Afghanistan: A Personal History

It’s hard to talk about Afghanistan’s recent history without talking about a much longer history and tradition. Those of us who are the children of the Mujahideen grew up on stories of our ancestors defeating Alexander the Great and the British Colonial Empire. When I talk to my generation, who grew up when Afghanistan’s current fighting began, about 40 years ago, they talk about those days with a fervor – our families suffered immensely and sacrificed dozens of uncles and relatives to the struggle against Soviet imperialism, but this wasn’t something that happened in isolation.

We’re Afghans – we’ve been killing colonizers since our history began. Not only that, we’ve been taking down their empires with them. The oldest photo we have of our family was stumbled upon by my father who one day found himself looking at his ancestors staring back at him when researching the second Anglo-Afghan war. A proud moment for a man who prides himself on being from a long line of anti imperialists

Read More

[Video] The Slave Rebellion That Liberated A Nation: The Haitian Revolution of 1791

From BlackPast.Org

.

The Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere.  Slaves initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had succeeded in ending not just slavery but French control over the colony.  The Haitian Revolution, however, was much more complex, consisting of several revolutions going on simultaneously. These revolutions were influenced by the French Revolution of 1789, which would come to represent a new concept of human rights, universal citizenship, and participation in government.

.

In the 18th century, Saint Dominigue, as Haiti was then known, became France’s wealthiest overseas colony, largely because of its production of sugar, coffee, indigo, and cotton generated by an enslaved labor force.  When the French Revolution broke out in 1789 there were five distinct sets of interest groups in the colony. There were white planters—who owned the plantations and the slaves—and petit blancs, who were artisans, shop keepers and teachers.  Some of them also owned a few slaves.  Together they numbered 40,000 of the colony’s residents.  Many of the whites on Saint Dominigue began to support an independence movement that began when France imposed steep tariffs on the items imported into the colony.  The planters were extremely disenchanted with France because they were forbidden to trade with any other nation.  Furthermore, the white population of Saint-Dominique did not have any representation in France.  Despite their calls for independence, both the planters and petit blancs remained committed to the institution of slavery.

‘Black Liberation and the Paradox of Political Engagement’ – A Talk by Frank Wilderson, III

‘Black Liberation and the Paradox of Political Engagement’ – A Talk by Frank Wilderson, III

Black Student Union (BSU), Critical Anti-Colonial Studies, Faces of African Muslims (FAM), and Islamic Third World Coalition have organized to bring key Afro-Pessimist thinker and anti-Apartheid fighter Dr. Frank Wilderson, III to University of California at Davis.

Date: March 19, 2015
Time: 5 pm
Location: Andrews Conference Room, UCDavis

In this talk, Frank Wilderson will use ideas/themes from a paper he wrote titled “The Black Liberation Army and the Paradox of Political Engagement”. See the abstract of that paper below-

Abstract:
“Assata Shakur’s 1973 prison communiqué is exemplary of the paradox immanent in any recourse to the analogical terrain of the Symbolic for the articulation of a Black political position. The violence constitutive of the Black-qua-Slave voids access to “transindividual objects” of prior spatial (e.g. “land”) or temporal (e.g. “heritage”) plenitude—real or imaginable—that both triangulate intra-Human (non-Black) conflict and fortify their relationality or common subjectivity. Since the narrative structure of political discourse cannot translate gratuitous violence (Real) from “violated” flesh (Imaginary) to its authorized touchstones (Symbolic), it, like the Marxists and postcolonialists who deploy its grammar, are inherently anti-Black.”

Join on facebook: ‘Black Liberation and the Paradox of Political Engagement’ – A Talk by Frank Wilderson, III

break the laws/break the chains: political reflections on Mike Brown and White Supremacy from Oakland CA

Reposted from Kissing in the Dark

To be free is to break the law

“Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.”

-assata shakur

 I write to you from a humbled place. Striving to be a warrior for my people; looking and listening. This is an attempt to share some political reflections as a Black womyn in the struggle since I left the womb. The last two days Turtle Island (united states) has been on fire in solidarity with Mike Brown’s family and Ferguson, Missouri to protest the murder of Mike Brown by pig Darren Wilson, who continues to live freely with no charges filed against him. Mike Brown, like many of my brothers and sisters before me, was murdered for being a Black man in the White mans system. A system built out of the genocide of Black and Native folks. No justice will ever be served in their courts. This week in particular is a powerful week to be remembering and honoring native resistance, and Indigenous resistance all over this earth to white supremacy and state violence. Nothing has changed including the lies and bullshit holidays they try to feed us to distract us from these truths. We honor by continuing to resist.

Dialogue and Strategy Building: What are Warrior Societies and Their Role in Liberation and against Colonialism

Sakej Ward – Warrior Alliance –

Sunday, 6PM at Qilombo in Oakland (2313 San Pablo Ave)

Sakej (James Ward) belongs to the wolf clan. He is Mi’kmaw (Mi’kmaq Nation) from the community of Esgenoopetitj (Burnt Church First Nation, New Brunswick). He is the father of nine children, four grandchildren and a caregiver for one. He resides in Shxw’owhamel First Nation with his wife Melody Andrews and their children.

Sakej is a veteran of both the Canadian and American militaries. During his military career, he volunteered and excelled at some of the most demanding leadership courses in the military, including the Special Forces Infantry Leader’s Course. He finished his military career at the rank of Sergeant.

Wanting to pursue academics, he immediately went to university and immersed himself in politics where he graduated from the University of New Brunswick from the Honour’s program with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a specialization in International Relations.

Recognizing the value of an academic background, he continued to advance his studies and attended the University of Victoria where he successfully completed the Master’s of Arts Degree in Indigenous Governance.

Sakej has a long history of advocating and protecting First Nations inherent responsibilities and freedoms, having spent the last 21 years fighting the government and industry. This deep desire to bring justice to all Indigenous people has given Sakej experience in international relations where he spoke on behalf of the Mi’kmaq Nation at the United Nations Working Group for Indigenous Populations (WGIP). For his efforts in protecting Indigenous people, freedoms and territory he has received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award.

Having taught, organized, advised and led various warrior societies from all over Turtle Island down into Guatemala and Borike (Puerto Rico) Sakej has made warrior-hood his way of life. He has been on over a dozen warrior operations and countless protest actions. He dedicates all his time to developing warrior teachings and instructing warrior societies from all over.

From Alaska to Argentina (and all over the world where people are fighting against colonialism and decolonization) we are fighting for the same things: water, life, land and liberty. We have a common enemy who is destroying any possibility for a future on this planet.

We need a movement. Lets dialogue and strategize with each other on how we can do this.

Organized by Native Youth Movement.

See the Facebook event here.

Read about his presentation at UCLA here.

Sakej’s Reflections on Anti-Columbus Tour

Sakej will be speaking at Oakland’s Qilombo on Sunday, November 23rd at 6PM. For more details, go here.

Reposted from Native Youth Movement Warrior Society

First, I want to acknowledge the land of the Tongva and Chumash people that I visited. I also wish to thank the organizers who put this tour together and a special thanks to Joaquin Cienfuegos for his hard work, time and dedication to making the tour happen. Another special thanks to a close brother and sister, Hawk and Centzi, who helped organize the tour, housed us, coordinated activities, drove us around, showed us the area and cooked awesome meals for us. They are also a great example of Indigenous parents who are setting the example by teaching cultural based dance, committing to ensure the safety and healthy upbringing of their children, maintaining active lifestyles and avoiding the pressures of joining a gang life, which starts at such a young age. Their dedication, generosity and hospitality would make their ancestors proud.

The concept for the Anti-Columbus Speaking Tour followed the release of the video of the Mi’kmaq warrior tour. Suzanne Patles and Coady Stevens did a great job of speaking at Cheam Fist Nation, B.C. (as well as other places along their tour) where I had also presented on the purpose of the Indigenous warrior. Defining the warrior intrigued several people and groups who wanted to hear more about it so the tour was created.

The objective of the tour was to raise the awareness around the definition, purpose, role and responsibilities of a warrior in the southern California area.

The method used to raise awareness around warriors and warrior societies was a two pronged approach. The first was to conduct talks (teachings) about warriors. Each teaching was modified to fit that particular audience. The teaching would lead to questions, answers and more discussion.

The second approach was for activists group seeking skill building activities. These engagements were designed around warrior skill development after the warrior teachings. It was decided that the two key skill sets would be survival techniques and knife fighting.

Survival skills need to be interpreted as Indigenous cultural skills as they are skills that are needed to be out on the land and to live with the land. These are skills that have been appropriated by the colonizer and renamed “modern survival skills”. It is important to take these skills back if we truly want to revive our land-based culture…

Read the rest of the presentation here.

Khutbah with Dr. Hatem Bazian: Do not be utilized to support the empire.

Midday prayers held at the UN Plaza during SF rally for Gaza.

On Friday’s rally for Gaza in San Francisco, Brother Hatem Bazian gave the khutbah for Friday prayer services. He warned Muslims living in the US against being a cog in the machine of the “colonial mother land” –be it through direct aid to the military industry, work of so-called human rights organizations or seamless assimilation into a society/culture with a historical legacy of colonization, slavery and genocide.

[Side note: In the middle of the khutbah, a woman stood a couple feet from Brother Hatem and antagonized him as he spoke. Some organizers led her away from the front. Hatem briefly responded to the small commotion by criticizing the State’s neglect of social services and encouraging listeners to love and support people with mental health issues.]

Listen to the entire khutbah below:

[Video/Tour Dates] Warrior Hip-Hop West Coast Tour: Building A Culture of Resistance

From Warrior Hip-Hop West Coast Tour – Donate: Here

Turtle Island

[Watch More Videos From Performers Here]

Zro Prophet of X Vandals  * Savage Family * Alas * Shining Soul

Welcome to the Warrior Hip-Hop Tour fundraising page! The purpose of this tour is to begin to build a culture of resistance through hip hop and art, and to inspire and educate others through hip hop all throughout Turtle Island. 

This tour is bringing together conscious rebel artists from areas now known as new york, washington, arizona and southern cali. There will be tour stops at reservations and illegally occupied cities up and down the West Coast. We are taking our music to the communities where it is most sought after.  We are definitely not going on this tour to get rich, but we would like to accomplish this without going into debt. If you are able to contribute to this crowd-funding initiative, we would like your help to bring our message of strength and dignity to communities that are underprivileged and ignored. 

Frantz Fanon – Excerpt from Wretched of the Earth

From Frantz Fanon – Wretched of the Earth

“Decolonization, which sets out to change the order of the world is, obviously, a program of complete disorder. But it cannot come as a result of magical practices, nor of natural shock, nor of a friendly understanding. Decolonization, as we know, is a historical process: that is to say that it cannot be understood, it cannot become intelligible nor clear itself except in the exact measure that we can discern the movements which give it historical form and context. Decolonization is the meeting of two forces, opposed to each other by their very nature, which in fact we owe their originality to that sort of substantiation which results from and is nourished by the situation in the colonies.

It’s Still True: Their Heroes Have Always Killed Colonizers

This week, Israeli soldiers invaded Bethlehem refugee camps, barged into Palestinian homes around the country, kidnapped and injured scores of people and debated the Prawar-Begin Plan (a plan that will demolish dozens of villages and displace Bedouins who are indigenous to the area). Meanwhile, Zionist watchdog AMCHA Initiative from Santa Cruz has demanded San Francisco State University administrators repress any messaging that sounds like militant self-defense against the Israel occupation and genocide. Despite Zionist-bullying, on Thursday, student groups defied the smear campaign and held another assembly at SFSU’s Malcom X Plaza.

AMCHA came after the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) last week after the group hosted their sixth annual celebration of the Edward Said campus mural. A table at the celebration displayed stencils declaring “My Heroes Have Always Killed Colonizers.” AMCHA called the students’ messaging “anti-Semitic” and said the stencils “glorified the murder of Jews.” AMCHA alerted the Simon Weisenthal Center, which successfully lobbied for the administration’s alliance. (This isn’t the first time this has happened at SFSU. For one example of many: remember in 1994, when the school had the original Malcom X mural sandblasted from a building?)

Edward Said mural on SFSU campus

Not-so-ironically, the student group that brought the stencil is not a Palestinian group, but rather the Student Kouncil of Intertribal Nations. The stencil wording has been used for years by indigenous groups to commemorate the resistance to genocide(s) committed across the continent.

Other groups who are unapologetically supporting the messaging and who participated in Thursday’s rally include Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Atzlàn (MEChA), La Raza Student Organization, Feminism in Action and the League of Filipino Students. The rally was not in response to the Zionist attack alone: students were also opposing implementation plans for campus police tasers and the privatization of the student center, as well as drawing attention to a labor conflict between the school and the student center janitors.

We spoke with a few students who helped put on the event. We prefer not to edit what people have to say, so we’ve published the comments in full: