The Gotham Guillotine

Interview with Ameer Malik

by The Editors of The Gotham Guillotine

How did you come about writing your piece? 

The torture methods used by the U.S. armed forces have disturbed me ever since I first learned about them. They are a travesty of humanity, and one of many examples of the brutality and inhumanity of imperialism.

I wanted to write a horror story about a vengeful ghost standing in for all the people who were victims of this barbarity. The idea was churning in my head for a while. Before writing my first draft, I did some research and learned that several of the black sites the U.S. used to conduct its torture program were in countries the U.S. is allied with in Europe and Asia. A lot of these black sites were repurposed from existing structures. So, my mind decided to build on these facts. What if some of the buildings that were repurposed were the types of buildings one would not expect horrific things to have taken place in? After all, not all of these black sites have been disclosed. 

I’m also disturbed by how much information is still hidden, how much injustice has not been redressed, and how American political discourse moves so quickly that this travesty has been forgotten. In some small way, I hope my short story reminds readers that this happened.

What’s your favorite line in your piece and why? 

My favorite line is one that Husayn speaks to Richard near the end: “Do you despise me so much that you can’t bear it when I ache for your child’s pain?”

In this moment, Husayn is telling Richard to recognize their shared humanity. Violence and cruelty often necessitate dehumanization, and the recognition that the victim of violence is as human as the perpetrator is the first step to any form of true justice.

Also, in an ideal world, recognition of shared humanity can prevent people from acting viciously. It doesn’t happen enough, but I wish it did. In this moment, Husayn is once again asking for justice and recognition. He is gesturing toward peace, and his gesture sadly fails.

What’s one political issue you’re passionate about and why? 

I’m passionate about the rights of migrants. I believe anyone who leaves a place to live somewhere else should be treated with respect and dignity. I think processes of immigration and naturalization are deliberately labyrinthine in a way to be exclusionary, and this should not be the case. When people move and exchange ideas and culture, the world becomes richer. History has proven this.

The rights of migrants have gone to the forefront of people’s minds in the United States due to the inhumanity and brutality of ICE and cooperating organizations. ICE is the fascistic, violent culmination of decades of anti-immigration policy in the U.S., and it must be eliminated before true justice and lasting for migrants is reached in the U.S. 

Also, one thing I think about in relation to the rights of migrants is the legacy of the historical processes of imperialism and colonialism. So many countries that have xenophobic political parties are guilty of ruining other countries, often the very countries from which people hope to migrate. When these far right groups say horrible things like, “Why don’t they just stay in their countries,” I want to shake their supporters by the collars and say, “How dare you. Your nation is directly responsible for the conditions leading to the migrants seeking new homes.”

Off the top of my head, I’m thinking about right wing parties in the U.K. demonizing migrants from South Asia when the U.K. colonized that region for almost a century. I’m thinking of how migrants from Latin America are demonized in the United States when the U.S. destabilized so many countries in Latin America.

People now and forever should have the right to move and live where they want, and historical injustices can only be amended through honesty and accountability. 

What’s one piece of media that would make an excellent double bill with your piece and why? 

Jordan Peele’s Us. Peele has an incredible understanding of how horror elements can be used as metaphors, and this film has poignant and powerful ideas about retribution and justice, which I hope I also touched on in my story.

Besides your own, what’s your favorite piece in Issue #1: Comrades and why? 

I love “painting at the edge” by Natasha Zinos. The prose is alive and electric. The details, turns of phrase, and sentence constructions are inventive, and I didn’t know what to expect between one sentence and the next. To me, this is a hallmark of some of my favorite writing. Also, I adore the many works of visual art they provided for the issue!