it impacted him. Who knows, other that God/Krishna?

So, please read the Senator’s speech as well as the book’s TOC below. After that, please purchase the book from Amazon.com (click on the provided links or the book cover) and see what conclusions you personally draw. Thank you for your time.

Charles Michael Byrd

Charukrishna

Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra

It is not easy to overcome the racial identity imposed by a racially obsessed society, a society that still embraces “hypodescent,” or the inheritance of only the lowest status racial category of one’s ancestors (a.k.a., the infamous “one-drop of ‘black’ blood rule”), a society that has made the conscious decision that multiracials should be content to parcel out their identities to “federally recognized groups” — all in the name of achieving social justice.

One’s view of the “race” notion and to what “race” the individual supposedly belongs is heavily influenced by the family into which the person is born. Thus, transcending the race concept is often difficult, because it is so heavily connected with family (intimate relatives) and background (including teachers and close friends). It is analogous to Arjuna’s dilemma.

CHAPTER TWO

Contents of the Gita Summarized

We are not our bodies; ergo, we are not representatives of various racial groupings. Devotional service should be focused on God, not on any “racial” or “ethnic” leader and his political agenda.

CHAPTER THREE

Karma-yoga (”The Yoga of Work”)

One of the most important activities a person of “mixed-race” can engage in is showing others the falsity of “race” and pointing them in the direction of The Supreme.

CHAPTER FOUR

Transcendental Knowledge

The world does not have a shortage of teachers who can guide people away from modern-day forms of tribalism (racial, ethnic and cultural pride) toward transcendental knowledge of the Supreme. Common sense and simple logic will also help in this endeavor. There is no substitute for a good teacher, however, an enlightened soul who can expose the foolishness of bodily consciousness.

CHAPTER FIVE

Action in Krishna Consciousness

Teachers should not act for sense gratification or think they are better than others. All too often modern-day preachers tend to wield power over their congregations for political purposes. Accordingly, many Americans doubt their spiritual leaders, and America itself, in fact, is in need of a spiritual re-awakening. Plagued by such doubt and spiritual lethargy, it is no wonder that modern men and women have a difficult time engaging in spiritual action and thus rarely develop true knowledge, peacefulness, detachment, and so on.

CHAPTER SIX

Dhyana-yoga (”The Yoga of Meditation”)

In our day-to-day interactions, we should approach and address each other as spiritual beings — not as the fleshy bodies we see before us. We need to view each other as emanating from the same source. We should embrace age-old techniques, such as yoga, if they allow us, or inspire us, to go beyond the body. We must, in essence, find a disciplined way of life, one that will teach us to focus on transcendental topics, for only by so doing can we rise beyond the mundane sphere.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Knowledge of the Absolute

In materialistic culture, we tend to divert our minds from the Supreme and become ensnared by illusory pursuits. We revel in superficial games, such as advocating racial pride and competition, furthering the purposes of one group over another.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Attaining the Supreme

We fear death because of our misidentification with our bodies. If we become self-realized, we do not fear death, nor do we fear moving beyond racial or ethnic identification. In fact, a natural by-product of self-realization is overcoming fear of all kinds. We will not fear differences, and thus we will not need to identify with artificially constructed races and ethnic groups; we will not fear the natural consequence of the body — death — for we will know that it is merely the dismantling of material elements, quite removed from who we are and what life is really all about.

CHAPTER NINE

The Most Confidential Knowledge

By realizing our eternal relationship to God, we are no longer affected by others’ attempts to control our energy, to bend us to their will. Nor will we submit to it.

CHAPTER TEN

The Opulence of the Absolute

America’s success is by the grace of God, but our nation tends to neglect this truth. Moreover, we seem to ignore our virtues as a nation and prefer, instead, to break into small factions and warring groups.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Universal Form

We tend to forget that we live in a vast physical universe with untold billions of galaxies, solar systems, planets, moons, suns, etc. Therefore, we should view the global battle on Earth between black and white as not worth our time.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Devotional Service

The highest end of spiritual existence is not Sunday services at your local church. It involves the cultivation of spiritual consciousness, whatever one’s institutional affiliation may be. Unfortunately, too many preachers of all colors propagate the gospel of race-consciousness and thus lead their followers astray. They do this by not only trying to legitimate the bodily concept and race-consciousness but by teaching that religion is about church attendance and mundane rules of behavior. In other words, they teach that the “shell” of religion is its essence, and they ignore its real essence: Love of God.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness

If we but listen to our conscience (the Supersoul, the Ultimate Knower of our bodily Field), we will intuitively know that identifying racially is wrong.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Three Modes Of Material Nature

We should strive to perform all our actions in the mode of goodness while simultaneously noticing those around us who act in passion and ignorance. The mode of goodness allows us to think clearly and to bid adieu to race-consciousness — and to other unsavory conceptions of falsity. Goodness also acts as a springboard to transcendence, allowing us to realize our innate relationship with God.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The Yoga of the Supreme Person

The purpose of this book is to help one detach oneself from racial and ethnic considerations, and to thereby link with the Supreme Person.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The Divine And Demoniac Natures

A perfect example of one who possesses demoniac qualities is one who not only hates because of racial differences but also encourages violence upon the bodies of those who are different.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The Divisions of Faith

“Ministers” in the modes of passion and ignorance lead many so-called churches, but their preaching does not serve to purify the hearts of their parishioners.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Conclusion — The Perfection of Renunciation

Abandon all allegiances to mundane abstractions such as race, ethnicity, and culture. Instead, embrace your humanity as well as your higher spiritual nature. By this method, surely, you will gradually rise to transcendence and develop love for God.

Namaste: In light of Illinois Democratic Senator Barack Obama’s surprising victory in the Iowa caucuses, his close second place finish in the New Hampshire primary and his huge triumph in South Carolina, please allow me to provide you with a couple of references to the Presidential hopeful that you will find in my book “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness” (Backintyme Publishing).

Introduction

Others argue that it is detrimental to skip the census race question for the simple reason that if people of, say, multiracial ancestry don’t fill out the question, we won’t know how many mixed-race people there are in the U.S.

This is the argument positing that the “statistics would be more accurate if everyone filled out all of the information honestly on their census forms.” Actually, those deciding to opt out of the politics of racial identity will form a virtual community of individuals identifying more with humanity and their innate spirituality. To these folk it would be terribly dishonest, not to mention inaccurate, for them to continue identifying racially — particularly when their individual levels of consciousness are elevated far beyond that mundane platform.

Those desiring to opt out of the system should be able to, while those choosing to maintain that degraded level of consciousness, wherein one must always identify with the body and with racial designations, should be able to do that as well. Regarding the latter, if Illinois Senator and possible 2008 White House hopeful Barack Obama — who many tout as perhaps this country’s first black president, his white mom notwithstanding — chooses to identify as black in order to boost this country’s minority pride or bodily pridemebeli movement, that is his right.

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Chapter Twelve: Devotional Service

Young blacks in particular who can’t fathom the measurable gains accomplished since Brown v. Board of Education seem most vulnerable to the separatist ideology of Farrakhan and the Nation. Jesse Jackson and older blacks who’ve been through the struggle and who know well the tremendous gains that have been made should be ashamed of themselves for having participated in the “Million Man March.” Jackson, unfortunately, has become a pathetic figure whose political star has twice been eclipsed in recent years. He knows that if America will at last have a nonwhite President, it will likely be a retired four-star general named Powell (or a mulatto named Obama) and not a ’60s-era civil rights leader who can only speak in irritating rhyme. Jackson also has seen Farrakhan cash in his IOU for having come to Jesse’s defense in 1984. Farrakhan defended Jackson’s reference to Jews as “Hymies” and to New York as “Hymie town” by calling Zionism a “dirty” religion, by accusing Jewish groups of being behind death threats made against Jackson and by threatening holy revenge if harm came to Jackson. Jesse had to come to Washington for “Million Man” to pay off his debt.

Charles Michael Byrd
Charukrishna

Charles Michael Byrd (Charukrishna), author of “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness” (Backintyme Publishing), is available as a speaker/lecturer on Vaishnava-Hinduism and specifically on how the ancient Vedic philosophy has practical application as regards transcending the race notion in general, and its particular application apropos of the mixed-race community.

Attention business owners and corporate leaders! Consider the practical application of the Vedic message to your company. While businesses typically provide “race relations” courses for their employees, why not make available to them “Transcending Race Consciousness in the Workplace” which Mr. Byrd will deliver at your establishment.

Contact Mr. Byrd by writing to: CM Byrd, P.O. Box 560185, College Point, NY 11356-0185.

Telephone contact is 718-909-1878.

Email is chasbyrd@gmail.com

One of the biggest mental stumbling blocks for any American to hurdle when considering whether to embrace Vaishnava philosophy is India’s notorious caste system. To some it is an evil parallel to this country’s insidious racial classification system that positions whiteness on top with blackness on the bottom, with all the other so-called races relegated to intermediate positions. Nothing could be further from the truth, however.

The timeless Vedic literature describes a natural system of social organization that can bring about a peaceful society where everyone is happy. This system is called Varnashrama dharma, and while it serves as the basis for India’s current caste system, it is far different, without hint of racial prejudice.

The purpose of the Varnashrama social system is to provide a structure allowing people to work according to their natural tendencies and to organize society so that everyone, regardless of their position, makes spiritual advancement.

According to this philosophy, people can only work with a cooperative spirit if there is a central point of focus. Over the years proponents of many different political ideologies (e.g., Communism) have tried to unite society by providing such a central point. These attempts have all ultimately failed, though.

Generally, people work for their own pleasure, and this is sometimes extended to working for the family, the nation or even the whole world. Because the aims and aspirations of the members of society are so varied it is practically impossible to achieve a peaceful situation as everyone is working to fulfill his or her own personal goals.

The only universal point around which everyone can work is God. He provides an absolute, eternal center for all our activities. If we try to make something else the central point, the resulting society is doomed to fail.

The ancient Varnashrama system recognizes that there are many different types of people who may not be spiritually inclined. The society is thus organized under the direction of qualified brahmanas, spiritually gifted intellectuals, and is divided into four occupational and four spiritual divisions in such a way that everyone is serving God simply by performing their occupational duties. As the entire society is arranged to please God, anyone working within the society also pleases God, whether consciously or unconsciously.

The Varnashrama system recognizes the natural talents and abilities of each person and provides work according to a person’s qualities. There are four qualities of work. The brahmanas are the intellectual and priestly class. The kshatriyas are the government, the military and the administrative classes. The vaishyas are farmers and businessmen, and the shudras are workers.

There are also four spiritual divisions: brahmacharya or student life, grihastha or married life, vanaprastha or retired life and sannyasa or renounced life. As per Vaishnava teachings, if this system is properly implemented under the direction of qualified brahmanas, the result will be peace and prosperity throughout the world.

Varnashrama social divisions are based on qualities and work. If someone has the qualities of a brahmana, and if he works as a brahmana, he is accepted as a qualified brahmana. In this way, the Varnashrama system should not be confused with the corrupt caste system of India.

The current Indian system is akin to accepting the sons of a United States Supreme Court justice as Supreme Court justices themselves. Of course, that would be nonsense, as the individuals would have to be qualified. They have to attend and graduate from institutions of higher learning and pass bar exams, etc. Then they have to gain practical experience - usually as lawyers and judges on lesser platforms of jurisprudence — before even being considered for a high court appointment.

In India, people often claim to be brahmanas simply because they are born into a brahmana family, even though they do not possess the qualifications or qualities of a brahmana. In most cases they are not working as brahmanas either. The result of the corruption of the original system has been the destruction of the entire social structure in India, and, now, the rich tend to use the caste system to exploit and oppress the poor.

In the original Varnashrama society, however, all members are equally important. An analogy comparing the social body to the human body is instrumental in explaining this. The brahmanas are the head of the body, as they possess the intelligence and give directions to the other parts of the body. The kshatriyas are likened to the arms of the body, as their business as administrators and the military is to protect the social body from threats from outside (attacks from enemies) and disruption from within.

Vaishyas are likened to the stomach that provides energy to the body. The vaishyas, as the productive class, are the farmers and businessmen who produce and distribute food to the social body. The vaishyas are also responsible for protecting the cows - vitally important in a society that looks upon cows with reverence usually reserved for one’s mother. (Vedanta considers the cow to be essentially similar to our mother, because, in our infancy, our mother gave us cow milk to drink.)

Shudras are equated with the legs as they provide the manual labor required by the social body. We look after our whole body. It is not that we attend to problems affecting the head and neglect problems in the legs. The body works as a coordinated unit, and a problem anywhere in the body causes a disruption to the proper functioning of the whole body. When that happens we must immediately attend to that problem.

The social body should work as a coordinated unit with different members of the society acting in their respective positions as brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras according to their qualities. The result would be a happy, peaceful and efficient society.

Even if you do not accept the premise that we are all born with different levels of intellect, different tendencies and inclinations, you have to accept that the varna system exists contemporarily in America almost exactly as described above. We have our own brahmana caste, i.e., religious leaders and empirical philosophers - the intelligent class/caste — that offer sage advice to government and military leaders. The kshatriyas are the political and military leaders. The vaishyas are the captains of industry, and the shudras constitute the overwhelming bulk of the population - working class stiffs.

Transcending the quest for racial identity
Thursday, September 27, 2007

By TARESSA STOVALL of The Montclair Times

Some bi/multi-racial people feel they have a choice of colors, options for selecting how they define their racial/ethnic identities. Between a decades-long movement to create a separate census category and an increasingly blended United States population bursting the seams of traditional definitions, the issue is on more peoples’ minds than ever before.

Charles Michael Byrd, who describes himself as being “of black, white and Cherokee heritage,” made a name as the editor and publisher of Interracial Voice Web site from 1995 to 2003. Byrd has taken his personal quest for identity beyond physical labels to a whole ’nother level.

In his first book, “The Bhagavad-Gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness,” (Backintyme, 2007) Byrd, whose Krishna name is Charukrishna, said he has found the answer to his lifelong quest of transcending race, ethnicity, religion and other physical categories to ascend to a higher, universal identity.

“The subtitle reflects my thinking over the years, my journey,” he said. Born and reared a Southern Baptist in Southwest Virginia, Byrd said he “came up buying into society’s notion that I was just a very light-skinned black kid. But over a period of time, when you keep looking at yourself in the mirror [and see that] there’s a disconnect there, I think you grow past the first level of identity that society gives you.”

“I went from black to being mulatto because one of my great-aunts used to tell me about back in the early days when the newspaper would list people as being black, white and mulatto,” he said.

“I don’t feel either black or white,” Byrd said, “but the racial identity crisis that this country causes, especially for people of mixed background, pushes you to search for a higher spiritual truth, something that makes sense of the madness behind lumping people into separate and distinct racial groupings.”

Now, when asked his identity, “I tell them I’m a human being, that I don’t racially identify anymore,” Byrd said. “Krishna Consciousness transcends identifying with the physical body. I no longer push for a multiracial identity because I’ve gone beyond that.”

Byrd’s turnaround from multiracial/mulatto crusader to the man who is above any race but human came in the form of a book. Seven or eight years ago, someone gave him a copy of “The Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God,” which is widely considered to be sacred by many of the Hindu traditions, especially by followers of Krishna.

“I thought, ‘it’s a cult,’” said Byrd, who was familiar with the bald-headed, saffron-robed, chanting so-called Hare Krishnas who were often seen on street corners and in airports in the 1960s and 1970s. Then, curiosity drove him to read the book.

“It’s the deepest thing I’ve ever read in my life,” he said, inspired to learn more about the philosophy behind it. Today, he attends a Krishna temple in Brooklyn, and has gone through the first stage of initiation.

His leap from wrestling with black/white/other categories to transcendent Eastern theology is at the heart of “The Bhagavad-Gita in Black and White.”

“The book gives a pretty good outline of what’s been going on in this country the past few decades regarding racial identification, and freedom of association, such as interracial marriage,” Byrd said.

“Krishna consciousness is defined as the revival of our natural original consciousness of complete harmony with God, or Krishna,” he explained. “It changed me in the way I viewed myself, and it changed me in terms of how I view everything else. I see everyone else as emanating from the same source.”

Having fond a context and framework that work well for him, “I’d like to share it with others,” Byrd said.

“This book is primarily aimed at the multiracial population in America, and any American who wants to avail him or herself of the Vedic knowledge and how it might apply to the current situation of race consciousness in the United States,” Byrd said.

If you go

Charles Michael Byrd (Charukrishna) will discuss, read from and sign copies of “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness,” on Thursday, Oct. 4, 7 to 8 p.m., in watchung booksellers, 54 Fairfield St., Watchung Plaza.

Adam Abraham hosts the weekly “Talk For Food” podcast on WebTalkRadio. He recently interviewed me about my new book, “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness.” Click the below link to hear that conversation (approximately one hour):
“Beyond Race and Into Spirit”

Charles Michael Byrd, author of “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness” (Backintyme Publishing) will be speaking at Watchung Booksellers, 54 Fairfield Street, Watchung Plaza in Montclair, New Jersey on Thursday, October 4^th from 7 to 8 p.m.

In addition to reading from his book and holding a Q&A session on racialism from the Vedic perspective, Mr. Byrd, along with bookstore owner Margot Sage-El, will conduct a drawing afterwards. Individuals (nationally as well as locally) who purchase “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness” from the Watchung Booksellers website between now and October 4^th — as well as those folk who buy the book after they arrive that evening — will be eligible to win Watchung Booksellers Gift Certificates!

Born in 1952 in Abingdon, Virginia, Mr. Byrd is of “black,” “white” and Cherokee heritage. From 1995-2003 he published Interracial Voice, an Internet newsjournal serving the multiracial community in cyberspace. Among numerous media credits, he has appeared on both Tony Brown’s Journal and Jim Lehrer’s “NewsHour” and has written Op-Eds for the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsday and The Times Union of Albany. As well, he was recently interviewed for the Washington Post article entitled “A Part Colored By History: Choice of White Actress For Mixed-Race Role Stirs Debate on Insensitivity.”

A student of Vedic scriptures, Mr. Byrd believes that individuals of mixed racial backgrounds quickly begin searching for a higher spiritual truth, something that allows them to make sense of the madness behind lumping human beings into separate and distinct “racial” groupings.

Boston native Margot Sage-El is interracially married with three children and was interviewed by Mr. Byrd for Interracial Voice back in September 1995. Additionally, she has been in the forefront of the effort to promote literature geared toward “mixed-race” children and their families.

Order “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness” from Watchung Booksellers today, and come to Montclair on October 4^th. (Telephone 973-744-7177 if you need directions or more information.) See you there!

Here’s an Op-Ed I wrote that The Times Union of Albany, N.Y. was gracious enough to run on Saturday, July 28, 2007 in the paper’s Voices of Faith: Religious Commentary section.

Look inside to find path to harmony

For the past 25 years or more, I have been walking — albeit haltingly at times — down the path of self-realization, down that road less traveled.

At this point I can honestly say that every discipline I’ve studied to any degree — be it Taoism, Rosicrucianism, the New Age teachings of Deepak Chopra and James Redfield, L. Ron Hubbard’s controversial Scientology system or the 17th-century impersonal philosophy of Baruch Spinoza — coalesces rather nicely with the message of one book: the Bhagavad-gita.

The Bhagavad-gita (the “Hindu Bible” to some Westerners), an important source book on yoga, is the essence of India’s Vedic wisdom and is one of the great spiritual and philosophical classics of the world. Remarkably, however, the setting for this best-known classic of spiritual literature is an ancient Indian battlefield — in the land of Kurukshetra.

At the last moment before entering battle, the great warrior Arjuna begins to wonder about the real meaning of his life. Why should he fight against his friends and relatives? Why does he exist? Where is he going after death? In the Bhagavad-gita, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna — Arjuna’s friend and spiritual master — brings his disciple from perplexity to spiritual enlightenment through instruction in the science of self-realization. Nowadays, people who view themselves as mixed race are often internally conflicted, not knowing how to identify or to which side they should pledge their racial allegiance. One’s view of the “race” notion and to what “race” the individual supposedly belongs is heavily influenced by the family into which the person is born. Thus, transcending the race concept is often difficult because it is so heavily connected with family (intimate relatives) and background (including teachers and close friends). It is analogous to Arjuna’s dilemma.

As someone whom society views as racially mixed (black, white and Cherokee), I can personally attest that a spiritual path is the only means to achieve happiness and to resolve the internal conflicts that arise from this nation’s obsession with the politics of racial identity. In my experience, people who consider themselves of mixed race inevitably question not only the wisdom of normal racial identification but also the very scientific and biological foundation of race itself.

To lend public expression to these heretofore private individual challenges to the racial paradigm was one of the reasons I launched, in September 1995, the Interracial Voice Web site, a networking news journal serving the mixed-race community in cyberspace. Furthermore, I believe that individuals of mixed racial backgrounds quickly begin searching for a higher spiritual truth, something that allows them to make sense of the madness behind lumping human beings into separate and distinct racial groupings. The basic Vedic conclusion is that we are not our bodies. Rather, we are the eternal spirit-souls animating our physical forms. Ergo, we are not innately representative of racial, ethnic or cultural groupings. We are not Christians or Jews or Muslims or blacks or whites because those are merely temporary external identifications that die along with the body. We do not possess Hindu souls or Christian souls as the soul or atma knows no duality, color or “organized religion.”

Instead, there is sanatana dharma, or our eternal occupation as servants of God, and knowledge of that timeless nature of the soul transcends the tenets of any sectarian belief system.

I recommend studying the Bhagavad-gita as a means for anyone, whether mixed race or not, to transcend race-consciousness and to elevate oneself to the level of humanity. From that platform, it is easier to then lift oneself to the level of Krishna consciousness — the revival of our original natural consciousness of complete harmony with Krishna or God.

Charles Michael Byrd of New York City edited the Interracial Voice Web site (http://interracialvoice.com) from 1995-2003 and is author of “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness” (Backintyme Publishing).

Nearly a year ago Washington Post Staff Writer Teresa Wiltz interviewed me for an article she was doing on known mixed-race actors who are cast in racially ambiguous roles. (The newspaper never ran that article for some reason.) It seemed that Teresa may have been implying that doing so is a new age version of “passing for white.” She harkened back to those days sixty to seventy years ago when mixed actors had to either pass or “darken up” and play a black role.

At any rate, Teresa contacted me just two days ago to solicit my comments on a somewhat similar article focusing on what has come to be known as color-blind casting. Specifically, she wanted to know what I thought about Angelina Jolie being cast to play Mariane Pearl, widow of Daniel Pearl — the journalist beheaded by Islamic fascists in Karachi, Pakistan.

Teresa’s article is entitled “A Part Colored By History — Choice of White Actress For Mixed-Race Role Stirs Debate on Insensitivity.”

I’m particularly pleased as punch that she saw fit to mention my new book — “The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna Consciousness” — in the Washington Post article.