[16 Dec 2013] Nelson Mandela; the revolutionary leader - English
In December 1961, South Africa\'s anti-Apartheid movement entered a new-phase of resistance; it took up arms... Among the key minds behind this...
In December 1961, South Africa\'s anti-Apartheid movement entered a new-phase of resistance; it took up arms... Among the key minds behind this militant response was Nelson Mandela.
Advil November was a personal body guard of Mandela after his release and is a former member of the ANC\'s Military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe or Spear of the Nation... MK targets included petrol stations, railway lines and in one of its most successful attacks a power substation. Now MK had also planned an attack on one of the main fuel refineries here in Cape Town. And the hope was that had that attack been successful, it would not only have brought the SA economy to a standstill, but it would also have allowed prisoners on Robben Island about 7 km offshore an opportunity to see the attack as the refinery went up in flames.November remembers Mandela as a particularly revolutionary figure. When South Africa became a democracy in 1994, most MK soldiers were incorporated into the army. November argues that suggestions that SA will descend into anarchy now that Mandela has died is a construct of the imperialists, saying that those who fought for their freedom understand peace best.
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[06 Dec 2013] The Debate - Anti-apartheid icon - English
Nelson Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, has...
Nelson Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, has died at the age 95. Mandela was South Africa\'s first black president after spending nearly three decades in prison.
In this debate we will discuss his legacy, and its impact, and whether it would translate to changes, like on the lives of oppressed Palestinians in the occupied territories, a form of apartheid exercised by Israel.
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[06 Dec 2013] Brits pay tribute to once terrorist Mandela - English
The international community has been paying its respects to former South African leader Nelson Mandela. As our correspondent reports from London,...
The international community has been paying its respects to former South African leader Nelson Mandela. As our correspondent reports from London, the popular icon was once considered a terrorist by the British government.
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[15 Dec 2013] Former South African president laid to rest - English
South Africa\\\'s anti-apartheid leader, Nelson Mandela, has been laid to rest in his ancestral home in Eastern Cape.
His burial in the village...
South Africa\\\'s anti-apartheid leader, Nelson Mandela, has been laid to rest in his ancestral home in Eastern Cape.
His burial in the village of Qunu ended ten days of memorial ceremonies that also received over a hundred world leaders. Around 4500 invited guests including foreign dignitaries attended Mandela\\\'s state funeral. But the public was shut out of the interment itself, with his family insisting it be a private affair. The former South African president died on December the 5th, at the age of 95. Although Mandela had been critically ill for months, the announcement of his death came as a shock to South Africans and the rest of the world.
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[29 June 13] BNP leader calls Mandela murdering old terrorist - English
While a 94-year old Nelson Mandela lay critical in his hospital bed. British National Party leader Nick Griffin\'s comments on twitter, calling...
While a 94-year old Nelson Mandela lay critical in his hospital bed. British National Party leader Nick Griffin\'s comments on twitter, calling Mandela a murdering old terrorist caused an outcry across the country.
Today Nelson Mandela is hailed a hero in Britain, where a statue of him stands tall outside parliament. But that has not always been the case. And Nick Griffin\'s comments reflect exactly the opinion Britain had towards Mandela at the height of the South African struggle against apartheid.
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Inner Revolutions | A Supreme Impact - English
Demonstrations against the Shah of Iran were in full swing in the United States and Europe as early as 1977 and continued until the success of the...
Demonstrations against the Shah of Iran were in full swing in the United States and Europe as early as 1977 and continued until the success of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in January of 1979. This victory led to the fall of the Pahlavi regime. Consequently, many regime supporters including members of SAVAK, the dictator’s personal secret police force, began to hold demonstrations demanding the United States overthrow the elected government and reinstall the Shah – or his son – as monarch. The hope was that the United States would orchestrate a coup similar to the one they had helped manufacture in 1953 against Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. At the same time, pro-revolution demonstrations continued, often in conflict with the pro-Shah supporters. One demonstration turned particularly chaotic in the summer of 1980. Safiyyah Abdullah was there and gives her account of the events that led up to a spontaneous act of solidarity by a group of indigenous American activists.
innerrevolutions.net
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Inner Revolutions | Pray But Keep Rowing the Boat - English
Aisha El-Mekki’s mother didn’t believe in ‘sparing the rod’. She also had a deep respect for teachers, nuns and other authority figures; a...
Aisha El-Mekki’s mother didn’t believe in ‘sparing the rod’. She also had a deep respect for teachers, nuns and other authority figures; a respect that never trickled down to her youngest daughter. Discipline was real in the El-Mekki household, so from an early age she and her older sister formed an alliance. They promised not to tell on each other. Sometimes El-Mekki even took a beating for her sister. When she was in first grade, the two were sent away to a private, all-white boarding school. In third grade, El-Mekki was expelled.
“As a child, if I got backed into a wall, I would refuse to do whatever you wanted me to do because you were trying to force me.”
Upon returning to her home in Philadelphia, El-Mekki’s mother – who worked until five everyday – enrolled her daughter in the neighborhood school. It was around this time that El-Mekki met her best friend, Shakora. The two began spending afternoons together, deepening their friendship and getting into trouble.
“One time I was on a bus. It was a Friday afternoon. The bus driver said my pass had expired; that I had to get a transfer…so he gave me a transfer while waiting for the next bus and the next bus was late. We waited for a while. There was a crowd of people by the time the bus came. [The next bus driver] said that my pass had expired and that I needed to get off the bus. Well I didn’t have any more money, so I said, ‘I paid my fare and I will ride.’ This man decided that he was going to send a message. So he stopped a police car and told them that I refused to pay. The police emptied the bus and told the driver to drive to the police station with just me on it….so he drives this empty bus to the police station and they arrested me. And this just infuriated me. My mother had to be called and of course she was just livid….she had to end up getting a lawyer, and had to go court, miss time from work…and eventually it was resolved but I mean they charged me. I had a record. It was ridiculous. That was my first incident with what I consider police brutality…and how they can escalate a situation unnecessarily.”
Three years later, El Mekki graduated from an all-girls Catholic high school. It was at this point that she began to question the Trinity. She didn’t want to leave the church; she believed she would go to hell if she did. Still, the questions remained. So she kept her eyes open. After college, El-Mekki decided she wanted to become a social worker. She learned about a group called the Black Panther Party that was organizing programs for the needy.
“When I heard about these people feeding children – and I worked on the midnight shift – I said, ‘you know what? I’m gonna go up there’. And there were tables and tables of children being fed cereal and toast, and I was really amazed. People were doing this out of the bottom of their hearts. They weren’t getting paid for it. But they wanted to make sure the children were getting a decent breakfast.”
El-Mekki joined the group. At the same time, her religious search continued.
“I had an aunt that was Muslim. I used to visit her. She was not aggressive, she was not pushy, she was not trying to convert me. Anytime I had a question, she would answer. Her husband was very nice. And I liked the way her family was so calm. It was so peaceful. And so I would go visit her often. During that time I was in the Black Panther Party, and she didn’t disapprove. Everybody else in my family said, ‘Here she goes again, doing something off the beaten path.’ But not aunt Mariam. One time when we knew that there was going to be a police raid, and we were trying to get the children out because I didn’t want the children to be there. And she just told me to bring them to her house. You know? And I just admired her. I just said wow, if her religion supports revolutionary acts like that, then I want to hear more about it. So she would always be listening to Shaheed Malcolm’s albums. She owned every word he ever said. And she’d often have his records on when I’d go over there. And she gave me his book to read because I was always asking questions about him. And that was like the answer to my prayer. You know? The part where he said that our religion doesn’t teach us to be aggressive, but if you lay a hand on me, then I can send you to the cemetery. And I said, ‘I can do that. That is the religion that I need.’ You know, that allows me to defend myself. That doesn’t encourage me to just constantly turn the other cheek. Nobody else is turning the other cheek. They’re turning the other side of their hand. And so i decided you know what, that’s when I decided Islam was for me because it allowed me to be religious and at the same time, be revolutionary.”
innerrevolutions.net
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Inner Revolutions | Everything Rose in Respect - English
Inner Revolutions | Muslim Americans and the Legacy of Imam Khomeini (r)
Safiyyah Abdullah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of...
Inner Revolutions | Muslim Americans and the Legacy of Imam Khomeini (r)
Safiyyah Abdullah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of three siblings. When she was 14, she flipped on the 6 o’clock evening news and saw something that would change her life forever.
“One of the American Indian Movement leaders – I think it was Russell Means – got off the airplane in Spain, put a spear in the tarmac at the airport, and said, ‘I claim this land in the name of the Lakota people’. That was an opening of awareness into reality for me. I was basically looking for the truth, and that was my first realization of the truth; that everything we’re raised on in this country is based on falsehood. That one moment caused me to start evaluating what I had been taught about our country, our culture, our society, our history. It led me down the path of evaluating religions, as well. After I was about 16 or 17, I started studying various religions and ideologies, looking for the truth. And that’s when I came upon Islam.”
innerrevolutions.net
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