What’s up, Hive? I’m home. I just finished a couple of sinks of dishes, laundry and vacuuming. The day it’s has been long, but really enjoyable. My friend Christine and I have been working on a comic book project together. We’re just in the breaking ground phase but it feels great to get lost in the potential of how good something like this could be. We worked tirelessly on a mini-documentary from the Minneapolis free Palestine movement. This’ll be our next collaboration and that has made me think about the important of the community here. Anyone that reads my blog knows I’ve been forging trough an agonizing chapter of my life and these are some of the people that have been pillars of strength over the last year or so.
Taher has become a close friend. He’s a Palestinian from Gaza, academic turned politician and he’s been disrupting the hegemony in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. I was brought on to shoot campaign videos and photos from the day he announced his run for Anoka County Commissioner. For months we’ve been going to speaking events and actions where he’s outlined the historical history of Palestine to his personal reflections on traveling to Gaza over the years. He’s recently come under heavy fire from Zio-lobby. He’s hasn’t blinked. Just recently, the Mayor of Minneapolis made a smear campaign video about Taher that got national circulation and it hasn’t deterred his resolve at all. Love this guy.
Another foundational member of our community here in the Twin Cities is Sabry; sort of the patriarch of the free Palestine movement, he has been involved in this struggle and Civil Rights movements of all kinds including BLM for over 20 years. I am not a part of an organization. There are about 40 non-profits and groups here that make up the Free Palestine Coalition. I have the camera, the equipment and the knowledge so when the moment in history arises and I feel compelled to document it, that’s what I do. Sabry and I have become close friends now. He recently come back for a one on one sit down interview to give his perspective on the occupation, the resistance, our movement and the future of Palestine.
Lastly, my friend Fadi. This guy has become like a brother to me and even in less than a year of our friendship, we’ve been through a lifetime of tests and challenges together. We recently sat around a kettle of Yemeni tea and he told everyone at the table that when he first saw me at a protest, he was sure I was FBI. His family has become my family and he was the moment influential person that I thank for bringing me to Islam. My first night in a mosque was with him during Ramadan, surrounded by other 400 brothers and sisters. After a year of witnessing his home in Gaza destroyed he’s found a renewed sense of peace as he’s now engaged to one of my best friends.
