Introductions - Preston Henry Andrew Scott (aka Isma'il ibn Bilal)

Since 2010, I have been diligently drafting, recruiting, or posting others' essays and articles as they relate the Muslim community both within the United States and internationally. The time and events of the past year have convinced me that there needs to be an additional focus. I fully intend to provide reasons in a forthcoming essay, but wanted to make this short introduction to The Voice of the Citizen.

The Voice of the Citizen will focus solely on American issues as they relate to foreign and domestic policy, economic tyranny, the usurpation and abuse of political rights, Constitutional hermeneutics and other arising issues, matters in which the nation both succeeds and fails in relation to social justice, equity, and fairness. All of these issues affect Americans independent of their so-called race, their religion, socio-economic background, sexual orientation, et cetera.

I have learned, even with the beauty of the Arab Spring, that I cannot escape who and what I am. My family has invested some four centuries of blood, sweat, effort to make America great, all the while hoping that one day it would be that which it endeavored in 1776. For the first time in my thirty-six years, an event transpired that caused me to feel such a sense of pride in relation to my being an American. I have been disappointed in the United States of America and its People for such a long time, but 2011 completely altered this feeling.



I began to understand that my nation needed to hear the Voice of its Citizens-not only my voice, but the voice of others who in their patriotism demand that America live up to its Creed. This is what I hope to achieve in this new addition or new direction that is the Voice of the Citizen.

I hope you will enjoy.