In a previous posting (http://www.youngpeoplefor.org/blog/posts/3663), I included a letter from Black Panther member, Assata Shakur (who some may know as the aunt of hip hop legend, Tupac Shakur), who is living in exile in Cuba. I am still processing the content of her letter, as I am reading it from the race/gender lenses.

> May of 2008
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> New Statement from Assata!!
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> First of all, let me say thank you, to the many people who
> have helped me to celebrate my 60th birthday. Thank you for
> your beautiful birthday cards and for your warm and eloquent
> messages. Thank you for your activism, your radiant energy
> and most of all for your love. I am sincerely grateful for

Happy New Year! Around New Years I often reflect on the year that has passed an inevitability feel thankful for the many good and bad things in my life that equate to experience and growth. This New Years was no different, albeit I feel thankful on a more "macro" level about an issue that is broader then myself.

I am currently conducting some anthropological research in China relating to the internet, culture, youth and the interplay of the three. In doing my research and discussing the strange nature of American political thought (i.e. what the heck a progressive, conservative, etc. is) I have come to a sense of thankfulness for one unique aspect of the American political structure. While progressives often feel very negatively about the systemic social, economic, and political problems that harm our communities, nation, and the world I think it is important to have thanks for the ability to freely associate into political groups without having to go through official, bureaucratic, or totalitarian channels. It truly is a unique system that doesn't exist in many places and it makes one feel thankfulness for the ability to freely associate and belong to an organization - something I realized in making friends and conducting interviews here in the PRC.

I know I am preaching to the choir here, but in this New Year it is important to remember the good as one works to alleviate or counter the bad. Happy New Year to everyone!

Periodic Revolution "at least once every 20 years," is "a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."

Attributed to Thomas Jefferson.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.

John F. Kennedy

After reflecting on the paradoxes of America's birth this past the 4th of July, I was reminded by the quotes, above, attributed to two of the most celebrated American political figures.... advocating for the power of the people to hold its governing institutions accountable for our collective social welfare, political rights, and economic prosperity.

Have we become so docile that we are afraid of revolution?

Have we become so complacent that we are hostile to it?

Have we become so unimaginative that we are incapable for it?

From the When not in Africa. . . blog.

Independence Day, the 4th of July, let freedom ring - but are we 'free at last?' Today is a day that means a lot to Americans, or at least it should. In many other countries, especially African countries, independence days receive more than just one day and have celebrations that take over weeks. Here we celebrate with fireworks, family get togethers, remembering the troops, community events, and other random events set for just one day. Independence Day is something we have come to take for granted. We know that we are independent and 'free,' but we do not really understand what that means. We shoot off fireworks, blasting explosions in the sky, shaking our bodies - but what we do not realize is that 'bombs bursting in air' means something completely different to the rest of the world. Explosions, bursts of light do not represent independence in many places - these are signs of danger and create fear. A rocket's red glare has a frightening consequence and that does not end often in freedom. I began really thinking about how people from other parts of the world would view our independence day when I attended the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Maine the summer of 2003.