I made the people of the world a promise. Not the music world, not the subdivision of Hip Hop, not the 4th Branch, and not the 3rd World underground. I made the world a promise. I told people that on June 24ththe Green Light would be given. I know that people who believe in Revolution are naturally cynical. They expect their leaders to be flawless and almost take pride in finding the subtle or blatantly obvious hypocrisy in those they idolize. That is why I never wanted to be worshipped or followed blindly.
I know it is hard to trust anyone and anything in this life, you feel better when you don't because you feel like you are no longer as vulnerable. But I am a man of my word and I have never let other people's insecurities and self-image dictate my course of action. I gave my word that there would be a serious mission on June 24th. Some of you just thought that was just the release of an album, which it is partly. But it is really so much more than that for me and for the eternal struggle.
The time has come for me to announce the first stage of "Project Green Light." It is the first stage of one of many projects but an important one that I will dedicate myself to completing. I am always contacted by different organizations who reach out to me personally and ask me to fight along side with them in their struggle. I have done so with immigrant groups, youth detention centers, with those organizing against police brutality, gang workshops, funding children's hospitals in Palestine and of course our fight to try and preserve the South Central Farm. So once again I am here to answer the call of my brothers and sisters, whether it comes from across the street or across the ocean.
I have decided to partner with a Non–Profit Human Rights Organization called Omeid International. (www.omeid.org ) We will come together to build an orphanage/ clinic/ school in Kabul, Afghanistan for children who have been left without families because of the wars and diseases that have ravaged the land. It will be called "The Amin Institute."
- The orphanage section will house 20 children at first, from toddlers to ages 10, while the clinic will service the impoverished community surrounding it.
- There will be caregivers there, widows, dedicated people that have witnessed the violence that has consumed the country since the Russian Invasion first hand.
- There will also be a school the serves the area and will teach K through 5 to the children with certified teachers from here and Afghanistan. And we will also
have the children work with therapists and psychologists to aid their undiagnosed post traumatic disorder that in many cases rivals that of veteran infantry troops.
In every city in America we see homeless people. We have become numb and desensitized to it, as if it was an acceptable normality. We have standards around the world about using certain gasses or bombs on people and yet we have no standard, no right to NOT facing starvation or poverty. But if you travel to Africa, South America, South East Asia or The Middle East you will find something we are not used to seeing in America. Homeless children. The children in Afghanistan face starvation, death from disease being drafted into warring factions, and the disgusting child prostitution rings and human traffic of modern day slavery. I cannot change this throughout the world overnight, or I would, but I feel as if we have a good chance to start a small project in Afghanistan that we can build on. I pledge myself to this cause, to this Revolution.
Pledge 1: I will participate in a gigantic Hip Hop fundraiser for the orphanage / clinic/ school to be known as 'The Amin Institute'. I will reach out to those from New York, Atlanta, Chicago, LA, the Bay and anywhere else that Hip Hop has Underground and Mainstream Support so people that I hear talk the talk can join me in this fight to raise the funds and awareness necessary to complete the first phase of this program.
Pledge 2: "Amin" the name of the institute literally means "trustworthy" in Arabic. It is an important word because it was one of the early nicknames of The Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) even before he fathered Islam. I know people are scared to believe in anything as I said before, and regrettably there have been so many charlatans scamming their own people over the years. Therefore to show all that I am working closely and that I fully trust the partners that I have formed at Omeid International. I will pledge $10,000 of my own money into a foundation to support the cause.
Pledge 3: We all have a destiny and I will see mine fulfilled. I will succeed or die trying. And that will come as my vision for this mission is completed. So, I pledge to personally travel to Afghanistan and see the completion of the project that I have decided to dedicate my time and effort to. Omeid after all, is the Farsi word for hope.
This is not a Middle Eastern issue. It is not a Muslim issue. It is a Human Rights issue. And that is why I chose people who came to me with a blueprint, proposal and a passionate desire for real change. We throw that word around a lot, "change" and yet the war hasn't ended…IT has just changed. There has always been an ulterior motive to our involvement anywhere as a nation and so OUR response to that will be motivated by selfless Revolutionary action. It will inter-relate our struggles because I have decided to also create a forum here on my networking site, so that you can all participate in Revolutionary action. This is after all something that will BEGIN in Afghanistan but spread all over the world as different stages are completed. People from all over the globe have been activated and are in motion.
To some people this music is just entertainment, and even if it is that for many people, entertainment can inspire, it can brighten people, and it can feed their imagination. It can also pacify, it can placate and distract, it can shadow and mask real problems around us that we cannot see. But for me this is not about entertainment, it never has been it has always been a mechanism for delivering so much more. Hopefully by this time next year there will be a child in Afghanistan who knows NOTHING about Rap who doesn't even know what an Immortal Technique is, and the money I have made off this music will be giving them a place to live and a chance to learn and rebuild their own nation instead of paying some US corporation trillions of tax payer dollars to do so after we destroyed it. Unless you're brain dead and completely lost on the meaning of what our people's spirit truly is there is no way shape or form to deny no matter what your taste in music is…THAT is Hip Hop. More so because I'm not a Hollywood actor making millions getting tax breaks, this was done with Underground Hip Hop money. That, in itself, is Revolutionary. This is not making music but it is an integral part of the struggle and one that must never be forgotten. It's the foundation of the culture that we owe our identity to.
I thank you for listening and I hope you will spread the word, support "The 3rd World" and of course donate to the cause at www.omeid.org so that we may expedite the coming of our combined strength. If I can succeed here it is a great sign, a sign that I can go to the most violent and distraught place in the world and triumph. That means that everywhere else I go, the Caribbean, Africa, South East Asia, Latin America and anywhere here in the states, that we can succeed.
Con Amor de Revolucion.
Immortal
Technique
PS.
I am not as worthy as those that have come before me, but greater men have achieved less and smarter men have accomplished nothing. I am no longer a Revolutionary Apprentice but a Young full fledged Revolutionary working towards maturing and strengthening his ideas. Learning from his failures and building on his success. There have been many rebels, leaders, and prophets that came before me and there will be others that come after me. None of these men were perfect, as they were human and man is naturally imperfect. But as they lived and died for what they believed in I will devote myself to the causes and the fights that I pick, not to champion religion or national pride, I seek no rewards or trophies that I leave to you, for me the fight is all. Read. Read. Read.
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If Immortal Technique is monitoring, I would like to ask permission to use half a minute of his song "4th Branch" in a public access TV show I do that can also be seen at http://www.iserv.net/~ige/talks/index.html. I've bought the download, but it's been suggested I have to give credit and otherwise comply with the "Fair Use Act." How do I do that? The use would be on a discussion of Weed and Seed, the federal anti-crime and urban renewal program. I'm editing that show now, so it's not posted yet, but you can judge from past shows whether we are worthy. If Immortal Technique is not monitoring, could someone please forward this? Thanks.
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