July 5th 1962 the day we gained independence from our colonizers after enduring 132 years of colonization, occupation, ethnic cleansing, and genoicde of our people. Algeria, known as the land of a million and a half martyrs, we taught the world what perseverance, resistance...

...commitment, and liberation truly looks like. Algerian people known as ahrar, our national anthem was made in a prison cell and written on the walls with our own blood. I wanted to highlight the women who fought alongside men in the fight for liberation. Who when wearing the..

... Haïek were seen as acts of resistance. To this day the effects of colonization are still evident. France forever altered Algerian lifestyle and culture. My grandparents grew up not knowing the faith or native language of the land. This was a result of France’s efforts to...

...completely rid Algerians of their Islamic, Amazigh (Berber), and Arabic heritage. They prohibited the practice of Islam and the use of any native language other than French. I had to watch my grandparents struggle in a new society and environment of Algeria to learn the...

...basics of Islam and to communicate in the native language Derja with their grandchildren. We were the generation who had to unconsciously carry that trauma. Although we gained our independence, the fight never stopped. The effects of colonialism are very much apparent in..

Algerian society. France continued and still continues to influence our country. We must be committed to the processes of complete self determination and decolonization as colonized/formerly colonized people. Allah yerham el chouhada. God have mercy on our martyrs. Vive L’Algerie