What Kind of Education? – Spoken Word Poem

What Kind of Education?

By: Unas Khalid and Zaid Ahmed

 

U – Unas speaks

Z – Zaid speaks

B – Both speak

 

 

U – The People’s Republic of China was ranked number 10 for the Program of International Student Assessment.

 

Z – China tends to score similarly well in other education-assessing rankings, making it possibly one of the best countries to grow up and go to school in.

 

Z – My apologies, but we’re not here to talk about

 

B – That kind of education

 

U – What kind of education?

 

Z – Schools lined with barbed wire and surveillance cameras

 

U – Teachers carrying spiked clubs and armed with tear gas

 

Z – Diligent pupils praising the Communist party and renouncing their faith

 

B – That kind of education

 

Z – They call it education.

 

U – For you see, this education didn’t happen overnight.

 

Z – Because it wasn’t just over one night that the Uyghur Muslims found themselves being outnumbered by the dominant Han Chinese on their own streets.

 

U – Nothing wrong with that.

 

Z – One night, the Uyghur Muslims found their sons and daughters marrying the Han Chinese.

 

U – Nothing wrong with that….

 

Z – One night, the Uyghur Muslims found themselves awoken by the sounds of sirens and violent knocking on the doors. But the Han slept soundly.

 

B – Nothing wrong with that…??

 

Z – That’s not all;

 

U – Nearly a million in those camps

 

Z – How many?

 

U – Some say up to three million

 

Z – How many?

 

U – Rounded up like cattle; subject to beatings and basic right violations.

 

Z – Who is watching?

 

U – Everyone

 

Z – Who is talking?

 

Z – The American congress urged Trump administration to place sanctions on businesses affiliated with the ongoing crisis in China

 

U – Urged

 

Z –  22 UN nations signed a letter calling on China to stop the internment and assimilation.

 

U – AND more than 30 signed a letter defending China’s actions.

 

Z – Why do they beat them down in every way possible?

 

U – Why do they drag mother from daughter; brother from sister?

 

Z – Why do they make them swear loyalty to the National Party?

 

U – Why do they watch with such a careful eye the lives of such innocent people?

 

Z – Why are they re-educating the Muslims?

 

U – Why do they want to know where every Uyghur lives?

 

B – You know why?……. Money

 

U – Why didn’t you say so? (Money)

 

Z – That justifies it, (Money)

 

U – The beating and torturing, (Money)

 

Z – Brainwashing and renouncement, (Money)

 

U – Forced marriage to the majority cultures, (Money)

 

Z – All in the name 

 

B – Of a fatter wallet.

 

U – Claims over a key transport route,

 

Z – We can’t let someone else have that!

 

U – Oil and gas reservoirs,

 

U – God forbid we allow the natural residents of the land to reap the benefit from it.

 

Z – The government has the right to the region and the money from it.

 

U – Oil, gas, coal: all money to be mined out of the ground.

 

Z – All money to furnish their mansions,

 

U – To add another car to the garage,

 

Z – To fill their insatiable desire for wealth.

 

U – That is the motive of this…education.

 

Z – But the high-up men with their belts wound up tight and their ties framing their greedy jaws have words:

 

U – They’re terrorists.

 

Z – We’re doing it for them.

 

U – We are teaching them valuable skills.

 

B – That is the nature of this education.

 

U – But the worst part of it is:

 

Z -They’re everywhere.

 

U – Beijing is not some sort of safe haven for greedy men to add another million onto their already overflowing bank accounts,

 

Z – For there are men and women from every corner of this world

 

U – With every accent of voice and colour of skin.

 

B – Who will slay their fellow man and smile 

 

Z – Who will sacrifice thousands of men

 

B – For thousands of pieces of paper.

 

Z – But educating yourself is only the first part.

 

U – Just being aware does not free the prisoners

 

Z – Or punish the oppressors.

 

U – It’s good to be aware.

 

Z – But it’s better if they know we’re aware.

 

U – Ask tough questions to the people in power. 

 

Z – Make them sweat.

 

U – Make them loosen their ties.

 

Z – Make their brows wrinkle,

 

U – And make their excuses disappear.

 

Z – If no one else is holding them accountable,

 

Z – Then we will.

 

U – If no one else is sending letters to the Prime Minister,

 

Z – Then we will.

 

U – If no one else is breaking the prison gates,

 

B – Then we must.

 

Z – To stop this education,

 

B – We must use our education.

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6 thoughts on “What Kind of Education? – Spoken Word Poem

  1. Unas,

    This was probably one of my favorite spoken words from our class! Performing a spoken word that conveys such an important message is one thing, but to be able to have two people performing at the same time and the audience not losing clarity is another, and you & Zaid did both! This piece was incredibly important to hear and read, something I think everyone needs to come to terms with. I loved the lines, “U-Beijing is not some sort of safe haven for greedy men to add another million onto their already overflowing bank accounts,/Z – For there are men and women from every corner of this world/U – With every accent of voice and colour of skin./B – Who will slay their fellow man and smile.” You (both) were able to really convey an important issue in our world with passion and eloquence & I loved every minute of it!

    For improvement, all I can really say is to bold the lines where both of you are saying the same thing! This would just make it more clear for the reader of your blog & is totally personal preference! Other than, I don’t really have any tips at all!

    All in all, this was an amazing piece and I hope you continue writing about the things that really matter! I hope you have an awesome second semester!

    From,
    Alyna 🙂

    1. Dear Alyna,
      Thank you for reading my Spoken Word Piece. I appreciate it. I agree, people really do need to hear about these types of things, even though the media tries to cease the spread of these. I will actively work towards improving my piece, in terms of the advice you gave me.
      Sincerely,

      Unas

  2. Dear Unas,

    You and Zaid killed it on this piece as it captures the new reporter style of spreading information and giving an opinion on the matter. It was a wonderful spoken word to inform people about the news people are not getting. For improvement, I’d say to stylistically change the fonts to show who is peaking and defining the moment both people are speaking. Other then that, I was a wonderful piece and I can’t see what else you will create, from now and going forward.

    -Melody

    1. Dear Melody,
      Thank you for reading the piece Zaid and I created together, I’m glad you enjoyed it. For constructive criticism, I’ll be sure to update it, thanks!
      Sincerely,

      Unas

  3. Dear Unas,

    When you guys told me that you will be writing on this matter, I was immediately intrigued on how you were going to convey it. Well, I was very impressed with the end result. This is such an important matter that so many don’t know about – or choose to ignore, and I am very proud of you for bringing it to everyones attention. I do wish that more people heard this since this is such a significant subject. This was presented very well in both the performance and the writing aspects. Congratulations.
    I do not have any suggestions for I know that this was thought out and rehearsed very thoroughly.

    Good job!

    Sincerely,
    Tina

    1. Dear Christina,
      Thank you for reading our Spoken Word, I appreciate it. It was a controversial topic and we did have to think twice before deciding whether or not we’d present this. Once again, thanks for reading!
      Sincerely,

      Unas

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