On December 5, 2008, Bus Boys and Poet's Restaurant in Washington DC unveiled in a community ceremony a picture of the late Palestinian-American intellectual, writer, and thought-leader Professor Edward Said. I was among those asked to remember this great man and close friend. Following is my talk.
Sami AlBanna
December 5, 2008
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I salute my friends Grace, Anis, and the US Campaign for this effort to raise, only five miles away from the White House, the picture of my late friend, colleague, and brother Edward Said. The Arab and Progressive communities in Washington DC need to remember Edward for his many contributions to the struggle for truth, justice, and liberation. I thank you for inviting me to remember this outstanding public intellectual and allow me, for the first time, an opportunity to celebrate his life and mourn his death. I have been living in denial of his death and still find it difficult to accept that he is no longer with us.
The symbolism of raising the picture of Edward as the people of the United States are removing the pictures of George W. Bush in the White House and across our nation is important. Edward lived and died as a committed public intellectual and a towering thinker to abstract, explain, and act on matters of injustice and inequality to enable us to have more strength to continue the battle for peace and justice.
The American progressive movement cherishes a strong American Revolutionary principle of "speaking truth to power". Edward, as symbol of my generation and a testimony to its contributions to the struggle, made a truly outstanding contribution of a new expanded principle of progressive struggle: "Speak truth with integrity to all people … powerful or powerless".
I was blessed with about 40 years of friendship with Edward. I was his best man we he married Mariam. I was part of the mourners that laid his ashes to rest in Lebanon. We spent long hours discussing and fighting. We met with many powerful people, students, refuges, political activities, community organizers, celebrities, and diplomats. I was present when Edward gave speeches in public, private, small groups, and a group of very few. Edward spoke the truth with integrity, clarity, and vehemence.
At Columbia University, early in our friendship in the years after June 1967, Edward and I used to spend many multi-hour sessions every week discussing, arguing and differing about topics ranging from politics, strategy, ideology, analysis, and gossip, to issues of transformation and change. Few friends used to join us in this on-going marathon of ideas, critique, and exploration. Among those that attended, some of these sessions were my ex-room mate Boyd Black, now Distinguished Professor of Labor Economics in Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Of course, at the time Boyd and I were flaming radical-left revolutionaries. We discussed with heat, commitment, and urgency visions of a world that will soon be reborn.
I remember one day Boyd and I read a long analysis article based on Marx's Book, "The German Ideology". That became a subject to one of the discussion sessions with Edward. Boyd and I were sure of our understanding, perceptions and convictions. Edward was arguing against us. As the tempo, pitch, and heat of the discussion kept rising to higher and higher levels, Edward interrupted by asking a simple question: "Have you guys read the 'German Ideology'?" We did not then.
Edward retorted with a classical position, "I do not mind whether you are revolutionaries or not, you have to read the original sources, particularly the classics, before you can embark on developing a reasonable foundation for new analysis and new positions." I have cherished this advice. I share this advice with love with all those that want to take the responsibility of leadership and change seriously. We have to be serious about our thought and our sources to be able to lead a movement of change.
Fast forward 25 years to early 1990s, Edward and Mariam returned from an invitation to visit South Africa after the collapse Apartheid. The same period is when Edward discovered that he had cancer. I went to NY to have dinner with them. Mariam was understandably upset about the news. Edward, in his true self, described with precision the Doctors findings and declared that he will continue to fight it. Indeed his battle with cancer was a lesson to all of us in the love life and in dying with dignity. The conversation moved to the topic of the trip to South Africa.
Edward reported that they met many political, academic, intellectual, and community leaders. He gave a number of lectures and held many discussion sessions. He explained, "I kept asking people I met: how did you do it? Why is it that South Africa's struggle could succeed and the Palestine struggle has not yet triumphed?"
Finally, in a closed meeting with the Chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC), Edward got an answer, which remains true to all struggles today.
The ANC Chairperson explained: "The reason for the success of our struggle is 'moral ascendency'. We struggled to establish the 'moral ascendency' of our cause and the 'moral bankruptcy' of the Apartheid regime. We leveraged our 'moral ascendency' to lay an international siege to the Apartheid regime until it collapsed."
Edward asked, "What about people mobilization? What about armed struggle? What about strikes and protests?"
The ANC leader explained, "Yes, these are all important but only to the degree that they demonstrate the will of our people, the justice of our cause, and the 'moral ascendency' of our struggle."
Today, as we cross into the era of the "Obama change", I miss Edward even more. His insights, wisdom, and clarity of vision would have helped us steer the change in a positive direction and away from the ever-escalating disaster in the Middle East.
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