Born: June 7, 1914, Panipat. Died: June 1, 1987, Bombay.
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Filed under: Art and activism, Culture, Freedom of expression, Literature, Pakistan-India | Tagged: Anwar Abbs, Dr Mubashir Hasan, K.A. Abbas, Syeda Hameed | 3 Comments »
Last night, I caught up over the phone with an old and dear friend, Greg White in Chicago who heads a tuition-free public education charter school system with 12 branches, opening a 13th in DC soon. Greg is the first Black or African American friend I made within days of my arrival in the USA as an international student at Brown University in 1982. As a sophomore and Minority Peer Counselor in my dorm, Greg became a mentor and guide who went on to obtain an MBA at Harvard Business School. He now heads a tuition-free public elementary school system. Read below his powerful letter to their 500 employees, a moving message inspired by Martin Luther King. It comes straight from the heart.
Greg’s words resonate with the universal fight against oppression, in America and elsewhere. Keeping populations poor and deprived of education is the surest way of continuing systemic oppression. Read his letter below.
Continue readingFiled under: Human rights | Tagged: Activism, George Floyd, George Floyd protests, Juneteenth, MLK, slavery, Trump | Leave a comment »
Last Sunday some physician friends in the Boston area invited me to help them organise a rally under the banner White Coats for Black Lives. These rallies began last Friday with synchronised standouts taking place at hospitals and medical institutions around the United States. This may be the first one taking place at a public venue.
I found it exciting that Pakistani and Indian physicians are joining hands for a common cause, across the political divide. I’m glad to have been able to help them and glad to see doctors becoming politically active. Remembering my father Dr M. Sarwar who believed so passionately in equality and social justice. He not only wouldn’t charge workers, artists and journalists but also gave them medicines for free. He would have approved ❤️
The event has generated a lot of support (see list of endorsing organisations below).
I’m thrilled that Alicia Barrow, one of the co-organisers of a rally last weekend at South Royalton, VT, is coming down for the Sunday vigil in front of the Boston Public Library. South Royalton is a tiny, predominantly White town, but the rally for #BlackLivesMatter drew a substantial crowd. The demonstration was part of several others in Vermont that weekend – and in small towns around the USA. Read this account by veteran journalist friend Skip Isaacs: “A very small close-up from a very big picture”: a report on a Black Lives Matter protest in very white, very Republican, Pasadena, Maryland. Has the USA reached a tipping point?
Copying below the press release about the upcoming White Coats For Black Lives rally:
Continue readingFiled under: Human rights, Progressive politics, Resistance | Tagged: APPNE, IMANE, India Pakistan physicians New England, WC4BL, White Coats For Black Lives, WhiteCoats4BlackLives | 1 Comment »
Journeys to democracy 