Many
Shall I repeat?
Many
Shall I repeat?
Many
Shall I repeat?
Many
Would you please not be consistent?
Would you please not be so loud?
Would you please not be so disturbing?
You're irritating us
Don't bring Godly attention our way
Don't remind us of our responsibility
Stand up
Sit down again if you're going to put your hands up and pray
while OUR GOD is playing
OUR GOD is playing, Mahmoud, don't you hear HER?
Aren't you a slave like us?
You're more of a slave than us
You're paid better than us
You're paid big money
like the rest of your proball player colleagues
You're making us feel uneasy
We feel jittering
We're uncomfortable right now
Now, we're upset
STOP.
STOP right now
or Get out. Go.
GO.
We want you to leave
We don't like you anymore
LEAVE
Hang up your jersey
and toss away your basketball
Do whatever you want with them
Sale them, Give them to charity, Put them on display in a museum or at an exhibit somewhere
We don't want to see them anymore
We don't want to see you anymore
We don't like that you make us feel like cowards
We don't like that you remind us that we haven't any reason to have pride
in our nation
in a stolen land
WHAT?!
You're making us think
We didn't come to watch a NBA basketball game to think
We didn't come to leave a NBA basketball game thinking
WHAT?!
Don't you know anything about America separating church and state?
You're American, right?
Though your name is different
If you were an immigrant
you might have had to learn this
to take a test to get your citizenship
Yes, yes, I know
that a basketball court is not a state
and that you don't believe in the church
And you've said
that the making of a prayer's never confined to any particular institution or place of worship
You said
At the doctor's office,
I pray
In the car before I pull off,
I pray
In the restaurant before I eat and after I eat,
I pray
At the start of a game,
I pray
All this unnecessary buzz
All this unnecessary hype
around me refusing to pledge allegiance to the American flag
and instead pledge allegiance to God
and pray during the anthem
Even more than 25 years later, a 1/2 of a century later,
we're talking about it
But this time
I get to speak my story
to whoever is interested
I get to speak to the world
through a number of ways
so that the truth can be heard
As for the NBA
compensate me in a way that can never repay me for what you did
for what I've gone through and others
for all of the suffering
compensate me as justly as possible
compensate me appropriately
Do what you would want to be done to you
in a fellow human's shoes
if you were in my Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf basketball player's shoes
It's your choice
Either way
My light has shined
GOD has told us that
Joslyn Rose Lyons
said this, too
and with her production
"STAND"
a documentary film
about me and my truth,
it will continue to shine
Anything done for GOD will always be zoomed in on
Will always be talked about
Will always STAND out
Because with as many Hitlers as there are
As many Netanyahus as there are
As many corrupt Saudi Kings as there are
No matter how few,
there'll always be
Mahmouds
There'll always be
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazzs or Malcolm Xs
and
Imam Khomeinis
There'll always be
Imam Asis
You see
Mahmoud's See
"Once you see something,
you can't unsee it"
is POWER
Mahmoud's See
is INFLUENCE
Mahmoud's See
is like that of the SEA
with a beautiful, eye-catching tide
that keeps coming back
and keeps making waves
and keeps giving us reason to notice
Mahmoud
You said what you did and what Kaepernick did
By the way
I bought 10 copies of your autobiography (audio CD)
"In The Blink Of An Eye"
produced by Kaepernick Publishing
allowed you both to speak your conscience
to do what is right
to speak against injustice
but it doesn't translate into POWER
because as you said
in so many words,
there are still many injustices
happening in America and around the world
and crimes against humanity still taking place
What you, Kaepernick,
and the other professional athletes to whom this applies did
doesn't translate into power
because there aren't enough like you
taking a STAND
asserting their human rights
speaking truth to power
More are emergently needed
Insha Allah, as those who take a STAND
become the norm and
they become a sizeable number,
POWER will be the result
Nonetheless,
your STAND beckons more to STAND
It's a rare match to start a flame
Injustice will always have its See
And justice will always be seen
even if and when it's seems to be at a distance
even when it appears out of reach
Like Mahmoud,
myself, and others,
we are forever changed by
an NBA star's See,
a human who chose to STAND's See
With it,
there is no turning back
By: Najwa Kareem
*The idea to write this poem came after viewing SHOWTIME's official trailer/teaser in August 2022 for the documentary "STAND" about Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. This poem was written in February and in March of this year (2023).
"Once you see something, you can't unsee it." Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (in SHOWTIME's Trailer/Teaser for documentary "STAND")
Trailer to My Poem (August 2022): The Power of Mahmoud's See
Once you've seen basketball, you can't unsee basketball
Once you've seen God, you can't unsee God
Once you've seen Islam, you can't unsee Islam
Once you've tasted Islam and its teaching, you can't spit Islam out and its' teachings out
You can't force a person to be something he is not
You can't force a person to stand for something he does not endorse or believe in
whether the NBA wants him/her to, or some other entity or influence wants him/her to
September 2022: The goal of Mahmoud's autobiography and documentary should not be for us to watch and be entertained. The goal should not be for us to learn and know more about Mahmoud and his life. The goal should not be for us to be familiarized with his story. The goal should be for these two forms of media about Mahmoud to act as a catalyst, to serve as motivators for us to each do whatever we can, to carry out whatever actions, to put forth whatever efforts we can to ensure that Mahmoud is fairly compensated for his career having been taken away from him, having been destroyed by the NBA. Mahmoud's autobiography and documentary are to serve as an impetus for a no BS, no nonsense, no playing around here DEMAND FOR JUSTICE FOR MAHMOUD from those who acted criminally against him in a most profound way, who bullied him, who punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground, who robbed him of his worth, etc. We need to PROTEST (there are a spectrum of forms of protest) for him in ways that many of us did not at the time of the inflammatory onset.
Again, as pertaining to the release of a basketball legend's autobiography and documentary, let us not see our role as being consumers but rather contributors to a cause and case involving a violation of human rights, freedom of speech, social justice, the terms of a business contract, etc. We mustn't forget that we (those who are included) have benefitted from Mahmoud in one way, shape, or form, in minute ways and/or in big ways. At the very least, we owe him something in return.
Najwa
Mahmoud believes the flag symbolizes oppression. "Am I saying, everything in America's bad? No! Wherever the bad is, as a Muslim, we don't stand for it."
*This poem was written in honor of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, what he doesn't stand for, and what he stands for while praying for. Thank you for what you have done of good and continue to do that is good! Happy birthday to you, today! (March 9, 2023; my plan was to publish this poem on your birthday, however, after learning of the tragic death of a from childhood family friend on the same day, I did not publish it.)
*Poem published today (5/19/23) in honor and respectful memory of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) whose only choice was to STAND and who dutifully encouraged all of us to STAND, to fight against injustice and oppression at all levels and in all forms - to fight for our human rights; he, a most courageous, committed Muslim...a most peace loving, justice loving, human loving, injustice hating, corruption hating, greed hating person - one most generous with his time and efforts for the good of all mankind, etc. Happy birthday to him/you, today!
