“Some years ago, on a Friday, I visited my father in jail. He was ill, so goodbye was more difficult than usual and our hug was longer. On my way home, I wished life was normal. On the streets, I gazed at kids holding the hands of their fathers, laughing and playing. Envy pervaded my heart. On reaching home, my brother told me that some guests had come. I ran to the guestroom. “Meet Ghalib, Ahmed.” My mother told me, as she kissed my forehead. Ghalib. Afzal Guru’s son. I looked at him. He greeted me with a smile that I haven’t been able to forget for all these years. Here’s a boy who can’t see his father, who has no prison to go to, who can’t even sit at his father’s grave. Today, we pray for his well-being, courage, and patience. We pray for our liberation.”

–Kashmiri Ahmed Bin Qasim, whose mother & father are both political prisoners.

On the dangerous practice of journalism in occupied Kashmir: not unlike the practice of journalism in Syria & occupied Palestine.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kashmir-press-club-journalists-jk-police-6260953/lite/?

“Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast, hami asto, hamin asto, hamin ast.”
“If there is a heaven on earth, it’s here, it’s here, it’s here.”

#Kashmir

–Mir Suhail Qadiri

Netflix is running a six-part documentary titled “Who Killed Malcolm X” based on a 20-year investigation by Black Muslim Abdur-Rahman Muhammad who was only 3-years-old when Malcolm was assassinated on February 21st, 1965. Abdur-Rahman is not being given his due in reviews of this series but it is entirely his tireless & fearless work which is the basis of this series now pressuring the NYPD to reopen the investigation into the murder of Malcolm.

Three Black men were arrested & sent to jail for the assassination. Talmadge X Hayer, who was captured at the site, admitted his guilt in the conspiracy; the other two men were framed & not even present in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. Hayer testified to their innocence but did not name his four other conspirators (all from Newark) until a 1977 affidavit filed by attorney William Kunstler. All of the four have since died but William X. Bradley, the man who fired the fatal sawed-off shotgun pellets which killed Malcolm, was allowed to run free in Newark for nearly 54 years & became a prominent community activist until his death in October 2018.

The documentary covers Malcolm’s relationship to the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1953 to 1964 when he was suspended by Elijah Muhammad, his break with Elijah Muhammad over politics & corruption within the NOI, the cult-like character of the NOI, Malcolm’s political transformation after his 1964 Hajj to Mecca.

George Breitman was a socialist writer about the Black struggle in America & a supporter of Malcolm X who wrote the 1967 book “Last Year of Malcolm X: Evolution of a Revolutionary”, the 1976 book “The Assassination of Malcolm X”, & edited the speeches of Malcolm in “Malcolm X Speaks”. He alleged an undercover role of the NYPD & the FBI in the assassination. That was what many Black activists believed at the time. Abdur-Rahman’s investigation bears those allegations out with documentation about constant surveillance & wiretapping of the NOI & Malcolm X by the NYPD & FBI ; documentation that there were 9 FBI informants present who witnessed the assassination; evidence that Malcolm X’s closest associate & bodyguard who was supposed to be guarding him during his speech was in fact an undercover operative for the NYPD. Abdur-Rahman poses the question of the relationship of assassin William X Bradley to the FBI & suggests that the NOI members who assassinated Malcolm out of cult-like adherence to Elijah Muhammad worked in collaboration with the FBI.

Malcolm X was one of the most important freedom fighters in human history, not just American history, because he was fearless & uncompromising in his commitment to Black freedom. Getting to the bottom of who killed him matters to those who respect his immense contributions & historic truth. If New York authorities reopen the case, it is likely they will attempt to contain it by exonerating the two men who were framed, only one of whom is still alive & in his 80s. A thorough investigation of the four assassins, especially William X Bradley, might lead directly to the FBI & NYPD & that is not something the authorities are willing to risk. But Malcolm’s assassination caused terrible lifelong suffering & tragedy for his wife Betty Shabazz & their six daughters as well as for those men framed & imprisoned. Justice must be served.

Facebook wants to cover this photo of those killed in the December 3rd, 1984 pesticide explosion in Bhopal, India. (I originally posted it on December 4th, 2014.) The explosion of 45 tons of toxic gas was caused by Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) shortcutting safety procedures. It caused the immediate deaths of over 15,000 people & now a third & fourth generation of children suffering disfigurement, disabilities, & neurological disorders.

There has been no justice through either the Indian or US courts for the victims of Bhopal although activists have left no stone unturned & are undaunted in seeking it. They can put a cover on this photo but we will not help them hide the truth. Our fullest solidarity with the people of Bhopal in taking on one of the multinational corporations that are killing our children & destroying our planet out of unbridled greed.

(Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

This graffiti on a wall in Saraqib, Idlib being bombed by Syrian & Russian bombers says “Your warplanes cannot bomb our dreams.” The Syrian Arab Spring which dared to challenge Assad’s police state has been vilified as terrorists by propagandists & corrupt & deranged political forces. But the millions of Syrian refugees will force the day when an accounting will be made–we must make every effort to support them–& they will make the truth known. Those who stood with the counterrevolution will face the ignominy & contempt of history & the Syrian Arab Spring will take its rightful place among the most important freedom struggles in human history.

Long live the Syrian Arab Spring.

(Photo via National Coalition Of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces)

Kashmir

Geraldine Kreitz passed away last Thursday & anyone who knew her is bereft. She was a friend of mine for over 16 years. I met her after I was laid off a good job as a quality control inspector at General Electric. Because of my age & the disinclination of employers to hire former union workers, I was scrounging for a living doing minimum wage work, house cleaning, & professional organizing. She did house cleaning, including for a wealthy couple who needed a professional organizer to clear out decades of accumulated clutter & she recommended me for the job. For a few years, we worked for the same couple & it was then that we became friends. I fell in love with her honesty &–dare I call it?–sweetness.

We were both working class girls with a hardscrabble time trying to find our place in this world. We both worked our ways through the University of Minnesota–apparently not successfully since we both ended up in middle-age scrounging for a living. I loved her no-nonsense, no bullshit attitude; I loved that she didn’t have an ounce of cynicism nor any self-pity. I loved that she was politically tough-minded & extremely intelligent although her demeanor was quiet & unpretentious, even self-effacing. In her social media work, she focused a lot on the US concentration camps for refugee children, on Palestinians, on social justice generally. She was a brilliant Scrabble player.

Gerry told me a few months ago that she was given only a short time to live because of respiratory issues from a lifetime of smoking. When I asked her how short, she told me probably a couple years but I knew from her description of her condition that she meant only a matter of months. I had no idea it would just be weeks.

Were it not for social media, many would not know Gerry because of her unpretentious ways. For those who didn’t know her, she had a truly beautiful spirit, a kind spirit. She became friends with many of my friends & family members. We ask you to join us in honoring her life. I send my deepest condolences to her children & family & want them to know we loved her & will never forget her. May our beloved Gerry Rest In Peace.

Each thought I express, I’m paid.
Each word I write, I’m paid.
For every slogan I raise, I’m paid.
For every rock I hurl, I’m paid.

For that gun I snatched, I was paid.
For that bullet piercing my chest, I was paid.
My presence in funerals was paid.
My visit to families of Martyr’s was paid.

When you entered my valley, you were paid.
For each day you spend here, you are paid.
For harrasment, torture, arson, murder, you are paid.
Even for saying, I’m paid, you are paid.

If my each act of resistance is paid,
Your every act of aggression is paid.

The difference:
You are paid with money and promotion,
I’m paid by hope of ending your occupation.

–Nasir Patigaru (via Freny Manecksha)

(Reposting from March 30, 2017)

“The disemboweling of Kashmir begins.”

–Kajal Basu

https://theprint.in/india/outside-firms-enter-mining-race-in-jk-lease-earnings-touch-crores-from-lakhs/360175/?