A divider I am not, and never have been. In fact, my track record in joining many subcultures across America -- and the world -- only proves the exact opposite. I have always been a UNITER. My entire body of written work is also evidence of this.
So what does KASSEM really mean?
My name comes from two ancient words: KAS which means “power” or “strength” and SEM taken from the word SHEM which means “sun”. It also means leader and one who unites.
In fact, the very word SEMITE is made from the words SEM and ITE; meaning “sun” and “people of” or “natives of”. Therefore, SHEMITE, or SEMITE, means “native of the sun” or “people of the sun”.
In contemporary and ancient Egyptian language, “shems” means “sun”. So Semites in general are all children of the sun, or simply — sun people. The word itself exists only to pin people to a region, where in ancient times the area of Egypt was said to be closest to the sun; where it played a prominent role in providing light, life and warmth. Also in ancient times, the sun symbolized the lamp of God; hence we hear prophets of the book sometimes called Suns of God, not SONS of God. Big difference, yet one missing word — or one misinterpreted word—can change the meaning of an entire sentence.
As in the Bible: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called “suns” (lamps) of God.” Remember, that if God said everyone was created equal, then would his true believers only be male? Was Mary not also a sun of God? And are not the halos we see over divine beings in fact the sun behind their heads? But then another argument could be made: “But even in today’s Egypt, all love songs are still written in the masculine form. It doesn’t even matter if a man is singing a song to his wife, typically the object of affection is always annotated in the masculine form. For this reason, I’ll let the pastors bring that one up for debate at their next congregation. However, the interpretation of my last name and “Semites” is 100% accurate.
I am also a Semite and I sure do love the sun.
Suzy Kassem
** Artwork by the infamous Japanese artist Tokio Aoyama
