Malcolm X Peace & Justice Lecture Series
Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Eternal Guardian of the heavens and the earths, Disposer of all created beings, Despatcher of Messengers (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them all)
The first lecture, Beyond the Disaster: Understanding the Situation in Syria focused on the issues facing Syria, a country ruled by a corrupt regime since 1963. After nearly a half a century of oppression, a revolution was sparked by a group of young boys.
Walking home from school, the boys wrote graffiti on a rubbled wall reading “The people want the regime to fall”. This renown phrase has been sung, scratched, and spelled across the Arab world, where much of the regions people have been ruled by an authoritarian grip.
This act could have gone unnoticed, but within hours the boys’ houses were raided and they were taken from their parents. Eighteen days later, the boys were released and reported as having their fingernails torn off, one was missing an eye, and several had fractured skulls. Protesters centered around the town of Dar’a’s Omari Mosque, that they renamed Dignity Square.
Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid, the keynote speaker of the lecture, alluded to this theme that much of our modern world is focused not around dignity, but stability, an unwillingness to change.
“We’ve got into that mentality, where we have accepted this victimization,” Irshaid said.
According to the UNESC, over half of the population in the Arab world’s population is under 25 years old. This generation has grown up with access to modern media sources like Al Jazeera, and with the power of social media, youths continue to connect and speak out against their respective nations atrocities.
A look back into the Event
April 9th 2014
“What future do they have? They see the corruption, they see brutality and they experience the brutality of the regime, they see no future,” Irshaid said. “It wasn’t the [Muslim] Brotherhood, nor it wasn’t the liberals, it wasn’t the Leftists who initiated these revolutions, it was the average young citizens.”
The keynote presentation Challenges Facing Justice and Peace in Egypt focused on the Egyptian revolution and the vision of democracy for the nation was given by Dr. Mawgoud Dardery. He tied in his own personal experience with Malcolm X and how monumental he was in the fight for justice and global equality.
“When you kill the body, the ideas are given new life,” Dardery said. “The spirit moves all over the world, Malcolm is loved everywhere.”
As an English professor, Dardery used Animal Farm as literature that could refer to the Egyptian rule throughout the book.
“I wanted to teach people to think critically,” Dardery said. “The idea was to teach about oppression without necessarily talking about oppression.”
The Muslim Brotherhood is a movement that gained political power in Egypt during the revolution that began in 2011.
As citizens of Cairo demonstrated in Tahrir Square, they demanded an end to the corruption in the higher echelons of the federal government. After the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak, the protesters had two routes to take: Continue the revolution and bring down the entire structure of society that was built or gradually fix the system by democratic means.
“Many in Egypt prefered the second alternative,” Dardery said. “I wish we continued the Malcolm X way, the revolutionary way, so we dismantled the whole system of corruption. It does not respect democracy and the will of the people.”
The Muslim Brotherhood’s leader at the time of the revolution, Mohamed Morsi, was elected president in 2012 by democratic vote. Morsi was overthrown within a year, as the Egyptian people still have yet to find justice under a government run by the military.
“President Morsi was elected by the people of Egypt. What he didn’t know, what many Egyptians didn’t know, that the rest of the system is still there. Corrupt military officers, corrupt judges, corrupt bureaucrats, corrupt media personnel.” Dardery said.
Maya Sheikh-Salah’s keynote presentation Somalia: Telling Our Own Stories focused around the melting pot of the Somali people and how their differences are also what binds them together.
“She wanted educate people on who Somali people are and what our history is. What brought us here to Minnesota and to educate us on influential Somali people over time,” Student Senate President Fadumo Abdi said.
A major focus of the lecture was on how Somalis can contribute and make their newfound communities better and how these lessons could be taken back to Somalia. Abdi Warsame is a Somali who was recently elected to the Minneapolis City Council to represent Ward 6.
“The Diaspora doesn’t define us as a people. Yes it give us a common theme – we’ve all been forced away from our homeland – but we are as diverse and hardworking [as Somalia].”
Referring to a 2011 census, Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the United States. Following Somalia’s takeover by military coup, there was a civil war that caused a Diaspora of Somali refugees around the world. Those who stayed in Somalia didn’t oppose the military, where tribalism still divides many groups within the nation.
“The people just lived in that state. It is better to deal with it than live with it than live with the uncertainty of what’s going to happen if we do decide to revolt,” Abdi said.
The biggest struggle facing Somalia are the different faces of the country. The refugees who have had a generation born outside of Somalia have grown into a new culture and identity.
“There is a sense now that maybe we should set aside our petty differences and work together towards the common good but there is also a bit of tension,” Abdi said.
Following the lectures was an evening session from 6-8:30 p.m. Food was catered in from Crescent Moon and Dunn Brothers for attendees. After Palombo’s welcoming words, Philosophy faculty Charles Watson gave an opening statement about Malcom X. All of the keynote speakers were given another opportunity to speak, followed by an open forum for those in attendance to participate.