Harlem rapper Immortal Technique, best known for his hugely influential underground albums Revolutionary V. 1, Revolutionary V.2 and The 3rd World, has just returned to the United States from a two week voyage to Afghanistan.
The rapper personally participated in opening of the Amin Institute.
The Amin Institute partnered with San Francisco’s OMEID International to serve the children of Afghanistan as an orphanage, school and medical facility.
Immortal Technique helped finance the project by performing in benefit concerts as well as donating his own money.
While in Afghanistan, Immortal Technique helped with final construction on the institute, gathered supplies, hired staff and spread the word.
The opening ceremony took place and the first students were enrolled. During his time in Kabul, he stayed in both a safe house and the home of a retired Afghan military officer, giving him further insight into the inner-workings of the country.
Of the people of Afghanistan, Immortal Technique said: “If you are a visitor, they will treat you like one of their own and more,” Immortal Technique told AllHipHop.com. “They are some of the humbled and more respectful people I have ever come across. You have to admire their resilience of their spirit fighting again and again [against the Soviets, Taliban and Al Qaeda] to retain their independence and identity. I hope the operations there are handled with extreme care and respect for the sovereignty of the nation. If the situation worsens, and the people of Afghanistan are fully turned against the United States, it will not be a winnable war.”
According to various to reports on CNN and the Huffington Post, President Obama has ordered 21,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, and has asked Congress for $83 billion dollars for the war in Afghanistan.
Just yesterday (April 9), five people were killed and at least two injured in a suicide bomb attack on a counter-narcotics unit in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, a police official has said.
Another 32 insurgents were killed in airstrikes throughout the southern region of the war-torn country.
In related news, Immortal Technique is also a co-founder of an organization named Grassroots Artists MovEment (G.A.ME), which provides health care for the underground artists with whom it works.