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HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — a VOA Special English program aboutmusic and American life. And we answer your questions.
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This is Doug Johnson. This week, we play some music by SweetHoney in the Rock, as that group celebrates its thirtiethanniversary. And we answer a listener’s question about some SpecialEnglish announcers and writers.
But first – a look at Ramadan in America.
Ramadan in America
HOST:
Muslims around the world are observing the holy month of Ramadan.Faith Lapidus tells how some are observing it in the United States.
ANNCR:
America is a nation of two-hundred-ninety-two-million people. There are estimates thatsix-million of them are Muslim. The government does not ask peopletheir religion, so it has no official numbers. But Islam is oftendescribed as a fast growing religion in the United States.
Media around the country have stories about activities at localIslamic centers during Ramadan. In Maryland, the Al-Rahmah Mosque inthe Baltimore area uses its basketball court as a dining room. TheBaltimore Sun newspaper says two-hundred to three-hundred peoplegather for their evening meal. Muslims are supposed to avoid foodand drink from sunrise to sundown during Ramadan.
In the central United States, the director of the Islamic Centerof Lawrence, Kansas, says as many as two-hundred people go to dailyprayers during a normal month. But he tells the Journal-Worldnewspaper that the number can grow to five-hundred during Ramadan.
President Bush led a traditional meal at the White House forAmerican Muslim leaders and ambassadors of Muslim countries.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. To Muslims,it was the month in the year six-ten when the Prophet Mohamedreceived the knowledge from God that would become the holy book, theKoran.
Many Muslims give presents tochildren during Ramadan. This year, a company in the state ofMichigan is selling a number of toys designed for Muslim children.One of the most popular is a doll called Razanne (rah-ZAN). Razannelooks different from Barbies and other dolls for girls. All sevendolls in the series wear the traditional Muslim head covering. Theirarms and legs are also covered. One is a schoolgirl. Another is ateacher.
Ammar Saadeh established NoorArt, the company that created theRazanne doll. Mister Saadeh says the doll provides a good examplefor Muslim girls. There is also a Praying Razanne. It comes with aprayer rug and what the company describes as a small Koran-likebook.
Where Are They Now?
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Delta State,Nigeria. Henry Oghifo would like to know about several of the peoplewhose names or voices appear in Special English programs. He sent usa list, and we would like to include a few more.
First, he asked about Marilyn Rice Christiano. Marilyn was thechief of Special English and she retired about two years ago.Marilyn is a very busy woman. She travels a lot and has become anexcellent photographer. Marilyn stops by our office once in a whileto say hello.
You may remember Warren Scheer. If you listen to this program,you heard his voice many times. Warren retired a few years ago andis busy with a small farm in West Virginia.
Henry also asked about Tony Riggs. Tony was the host of AmericanMosaic for a long time — more than four-hundred programs! We stillsee Tony almost every day. You can hear him on VOA News Now. Tony isalso busy learning to fly small airplanes.
And where would we be without Nancy Steinbach? She is the chiefwriter of American Mosaic, and has been since our program began. Shewrites for other Special English programs as well.
Henry also asked about Larry West, Maurice Joyce and Kay Gallant.Sadly, all three have died. Kay Gallant died just a few weeks ago,at the age of eighty. We miss them. They were good friends and a lotof fun to work with.
Because we repeat some older programs, you may still hear theirvoices on the air. Listen for a moment to Larry, Maurice and Kay.They were three of our very best announcers.
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Henry also asks about Paul Thompson. Paul is here with me in thestudio. He usually produces American Mosaic, and has produced almostone-thousand of our shows. Sometimes he writes for us, too, alongwith most of the shows in the Special English program, Explorations.
Anyway, Paul has just given me a signal. That means we are almostout of time for this part of American Mosaic. However, we would liketo thank Henry Oghifo in Delta State, Nigeria for asking about us.
Sweet Honey in the Rock
HOST:
Members of the singing group SweetHoney In The Rock are celebrating thirty years together. These sixAfrican American women perform the religious music known as gospel.They also sing jazz, protest songs and blues.
Sweet Honey In The Rock takes its name from a story in the Bible.It tells of a land so rich that honey would flow from rocks. PhoebeZimmermann takes the story from there.
ANNCR:
Most of the time, the members of Sweet Honey In The Rock singwithout any musical instruments. Here is a song from “Still On TheJourney,” their twentieth anniversary album. The song is called”Tribute.”
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The founder of Sweet Honey In The Rock is Bernice Johnson Reagon(REE gun). She writes many of their songs. Here is one she wrote forchildren, “Still Got To Get Up In The Morning.”
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The women of Sweet Honey In The Rock are celebrating their thirtyyears together by performing across the United States. They alsorecorded an anniversary album called “The Women Gather.” We leaveyou with the title song.
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HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. Send us your questions about American life!Our e-mail address is mosaic@voanews.com. If we use your question,we’ll send you a gift. So make sure to include your name and mailingaddress. Our postal address is American Mosaic, VOA Special English,Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, USA.
Our program was written by George Grow, Nancy Steinbach and PaulThompson. Our producer was Paul Thompson. And our engineer was SkipSisk.
I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week forVOA’s radio magazine in Special English.