From Ghetto to Gaza Speaking Tour:Feat M1 of Dead Prez

M1 of the political/revolutionary rap group Dead Prez recently held a speaking tour discussing his experiences in Gaza. His mission was organized by a group "Viva la Palestine", a coalition with members reaching numbers close to two hundred dedicated to the liberation of the Palestinian people suffering Israeli oppression. The main objective was to enter Gaza with a number of different resources and goods donated for the people antagonized in this region. Yet things aren't always as they appear, and M1 encountered a wide range of obstacles to hinder his efforts. You can read more of what he had to say of his time there @ sfbayview.com.

I walked into the Black Dot cafe, a small venue in West Oakland organized by active members of the community, expecting to hear M1 speak on the similarities and differences between the ghettos abroad with the poverty stricken hoods in America. Although I did not receive what I expected, I did gain a whole new perspective on a situation I had not been paying much attention to as of late. I knew about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, but not nearly enough converse on the situation. First and foremost, I want to credit M1 for eloquently telling his story while focusing on important issues he experienced first hand. The dangers of the location are well documented; I commend him for the courage to go into a foreign land to help a group of people terrorized by enemies that are backed by our own government.

I didn't get a chance to hear direct parallels between American ghetto life with Gaza, but through M1's experiences, I was able to draw my own conclusions. He recounted a story of meeting a young man whose father was killed by a missile that directly hit his home during dinner. M1 made it very clear that this was not an extreme case or an anomaly, but a regular occurrence in the everyday lives of people trapped in this war zone. Yet the similarities are there; the black youth of America deal with similar obstructions in the face of police brutality, government mandated laws aimed at specific groups, and the ever increasing prison population represented primarily by African Americans and Latinos.

But this was also a time for me to look past encounters in my own life and learn about what others go through. Oppressed people are all fighting against the same machine and reaching for the same goals. I have been in the face of American terrorism, but my occurrences greatly differ in magnitude from the suffering and brutality experienced by people across the globe.