Spoken word video from post 911, but the message resonates before and after. Take six minutes and watch/listen.publicradiointernational:peoplenevernoticeanything:We, as a nation, have the same recycled arguments decade after decade. They evolve, they find new scapegoats; but when somebody has the eloquence and strength to articulately shatter worn out rhetoric, nobody ever seems to listen. This was in response to 9/11, but the same beautiful reposte is maybe even more coherent today with almost 10 years of experience for it to sink into. Especially when you read about a certain religious center in a certain neighborhood of a certain city.“There is no poetry in this”Just listen.Wow. I don’t know when this is from, but it’s good.First thing I did was listen to it again.Best lines:“I have read too many books to believe what I have been told.”“You’re either with life or against it.”Yeah, that last one is powerful and downright challenging since so much of what we do in the First World exploits people in the Third. Sadly Hammad’s piece comes from a place of ignorance of her own effect on the world but a place of love, nonetheless. Hopefully, since she wrote that piece, she’s kept on reading books and has learned more.