Hammad as featured in the 2008 film "Salt of This Sea"






 

A Short Biography

Suheir Hammad was born in 1973 in Jordan. Her parents were Palestinian refugees and immigrated to New York City early in her life. She grew up deep within the roots of the hip-hop culture in New York where she developed her tone and influences for her work. The passion heard in each of her poems and anthologies were developed not only as a Palestinian-Muslim minority in a big city, but also by her constant struggle with sexism. Once she was signed to HBO Def Poetry Jam by Russel Simmons her career took off. Suheir has written several poems and has even landed leading roles in a few films. Due to these amazing works of art she has since won several awards throughout America.

The Tone and Nature of Her Work

The tone in each of Suheir Hammad's works are different.

In "4:02 PM" Hammad tells the rough life of what she intended to be three women's tragic lives, however that when she was writing it "up the block a woman killed by her husband". The reader is made to feel empathetic for those that have lost someone and the hope that they still hang onto deep within. In "Talisman", she speaks of the words in the bible acting as a symbolic talisman that can always be carried with us. Suheir's tone is not only reassuring, but also a way of comforting those that may feel a spiritual imbalance.

Suheir's ability to change her tone in each of her works is part of what makes her phenomenal. In my opinion, writers have been shaped so much by their experiences that each of their works is in the same tone, but about different situations. The only thing common amongst Suheir's works is passion. Through her work, Suheir voices her opinions on different situations that occur not only in the United States, but in Arab nations too. She writes about current issues and how they shape our minds, but in a beautiful way.

What Suheir Hammad means to me

Suheir Hammad is a special kind of poet because you can both hear and read the passion she holds within her through her poems. The second I watched "Daddy's Song" (video featured in a post below), I knew that I wanted to research more about Suheir Hammad and tell of her story through this blog. Her words act as a form of encouragement, her words act as a form of support, and her words act as a form of hope. Her poems are powerful. Each poem that I read from sparked emotions inside of me that I would not expect from a poem that is as short as hers usually are. In particular, I love the way that she recites her poems aloud. She knows how to emphasize certain words to make their impact prominent and she knows when to lower her tone to be either somber or excited when the poem calls for it. Suheir Hammad's poems have actually sparked a poetic nerve inside of me and I came up with the following:

She is Not
She is not only a poet, but a political activist fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. She is not only the voice for the poor and unfortunate, but the comfort for a country torn apart. She not only write and recites poems, but paints a visual for the readers to relate to. She not only recites poems, she brings people to tears with her words. She is not just words because her words - they hold life within themselves.

In addition to her poetry, I found that she was a thoughtful and caring person as well. After Hurricane Katrina hit the South she rushed over to provide aid both physically and through her words. She organized an event titled "Refugees for Refugees" in which she raised five thousand dollars for the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. To me, when someone sees that people are hurting and immediately comes up with a plan, they are very special people because they are hard to come across.

An Excerp from my Favorite Poem by Suheir Hammad

Above is a video of her performance of "Daddy's Song". I have found that of all her work, I can relate to this one the most. Hammad speaks of her father's likes and dislikes when it comes to popular media. In particular, her father thought that the music of today's generation was not "real music; good music". Normally people would take offense to that type of criticism, but Hammad takes it in stride. This is because she understands that it is simply the way things work through the generation. She understands that she will one day recite the same dislike for her children's choice of music as her father once has and that she openly accepts it.

"That's my song too Baba and one day I'm gonna sing it to you in a poem"

 In my own life, I can relate to the acceptance of "the ways things are" over generations. When I was younger, I thought that my mother's pet peeves and complaints were exaggerated and uncalled for, but now that I am older I understand them and even find myself using the same ones in my daily life. I no longer am upset when I realize this has happened because I embrace it. It makes me glad to know that the ways and thoughts of the generations before me will always live through me and onto those after me. Not everything passed down is negative; some thoughts and ways of life are beautiful and it would be a shame to not pass them down to your loved ones.

Where can you find her poetry?

Hammad has published several poems and spoken-word poems, five of which you can find at the following websites:

 "Prayer Band"

http://electronicintifada.net/content/prayer-band-palestinian-poet-suheir-hammad-hurricane-katrina/5739

The website includes a riveting poem on the struggle the people in Louisiana had shortly after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

"What I will"

http://feministing.com/2011/05/03/what-i-will-by-suheir-hammad/

This website print of the poem performed in the video above. It is an emotional poem about the turmoil between Israel and Palestine.

"4:02 PM"

http://www.thescreamonline.com/poetry/poetry2-1/hammad/

This website includes a few selected poems by Suheir Hammad. This poem tells the story of the unfortunate daily lives of four women in the projects.

"The Missing"

This poem tells the story of how sadness of a loved one always lingers within us despite how much time that has passed.

"Land"

This poem tells the story of the love man holds for the land that supplies us.

Where can you read more about her?

Additional websites pertaining to Suheir Hammad are at the following:

http://www.thescreamonline.com/poetry/poetry2-1/hammad/

• This websites includes various works of poetry by Suheir Hammad 

http://imeu.net/news/article00317.shtml

• This website includes additional biographical information as presented by the Institute for Middle East Understanding

http://www.ted.com/talks/suheir_hammad_poems_of_war_peace_women_power

• This website includes a five-minute spoken-word piece on the topic of America's tragedy on 9/11

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1730869/

• Suheir has grown into more than just a writer, this website includes her filmography