It is getting weird out there. You hear people say that a lot these days. I keep thinking of how the past seems to be not a linear phenomenon, but a circle. It just keeps eating its own tail, every time it gets restless. In spite of the horrors of World War II, here we are, flirting like drunk sailors with the dolled up spectre of fascism. Here, in Europe, in Asia, in South America, in Africa. There is a hunger in the politicians of the world for chaos, for power, for greed that seems insatiable, that is utterly devoid of any logic because we are raping the earth faster than she can heal. Temperatures are soaring, forests are burning, floods are devastating crops before they can even get going, ocean temperatures are killing off the fish supply, droughts are ravaging countries already torn apart by war and corruption. The poor are getting poorer, even here, and the rich, also here, are getting too rich to even notice. Jimi Hendrix has a song that he made famous, that was written by Bob Dylan, recorded in 1967, for Bob Dylan's album "John Wesley Harding ", released in 1968. The song, "All along the Watchtower " is identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix recorded for the album " Electric Ladyland " with his band the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released 6 months after Bob Dylan's original recording. The song has been on my mind lately, because it can be interpreted as an indictment of evil and all its harm. The power of the song comes from its observation that evil gets away with its rule, because of lack of resistance, because of ignorance, indifference, and fear. Evil is a shape shifter, that tricks the innocent, the unaware, that tries to muzzle the strong. The only way to beat evil is through the absence of fear. Some people, in the face of extreme hardships and challenges, have that kind of strength to stand up and say " No ", even if if means imprisonment and death.
The list of cowards in this world is long, past and present, but it is good and important to also remember the people that were and are not afraid. As far as this country's past goes, I am thinking of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who knew he would not live to see 40, because he had the heart to stand up for the rights of black people in this country at a time when they were not even allowed to vote or marry outside of their race, or live, work , study, and even eat in the same space white people were occupying. He was killed for that audacity. When it comes to heroes, I am thinking also of an artist who stood up for civil rights in his country and was assassinated during its bloody and long civil war from 1991 to 2002 : the Berber rebel and poet, songwriter, Matoub Lounes. Matoub Lounes always put his last name Matoub, before his first, Lounes, in reference to the French colonial school system imposed on Algeria and in place from 1830 to 1962, that always referred to schoolchildren by their last name before their first name, a system that I remember also still being used on us schoolchildren at the time in Belgium that had been under brief French rule from 1795 to 1814. Just 6 days ago it was the 20 year anniversary of the assassination of Matoub Lounes on June 25th, 1998, when he was just 42 years old. Born in 1956, in Beni - Aissi, Tizi - Ouzou, in the heart of Kabylie, Algeria, he was a poet and political activist who fought for the Berber cause his whole life. He began his singing career under the patronage of the internationally known Kabyle singer, Idir, and recorded his first album Ay Izem ( The Lion ) in 1978, which was a phenomenal success. I first learned of Matoub Lounes when a French friend of mine introduced me to the music of Idir about 5 years ago. The music of Matoub Lounes mixes Algerian Andalucian Chaabi orchestration with politicized Berber lyrics, and covers a broad spectrum of topics : the Berber cause, democracy, freedom, religion, Islamism, love, exile, memory, history, peace and human rights. Despite being banned from Algerian radio and television during his life, Matoub Lounes became and remains an extremely popular Kabyle singer.
During the riots of October 1988, before the outbreak of the Algerian Civil War, Matoub Lounes was shot 5 times by a policeman and left for dead. He was hospitalized for 2 years, requiring 17 surgeries. During the Civil War ( 1991 - 2002 ) the Islamist Armed Islamic Group, GIA, added his name to a hit list for artists and intellectuals. Matoub Lounes ' fame grew, and in 1994 he received Le Prix de la Memoire from Mrs. Danielle Mitterrand, President of La Fondation France Libertes in Paris, a prize that honours those who dedicate themselves to recording and preserving the impact of political events on ordinary lives. In 1995, the Canadian journalists' organization SCIJ, awarded him Le Prix de la Liberte d'Expression. In december 1995, Matoub Lounes received Le Prix Tahar Djaout from the Nourredine Abba Foundation at UNESCO headquarters in Paris; the prize is named for an Algerian writer who was assassinated by Islamists in 1993. On June 25th, 1998, Matoub Lounes' car was stopped at a roadblock, and masked gunmen shot and killed him and injured his wife Nadia Matoub and two sisters -in- law. On June 28th tens of thousands of people attended his funeral in front of his house in his native village. Matoub's assassination occurred a week before a law excluding all languages other than Arabic from public life was due to become into effect, of which the singer had been an outspoken critic. On June 30th 1998, the GIA claimed responsibility for the assassination of Matoub Lounes. The activist and poet song writer lived his life true to his convictions, he was fearless, and did not stand down, even when he knew it would probably cost him his life, which it did. He famously said : " Je suis de la race des guerriers. Ils peuvent me tuer mais ils ne me feront jamais taire. Je prefere mourir pour mes idees que de lassitude ou de vieillesse. " :
" I am of the warriors' race. They can kill me, but they will never shut me up. I prefer to die for my ideas than because of lethargy or old age. " Politicians with crooked intentions count on lethargy, on indifference, on fear to keep their masses in line. It is good to remember a man like Matoub Lounes, to talk about him, to allow our hearts to be inspired by his courage, because evil likes nothing better than cowardice and indifference. It keeps its coffers full and its minions docile. From the looks of the world today, evil has entire nations stacked to the sky with its money, and an endless supply of minions willing to bow to its darkness.
Trudi Ralston
The information on the life and times of Kabyle singer, activist and poet Matoub Lounes, courtesy of Wikipedia, as is the information on Bob Dylan's song and its interpretation by Jimi Hendrix, " All along the Watchtower ".
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