I solemnly dedicate this essay to my brothers and sisters, in the states and on the dark continent committed to the conscientious revolution, never surrendering until the end of time. To my brothers and sisters in Iran suffering under the yolk of men mired in outdated tradition and faulty religious interpretation; I firmly stand with y’all , not with empty gestures over social media, but with the active and unceasing power of my polemic in full support of your quest for absolute liberty. .as ALLAH intended. For all my Muslim brothers and sisters in the same quagmire, and those themselves under religious neo-imperialism, keep your deen trill always, do not let man’s perversion and volatility drive you from the rope of GOD, which is righteous and eternal. And to all struggling world citizens, Palestinians, Haitians, South Africans, Uyghurs, Ghanaians, Filipinos, Zimbabweans, Egyptians, Jamaicans, whoever,  these truths be self-evident that our endowed inalienable rights are not to be taken lightly and that we are the gatekeepers to our own destinies, and thus, must act as such. Finally, I dedicate this to my beloved mother, who raised me with such righteous principles as I am now blessed to share with all of you. Much love and thanks to you Hajara Kane, see you in heaven, inshallah. And much love to y’all fam. Peace. 

Hopefully a word we’ll soon be able to embrace in truth and justice. 

How will the qualities of a good citizen meet the challenges that America faces in this decade?

“We the people. . !” A line that every American is taught from birth. In our hand lies all earthly sovereignty, and we all rely on each other for everything. The baby relies on the mother for food and nurturing, and the mother will later rely on the child in a similar way. The customer relies on the seller for commodities and the seller relies on the customer for revenue. Likewise does this nation rely on its citizens for sustenance in the form of: money, labor, education, ideas, community service, and overall patriotism. This country will not survive without the support of its people, no matter what the addictive drug of power may delude the minds of some to believe. The state of mind, and thus, the actions of our citizenry will determine the fate of this country; whether or not it will triumph over the many obstacles it faces and is bound to face in this decade. The American citizen body is invaluable in their collective actions towards providing real solutions. 

The American citizen, as with any other, will only be equipped to meet the challenges our nation is destined to face under the right nurturing and tutelage. By this I mean that we the people must be at full intellectual and economic capacity to be able to serve this country symbiotically to the government. The good citizen has a symbiotic relationship with the community. He does not exploit nor abuse the community, legally or illicitly (like the greedy pharmacist and the common pusher alike). He educates, he repairs, he maintains, he is the backbone of the nation. He relates to the people, and thus, leads them by the light of  his empathy.

A Citizen’s patriotism( I.e. faith in the nation’s greatness) pervades the national consciousness and creates unity with compromise. For all this, government cooperation is paramount. Presently, the American citizen serves his country loyally; as has been the case for well over three centuries; whether for a certain personal gain, or out of patriotic zeal. He has spilled blood on the battlefield, toiled night and day to build infrastructure, and otherwise supported the nation often to his own detriment. 

However as partisanship takes over in our present time, the American citizen is becoming, and will only become more, dissatisfied with this squalor and exploitation. Citizens will begin to desert the foundation of service they support, thus, slowly but surely collapsing the pillars built upon his spine. However, if preemptive actions are taken to modernize and constructively combat this degradation of morality and utter abhorrence of patriotism(due to its hypocritical nature)  by means of honest education (about our nation’s past and present), and thorough, targeted social reforms (for the most disenfranchised), the nation can be saved from imminent catastrophe. 

The citizens, are all of us, rich and poor, black and white, men and women; the ideals of liberty,  equality, and happiness must be for all of us. We as citizens must be dependable to think as citizens and not individuals. Our service must be sincere, and its quality impeccable. Leaders from among us must be decisive, firm, loyal and competent.  Our patriotism must not be pretentious; built on propagandistic ignorance, but authentic, in a dialogue of individual respect and love for one another.