Suheir Hammad: Palestinian-American poet, author, activist

Suheir Hammad is a Palestinian-American poet, author and political activist who was born on October 1973 in Amman, Jordan to Palestinian refugee parents and immigrated with her family to Brooklyn, New York City when she was five years old. Her work embodies and embraces the concept of identity as an immigrant, a Palestinian, a Muslim and as a woman challenging society's social conventions.

What I Will

I will not
dance to your war
drum. I will
not lend my soul nor
my bones to your war
drum. I will
not dance to your
beating. I know that beat.
It is lifeless. I know
intimately that skin
you are hitting.

Mike Check

Mike checked
my bags at the air
port in a random
routine check...

I understand it was
folks who looked
smelled maybe prayed
like me

On the Brink of... for Rachel Corrie

Rachel Corrie 1979 - 2003, 23 year old peace activist, killed in Gaza on March 16, 2003, crushed by a bulldozer while acting as a human shield to prevent the demolition by the Israeli army of the home of Palestinian pharmacist Samir Nasrallah.

And how do I tell American youth
that popular culture means nothing to
justice and everything to keeping them
numb to the world? And how do I
scream when I have no voice left?
And who will answer these questions for me?
Not Rachel Corrie. She is dead.