affirmation - Assata Shakur

by Stephanie Rooker w/True Human Design, spiritchild

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Streaming + Download

Assata Shakur's poem "affirmation" set to music. Released on Assata's B'earthday as a contribution to "Silence Broken disc 2 (the rhythm of freedom)," a benefit album for political prisoner Tarek Mehanna. http://freetarek.bandcamp.com/album/silence-broken-disc-2-the-rhythm-of-freedom

Purchasable with gift card

$1 USD or more

about

All proceeds go to the Tarek Mehanna Support Committee.

Tarek Mehanna is a young Muslim leader from the Boston area who was recently targeted and arrested by the FBI after he refused to become an informant against his own community. Tarek is currently being illegally held in 23-hour solitary confinement in Pymouth, MA. His arrest is part of an ongoing campaign of FBI repression against Arab and Muslim communities.

Silence Broken is a project of the Tarek Mehanna Support Committee and Movement in Motion. This two part compilation cd will bring about awareness of Tarek's case, and his innocence, to the public. This educational fund-raising project consists of more than 45 artists and activists who have donated their music to raise awareness about FBI repression and related struggles against racism and oppression. The CD includes material recorded specifically in support of Tarek, and features a musically diverse array of movement artists.

Tarek appreciates any person who stands up for justice not only for his case but for any just cause. Please join in the campaign to free Tarek. We thank those who continue to support Tarek and we pray that they are guided and rewarded in this life and the hereafter.

A Movement in Motion Artist & Activist Collective Production.

Executive produced by Tarek Mehanna Support Committee & Movement In Motion Collective.

Coordinating Production Laila Murad Boston, MA

Album Artwork by Carlos Latuff 2010
Album graphic design and layout by spiritchild

For booking a speaker and artist for an event, or general questions about the case contact freetarek@gmail.com

freetarek.com
movementinmotion.org

lyrics

Affirmation

I believe in living. I believe in the spectrum
of Beta days and Gamma people.
I believe in sunshine
in windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles and rocking chairs.
And I believe that seeds grow into sprouts,
And sprouts grow into trees.
I believe in the magic of the hands.
And in the wisdom of the eyes.
I believe in rain and tears.
And in the blood of infinity.

I believe in life.
And I have seen the death parade
march through the torso of the earth,
sculpting mud bodies in its path.
I have seen the destruction of the daylight,
and seen the bloodthirsty maggots
prayed to and saluted.

I have seen the kind become the blind
and the blind become the bind
in one easy lesson.
I have walked on cut glass.
I have eaten crow and blunder bread
and breathed the stench of indifference.

I have been locked by the lawless.
Handcuffed by the haters.
Gagged by the greedy.
And, if I know anything at all,
itâ€™s that a wall is just a wall
and nothing more at all.
It can be broken down.

I believe in living.
I believe in birth.
I believe in the sweat of love
and in the fire of truth.

And I believe that a lost ship,
steered by tired, seasick sailors,
can still be guided home
to port.

-Assata Shakur

credits

released July 16, 2010
Words by Assata Shakur. Vocals by Stephanie Rooker. Bass by True Human Design of Mental Notes. Produced, arranged, and conceived by spiritchild of Mental Notes and Movement In Motion

recorded and mixed by spiritchild @ multi creations studios bk, nyc www.myspace.com/spiritchildmentalnotes