By KANI XULAM
14/6/2014
The email came via Facebook. It was written in impeccable Kurdish. A person calling himself Raperin Ekrat had signed it. The name, I soon found out, was an assumed one. It didn’t matter; I subscribe to the old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” and read it in its entirety.
Because I have discarded my Turkish name, I actually like it when other Kurds do the same. The action is a political one and seeks to correct a wrong that was imposed on us by our heartless masters. I don’t know who inspired the letter writer to use a pseudo name, but I can tell you about mine: Malcolm X.
The black activist’s original name had been Malcolm Little. Educating and liberating himself in a prison—yes, you can free yourself even in a prison—he soon realized that “Little” was his only remaining tie with slavery. By throwing it away, he was practicing freedom. The children of captive nations would do well to study his example.
As to the content of Raperin’s letter, I expected it to be a request for help.
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