My letter to Menna (imprisoned in #Egypt ); I’m Sorry.

 

Originally posted on @kelo3adi:

 

 

Menna,

Growing up, there was nothing I enjoyed more than listening to my friend’s mum narrating details of her own childhood in Cairo. She would tell me of the fig and apple trees casting their cool shade over her parents’ yard and the basil and mint leaves emanating a refreshing aroma. She would tell me of the mosques—their vastness and tranquility. I remember the nostalgia in her voice as she’d remember past holiday prayers, describing the crowds and happiness.  I remember hearing about women in niqab riding roller coasters at liberty and multahiya men playing soccer without being questioned. People spoke and acted as they pleased, she’d say. No one was afraid of being shot at or imprisoned simply for believing in a better Egypt.

I smile as I recall these narratives, but as I think about the current situation of Egypt and the past months, I cannot help but cry, Menna.

I’m sorry, Menna.

I’m sorry that you will tell your children of the suffocation of your cell and the insects infesting it, instead of the coolness of your parents’ yard.

View the rest here.

Statement from Hannibal Shakur

Oakland, CA

The political nature of my charges cannot be over-stated here. To give human rights to a mechanical entity constructed solely for the sake of profit and exploitation is a perversion of those rights and what it means to be a human being. In Florida, a white man walks for the obvious murder of a black boy. That young boy, that black child, wasn’t even given the rights of a dog. When the verdict is released, black people across America rise up to protest our non-citizen status. What could be called a riot ensues. A handful of people are arrested with charges of felony vandalism of whom I am one defendant.