Sunday, February 7, 2010

Links via Diigo (weekly)

Links of interest for the week ending in February 7, 2010.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Posted by Brown Folks at 2:31 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Links via Diigo (weekly)

Links of interest for the week ending in January 31, 2010.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Links via Diigo (weekly)

Links of interest for the week ending in January 24, 2010.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Posted by Brown Folks at 2:30 AM 0 comments
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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Tales from a whitewashed childhood

Once when I was about 17 or 18, I had a bunch of friends over at my house, and served them hummus and chips. One (white) friend told me she had never even heard of hummus until recently. She said that was because she had grown up poor, and hummus was a luxury food enjoyed by the middle class in the U.S. At the time, I took it as an example of my class privilege and found it interesting that our differing class backgrounds had introduced us to different foods.

As I look back now, I realize how whitewashed I had been. It didn't occur to me at the time that eating hummus had nothing to do with my family's socioeconomic class and everything to do with the fact that my family is Iranian and Jewish, and that's what we eat. (Of course, hummus was not traditionally a part of Iranian nor Ashkenazi cuisine, but it has become popular with both groups, at least in diaspora). But back then, I thought of myself as white and identified with my white friend, so I couldn't see that she was the one who was exercising privilege. (Certainly the fact that my olive complexion often enables me to pass as white contributed to my thinking that I was white, but there were other factors in my upbringing that played an even bigger role).

In the following years I gained a more sophisticated knowledge of self, aided in no small part by moving out of the Iranian bubble that is southern California and having my race read differently in different locales. (Reading Fanon didn't hurt, either). I now see the above episode as instructive, not just of where my thinking on these issues was at the time, but of the confusion engendered by the disconnect between the way I was taught to view myself and the different ways others view me. See also Hoda's excellent piece on these same issues.
Posted by Alexander at 10:35 PM 0 comments
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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Links via Diigo (weekly)

Links of interest for the week ending in January 17, 2010.


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Posted by Brown Folks at 2:32 AM 0 comments
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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Take action on two important issues

1. Stop the Bill that would Ban Visas for Iranians

The STEP Act would make it illegal for all Iranians to travel to the United States, with few exceptions made after "extensive federal screening," only in cases of medical emergency or political or religious asylum. According to Rep. Barrett, he is reintroducing the STEP Act in response to the Fort Hood shooting, carried out by an American citizen, and the Christmas-day attempt to blow up an airplane over Detroit, attempted by a Nigerian national. The bill, however, targets citizens and residents of Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Yemen, and Syria. The bill originally would have deported all Iranians in the U.S. on student, work, exchange, or tourist visas within 60 days, but that part was removed due to protest. We need to continue to protest this racist and discriminatory bill until it is scrapped altogether. Please take a minute to send an email opposing the bill, and tell everyone you know to do the same. You can also spread the word via this Facebook event.

2. Earthquake hits Haiti, causing destruction to an impoverished nation

There's little "natural" about this disaster; it is man-made, and its impact would have been much less devastating had Haiti not been ravaged and plundered by the colonial powers for over 500 years (not the least of which taking place just in the past couple of decades). Shouldn't the leaders of the powers responsible for Haiti's destitution, especially the U.S. and France, be contributing massively to the relief effort? Unfortunately that's not going to happen, so the aid must also come from ordinary people like us. Here is a list of relief organizations that are accepting donations, but be sure to read this before you decide where to donate money. Médecins Sans Frontières is one organization that is well-established in Haiti and worthy of consideration.
Posted by Alexander at 2:53 AM 1 comments
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Three poems

Posted by Hoda at 1:38 AM 0 comments
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Sunday, January 10, 2010

Links via Diigo (weekly)

Links of interest for the week ending in January 9, 2010.


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Sunday, January 3, 2010

Links via Diigo (weekly)

Links of interest for the week ending in January 2, 2010.


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Posted by Brown Folks at 12:30 AM 0 comments
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Saturday, January 2, 2010

Part II: Some thoughts on Egypt, Gaza, and national identity

It is personally hard for me knowing I descend from the country that participates in strangling Gaza through building another apartheid wall, denying aid and food caravans past the Rafah border, and holding full diplomatic relations with the Zionist enemy. The fact that Egypt is a pawn of the U.S. and Israel gives the collaboration some context, but this is also the regime doing whatever it can to salvage the little legitimacy it has. Mubarak needs a way to prove his strongman politics and groom his son for succession, and what better way than giving off the illusion that he has national security under control?

Palestinians are distrustful of me because they assume I am automatically on the side of Mubarak. Egyptians are distrustful of me because they think my unwavering support for the Palestinian struggle makes me self-hating. They also think I am not really Egyptian because I never lived there, and thus have no valid opinion on the matter. Frankly, I don't know what Egyptian identity is anymore when these days, being Egyptian means you must define yourself in the most xenophobic terms possible, whether against Sudanese refugees, Algerians [1, 2], and now Palestinians. In the Sadat and Mubarak eras, to be an Egyptian means one must believe in a worldwide conspiracy theory against Egypt and support all kinds of horrible torture, surveillance, and political repression measures under this siege mentality.

I know there are people out there who reject this polarized narrative, but amidst the talking heads on satellite TV and well-to-do Masriyeen who tell me, "Shut up, you're young, naive, and don't know any better. You don't know what it was like to live without electricity and water. We had no choice but to sign that treaty.", I feel alone. Egyptians have always known better than to trust our rulers on anything, so why is the mainstreaming of this position becoming so acceptable? To say I am ashamed is an understatement. If this is what being Egyptian means, I don't want to be one, any more than I want to be the apple pie, Marlboro Red, Budweiser Yankee imperialist that is associated with being an American citizen.

I know that in reality, things are not this polarized. Just as the United States has a rich tradition of immigrants, people of color, women, workers, and community activists seeking to redefine American identity as one fighting for justice and equality, Egyptians have a long history of resisting colonialism, Zionism, and domestic despotism to assert our dignity and identity. Egyptians have long held popular identification with Palestine, and unlike what Mubarak's supporters say, that solidarity is more than fighting in botched wars. Every regime of royal and republican Egypt has shed crocodile tears for Palestinians for their own political interests above anything else. The struggle for a democratic Egypt and a free Palestine are incumbent on one another, and Egyptians must wrest the discourse from the government which disingenuously manipulates the Palestinian issue for its own ends.

I recognize the privileges of my location in diaspora. I make no self-righteous claims to speak on behalf of anyone but myself, but a tyrant like Mubarak has even less of a right to claim he is working in the best interests of the Egyptian nation. It is up to the various opposition forces in Egypt and its expatriate communities to stay on top of the political situation and have our voices heard, while doing what we can to support our brothers and sisters in Gaza.

I leave you with the words of Salah Jahin, one of Egypt's most beloved revolutionary, nationalist poets of the 1950s-60s. Like many of his generation, Jahin saw the struggle of Egyptians as intrinsically tied to that of Palestinian liberation - and unlike some liberal intellectuals (e.g. Naguib Mahfouz), he always opposed normalization with Israel. The translation below is my own; any mistakes are my own.

انا كل يوم أسمع ........ فلان عذبوه
أسرح في بغداد و الجزاير واتوه
ما أعجبش م اللي يطيق بجسمه العذاب
و اعجب من اللي يطيق يعذب أخوه

Every day, I learn of someone tortured.
I roam in Baghdad and Algiers, and I get lost.
I don't care how his body endures the torture,
but I am amazed at he who causes his brother's pain.
Posted by Hoda at 5:07 PM 1 comments
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