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Moving fast
in front of
Self-reliant
Self-determined
I’m the queen of this little persons’ movement

My hair in black
flowing from DC’s winds
and with each step of solidarity
I raise my inner voice
I raise my outer voice
imitating slogans heard
from my Mom and Dad’s lips
and from that of other Moms and Dads

Fast forward 18 years
and fervently, I say,
Thank you, dear parents
How hard it was for you to get us to the protest
How sacrificial
so that I could yell,
FREE, FREE, FREE Palestine

And now I rewind to my a-bit-past-toddler age years
Joined today with my kiddo martyred friends of Gaza
in their heavenly sweat and blood
Yaaaay
they do smell of The Firdous
You see I know what genocide means
because my blood family members’ and other immediate family members' conversations taught me
and their actions to stop it has shown me
and I think it were my Mom who dressed me
in Al-Aqsa kids' gear
My hair in black
and my legs stride
in this mini peoples CEASEFIRE NOW march
flowing like the blood of all too many
in The Holy Land

We yell in this mini us movement march
We chant under the open sunny sky
We raise our voices
For other kids
who haven't
but an open air prison
and even worse, now

Our tomorrow
is soon tomorrow
and our Palestinian friends today
have been taken away
I'm sad for them
My nerves are hurt
so much so
my black hairs covering my head
are raised
so much so
they're yellin
CEASEFIRE NOW
CEASEFIRE NOW
CEASEFIRE NOW
and they're yellin
FREE PALESTINE ONCE AND FOR ALL
so that the only yellin’ my black hairs will do
are for things that kids like me are supposed to
yell for
yell for our birthday parties
for cake and ice cream
for happy times on swings at the park
for running wild on open grass at picnics and in masjids’ backyards
and for bigs hugs and kisses from our loved ones

You see
little me and all the others out here
want the same for children in Palestine
We want them happy like us
We want them free
We want them free to move
Like my hair in black
flowing from DC’s winds
Like my legs stride
But instead
I see all these kids in Gaza like me screaming
from the sounds of bombs dropping
I see all these kids like me covered in blood
lying dead on the ground
I hear all these kids like me loudly crying
because they’re hungry and their thirsty
I hear all these kids like me begging
for the world to help them

And so today
this mini peoples CEASEFIRE NOW march
IS the world
and black hairs yellin’ now
and black hairs will keep yellin’
for Palestine
until all kids like me
are free
6/15/25  Father's Day!
On 11/24/23 at 10:18 am, I was in the grocery store, and I saw from the window, a lady wearing a keffiyeh walking by outside with a man beside her pushing a stroller with a baby in it (I presume their child). I quickly ran out of the store, and said, Free Palestine at the same time giving her a thumbs up! I quickly told her that I had just written this poem. Thank you for your solidarity, I said to her as a farewell. She replied smiling, We’ve got to stick together.

6/16/25
I am taking time now to add the following as time ran out yesterday so I wasn't able to include it.

This poem is a Father's Day gift for Imam Asi and his son-in-law!

'Black hairs', the child who is speaking in this poem authored by me is Imam Asi's 2nd daughter's/his 2nd born's first daughter and the his son-in-law's first daughter.

I end with some words of my Father said in 2020 (when searching in my draft folder for this and a poem to follow (most of it written in November 2023), I came across an email that I had written housing his words, "Take your children to a protest or rally. Let them hear and see what's going on from a safe location. Let them see and learn. Help them become concerned global citizens in a world begging for help and relief. Ameen!"

Sincerely,
Najwa

Solidarity knows no borders; it's the heartbeat of a world against oppression.
-BodezArt

"And it's the heartbeat of this little girl."

"Al hamdulilah."
Moving fast
in front of
Self-reliant
Self-determined
I’m the queen of this little persons’ movement
My hair in black
flowing from DC’s winds
and with each step of solidarity
I raise my inner voice
I raise my outer voice
imitating slogans heard
from my Mom and Dad’s lips
and from that of other Moms and Dads

Fast forward 18 years
and fervently, I say,
Thank you, dear parents
How hard it was for you to get us to the protest
How sacrificial
so that I could yell,
FREE, FREE, FREE Palestine

And now I rewind to my a-bit-past-toddler age years
Joined today with my kiddo martyred friends of Gaza
in their heavenly sweat and blood
Yaaaay
they do smell of The Firdous
You see I know what genocide means
because my blood family members’ conversations taught me
and I think it were my Mom who dressed me
in Al-Aqsa kids' gear
My hair in black
and my legs stride
in this mini peoples CEASEFIRE NOW march
flowing like the blood of all too many
in The Holy Land

We yell in this mini us movement march
We chant under the open sunny sky
We raise our voices
For other kids
who haven't
but an open air prison
and even worse, now

Our tomorrow
is soon tomorrow
and our Palestinian friends today
have been taken away
I'm sad for them
My nerves are hurt
so much so
my black hairs covering my head
are raised
so much so
they're yellin
CEASEFIRE NOW
CEASEFIRE NOW
CEASEFIRE NOW
and they're yellin
FREE PALESTINE ONCE AND FOR ALL
so that the only yellin’ my black hairs will do
are for things that kids like me are supposed to
yell for
yell for our birthday parties
for cake and ice cream
for happy times on swings at the park
for running wild on open grass at picnics and in masjids’ backyards
and for bigs hugs and kisses from our loved ones

You see
little me and all the others out here
want the same for children in Palestine
We want them happy like us
We want them free
We want them free to move
Like my hair in black
flowing from DC’s winds
Like my legs stride
But instead
I see all these kids in Gaza like me screaming
from the sounds of bombs dropping
I see all these kids like me covered in blood
lying dead on the ground
I hear all these kids like me loudly crying
because they’re hungry and their thirsty
I hear all these kids like me begging
for the world to help them

And so today
this mini peoples CEASEFIRE NOW march
IS the world
and black hairs yellin’ now
and black hairs will keep yellin’
for Palestine
until all kids like me
are free
On 11/24/23 at 10:18 am, I was in the grocery store, and I saw from the window, a lady wearing a keffiyeh walking by outside with a man beside her pushing a stroller with a baby in it (I presume their child). I quickly ran out of the store, and said, Free Palestine at the same time giving her a thumbs up! I quickly told her that I had just written this poem. Thank you for your solidarity, I said to her as a farewell. She replied smiling, We’ve got to stick together.
Najwa Kareem Jun 9
This gray, glooming day is saying something.
There's something missing from your graduation.
There's something missing from your celebration.
The contrasting colors are missing.
The bright, bold colors are missing.
There's something blah about this day.
Yup. Yup. Yup.
I'm sorry to have to say it, but there's something blah, something gray.

This gray day is not just gray, it's glooming.
The times when teachers witnessed and lauded perhaps fitna from you and your peers, your egos should not have been greeted.
The Shaitan was not fully defeated.
The good adab achievement score, not just the academic achievement score, was needed.
THE CREATOR of you and me, none other than ALLAH AL-KAREEM, was cheated.
There's no light in the sky, Khai.
Khai, there's no light in the sky.

This gray, glooming day is saying something.
The whole, the brimful sun is held back.
How many young ladies' naked skin, some of their *******, some of their butts, some of their legs, their midriff, and their flowing hair (all that when in public, should be covered, all that you were surrounded by most of the daytime) did you observe and even gaze at?
How much of their near ****** (a male peer of yours at another public high school said in regard to his female peers with their bodies showing in public, "I think the female body wasn't meant to be exposed in public." He's the same one who when a few of his female peers dressed inappropriately walked by barked at them along with a few of his male peers.) regularly tempting, taunting, teasing, stroking, flirting with your blooming *** hormones, your male *** drive, robbing you of your innocence, prayfully and hopefully not your virginity?
How many illegitimate kisses between guys and girls at your public school did you see?
How many incidences of ****** harassment and ****** assault happened on the grounds of your school in part because the free, unsupervised mixing of the sexes and your female classmates in halter shirts and in mini skirts made it easy to get away with?  
How much foul language, curse words did you hear and speak?
How many hugs did you receive from and/or give to girls who are not your wives?
How many times did your principal advise the student body to be neutral concerning Palestine and Israel (two of your schoolmates that I met while in the community told me that's what he did)?
How many days and months while attending your public high school did you go without GOD and HIS guiding words being said?
How many times did you feel compelled or forced to pledge allegiance to a flag that as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf said stands for tyranny and oppression, with the authorities' intention, with the administration's intention of making America, your birth country, your GOD?
How many classes went without the teachings of GOD'S instructions from THE HOLY QURAN?
How many of your peers questioned why the school and its' calendar do not even say that the school's closed for Eid but says so for Christmas and Hanukkah (wrong and rotten the public school system is, their blatant prejudice against Islam, against Muslims, their blatant racism, their blatant discrimination, their blatant hate for Muslims and for GOD, HIMSELF, THE ONE WHO MADE THEM ALL)?
How many teachers without Taqwa said to you, a young, handsome man, a ****, things that were inappropriate?
How many male teachers and other male staff were faulty or poor role models of what a man is suppose to be and how he is supposed to behave?

But it just started to rain, it's 7:28, Khai.
A sign of a new fate.
Giving a new perspective.
A sign of a better path.
An opportunity for this day to come away from the gray.
And for his Mom and Dad's son, my nephew, to shine in another way.
Now that some of the gloom has moved away.
Khai, show ALLAH that you're more than willing and ready to accurately pay.
This for you, Khai, I pray.

By: Auntie Najwa
At the end of writing this poem, a lady, White American standing at a short distance from me said, "You're wonderful. Don't forget it."
ALLAH brought this lady to me. HE brought her to reward me. HE brought me encouragement. HE brought me praise. HE gave me a high five and a pat on the back. ALLAH IS AKBAR! As you throw your graduation cap up to the air, say, ALLAH IS AKBAR! loud enough and confidently enough for ALL TO HEAR, ESPECIALLY FOR THE ONE WHO'S THE REASON YOU WALKED ACROSS THE STAGE; THAT ONE IS ALLAH.

WE SAY TO YOU, OH DEAR ALLAH, SHUKRAN JAZILAN FOR BESTOWING UPON US YOUR RAHMA AND BARAKA. AL HAMDULILAHI RABBIL 'ALAMIN. AL HAMDULILAH WA SHUKRULILLAH.
Najwa Kareem May 31
She said this morning,
an American,
an American colored white
said to me during our exchange,
"All this garbage out here."
She wasn't talking about the garbage in trash cans and dumpsters.
She was talking about people.
After nearly being run over by an impatient, inconsiderate driver in a car
Her disgust was expressed,
replacing the exhaust in automobile pipes
My empathy in second gear
shared what was said to me by another American,
an American colored black,
"Too many demons here."
It fully resonated with the American lady whose life could have been taken
"Yeeeehhhh!"
I laugh about it
I laugh
Really, I laugh big
About the one that corrupts your children in its secular schools while "educating" them and in grossly other ways
The one that murders your brothers and your sisters here and abroad in the name of God
The one that unfairly and unjustly prices just about everything
The one that portrays women as *** objects and women go along with it exposing their private parts, exposing their bodies in public while Muslim women in hijab are ridiculed and lied about  
The one that could care less about the rapidly growing numbers of persons without a residence, unhoused, homeless
The one that poisons your tap water
The one that has many universities AKA businesses out to hustle students by criminally charging them prices that they would pay to purchase a condominium, after all they have genocides to help pay for
The one that makes cohabitation, fornication, and adultery look prettier than marriage
"This is the America you love."
Written on 5/31/25
Najwa Kareem May 6
Her name,
Farideh Beiram (Rokhvand)

Her fame,
My Childhood Teacher

Her pedagogy,
Our hearts together and all that I have to give

My end of the school year evaluation of our teacher,
Sr. Farideh, her kind of love for us, rare

Last night
after exiting a bus
I thought of you, teacher
and your rare pedagogy
describing it as
A blue diamond kind of care

When I looked up to say salaam and thank you,
there you were
Blue Diamond
in your color and in your shape
sitting next to the moon

A mother's & a teacher's
conscious, caring, confirmation
never far away

May you be resting in eternal peace
Insha Allah,
I'll never forget you,
Sr. Farideh

Your children tell me
that you're far from far away
I see them
and they tell me
that you and your teachings
are never far away

I tell myself
that you're far from far away
I see me
and I tell myself
that you and your teachings
are never far away

Blue Diamond
in all your different shades
Like the amazing humanitarian, human rights activist, and leader, Malcolm X, you revered
martyred on 2/21/1965,
may your spectrum of good Adab
continue to glitter
and be royalty
forever,
richly alive

By: Najwa Kareem

Written 2/16/24
Honoring one of my favorite and best elementary school teachers on Teachers' Day which is today, 5/6/25 and honoring her this entire week of Teacher Appreciation Week!
Najwa Kareem Apr 22
The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, asserted last month, After ten years of war, Yemen remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises
And UNICEF reported, 2 MILLION children are in need for food, water, shelter and medicine and "children are being robbed of their futures" like the rolls of dices

Yemen, they've reduced you to that of a car, a lemon
Seeing you as an inferior like most of them conceptualize women

Playing out their terrorism, the corrupt and the deranged of high office in the US
**** your innocent while defending their hundreds of strikes saying to the world we could care less

Secretary of Defense, Hegseth making their plans to attack "Iran backed Houthis" a family affair  
His lie, after lie, after lie giving God reason to whip his fake *** and tell him don't you dare  

The so-called Superpowers after another's land, desiring to steal resources, and dominate
Yemen with its predominantly Muslim population will INSHA ALLAH soon do away with their evil and hate

Regional leaders turn their other cheek at your daily struggle and suffering and the ones that rule the country sitting above you, stab you in the back
Because it is Taqwa, fear of God, no not correct, rather consciousness of "ALLAH's power presence and authority...HIS merciful power and HIS corrective power" (Imam Muhammad al-Asi) that these cowards lack

Yemen, Remembering The Dismissed On Earth Day
Let us see it and its oppressed people every day because for their human rights to be honored and for their freedom to be won, there is no other way

By: Najwa Kareem
Najwa Kareem Apr 8
(When reading this poem, it's fitting to pronounce 'Salman' using the Arabic pronunciation.)

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Tellin' Gaza I understand

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Fighting by taking a stand

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Salman, tellin' Gaza we understand

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Salman, fighting by taking a stand

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
An Athan telling the world, we must take command

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Prepping us for prayer, prayer/a daily ritual, which is supposed to help us to assert, Oppressors we're not a fan  

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Salman, tellin' Gaza I understand

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Salman, fighting by taking a stand

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Tellin' Gaza we understand

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
Announcing 'God is Greater than', 'God is more Important than', 'God is more Significant than', 'God is more Powerful than' Trump and Netanyahu's clan

Salman, Kibbutz Blinken's Athan Man
With his Athan, insisting, Palestine, take my hand

By: Najwa Kareem

https://www.instagram.com/omarknowsphotos/reel/C5fGcRvta2J/
"THANK YOU SOOO MUCH, SALMAN, FOR CONTINUING TO BE ON THE FRONTLINES OF OUR BATTLEFIELD TO RESIST THE OPPRESSORS OF THE OPPRESSED/OF OURS IN PALESTINE/OUR HOMELAND AND FOR ALL OF THE SACRIFICES OF YOUR TIME, RESOURCES, ETC. TO DO WHAT YOU CAN(LIKE HOW YOU RECITED THE ATHAN AT THIS COMMUNAL GATHERING FOR IFTAR IN FRONT OF THE HOME OF FORMER US SECRETARY OF GENOCIDE, ANTONY BLINKEN) TO AID IN OUR HUMAN FAMILY GETTING THEIR/OUR HUMAN RIGHTS HONORED AND TO ASSIST IN A FREE PALESTINE BECOMING A REALITY, A FREED HOLY LAND. PICTURES OF YOU ENGAGING IN GRASSROOTS ACTIONS AT PUBLIC FORUMS SAY A LOT; PICTURE TAKERS (EVEN ONES AT THE AL-QUDS DAY (2025) PROTEST) LIKE TO KEEP YOU IN THE SPOTLIGHT :) AS TUPAC WOULD HAVE LIKELY SAID TO YOU IF HE WERE STILL ALIVE, YOU ARE APPRECIATED!"

From Najwa and your oppressed family in the now miserably destroyed land of olive trees and delicious tasting kunafa.

To Salman: This **photo [of Salman giving the Athan] was seen on Hazami's Instagram and because I was so drawn to it and find it so appealing, I saved it as a draft in my email on 4/21/24. After viewing it, a couple of ideas for how to use it came to mind. The idea to write the poem below was not one of the ideas I thought of then. The writing of this poem happened this morning when just as I was getting ready to make a few duas, the first and second phrases/verses came to me (after reciting out loud a gift I intend to offer to another person); I recited both verses out loud and was very happy with them. When I went to my email a bit later in the morning, I decided to type these two phrases/verses and save them in my draft folder, and after seeing them written or typed before me, I made the decision to write you a poem. 

**Tried to put the photo here but it did not work

*I've also made this poem a protest song! Insha Allah, I will sing it to you/Salman and others.
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