Suheir Hammad (born October 25, 1973) is an American poet, author, actress, performer, and political activist.

Biography

She was born in Amman,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

. Her parents were

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodus ...

who immigrated along with their daughter to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

when she was five years old. Her parents later moved to

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

. As an adolescent growing up in Brooklyn, Hammad was heavily influenced by Brooklyn's vibrant hip-hop scene. She had also absorbed the stories from her parents and grandparents of life in their hometown of

Lydda Lod ( he, לוד, or fully vocalized ; ar, اللد, al-Lidd or ), also known as Lydda ( grc, Λύδδα), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephe ...

, before the

1948 Palestinian exodus In 1948 more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs – about half of prewar Palestine's Arab population – were expelled or fled from their homes, during the 1948 Palestine war. The exodus was a central component of the fracturing, dispossession ...

, and of the suffering they endured afterward, first in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza. ...

and then in

. 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 Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers prima ...

and as a poet in her own right. When hip-hop entrepreneur

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons ...

came across her piece entitled "First Writing Since", a poem describing her reaction to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, he signed her to a deal with HBO's

Def Poetry Jam ''Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry'', better known as simply ''Def Poetry Jam'' or ''Def Poetry'', is a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. The series features performances by estab ...

. She recited original works on tour for the following two years. In 2008, she was cast in her first fiction role in cinema, the Palestinian film '' Salt of this Sea'' (2008) by

Annemarie Jacir Annemarie Jacir ( ar, آن ماري جاسر) is a Palestinian filmmaker, writer, and producer. Career Filmmaker She has been working in independent cinema since 1998 and has written, directed and produced a number of award-winning films. Two o ...

, which premiered as an official selection in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films ...

competition of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

. She is now working on her third publication which will be a book of prose. She took part in the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a sp ...

's 2011 project ''

Sixty Six Books ''Sixty-Six Books'' was a set of plays premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2011, to mark the theatre's reopening on a new site and the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. It drew its title from the 66 books of the Protestant Bible. ...

'', for which she wrote a piece based upon the

Book of Haggai The Book of Haggai (; he, ספר חגי, Sefer Ḥaggay) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and is the third-to-last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. It is a short book, consisting of only two chapters. The historical setting dates around 52 ...

in the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

Film and video

* ''Lest We Forget'' (2003) – Narrator * ''The Fourth World War'' (2004) – Narrator * '' Salt of this Sea'' (2008) – Soraya * ''When I Stretch Forth Mine Hand'' (2009) – Verses by * ''Things Fall Apart'' (2010) - Guest Speaker * ''Into Egypt'' (2011) – Writer and Performer

Produced plays

* ''breaking letter (s)'' (2008), New WORLD Theater * ''Blood Trinity'' (2002), The New York Hip Hop Theater Festival * ''ReOrientalism'' (2003) * ''Libretto'' by Suheir Hammad

Awards

* The Audre Lorde Writing Award, Hunter College (1995, 2000) * The Morris Center for Healing Poetry Award (1996) * New York Mills Artist Residency (1998) * Van Lier Fellowship (1999) * The 2001 Emerging Artist Award, Asian/Pacific/American Studies Institute at NYU *

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

– Special Theatrical Event – original cast member and writer for Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway (2003) * Suheir is also a talent associate for the Peabody Award-winning HBO show Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry (2003) * The 2009 American Book Awards

Works

* ''Born Palestinian, Born Black''. Harlem River Press, 1996, . * ''Drops of This Story'' Harlem River Press, 1996. * ''Zaatar Diva'' Cypher Books, 2006, * ''Breaking Poems'' Cypher Books, 2008, * ''Born Palestinian, Born Black.'' UpSet Press, 2010,

Periodicals

* ''The Amsterdam News'' * ''Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire'' * ''Brilliant Corners'' * ''Clique'' * ''Drum Voices Revue'' * ''Essence'' * ''Long Shot'' * ''

Atlanta Review ''Atlanta Review'' is an international poetry journal based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded by Daniel Veach in 1994 and is published twice a year. Karen Head of the Georgia Institute of Technology became editor in 2016. The jo ...

'' * ''Bomb'' * ''Brooklyn Bridge'' * ''Fierce'' * ''STRESS Hip-Hop Magazine'' * ''Quarterly Black Review of Books'' * ''Color Lines'' * ''Spheric'' * ''The Olive Tree Review'' * ''The Hunter Envoy'' * ''Meridians'' * '' Mizna'' * ''Signs''

Anthologies

* ''In Defense of Mumia'' (Writers and Readers) * ''New to North America'' (Burning Bush Press) * ''The Space Between Our Footsteps'' (Simon & Schuster) * ''Identity lessons'' (Penguin) * ''Listen Up!'' (Ballantine) * ''Post Gibran: Anthology of New Arab-American Writing'' (Jusoor Press) * ''Becoming American'' (Hyperion) * ''Bum Rush the Page'' (Three Rivers Press) * ''The Poetry of Arab Women'' (Interlink Books) * ''Voices for Peace'' (Scribner) * ''Another World is Possible'' (Subway & Elevated Press) * ''33 Things Every Girl Should Know About Women’s History'' (Crown) * ''Trauma at Home'' (Bison Press) * ''Sing, Whisper, Shout, Pray!; Feminist Visions for a Just World'' (Edge Work) * ''Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway'' (Atria) * ''Short Fuse, The Global Anthology of New Fusion Poetry'', edited by Swift & Norton; (Rattapallax Press) * ''Word. On Being a (Woman) Writer'', edited by Jocelyn Burrell; (The Feminist Press)

References

Additional resources

* Hanna, S. M. "Suheir Hammad's Negotiated Historiography of Arab America." ''Philology'' 61.1(2014): 44-71. * Harb, Sirène. "Naming Oppressions, Representing Empowerment: June Jordan's and Suheir Hammad's Poetic Projects." ''Feminist Formations'' 26.3 (2014): 71-99. * Hartman, Michelle. "‘A Debke Beat Funky as P.E.’s Riff’: Hip Hop Poetry and Politics in Suheir Hammad’s Born Palestinian, Born Black". ''Black Arts Quarterly'' 7.1 (2002): 6-8. Print. * Harb, Sirène. "Transformative Practices and Historical Revision: Suheir Hammad’s Born Palestinian, Born Black". ''Studies in the Humanities'' 35.1 (June 2008): 34-49. * Hopkinson, Natalie. "Out of the Ashes, Drops of Meaning: The Poetic Success of Suheir Hammad". ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', 13 October 2002 * Oumlil, Kenza. "'Talking Back': The Poetry of Suheir Hammad". ''Feminist Media Studies'' 13.5 (2013): 850-859.

External links

*
Suheir Hammad, text of "First Writing Since"

Suheir Hammad Performing "First Writing Since"

Suheir Hammad, text of "Mike Check"

Suheir Hammad performing "Mike Check"

"Into Egypt", short film

Profile on Suheir Hammad at the Institute for Middle East Understanding

at the

Palestine Festival of Literature The Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) is an annual literary festival, founded in 2008, that takes place in cities across State of Palestine, Palestine. History The festival was founded in 2008 with the stated mission of affirming " ...

*
eFilmCritic.com interview with Suheir Hammad about "Salt of This Sea" by Dan Lybarger
* *
"Poems of war, peace, women, power" (TEDWomen 2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammad, Suheir 1973 births Living people American Muslims American poets American writers of Palestinian descent American women poets American people of Jordanian descent Proponents of Islamic feminism People from Amman People from Staten Island Writers from Brooklyn Jordanian feminists American feminists American Book Award winners 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers