Ferguson October
USPCN Youth Contingent, Ferguson October, 2014
By Muhammad Sankari
About the Artist: Muhammad Sankari is a Chicago-based member of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). In his daily work, he is a youth organizer with the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), where he helps direct its youth-led Campaign to End Racial Profiling.
"Ferguson October" was written in two parts, the first as a reflection of visiting Mike Brown's memorial shortly after he was murdered by the police. The second part, written as a letter to Mike Brown himself, was completed after we returned home from Ferguson October, recalling that powerful moment of working class Arab, Black, and Latino youth from Chicago taking part in an act of solidarity with the people of Ferguson.
Ferguson October
There are those who would call me infidel
For likening this place to Mecca
But I can’t think of a better way to honor the prophet
Than by having new friends lead the Fatiha in broken Arabic for the soul of Mike Brown
Stumbling 3rabi syllables followed by flawless English translation
“Bismillaah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Al hamdu lillaahi rabbil ‘alameen
Ar-Rahman ar-Raheem Maaliki yaumid Deen
Iyyaaka na’abudu wa iyyaaka nasta’een…”
“In the name of God, the infinitely Compassionate and Merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds.
The Compassionate, the Merciful. Ruler on the Day of Reckoning.
You alone do we worship, and You alone do we ask for help…”
In this street littered with candles & fading stuffed bears
I find the end of a ripped keffiyeh tied to a tree
Checkered red and white it’s flickering in the warm Missouri wind
I think of Ms. Jordan who reminds me
“A tiger does not fall or stumble
broken by an accident
A tiger does not lose his stride or
clumsy
slip and slide to tragedy
that buzzards feast upon.
Do not forget.”
I could call this place Montgomery, or South Africa, or Palestine, or the Congo
Could say this is another casualty of Colonialism;
Because asphalt always seems to crack the same way under the weight of oppression
And the same distinct dusty hot smell permeates every ion of occupied air
Another death attributed to a Zombie paramilitary trained by Zionism LLC
Bullets proudly stamped “made in the USA”
So that the flesh pierced by the full metal jackets never forgets its origins
But words are meaningless
And slogans echo hollow in the apartments of Ferguson
Where they watched their child gunned down like an animal
As if to remind them that hope and the human spirit are contraband
In the occupied territories of Black-Amerikkka
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cold balmy days
The streets of St. Louis
Can’t believe the concrete doesn’t crack
Against the weight of our chants
Teenage voices hoarse yet powerful
Pronounce every rhythmic syllable
“Shut it down, shut it down, If we don’t get it shut it down”
Wonder if Mike Brown knows
That Arab kids know his name
And in heavy Midwest accents clap hands and stomp feet
To the rhythm of their chants
Calling for justice
Calling for change
Mike we called for you
5,000 people calling your name in the streets-Mike
I taught our youth the chants-Mike
They’re calling for you
Want you to push out from early grave & be given a hero’s welcome
Mike we called
Want to embrace your crying mother and console her the way I know how “Allah Yir7amu inshallah”
Serve your father bitter coffee in tiny plastic cups
Because that’s how we mourn
Mike we called for you
Want you to stroll down 63rd street with the other guys
Smoke your swishers in front of the chained up JJ fish
Come up our creaking carpeted stairs and join us for our program
Mike we called for you, 30 strong in the streets- Mike
Everyone your age Mike they called
For their college friend they would never be able to meet Mike
I’m just leaving this message to let you know…We called Mike