Suheir Hammad
don’t seduce yourself with
my otherness my hair
wasn’t put on top of my head to entice
you into some mysterious black voodoo
the beat of my lashes against each other
ain’t some dark desert beat
it’s just a blink
get over it1
Suheir Hammad is a woman who understands intersectionality on many levels. Born in Jordan in October 1973 to parents who were Palestinian refugees, Hammad and her family immigrated to Brooklyn, New York when she was five years old.2 Hammad identifies as a Palestinian-American, a fact that has influenced much of her work.3
Hammad has always considered poetry a part of her life.4 Growing up as a Muslim, she viewed the Qur’an as poetry from God.5 Her love of poetry grew and as a teen, Hammad became involved with the Brooklyn hip-hop scene.6 “From these disparate influences Hammad was able to weave into her work a common narrative of dispossession, not only in her capacity as an immigrant, a Palestinian and a Muslim, but as a woman struggling against society’s inherent sexism and as a poet in her own right.”7 Hammad frequently writes about sexism, violence, and women’s challenges.8
“First Writing Since,” Hammad’s emotional post-9/11 writing, caught the attention of Russell Simmons who signed her to Def Poetry Jam.9 In my interpretation, “First Writing Since” is a piece in which Hammad reacts to the events of September 11 from a Muslim and Arabic perspective. Hammad pleads to God that the terrorists not be Muslim, recounts the kindness of a White woman in NYC, and tells her fears of what 9/11 will mean for the Arab world. As part of the Def Poetry Jam television show, Hammad read her poetry to over 15,000 people over the course of two years.10
Hammad has since been featured on the BBC as well as NPR.11 She was the first Palestinian to be on Broadway12, when she won a Tony award as part of Def Poetry Jam on Broadway.13 Hammad has been the recipient of many awards, including the2001 Emerging Artist Award from the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Institute at NYU as well as the Audre Lorde Writing Award from Hunter College.14
In “What I Will,” Hammad reacts to Israeli occupation of Palestine. Hammad denounces the war, pleading for peace and refusing to “dance to the drums of war” and side with those who kill.
While Hammad’s activism is not as hands-on as marching in the streets, bringing aid to refugees, or speaking to governments, what she does is still incredibly important. Hammad is a voice many people—whether female, male, immigrant, U.S. native, Black, White, or Arabic, –can hear and identify with. Hammad brings awareness to issues of race, gender, and violence in a way that is incredibly accessible for a large group of people. Instead of sitting in an office writing high-brow theoretical articles (which is necessary, as well), Hammad brings her activism to a street-language level, making it accessible to more people. She is truly a strong voice in hip-hop as well as poetry.
Check out Suheir Hammad performing some of her work:
NOT YOUR EXOTIC NOT YOUR EROTIC
MIKE CHECK
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1. Suheir Hammad, “not your exotic not your erotic.” Aultmuslimah. April 27, 2012. http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/m/4466/
2. “Suheir Hammad.” SuheirHammad.com. April 27, 2012. http://www.suheirhammad.com.
3. “Suheir Hammad: Poet and author.” Institute for Middle East Understanding. April 27, 2012. http://imeu.net/news/article00317.shtml
4. ibid.
5. ibid.
6. “Suheir Hammad.” Arab Women Writers. April 27, 2012. http://arabwomenwriters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=288&Itemid=77
7. ibid.
8. “Suheir Hammad: Poet and author.” Institute for Middle East Understanding. April 27, 2012. http://imeu.net/news/article00317.shtml
9. ibid.
10. ibid.
11. ibid.
12. ibid.
13. “Suheir Hammad.” SuheirHammad.com. April 27, 2012. http://www.suheirhammad.com/
14. ibid.
