Obsessed Poem by Huseyin Abudharr Ali Diakides

Yes, I am obsessed with fighting white supremacy.
I dedicate my life to it and am completely unapologetic
It is not because I'm anti-west or anti-British,
Nor am I anti-white, anti-Christian or anti-Semitic.

It's not because I want something for free,
Or because I believe in some form of reverse racism,
Nor is it because I'm part of some snowflake culture,
Or are following a kind of left wing or Islamic extremism.

It is because it is the most monstrous of plagues,
One that has caused a hurricane of damage,
A hurricane of destruction like a thunderous storm
Of slavery, theft and genocide across our planet.

Is there anything as evil in all of history,
As this white supremacy that's grown in the last 500 years,
So I follow the tradition of Tupac Amaru, Huey P Newton
And Omar Mukhtar fighting it with blood, sweat and tears.

I really wonder if you can actually fathom
Exactly how terrified we are, I really don't think you get
That it is not just the EDL, Britain First or UKIP,
Nor any far-right group amongst the proletariat.

It's not just the grassroots fascism of the neo-Nazis
Although it's terrifying how much in the last decade its grown,
But before liberals feel free from fault because you condemn
The far right extremists you must also look among your own.

For it is an entire institutionalised Islamophobia,
That we face every single day when we turn on the television,
That we face in our job structures and education,
Or within the laws and enforcers of this land where we're living.

Like a disease of the mind it infects every aspect,
Of our society, so ingrained in our populations mentality,
Think before you speak from your position of privilege,
How your words may harm those whom you speak of with vanity.

It terrifies us, like a demon of hatred that stalks us always
Ready to arrest us or condemn us to the charge of insanity,
That makes us feel that if we speak out our careers are finished
Tells us to forget our people, just look out for yourself and your family.

So you see it's not just the racist average Joe in the street,
It's not just a few bad apples in the police force that's to blame,
Western liberalism means freedom for one category of people,
But is a police state for others, that's why we say it's not the same.

It is the bombs dropped none stop upon our lands,
Killing men, women and children as if they are nothing,
That cripples any of our economies that it can't control,
Steals our resources and sends any revolutionary into their coffin.

I know you can't understand how it feels to know
That your brothers and sisters are being slaughtered across the planet,
You can't understand why people abroad matter so much to us,
Why we feel so sick in our stomachs with pain until we can't even stand it.

If our lives don't matter there to you, then how can they here,
How can we be respected anywhere when our homelands are enslaved,
By Europe and European settler colonies wherever they are,
Until we feel helplessness and despair with both shame and rage.

And when we even try to raise our voice here in protest
We are labelled reverse racists, divisive or extremists.
We are isolated, even our own people distance themselves,
They say even though it's the truth we shouldn't so openly speak it.

We are told to sit down and shut up by the political right,
Whilst simultaneously told now's not the right time by the left,
Like first let us use you to promote our politics of austerity,
As if our genocide and enslavement matter less than your NHS.

Really, so we should prioritise that which promotes your politics?
When our people are calling out for help from this monstrous empire,
I will not compromise on Yemen, Palestine or on Kashmir ever,
Even if I fear retribution, it's not as much as I fear the eternal fire.

Yet we always forgive, because we are Muslims.
We always make excuses for our friends who say racist things,
Because no one wants to live their life with hatred
So we say they're just ignorant no matter how much it stings.

Those awkward moments when we hear such words,
Maybe from a work colleague, customer or even our boss,
When the anger rushes inside us we forcefully supress it
And we either try to debate politely or most time just laugh it off.

We internalise our anger again and again like we're on a loop,
Suck it into our stomach and down into our abdomen,
Until it becomes so much that we feel physically sick,
Try to forget it even though we know it will only happen again.

That sickness grows inside us like a curse of despair
And there's not a thing we can do, just feel it tense our muscles and bones,
It engulfs you all over until you want to scream so much it hurts
You have to lie yourself and subconsciously take it out on our own.

Therefore a righteous anger becomes a petty hatred of brothers,
We blame our Shia brothers and sisters, Sufis or salafis,
We may speak out against Johnson, Biden or Macron,
But not as much as we protest against Assad or Gaddafi.

Until it reaches the point where sisters take off their scarves,
For fear of being attacked, how can one bear such a situation,
Until we're too afraid to say 'Allahu akbar' in front of people,
Lest they think we're somehow backwards, insane or dumb.

We are not even allowed to be who we are,
If that's what a liberal democracy is then for us its hypocrisy,
A contradiction if you truly understood I like to think you would cry,
Because your indifference feels like a complete mockery.

And if any brothers don't practise or they support secularism,
They feel the need to say so when asked if they're Muslim,
As if they're ashamed of our religion or fear their judgement,
But whilst the man's judging us remember there's One judging him.

How can one feel ashamed of their forefathers,
When we look at the arts, science and theology they spoke?
And be ridiculed when we speak of the glories of our past,
Arghhhhhh the anger I don't know how we continue to cope?

The helplessness takes us over, it's a sickening feeling,
That makes you have to hide your scream behind a smile
And how can one live in such a situation you may ask
When he must go throughout his life in a constant denial?

It's a sickness that we must bear every single day
And still we preach love, for we follow Islam,
We preach forgiveness, for Allah loves those who do,
We preach understanding for every fellow man.

Because we are strong, other wise how could we survive,
How could we not all be somewhere all locked in an asylum,
I know for a fact that if most Brits face even half of what we do,
Rather than preach peace like us they would have turned to violence.

That is why I'm obsessed with fighting for my people
And why I might see Islamophobia everywhere.
It's not just the in your face, but the subconscious
White supremacy that leaves us feeling in despair.

That's why I sacrificed my life to this cause,
Even if I die of exhaustion, even if it depresses me every day,
I can't afford to stop and give up it's not an option,
For the problem isn't just going to fizzle out and go away.

So I simply ask you to be a little patient next time
We might seem a little uncomfortable at something you do.
I ask you please think about this sickness before you judge,
Before you accuse us of being divisive first look at you!