This is my story — a story that I got to share with all of you, who want a better world, who want change, who want to live and want . . . just to be free. This goes to everybody, but mostly to those who have moved to other places, looking for either a change or just because you wanted to create another path of living.
I’ve been in Berkeley long enough — long enough to feel like it’s my home (if there is such a thing), long enough to fit into the community and long enough to realize that here, now, is the time and the place to change the whole world
I’m not from Berkeley, not from the Bay, not even from the USA . . . I’m from some tiny beautiful islands next to Morocco. I chose to be here, I chose to live my life and do the things that I’m doing here, even if the government is bad, even if Capitalism is taking over . . . this is where I’ve chosen to live for a while because it is a time of change, a time of the revolution, and maybe it should be started in the so-called first country.
Myself, to be able to be here, I got to get married because my visa had expired. Being illegal meant that once I left the country I couldn’t come back for ten years and I didn’t want that at all because I got some roots in here already. I was lucky and my friend helped me out. I did not mind — the whole process of paperwork has just been another game, one of those stupid games you have to play for the future.
My situation has been not so bad. I got arrested on March 20 in San Francisco protesting the war on Iraq, which was one of the craziest and most delirious experiences ever. My friends and I were in jail for 17 hours, got solidarity from inside and outside and the cops let us go.
The INS interview to see if my status was “real” went ok . . . still I’m in process. We’re under the poverty line, which says that the minimum income in a household should be $1,500 a month. We did not make that money, it’s all about money, so either we have to get a sponsor or work more. For two to three years I have to be checked by the INS, which is Homeland Security right now.
It’s a game, if you lie . . . you get what you need . . . if you don’t play, you get screwed and you got to go.
I just want to say, that we have to change this world. People should be free. People should be where ever they want to be, without racism, without depravation, without going through the whole system of lies and bureaucracy.
Some people want to do things, but the system oppress them, they are not free at all. We cannot allow the government to choose for us. We shall be free.
Don’t let the evil system put you down, be who you want to be . . . and if you don’t like what you see, change it!
Lucha. No dejes que el sistema te joda, se libre.