This morning I made a simple decision to say "yes" to a friend's call to action in support of an upstanding member of our community who was not willing to become an FBI informant against his fellow Muslim community in Springfield, MA. There is something to be said for following your "inner voice". Having done so, I unknowingly encountered another opportunity to walk in my calling...to Break the Afro-Latino Yoke in Western, MA.
That is not what I thought I was doing when I finally determined to get dressed and head out to Springfield, MA a city where I lived from 2003 to 2009 and which, neighbors Holyoke (The Yoke) where I now live in Hampden County. I was just simply supporting Arise for Social Justice, an organization which back in 2003 jumped in to help me at a time when I was facing imminent homelessness. Arise has been in existence for much longer however for the past 11 years I have witnessed them take up the cause of the poor, homeless and disenfranchised.
"No justice, no peace! No racist, police!" could be heard from the East Columbus Side parking lot across from the Hampshire County District Court. The closer I got to the chanting, the more I felt like a river joining the ocean; freedom to grow. I immediately pulled my android out and started video recording; not because I went to be a spectator. There are struggles happening all across our nation right now around social, political and economic oppression towards the working class, poor and people of color. Our government is utilizing federal, state and local law enforcement to execute their agenda(s) to keep us in a constant state of fear and from defending our civil and human rights namely: the fifth amendment which protects your right to not incriminate yourself by remaining silent or if an attorney has been attained through said attorney and the right to protest. It is imperative we video record or live broadcast our local and/or budding struggles against injustice to build solidarity and common cause across the nation and world.
After capturing the charge in the air and its affect on locals walking in and out of the court as well as those driving by, I joined my fellow freedom fighters. I believe we speak into the Uni-Verse and it mirrors what we say. As we chanted "No justice, no peace! No racist, police!" I could feel an trans-formative energy elevating my consciousness. No one either walking nor driving by failed to acknowledge our sound as evidenced by the prolonged looks, the pauses in step or the horn-honking. At 9:30 A.M. an ocean of sky blue T-shirts with the emblem of a bird flying out of a cage poured into the court house. Going through the metal detectors I could not help but notice the African American security officers exude admiration.
Bro. Ayyub-Abdul Alim is originally from my home town of Harlem, NY. His Muslim Latina mother, a native of the Caribbean island of Borinquen (renamed by Spanish Colonizers as Puerto Rico or, rich port) and African American father were members of the Young Lords and Black Panther Party; two very prominent Political and Social activist groups. Both groups fought to defend civil rights and reclaim communities of color away from drugs and violence. Both the Young Lords and Black Panther Party were known for implementing community-based food and educational programs to feed and educate our community. Both programs were targeted by the US FBI's counter-intelligence program COINTELPRO. Ayyub's birth into an Muslim heritage via the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood "taught him life as an American 'Black' and 'Hispanic' Muslim would mean he would never be free from government surveillance." (www.justiceforAyyub.org).
On Dec. 9, 2011. Bro. Ayyub was forcibly abducted by local police under the direction of the FBI unit which had for years been soliciting, targeting and watching his every move to no success. Bro. Ayyub was detained on his way to a grocery store, searched repeatedly without cause or, provocation and then framed on gun charges of which there is no evidence. Bro. Ayyub, was propositioned by the very same FBI agent who had been surveying him for years to corroborate with the FBI as an informant of the Muslim community.
“They said that they would give me the names of specific people who they wanted me to target, and I would use anti-government propaganda to incite them to violent action. They implied that they would provide me with guns and bombs to give people.” Hisgen and Sheehan did not record the interrogation.http://www.thenation.com/article/182096/how-one-man-refused-spy-fellow-muslims-fbi-and-then-lost-everything
Bro. Ayyub was charged and indited on fabricated gun charges and has been imprisoned at Cedar Junction maximum security prison for over two years awaiting his trial. In the interim, the FBI stripped Springfield, MA Winchester Square's of a man who believed and invested in his community; founder of The Quran and Sunnah Community Center which offered free meals and prayer services and Connections Transportation which transported persons to visit their loved ones in prison. Bro. Ayyub, was also a small-business owner, an apartment complex manager and husband and good father figure to his wife's son. To find out more about the lude, criminal and destructive tactics used by the FBI against our communities of color and American Muslims please visit: Justice For Bro. Ayyub-Abdul Alim and Arise for Social Justice.
Also, join me Tuesday nights for my segment: "Tidbits of Us" on the Reflections - Grown Folks Mix Show where I provide further research-based insight on the history of independence struggles to free The African Diaspora from US and European imperialistic colonialism. I am currently discussing Cuba's 19th century wars of independence.
"In reclaiming my voice, I aspire to inspire you to reclaim yours." Viviana de Jesus
#AfroLatinaLivinMyPassion
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