Transcript of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s press conference on World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. I’ve been very curious about the Black Muslim reaction but, more generally, the reaction in the largely African American inner city to the attacks and our impending war footing. Will the widespread black cynicism about being “cannon fodder” in the white man’s war that I recall from the Vietnam era, and which temporarily abated during the volunteer Army, rear its head again? Do the most disenfranchised and alienated in American society feel they belong to the ‘we’ who were attacked? Is the widespread grief, outrage, and vulnerability of other segments of our society felt as much in the ghetto? I’ve seen no coverage of this aspect of things. One reason it may be germane is the increasingly dominant role of hip hop in shaping youth style and attitude, both black and white.

To wit: Eerie image pulled from CD:

The cover for the upcoming CD from a popular hip-hop group portrays an eerily familiar sight.

Against a backdrop of morning skies, the towers of the World Trade Center stand engulfed in flame from the impact of twin explosions. Clouds of smoke spew from the upper stories, all but obscuring the tip of what was once the epicenter of the New York City skyline…

The cover design predates Tuesday’s twin attacks on the World Trade Center by months. Wired