By Nadrat Siddique
So,
I ran the Baltimore Marathon (26.2 miles) this morning. It was my third time
running it. Although I've always considered myself a DC girl, I have grown to
love Baltimore, and its people, and was aching to run the race, which I'd been
unable to run since 2012. I was quite conflicted about running the race, and
did not register until late last night, only a few hours before the event,
something unheard off for most amateur athletes engaging in such a major
undertaking.
The
reason for my hesitation was the corporate sponsorship of the race. Among
others, Under Armour had signed on to the event. The corporate giant, which now
competes with Nike and has its headquarters in Baltimore, play a key role in
the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC), a conglomerate of corporate interests,
which control Baltimore's economics with an iron hand. And- the Greater
Baltimore Committee--Zionists who assisted in crushing April's Baltimore
Uprising--are heavily complicit in the gentrification of Baltimore's Inner
Harbor. They have succeeded in driving Baltimore's native Black population out
of the area, grabbing up land, developing it, and selling it at prices completely
out of reach for most Baltimore natives. A mere condo on Baltimore's newly
gentrified Inner Harbor easily goes for $500,000 - $600,000.
I
see commonality between the practices of the GBC, and those of the IDF (Israeli
Defense Force) in Occupied Palestine. In the Palestinian case, settlements are
built by Israeli settlers. These homes are then completely off limits for
Palestinian habitation, a situation no less than Apartheid South Africa. And
the original Palestinian inhabitants, whose land was seized to facilitate the
influx of the Zionist settlers, are forced to relocate to Bantustans where they
live under dismal, depraved conditions. As you might imagine, I was very
troubled by the fact that my $130 registration fee, although meager in the
larger scheme of things, might be seen even symbolically as a support of the
White Supremacist design for Baltimore. On top of that, I was getting warning
messages from some not-so-friendly quarters not to run the race.
I
compromised and paid the registration fee, deciding to run to deliver my
message "Black Lives Matter," contained on a black tee-shirt I'd
acquired, hoping for an opportunity to offer solidarity from my Pakistani
people to that important movement at some point.
I
did not see anyone else at the Baltimore marathon representing the Black Lives
Matter movement, either running or spectating. But I received kudos from many
spectators, including Whites, who yelled out "Black lives matter," to
which I responded, "Stop police brutality!" One Black man yelled out
at me, "All lives matter!" I pumped my fist at him: "Black lives
matter!" I crossed the finish line in 3 hrs 42 mins, a new record for me
(also a Boston Marathon qualifying performance) for that distance. I attribute
it to the love I have developed over the last few years for Baltimore, and to
the Power of the Almighty.
