Suheir Hammad: "Not Your Erotic, Not Your Exotic"

I am a HUGE fan of the political activist and spoken word poet, Suheir Hammad. She is so talented and amazing! This is one of my favorite poems that she has performed, which talks about how women of color are eroticized and exoticized.



Can anyone else relate to this spoken word?

Related Resources:
Opening the Gates: An Anthology of Arab Feminist Writing

Food for Our Grandmothers: Writings by Arab-American and Arab-Canadian Feminists
women's literature, feminist poetry, feminist literature, suheir hammad, women of color, feminism, feminist poets, arab women writers

Prisoner of Words Unsaid

I've decided that I'll stay with the topic of freedom of speech that I've been obsessing over during this Independence Day weekend. So, I'll piggyback off of my last post about the Dixie Chicks and how their bad ass little country selves spoke out against president Bush. 

This spoken word video by Alicia Keys is about how we oppress ourselves by not speaking up and/or speaking out. It's called POW:

I've never been one to bite my tongue or hold anything back. It's my life long mission to empower other women who might hold themselves back from really saying what they want to say. Just say what's on your mind, ladies!!

Bad-Ass Bitch of the Day: Sista Queen

Check out Sista Queen's "Try Being a Lady" spoken word performance:

Here are some of my favorite phrases:

"Try being a lady? ...use me as your trophy so you can parade me...use my vagina to only birth babies...be your damsel in distress so a brother can save me"

"if my tongue was a trigger, you'd have been shot...get real-I'm gonna stay inappropriate until I fucking rot...I don't talk about love, I don't talk about sex, I don't talk about things that'll put your dick on erect"

"I'm gonna get a sex change so you and half of america can suck my dick!"