Action Alert: Mumia Abu-Jamal has COVID

Mumia Abu-Jamal, like Imam Jamil Al-Amin, and many other of our beloved political prisoners, has been in ill health over an extended period, and his supporters have been calling for his release on humanitarian grounds for a long while. Now he has been diagnosed with COVID-19. This is an important opportunity for Muslims to show solidarity with the Black community.

--Nadrat Siddique

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From Political Prisoner News:

Mumia had COVID-19. He is medically vulnerable, and is experiencing shortness of breath and chest pains. We need everyone to call the Superintendent of Mumia's Prison and demand he be taken to the hospital for treatment for COVID-19. It is not okay that they merely test him (they had not as of Fri. night), the results will take days to come back and he is experiencing chest pains & breathing problems now--and COVID requires quick medical care to avoid death. 

Bernadette Mason, Superintendent
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Road
Frackville, PA 17932
(570) 773-2158

Muslim Leadership Silent as Dr. Aafia and Other Prisoners Bear the Brunt of Texas Winter Weather Emergency Without Heat and Running Water

By Nadrat Siddique

The recent unprecedented winter weather emergency in Texas was another prime opportunity for U.S.-based Muslim leadership to call for the release of political prisoner Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. As temperatures dipped into the teens and '20s, FMC Carswell, the prison where Dr. Aafia is being held, was without heat and running water for several days. Toilets were overflowing due to the lack of water, and the women prisoners put on multiple layers of clothing in an effort to stay warm.

You can read the full story on that horrific situation here.

As usual, Muslim organizations, busily genuflecting to Biden and his Hindu VP, dropped the ball, taking no action to press for Dr. Aafia's release from a freezing cold prison. While the immediate emergency appears over, it is a very sad commentary on our Muslim organizations and Muslim leadership that they did not raise a finger to help these women prisoners, including Aafia, and missed a huge opportunity to call for their release on humanitarian grounds. And so, we who believe in freedom must remain vigilant.

ACTION ALERT

What you can do to help Aafia now

1) Call or write to the prison

People of conscience, particularly those based in the U.S., should call or write the prison regularly to express concern about Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. This will keep the authorities on notice that people are vigilant and watching their actions, and that Aafia is not forgotten.

When writing, please be polite, courteous, and, if possible, specific (eg if a particular situation, eg the heat being out, has just occurred, mention that). Be sure to use the correct legal spelling of Aafia's name, and her register number. These are: Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, #90279-054

Send your letter to:

Michael Carr, Warden
FMC Carswell
PO Box 27066
Fort Worth, TX 76127

Or use this form.

2) Write to Dr. Aafia Siddiqui in prison
The worse thing for a political prisoner is the thought that they have been forgotten, or that no one knows where they are, or what is being done to them. A single letter from the outside can mitigate such feelings. Some prisoners mention reading and re-reading the letters they get many times over. Letters should not mention illegal or violent acts, and should be general expressions of concern.

Aafia Siddiqui, #90279-054
FMC Carswell
Federal Medical Center
PO Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127

More than likely, your letter will be returned to you. (That is what happened to a number of Maryland-based Aafia supporters who wrote to her.) When the prison returns the letter, they frequently also (perhaps as a taunt), let the prisoner know they did so.

If your letter to Aafia is returned, it is important to call the prison to ask them why.

Phone for FMC Carswell is: (817) 782-4000
Hours (The prison administration only appears to accept calls during these hours, U.S. Central Standard Time):
Sat: 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sun: 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Again, these are small ways of letting the authorities know the outside world is watching.

3) Send small amounts of money to Dr. Aafia's commissary

This will allow her to buy items not provided by the prison from the commissary (prison store). The prison system has very specific rules on how to send money to a prisoner:

• If you want to send her money by mail, it must be a money order (U.S. Postal money orders are best).

• You must write her full, legal name and register number on the money order itself.

• Then, address the envelope as follows:

Federal Bureau of Prisons
Aafia Siddiqui
#90279-054
Post Office Box 474701
Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001

• Then, write your name and return address on the upper left-hand corner of the envelope.

• If you prefer to send Dr. Aafia money electronically, you can do so using Western Union or Moneygram. Again, the prison system has very specific rules for doing this. Check them here, and follow the directions as precisely as you can (to avoid rejection of payment):

4) Send Aafia a birthday card:

Aafia's birthday is March 2. She will spend it in a cold, filthy, COVID-ridden prison, while both U.S. and Pakistani lawmakers (including Pakistani PM Imran Khan, who came to power on campaign promises to free her) ignore the enormous injustice being done to her.

Send her a birthday card to let her know she is not forgotten. (A very simple card, with no frills or decorations, or a postcard with your handwritten birthday message is best.)

Send the card to:

Aafia Siddiqui, #90279-054
FMC Carswell
Federal Medical Center
PO Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127

5) Educate yourself about the case, and join any local actions, protests, etc calling for justice for Aafia. For regular updates on Dr. Aafia's case, follow her sister on Twitter: @FowziaSiddiqui

#FreeAafiaSiddiqui #FMCCarswell #TexasWinter

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Nadrat Siddique is a DC-based writer and political prisoner advocate, who believes that "None of us are free, if one of us is chained."

Standing Rock Solidarity Run

I ran the 10.6 miles of the BWI Trail on February 9. It's a trail I regularly run, but this run was special. This year marks the 5-year anniversary of the heroic stance taken by the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies to stop desecration of Indian land by Big Oil, in particular the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
Despite having ZERO legal standing, DAPL continues to operate with impunity.

So, the Standing Rock Youth Council initiated a 93-mile relay to call attention to the illegalities being carried out by the oil company. Their statement on the action is here.

My run was part of a national action held across the country. Runners in cities across the U.S. independently ran or walked anywhere from 1/4 mile to 8, 10, or 12 miles  in solidarity with the Standing Rock Youth Council action. The indigenous youth initiating the action ran in sub-zero temperatures in North Dakota that day. Among these brave, bold indigenous runners were those who had initiated the fight against the pipeline in 2016.

I wanted them to know they had (at least some) Pakistani/Muslim support.

You can see a clip from my run here.

What to Eat: Fuel for Activism

To remain viable as a political activist (ie, out of the clutches of hospitals and big pharma), and to be able to energetically work for the causes one is passionate about, it is essential to follow a healthy and wholesome dietary regimen. Here, in a nutshell, is the advice I gave one beloved activist brother, in response to his question: What should I eat?

A whole foods diet emphasizing raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains (eg quinoa, amaranth, millet, buckwheat, kamut, farro, brown/ black / basmati rice, etc), nuts and seeds (in measured amount, not too much, since these also contain fat, albeit "good fat"), and small amounts of fish and chicken is what I would recommend.

Equally important in lowering cholesterol is what you eschew. Fried foods, pork products, refined sugars, salad dressings (except perhaps vinegarette), and anything containing mayonnaise is to be avoided.

This is most effective in lowering cholesterol (and controlling high blood pressure, blood sugar, and many other health problems) when coupled with aerobic exercise (eg walking, bicycling, rowing, etc).

If the person asking the question is on diabetes and certain other meds, these will not work as well, or will take longer to take effect, since some of these meds have the effect of creating cholesterol. 

Standard disclaimer: This advice is not a substitute for regular visits to a board certified physician.

--Nadrat Siddique

Protests Continue Outside FMC-Carswell, but Where are the Muslims?

Petition Update

By Nadrat Siddique

September 19, 2020

Dear sisters, brothers, and friends,

As-salaam alaikom/ Greetings of peace! Conditions at FMC Carswell, where Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is being held, have gone from bad to worse. Since we initiated this petition, another two women, held with Aafia, have died from COVID-19, and more have tested positive. It is heartening than human rights-loving people, some of whom have relatives in the prison, are demonstrating outside the prison's walls.

Here is a media report on the protests from the local paper in the area (you may have to sign up for a free subscription to view the article in its entirety):

Sadly, the current protests are being staged almost entirely by non-Muslims. Where are the Muslims?

According to the Texas State Historical Association, Texas has a Muslim population of 421,972. Granted, Texas is a huge state--as large as some countries--and many of these Muslims live a long distance from FMC Carswell (located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas). Even then, Dallas, according to the same sources, boasts a Muslim population of 30,000. Its sister city, Fort Worth, reports another 4,000. There are 15 Islamic Centers in Dallas. And our faith, the faith of 34,000 Dallas-Fort Worth area Muslims, commands us to engage in "amr bil mauroof" (enjoining the right) and "nahi unal munkari" (forbidding the wrong). In other words, standing for justice. The Sublime Qur'an describes "the freeing of the slave," ie, the prisoner, as the height of Islamic belief.

There is no more clear cut case of injustice than what has been done to our sister Aafia.

So where then, are all of these Texas-based Muslims and Muslim organizations? No doubt there are innumerable Muslims in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and elsewhere who would love to demonstrate outside FMC Carswell for Aafia. But, thanks to U.S. immigration law, they cannot easily do so. So, it is our responsibility, as U.S.-based Muslims, to speak up for our sister. If we are unable or unwilling to protest outside the prison, we should, at a minimum, sign the petition to U.S. authorities calling for her release on humanitarian grounds, and ask others to do the same. It doesn't cost anything, it's still legal to sign a petition, and it's our duty as Muslims/ people of conscience to help the downtrodden. JazaakAllah khair and thank you!

Sign the petition here.

Petition for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui

We, the undersigned, petition:

Donald J. Trump

Greg Abbott

Department of Justice

William Barr (Attorney General of the United States)

Eric S. Dreiband (Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights Division, DOJ)

Ken Paxton (Attorney General of Texas)

Michael Carvajal (Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons)

Kathleen Hawk Sawyer (Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons)

Release or Home Confinement for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui from Coronavirus-Infected Prison

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, is serving an 86-year term at FMC Carswell. Carswell is a prison-cum-medical facility for female prisoners. Other than Seagoville Prison, which is also located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has 1,359 cases, Carswell has the largest COVID-19 outbreak of any U.S. prison. According to Bureau of Prisons own website, the number of reported cases there is 542. (Other sources place it even higher, at 571.) Carswell’s inmate population totals 1,357. That makes the current infection rate at the facility 40%. Three female prisoners, Andrea Circle Bear, Sandra Kincaid, and Teresa Ely, have died from the virus at the facility. Of these dead women, Circle Bear, a 34-year old Native American, was much younger than Dr. Siddiqui. So, the risk to Dr. Siddiqui is clearly grave.

According to the Appeal, a project of the Justice Collaborative, "There's no air conditioning; incarcerated women are confined to their cells; the commissary is closed indefinitely, so women are running out of basic hygiene products like soap and shampoo; the warden was nowhere to be found; women weren't getting necessary medical care; inedible meals arrived in brown sacks." The facility is also sorely lacking in cleaning supplies and PPE.

(Much of the information on conditions at Carswell originates with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a local news outlet in the area, with no political agenda. The paper has been reporting on the situation there since April. The reports were later picked up by the local NBC affiliate, Time Magazine, and Newsweek.)

The bottom line is that Dr. Siddiqui, an MIT and Brandeis graduate, with no prior record of violence, and who was likely turned in by a vindicative, abusive ex-husband, has a greater than 40% chance of contracting Coronavirus while in U.S. custody. She is already in very poor physical, as well as mental health, having been denied timely medical treatment from a gunshot wound when she was captured in Afghanistan. The torture she endured while in captivity in Pakistan and Afghanistan exacerbated her physical condition. The death of her baby, Sulaiman, in the course of her arrest, and the imprisonment of her other two children, Ahmad and Mariam, along with her (they were each separately released years later), added to her grave mental trauma. 

Not one person was killed or injured in connection with the charges for which Dr. Siddiqui was convicted. And she was convicted in New York District Court, on the basis of ambiguous and highly contradictory testimony, due largely to the climate of fear and Islamophobia which existed at the time. Upon her conviction, she called for her supporters to stay calm, and to refrain from violence. She has continued to maintain her innocence throughout her 17-years of captivity.

Her sister, Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui, a Pakistan-based physician who holds a degree from Harvard University, has long spearheaded a national campaign in Pakistan, calling for her release. In Pakistan, the broad masses of people believe Dr. Siddiqui to be innocent, and the prevailing view is one of disbelief that the U.S., which touts itself as a supporter of women's rights, has accorded torture, solitary confinement, and now (the prospect of) COVID-19 to this Pakistani woman neuroscientist.

Supporters from the Aafia Foundation and other groups hold annual rallies outside FMC Carswell calling for her release. Human rights advocates in London, Durban, New York, Boston, and other cities worldwide regularly march calling for Dr. Siddiqui's release.

Countries like China and Russia are often associated with the jailing of scientists. The U.S. need not join their ranks. Dr. Siddiqui's release on humanitarian grounds from a COVID-infected prison would open the door to improved U.S.-Pakistan relations.

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, is neither a threat to public welfare, nor a flight risk. She has suffered enough. We ask that she be released to home confinement with supporters in Maryland; or, that she be repatriated to Pakistan, where her elderly mother and her children have long awaited her. As COVID-19 ravages Texas prisons, particularly Carswell, Dr. Siddiqui’s life may depend upon it.

Sign the petition here.

Weekend Killing Spree in Chicago: Fruit of a Genocidal Plan

Father's Day weekend brought tragedy to Chicago. One hundred four (104) people, including five children were shot. In response, many Muslim commentators took to social media, and imams to the pulpit to denounce the violence. "Stop killing each other!" was the most common admonishment. In my opinion, such statements reveal both lack of social consciousness, and a lack of awareness of U.S. history, and of the workings of the Prison Industry.

To me, the surge in killings seem the inevitable result of the CIA's dumping of guns and drugs into the Black community. Although I don't have proof, I think it's entirely possible, following the observed patterns under which COINTELPRO has operated in the past, that some or all of the killings are being instigated by the authorities, and/or the right wing, with the collusion of the authorities. When the right conditions are set up by the enemy, a segment of the population will engage in such behavior. What is telling is how and whether these murders are solved. In Baltimore, for example, spates of killings of Blacks (ostensibly Black on Black) occur. Are these murders solved? Rarely.

Why do they remain unsolved? Just as it is the job of the police to protect and serve the public, it is their job (along with that of the DA) to solve such crimes, and prosecute the killers. When it comes to the Black community, they clearly abdicate their responsibility in the former function (ie protecting and serving). However, we are naive enough to believe they fulfill the latter when it comes to the Black community (ie solving crimes and prosecuting the perpetrators).

If even one little White girl is kidnapped or killed, massive resources are expended to resolve the case. Not so in the case of Black children who are murdered. To have so many unsolved murders is highly suspicious and problematic. Black activists have even propounded the idea that some or all of these killings are committed, or at least instigated by police. I don't think it is overly far-fetched.

The prevailing White Supremacist line since the police murder of George Floyd and the subsequent tidal wave of righteous anger and protest seems to be: "Well, what about when they kill each other? Do Black lives matter then?" The intonation is that cops kill relatively few Blacks, and that Blacks are mindless and savage enough to engage in the senseless murder of their own. It seems an attempt to minimize, or even justify police killings. After all the sensationalizing of the "weekend of senseless killings" in Chicago, hopefully attention will remain on how--and how many of these murders were solved. If not, we should be demanding why.

--Nadrat Siddique

The Socio-Economics of Eid Sweets

Earlier, I stopped by Indus Food (Burtonsville location). It is my preferred spot for halal meat, spices, and naan. But today, I was there for mithai. (These are a class of very sweet Pakistani sweets. Their appearance, in many cases, is very similar to American fudge. However, the preparation is quite dissimilar, as mithai employs little to no butter, and is instead composed primarily of milk and sugar, with nuts and other ingredients added for flavor.)

There were few people in Indus Food, not nearly as many as I've seen there in previous years, so close to the Eid. Instead of the older "uncle" who frequently attends to the cash register, it was a young Muslim man. Similarly, Muslim youth were filling other positions in the store. Our faith teaches us to protect our elders, and I was glad to see this in action. But- there was NO fresh mithai!

I was looking specifically for Habshi Halwa, (these are chestnut brown-colored rectangles) and Kalakan (milky white rectangles, which especially look like fudge) for the Eid. But, aside from a big, open tray of gulab jaman and another of rasgolay, there was zero fresh mithai. Those two, and a frozen mithai sampler was all that was in the offing! And, as any authentic Pakistani knows, mithai doesn't freeze well.

Then it occurred to me that the dearth of Pakistani sweets was likely because the majority of it comes from Shaheen Sweets in New York. I truly pray for the poor and working class people in New York, including those associated with the manufacture of Pakistani sweets, that they may survive the pandemic. As we know, poverty accelerates Coronavirus, if for no other reason that underpaid workers are forced to live in close quarters, with large families sharing small facilities, and scarce time/space to maintain hygiene.

May Allah make it easier for all those compelled to work under difficult and dangerous conditions, and may He ease the burden of those struggling with limited/no income in these trying times.

Jamaat Al-Muslimeen Statement on the Death of Ahmaud Arbery

It is disgusting, and a travesty of justice that an innocent black jogger can be shot like an animal by White vigilantes, who chase him down without any provocation. We, of the Jamaat al-Muslimeen (Islamic Peoples' Movement) demand justice in this evident murder.

Thoughts on the Death of a Dear Friend/Co-Worker

This morning, I attended the funeral of a longtime co-worker and friend, Crystal Pierce. The Grace of God Ministries, the small church where it was held, sits on Baltimore's Millington Avenue (about 2.5 miles from where Freddie Gray was killed by police in 2015). It was filled to capacity.

Crystal was young, only a year older than me, but she had Stage 4 lung cancer. She would always see me running during my break at work, and encouraged me daily. "Damn, girl, you be tearing up that road," she'd say. And, "As much as you run, you do all the running for both of us!"

I gently encouraged her to take grape seed extract and resveratrol, both highly effective holistic treatments for lung damage due to smoking. "Hang up the cancer sticks, and come running with me," I would tell her. "I know you can do it; you have that natural athletic build!"

And I meant it. Crystal had played basketball in school, and retained her trim athletic body almost until the end. But, she never obliged me on the running.

She was feisty and didn't mince words, excellent traits for the shop steward she was at our work place. But, she was also very kind, caring, and helpful to anyone in her circle who needed it. When various co-workers were suspended or fired through no fault of their own, she would make sure they were okay, taking up collections for them, and reminding others to check on them.

At one point, I was in the process of leaving an abusive marriage, and my ex- was stalking me, even coming to my job, threatening to smash my car windshield. Crystal was very supportive, saying she would beat him up for me, if necessary, and offering to walk me to my car at the end of my work shift. (I was fearful of being intercepted on the way to my car for many weeks in the course of that breakup.) Thankfully I never had to take her up on her offer. But, when one is enduring such a trial, it is comforting to know you have a friend like Crystal looking out. I only wish I could have been there for her in her health challenges.

May you rest in peace, dear friend.