2008 Woodie Awards
Ahmed Shawki Examines " The Truth Behind Black LIberation"
Author speaks about the change needed to decrease oppression in society
Laura Pedro
Issue date: 3/14/06 Section: News
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These types of questions must be asked in order to transform our society and achieve change.
In his presentation Wednesday night, author Ahmed Shawki exclaimed, "People in this nation are fed garbage." They are taught to be cynical of politics and social change. They are taught to believe "there's nothing I can do." But the author informed the audience, "Yes, yes you can! You just can't do it alone."
Ahmed Shawki, traveling on a book tour, left the crowd with the message that "power concedes nothing without demand." Black resistance has existed since the inauguration of slavery in America.
The era of slavery ended when African American slaves stood up for their rights. Most are taught in their suburban classrooms that the northern white man generously freed the slaves.
In his writings, Shawki exposes that "slaves freed themselves" when they went on general strike and rebelled at the beginning of the Civil War.
Shawki reminded the crowd that "we have a short historical memory in this country," especially when it involves politics and social change. In his new book, Black Liberation and Socialism, he explains that though slavery has always been a part of history, it had never been so racially based until the United States system was created.
The author, who is originally from Egypt, explains that throughout US history, American society and politics have been good at "saying one thing and doing another." The American ideal of 'freedom for all' conveniently forgot to include Black people.
In 1967 Muhammad Ali was stripped of championship belt when he declared that there was more to fight for in Mississippi than in Vietnam. Shawki told the fifty people crowded into the John Dewey Lounge, that it was this man who inspired him to become involved in the Black Liberation movement.
Growing up in Egypt, Shawki had two images of the United States. One was the bombing occurring in Vietnam, and the other was the Civil Rights Movement.
In his book, Shawki focused on the two great leaders of the movement, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Insightfully he noted, you should worry about a country "who opposes them when they're alive, and praises them when they're dead".