Espylacopa
Letters to America from an American Muslim
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
The chronological compilation of Letters to the Editor presented in ESPYLACOPA covers twenty-five years of opinions from the author published by various newspapers across America and Europe. The observations within ESPYLACOPA reflect the progressively relevancy of Muslim insight into the development of political, social and spiritual trends in America. As Islam continues to be more relevant in America in the days and years to come, the message offered in this little book may serve as a welcomed gift of enlightenment to those readers who seek a fuller understanding of Islam and Muslims and choose to prepare for the beginning of the journey into an inheritable tomorrow.
The viewpoints offered in ESPYLACOPA by a Muslim born and raised in Mississippi and who is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force are intended to promote social justice and spiritual enhancement and shine a light on the path into the future as the relationship between Islam and the Americas becomes more intertwined and amicable, inshallah (God willing).
About the Author
John Ellis Ishmael Briggs Be is the son of Rev Clyde Bennie Briggs and Mary Geraldine Briggs and was born in Natchez, Mississippi. He grew up in the rural SW Mississippi town of Roxie before joining the U. S. Air Force at the age seventeen.
Growing up as the son of a Baptist minister in the 1960s he developed an interest in promoting social justice and spiritual enhancement by observing the life of his father who was a pioneer in civil rights activism in SW Mississippi and the life of his mother who was a social worker. When his father was murdered in 1965 as a result of his human rights activism, his mother parented her nine children within the framework of the family's conservative ethics and liberal spirituality.
While serving in the Air Force he embraced Islam at the age of nineteen when he was presented with a Holy Quran and became aware of his family's history and the fact that several ancestors had been Muslims in SW Mississippi during and after enslavement. This rebirth in faith and spirituality opened his eyes even more to the need for promoting social justice internationally as well as on the home front.
He has spent the subsequent years as a husband, a father of four and a civil servant with the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs. During that time he has dedicated his efforts outside the home to writing and working for social justice and spiritual enhancement.
The author currently works in South Mississippi and resides in Biloxi and SW Mississippi.