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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| March on Washington: Imam Jamil Statement |
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| sofia |
| 09/18/03 at 12:36:45 |
| Statement from Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin In the name of God, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful Let there arise out of you A band of people Inviting to all that is good, Enjoying what is right, And forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones To attain felicity. - Qur’an 3:104 I greet you today from a Georgia state prison where I am held in 23-hour lockdown. Forty years ago today, at the age of 19, I stood on the platform steps here in Washington, D.C., and heard the loud cries of freedom and hope for a changed nation. Today we are here with louder cries as a reminder that the dispossessed still are the dispossessed. Justice and law march to two different drummers, two totally different conversations. But, I am reminded that “freedom is not free.” The rights that you thought you had will now be taken away. I am reminded of a quote from a former governor of Louisiana, Huey P. Long. He was asked, “Will fascism come to America?” He replied, “Yes, but it will be called patriotism.” Shepherds may change, but sheep will always remain the same. Justice is a master virtue - no light matter, no civil rights issue, just truth and falsehood. Ours is the struggle of man through the ages. Know that the uniqueness of our struggle is in its cause and purpose. It brings strength to the weak; it is the struggle whereby truth smashes the brains out of falsehood, where right triumphs over wrong. There is nothing wrong with being right, and there is nothing bad about being good. “Blessed are those who struggle. Oppression is worse than the grave. It is better to die for a noble cause than to live and die a slave.” As-salaamu’alaikum. Imam Jamil Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, is one of the most prominent leaders from the ‘60s. He presently resides in 23-hour lockdown in a maximum-security prison in the state of Georgia. Sadly, this statement, which was prepared for delivery at the 40th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, held Aug. 23 on the site of the original march, was not read, nor was the statement recorded by Mumia Abu-Jamal heard. Write to Imam Jamil at: Imam Jamil Al-Amin, GDC1104651, GA State Prison, 2164 GA HWY 147, Reidsville, GA 30499. |
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