Author: mara.ahmed

Invoking Pakistan

Hafsa Kanjwal: There is so much to say about the response of the Indian liberal intelligentsia on the Citizenship Amendment Bill that was passed in the Indian parliament (it effectively ensures that Muslims cannot be naturalized in India, officially making them the second-class citizens we all knew they already were).

This response by an esteemed poli sci prof at Brown (who also speaks frequently on Kashmir) is just one such example. Instead of looking within, trying to understand how such a toxic ideology can take root (hello, RSS?) within the Indian ideological spectrum, they continue to situate blame and invoke Pakistan. This is the kind of sick obsession with Pakistan and deeprooted Islamophobia that has made this class of individuals completely complicit as their own country descends into fascism.

And to create such a false equivalence between a nation that was founded to protect minority interests vs one that is exerting majoritarianism is also just so…..(insert your own comment here)

last class

today was our last class so i invited my #students over to my house. we had #chai, #samosas, french cheese and a berry crostata 
we learned to #decolonize our #minds by reading mary annette pember, a journalist, photographer, and member of the red cliff band of wisconsin #ojibwe. she urges us to ‘be #human together’ by connecting deeply across #ethnicity, #race and #class.
we also discussed anna baltzer’s tedx talk about taking sides and always supporting those who have less #power. finally my friend Nate Baldo shared his own story of learning across differences and changing sides in order to fight #injustice.
what an amazing evening – full of comfort but also righteous words and ideas
St. John Fisher College  St. John Fisher Honors Program

futurisms and the concept of linear time

yesterday in my class ‘thru another lens’ we studied ‘afrofuturism & non-linear time’ and ‘who will we be when we are free? on palestine & futurity’ with the brilliant Reilly Hirst who helped us break down some of the complexity in ideas related to futurisms. my students rose to the challenge and helped produce a sharp discussion in class. it’s empowering to know that we can hack into an oppressive timeline and create alternative worlds St. John Fisher College  St. John Fisher Honors Program

‘the road to radicalization and the road back’

why are the UR college republicans so obsessed with ‘islamic’ radicalization? although the title of the event doesn’t say so, their guests are the usual ex-muslim / muslim-atheist / muslim-who-worked-for-homeland-security types, native informants who use the war-on-terror framework to secure their own place as ‘good’ muslims. the college republicans, under freshly minted leadership (after their previous president was issued a citation for spreading white supremacist propaganda), organized a similar discussion on ‘religious extremism in the middle east’ right after 50 muslims were massacred at two mosques in new zealand – talk about good timing (or bringing home the message). 9 months later here we are again. instead of these diversionary tactics that focus on 1% of the american population, shouldn’t they confront racism, islamophobic bigotry and general white supremacy within their own ranks? perhaps the center to end hate could help them?

igor mitoraj’s sculptures and artists at volver cafe

#classical #mythical #monumental #sculptures by polish artist #igormitoraj whose dying wish it was that his work be exhibited among the #ruins in #pompeii

“Mythological gods and heroes populate the streets and the squares of the city buried by Vesuvius, emerging like dreams from the ruins,” commented Superintendent of the Pompeii ruins Massimo Osanna.

dinner at @osteriadacarmela where i had delicious #ragù and #pannacotta
finally a visit to @volvercafenapoli where we met the artist behind #santodiego as well as chandra whose gorgeous #jewelry we bought