© aintiawoman.tumblr.com

The bold feminist and award-winning poet Suheir Hammad, who is also a political activist and active humanitarian, has made a colossal contribution to the literary world. Her poetry has been read everywhere from the streets of Brooklyn to Ivy League universities. Additionally, Hammad is the first Palestinian to be featured in Broadway.

Born in 1973 in Amman, Jordan, her parents were Palestinian refugees who immigrated to Brooklyn, New York City when she was just five years old. There she had a cosmopolitan but challenging upbringing, growing up in a diverse but economically undernourished area. She was surrounded by people of various minority groups including Puerto Ricans, Afro-Americans, Dominicans and Haitians. This mixture of ethnic groups, she describes as being “an integral part of the American fabric but who were all frayed…” These experiences may explain Hammad’s deep desire to transcend cultural and religious barriers and to unify different people and groups through her poems.

Her first introduction to poetry was through the Koran, which her mother described as the most perfect poetry in the world. “As a child I had this sense that God was a huge poet,” she said. Her father taught her nationalist songs, which she later realised were originally written as poems. She then went on to discover for herself the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. Poetry has always played a significant role in her life; she recollects writing poems as soon as she could read. Her literary influences are broad and expansive including June Jordan, Alice Walker and some of the many Palestinians who risked their lives daring to be Palestinian. In summation she states “everyone who speaks the truth” inspires her.

Hammad’s 1996 collection of poetry Born Palestinian, Born Black explored affinities between Palestinian and African-American experiences, while her Drops of This Story was a memoir of her life as an immigrant in a predominantly Afro-American and deprived section of Brooklyn.

First Writing Since – written a week after 9/11 in New York – received international acclaim for its powerfully raw commentary and observations about a country that had been changed overnight. She says, “everything was going through my mind that could possibly go through my mind” during that eventful week when she wrote the poem. She also explained that none of her feminist ideals could have ever prepared her for the fact that an Arab man because of his phenotype and gender would be treated differently than she would in a security situation; therefore it was a poem from her sisters dedicated to all her brothers. The poignant poem was translated into 12 languages. It also attracted the attention of Russell Simmons and she later embarked upon his TONY award winning Broadway show Def Jam Poetry. Her delicate but commanding voice was listened to by more than 15,000 people and was transmitted across the airwaves of HBO for two years.  Her inspiring and insightful exposés on the frailty of the human condition challenged stereotypes, opening both the minds and hearts of her listeners. Her unique style of fusing hip-hop with her Arabic heritage was a winning combination that resonated with rapt audiences across the United States and around the world. Nonetheless in spite of her many accolades she has remained astonishingly grounded, viewing her audience as her teachers rather than her listeners.

Before the Salt of This Sea’s screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Her co-star Saleh Bakri to her left, with director Annemarie Jacir and Danny Glover co-producer at the far left. (Julia Brechler photographer) picture sourced from IMEU.

Suheir Hammad recently explored other genres and stretched herself artistically by playing the lead role of Soraya in the award winning film Salt of This Sea. She says she was drawn to the poetry in the script that resonated beyond her own life experiences. Although Suheir’s own experiences helped to feed the character Soraya, she affirms that director Annemarie Jacir’s own uniquely different experiences also helped to create the character. Being in 90% of the film and filming in a war zone was a great challenge for Hammad but, nevertheless, she feels blessed to have had the opportunity. The film’s accessibility still remains an issue despite its huge success at festivals, yet Hammad remains gloriously optimistic:  “the film is really marginalised” she explains, “ but it’s also part of a continuum… so now other films that are not that aesthetic or are not that drive will have a chance now, because it pushed the door open. The victory is to see your position as part of the continuum and that’s where the hope is.”

At present her talents and creativity remain focused on her writing, which continues to inspire audiences around the globe.

Words by India Blair

You can listen to some Suheir’s poetry under the culture section of this site and watch the trailer for Salt of This Sea.