Here Are The Six Books I Donated To The UCSD Student Encampment Library

They were my precious gems.

It felt really weird parting with them.

I didn’t want to give them away.

They were supposed to be like intellectual pieces of me that I wanted locked up inside my home library until I was no longer alive to re-read them.

I used those exact feelings as a way to decide which books to give away. It’s a weird thing to say, but I kind of follow similar rules when giving gifts to a dear friend. It’s very simple in theory, but more difficult to practice: If you really like it for yourself, then give it to a friend (all within your means, of course).

Having said that, I didn’t simply give those book away without a second thought (or a third or fourth). I had a brief conversation with the students at the entrance of their encampment asking them if they had a policy about securing books and other important property if the university decided to exercise the brutal camp tear down option using local law enforcement.

I asked whether the students plan to stuff their backpacks with books and laptops once cops rush in? One of the students quickly chimed in saying something like, “That sounds very much like something a UCSD student would do.” That was all I need to hear and I knew at that very instant that I was giving my books to people who would care for them.

Seconds before I handed over my little intellectual babies, there was another student with a nose ring (or an eyebrow ring?) who unintentionally made me have second thoughts: “If there are any book here of value then please do not donate them because we can’t guarantee what will happen.”

It was an odd thing to say to someone who had just spent a good 25 minutes figuring out which books to donate to a seemingly very intellectual crowd, who I was sure would benefit 10x from the contents of the books. At this point, I didn’t think twice and bid my dear books a farewell.

The only thing I regret was not photographing them with the masked students one last time, but that was obviously not an option for security reasons.

Anyway, now for the list of books!

The Islamic Revolution of Iran, edited by Eqbal Ahmad – This was a super cool and limited edition hardback with a cool photo of the Ayatollah Khomeini on the front cover. While re-reading this book, you get a close look at how the imperial engine operates.

Covering Islam by Edward Said – This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why we believe what we believe about the eastern world. I did a brief review on this book.

The Black Book (this was a hardcover 35th anniversary edition, complete with a foreward by Toni Morrison, who mind you, helped compile the original book back in the 1970s. This is a shock-and-awe type of coffee table book with gruesome photos and letters from African slaves brought to America and also African-Americans who were the descendants of those slaves. Reminds me of some sort of trauma collage to throw back at anyone who plays the American Exceptionalism card. It is a very important piece of work that will bring all Americans together.

Slave and Citizen by Frank Tannenbaum – All reviews that say it is a must-read are correct. Grab a used copy today!

Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements – Just an amazing book giving insight into the great man, in his own words. You can literally open it up to any page and start reading for an instant jolt of insight and inspiration.

The Faithful Scribe: A Story of Islam, Pakistan, Family and War by Shahan Mufti – I enjoyed this read very much as a South Asian Muslim. Mr. Mufti, as I stated in my review, did an excellent job in conveying a tremendous amount of historical information in a very measured and noticeably balanced manner—not easy to do when you take into account colonial-instigated hatred between two nations. Check out his other works on his website.