Marx/ Siegel/ Esposito: Tahrir

Tahrir: Arabic for Liberation.

  Cairo’s Tahrir Square, symbol of Egypt’s resistance against French hegemony, is the site of the 1977 Bread Riots, the 2003 protest against the American war in Iraq and is now the nexus of the Egyptian Revolution.  Bread, peace and freedom of expression seem to be the issues of our time, but they are, I believe, the pressing issues faced by every generation.

Ruling classes who employ  ideologies  based on race, nationality, religion, gender identity or political and economic systems are the oppressors with ever changing faces. The impulse to create and the commitment to do so form the wellspring that nourishes the desire for liberation.    

 We dedicate this music to the people all over the world who are stepping forward and risking everything in the struggle for liberation.        

– John Esposito  2012