An interview with Toronto-based Palestinian spoken word artist Rafeef Ziadah on her new spoken word CD "Hadeel". For more information, see www.rafeefziadah.ca.
Produced by Aaron Lakoff at CKUT radio in Montreal.
aaronlakoff (at) gmail.com
Poetry by Rafeef Ziadah (www.rafeefziadah.ca)
Rafeef Ziadah is a third-generation Palestinian refugee, community organizer, and one of the most captivating spoken word artists currently working in Toronto. She recently released a CD of her works, "Hadeel", which also features music from other notable Toronto musicians such as LAL and Reena Katz. Hadeel is available for purchase on CD and MP3 at www.rafeefziadah.ca.
I spoke with Rafeef in Toronto on December 22, 2009 to speak about "Hadeel", and the socio-political themes which drive her poetry, such as migration, war, and of course, the return to Palestine. This interview is interspersed with some of the pieces from "Hadeel", such as "Montreal Subway" and "Trail of Tears".
==Rafeef Ziadah biography==
Rafeef Ziadah is a Palestinian spoken-word artist and activist. She received an Ontario Arts Council Grant from the âWord of Mouthâ program to create her debut album Hadeel. Rafeef started performing poetry in Toronto in 2004 with the spoken word collective Pueblo Unido and is the winner of the 2007 Mayworks Festival Poetry Face-Off. Rafeefâs poetry speaks to the struggle of immigrants to âmake it to/in Canadaâ and the politics of exile. Being Palestinian she reflects on the realities of her homeland today, to which is not allowed to return.
Rafeefâs debut ablum Hadeel is dedicated to Palestinian youth, who still fly kites in the face of F16 bombers, who still remember the names of their villages in Palestine and still hear the sound of Hadeel over Gaza.
For more information, see: www.rafeefziadah.ca www.bdsmovement.net aaron.resist.ca
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