Author: mara.ahmed

Dissent, Democracy & Higher Education Under Attack

Yesterday I attended a wonderful event at Stony Brook University: ‘Dissent, Democracy & Higher Education Under Attack’ with Tariq Habash (former DOE employee and first person to resign from Biden administration to protest the US’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza), Rana Jaleel (Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies and Chair of the American Association of University Professors’ Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure), Danny Shaw (Latin American & Caribbean Studies Professor & Ethnographer who was doxed, harassed, fired from CUNY, and detained and interrogated by the FBI and DHS for his pro-Palestine activism) and Jonathan Wallace (longtime movement lawyer based in New York doing pro bono work to support faculty and students attacked for their support of Palestinian liberation). Good information about what’s going on and what tools we can use to resist but also a much needed space to feel collective power and solidarity. Congrats to the organizers

Two pro-genocide Z…… at the entrance passing out sheets of paper. I grabbed the sheet instinctively as it was aggressively handed to me but then I asked what it was. “More information so u can learn both sides of the story.” I gave it back and said no thanks. “It’s just so you have all the data” to which I replied I had all the data already. Then a pin to end all hate. “All hate,” they repeated. Reminded me of the Levine Center to End Hate in Rochester, NY, which is an extension of the Jewish Federation and uses this meaningless language (similar to All Lives Matter) to enter activist spaces and have known activists (many of them POCs) on their board. I said no thanks and walked in. We don’t have to engage just to be polite.

friends premiere their film

it’s been a busy weekend. with the premiere of ‘being black in america’ by @voicesproj @jackiephotographyroc at the voices rising film festival @lovewinsfilms in islip on saturday and a lovely get together/lunch at our house followed by a walk at the beach with our rochester fam on sunday. so good to see u @jackiemcgriff @bycocoarae and @taurussavant

thoughts on indigenous peoples’ day

today is indigenous peoples’ day and i am struck by this thought: would all the non-native people (settlers) who support and speak up for indigenous rights, still do so if we were in the midst of genocides on turtle island? does the distance in time, when atrocities are already a fait accompli, make it easier to acknowledge the native’s humanity? what u would have done in the 1830s, during the cherokees’ forced displacement and ethnic cleansing by andrew jackson, is what u are doing right now as indigenous people are burned alive in makeshift tents functioning as hospitals in gaza. u would probably have been silent. once the theft of land has been accomplished, it’s easy to decry historical massacres.

jabalia camp is under siege

jabalia camp, in northern gaza, has been under total siege for 8 days now. no access to food, water, or medical services. there are drones and jets in the sky and on top of every house in every street, killing anything that moves. for 8 days. 400,000 people are trapped inside jabalia. they are being systematically exterminated in full view of the world. go ahead and volunteer for kamala harris’s campaign. she is co-presiding over this holocaust. if u believe in any kind of justice, even if it’s poetic justice, remember this: we all knew.

war on lebanon

i have nothing more to say about the concurrent genocides supported, funded and literally applauded by the biden-harris regime. it’s white supremacy in its most naked, unapologetic and violent form. deranged, ethno supremacist, self-victimizing, self-congratulatory, orgiastic racism knows no borders. none of us is safe. support the people of lebanon. this list was provided by mizna, a beloved contemporary arts organization. the first person on the list is on their staff.

Freedom for Palestine in Copenhagen

Everywhere we went in Copenhagen, but particularly in Norrebro, there were beautiful signs/ symbols of people’s love for Palestine. These are just a few pictures, I could have taken photos all day. Whatever the wretched politicians of the West (and some of their puppet regimes in the global south) might say or do, the vast majority of people want justice and freedom for Palestine

Repair as architectural ethos

From THE GREAT REPAIR MOVES NORTH, an exhibition at the Form/Design Center in Malmo, Sweden, which focuses on the conflict between ecological balance and uncontrolled growth and advocates a new architectural ethos centered around repair. What we are seeing in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and other parts of the world is not just an attempt to exterminate people but also entire knowledge worlds.

Fish & Chips, the Form/Design Center and NY Cheesecake in Malmo

Last day in Malmo: Crispiest fish and chips outside of Borough Market (London) at Bla Hoddans Fisk och Rokeri; two wonderful exhibitions at the Form/Design Center which included THE GREAT REPAIR MOVES NORTH

(sheds light on the conflict between ecological balance and uncontrolled growth and advocates a new architectural ethos centered around repair – they even talked about decolonizing knowledge so obviously I loved it) and FESTIVITAS (a tribute to Swedish crafts where they highlighted weaving and the importance of the warp & weft!); a visit to Apoteket Lejonet – the city’s oldest pharmacy (still in business) with an art-nouveau interior (carved wooden shelves, antique medicine bottles and a glass-plated ceiling); and finally, the best NY cheesecake in town (in the world?) with white chocolate shavings on top at Café Pronto

Malmöhus Slott, Lilla Torg and Stortorget

Yesterday’s adventures in Malmo: Malmöhus Slott – the moated castle that houses the Malmo Museum; the City Library with its contemporary architecture and glass-enclosed, naturally lit space (while I charged my phone, I found an anthology of Tagore’s work which starts with The Post Office); Lilla Torg – a square that dates back to 1592 (some buildings signal its medieval past), now filled with restaurants and craft shops; Stortorget – once the biggest market square in Northern Europe, built in medieval times with its historical Town Hall (from 1544, rebuilt in the 1860s) that is absolutely stunning and a statue of King Karl X Gustav; finally a sumptuous dinner at Mello Yello (I had Mellos Toast, a mix of crayfish and prawns served on dark bread, with cumin-pickled fennel, apple, dill and rye chips)

Turning Torso, Sundspromenaden and Slottsparken

Yesterday afternoon: we walked from the Turning Torso to Sundspromenaden (the harbourside walk that runs along the water) to Slottsparken, the main park in Malmö. It has a windmill, a moated castle (Malmohus Slott), a cafe in the garden which overflows into a greenhouse (Slottstradgarden Kafe where we had lunch), and the most abundant, colorful flowers that seem to grow organically. Breathtaking!

Freetown Christiania

Yesterday afternoon we took the metro to Freetown Christiania, a commune in Christianshavn, which began in 1971 as a squatted military base. Pusher Street, famous for its trade of cannabis, which is illegal in Denmark, was just removed in April 2024 to reduce gang activity. This community has its own laws and rules, one of them being to photograph responsibly and avoid taking pictures of its residents. Another is not to run because it creates panic. No violence and no cars. It’s super hippy of course and the wall art in some places is stunning.