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HBO sits down with Def Poet Suheir Hammad . . .
HBO:
How did you get started writing poetry?
Suheir Hammad:
I've been writing poetry since I began to read. I grew up around the hip-hop culture, 1980s Brooklyn, New York City, and I understood that the first rap lyrics were poetic expression on beats. My parents always told me that God spoke to us in poetry, so I've always been writing poetry.
HBO:
How would you describe your poetic style?
Suheir Hammad:
My style is the continuum of all those who came before me, and it is a reflection of my time. And I hope my style reflects the urgency of the times that we live in. I believe we live in times that ask us to witness, to transform, and to manifest peace and compassion, and I try to do that through my writing-whether it's an urban vernacular or the studied craft of poetry.
HBO:
Why do you think poetry has become so popular?
Suheir Hammad:
Poetry is popular because there aren't many outlets for expression, for dissent, for critical thinking. And I think poets all over the country in different venues are thinking and expressing themselves in the vacuum that is the rest of mass media. Even though this is mass media, this is the rest of America speaking to you right now.
HBO:
How does it feel to be one of the most sought after Def Poets?
Suheir Hammad:
I feel honored to be a Def Poet. I will take it to my grave as something that I never imagined to happen, and as one of the best things that's happened in my life.
HBO:
Where's your favorite place to write?
Suheir Hammad:
My favorite place to write is in my heart.
HBO:
What about the strangest place that you've ever written a poem?
Suheir Hammad:
I write a lot on the subways in New York City, and depending on the train, and the time, it can be stranger than other times. I write on planes a lot, in prisons when I visit them, in cabs, and uh, in the bathtub. [laughs]
HBO:
What about the strangest place you've ever written a poem down on?
Suheir Hammad:
Ooh, I've written poems on the backs of food stamp book covers, brown paper bags, receipts for things I actually did not buy.
HBO:
Tell us about the piece you read tonight.
Suheir Hammad:
The piece I read is called "Mic Check", which I wrote after many, many instances of being randomly stopped at airports, because I traveled a lot. Poetry has taken me all around the world, and I'm lucky to be able to be in airports often. And I wanted to write a piece that spoke to the experience of being profiled often, but that had compassion and a little bit of humor at the same time. So that's why I wrote "Mic Check."
HBO:
What do you hope that the audience takes away from the piece?
Suheir Hammad:
There's a young poet this season named Dahlak, and he wrote this piece about profiling the police, as long as black men in America continue to be profiled. And I think what I would hope people walk away with from "Mic Check" is this idea that you never really know who the person in front of you is unless you ask, and no matter how fast we're living, there's always time to ask who you're talking to. That's what I hope they get from it.
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