As Therese Mughannam-Walrath passed out fliers for a night of spoken word with Remi Kanazi, a woman stopped and asked, “Spoken word? What is that? Is it like telling the truth out loud?” For Mughannam-Walrath, that was the perfect description of the lyrical, impassioned words that awaited listeners at the North Coast Coalition for Palestine Support event featuring the spoken word artist.
About 40 members and friends of the Coalition gathered on Sept. 17 in SRJC’s Newman Auditorium to hear Kanazi, as well as local poet and activist Rebel Fagin, speak about the injustices they have witnessed and voice it through spoken word.
Performing an array of poems from his book “Poetic Injustice,” Kanazi recited each emotionally drenched word with more “passionate, not angered” conviction than the last. The candor with which he spoke in such poems as “Religious Harmony” and “Like Ghandi, Like Martin,” was both informative and entertaining
For Kanazi, spoken word is a useful tool to engage the masses: a less boring outlet for his activism.
“A lot of people are turned off by the normal op-ed or news report and if you can really connect to them on a real level, if it appeals to people just like me, then I think it’s a very good way to get the message across,” Kanazi said.
Drawing on inspiration from the early days of hip-hop when the words reflected reality and thoughts were not pre-packaged, Kanazi developed an appreciation for the “truthfulness” of his art by attending a Def Poetry Jam on Broadway.
“I saw so many people from different backgrounds just delve into social politics and justice and talk about so many issues,” Kanazi reflected. “I just remember going home with my brother and sister and being like, ‘I want to do that. I want to go back to people and transform their minds and really get at them.’”
At Saturday night’s event, it was clear he chose the right path. Kanazi had the audience captivated as he talked about not only the injustice and oppression of the Palestinian people, but of the same plight suffered worldwide. The audience connected with the story of Kanazi’s Grandmother in the poem “Haifa,” and so knowingly nodded their heads as he recited the line, “We are the future. That’s not a campaign slogan but a lifestyle” in the poem “Revolution.”
For the North Coast Coalition for Palestine Support, having Kanazi talk was a perfect event to inform the community about the continuing oppression of Palestine and get people inspired to act.
“If we can inspire and inform, people’s eyes will open and they will have that epiphany and will get active,” Mughannam-Walrath said. “And it doesn’t have to be Palestine; it could be immigration, police brutality, or the homeless, or whatever cause they feel drawn to. As long as we’re really working to make our world, beginning with our own backyard, a better place. That’s what it’s about.”