African Americans, the Palestinian People, the Jewish People
We can relate to this conflict
Many years ago, Jamie Raskin, U.S. Congressman from Maryland, asked me to read a poem at his campaign launch when he entered politics. Raskin didn’t know me, but he knew I was a poet. We have been friends ever since. Raskin, a Jewish-American, son of the public activist and think tank legend Marcus Raskin, is still my representative in Maryland but now as U.S. Congressional representative.
In July 2021, the poet Paul Catafago, a Palestinian-American poet and writer who lives in New Orleans, asked me to read poetry at a benefit for the Palestinian people and Gaza. I did not know Paul, but we were Facebook friends. I came down and read poetry, and Paul and I have been friends ever since. Paul is the one person who has succinctly expressed the plight of the Palestinian people to me personally.
The current violence and inhumanity in Israel-Palestine is not personal to me, but I know many people who feel it personally. Paul still has family in Gaza. Jewish friends of mine are posting photographs of Israeli citizens taken hostage. It is real.
The Jewish People and African Americans
But, overall, African Americans understand this struggle. Like the Palestinian people, we…
