activism

Sonita Alizadeh : Rap For Resilience!

By Audio Pervert - 4/24/2022

"We are ready for the day, to fight for our rights...Mother, find me on the front-lines..."
What does it mean to act courageously? Survive against all odds? Make music which exposes tyranny? And how does it effect us, at a moral and political level as an artist or individual? Such questions take precedence, when we discern the artist, an oppressive society and the will to resist and rise. Meet Sonita Alizadeh, a survivor, undocumented refugee, rapper, activist and now a scholar. Sold twice (well almost) into forced marriage, a fate predicated for thousands and thousands of Afghan girls every year, Sonita made a daring escape to the 'other side'. On the run for years, from her home, from nativity, from child traffickers, Sonita Alizadeh held on, writing her stories, making rhymes, hoping one day the world would listen. "One girl's dream going dark every two seconds..." - The 2016 documentary titled 'Sonita' directed by Rokhsareh G Maghami, followed by 'Daughters For Sale' (2017) shot in New Delhi by Bizan Siamak, lead Sonita to a wider audience and consequent recognition. Her story is just about blooming, stoking new fire and resilience, in the face of tyranny, with hopes to save thousands of oppressed girls, not just in Afghanistan but across the world.
 
"We are ready for the day, to fight for our rights...Mother, find me on the front-lines..." - Sonita sings almost like a hymn, backed by a war-like drum beat. "I am the child of strongest mountains... I will stand up now and rise again..." verses juxtaposed with public video footage, of Afghan women taking to the streets, protesting, wailing and being attacked by men wielding weapons. Born in Herat, early on Sonita witnessed the steady disappearance of her friends (especially girls) - from school, from the neighborhood and even from her own family. Where they went and what happened to them, we may never know. In Afghanistan about 57% of girls are married before they reach the age of 18. In Iran, where Sonita was living as a refugee with her family, about 50,000 girls under 15 are married each year. Similar conditions exist, in ways across Pakistan, India and Bangladesh as well.
 
Such tyranny has a sustained legacy in Afghanistan, a nation which has been serially destroyed (and betrayed) by opposing forces during the last 40 years. As a consequence of perpetual war, counter-revolutions, terrorism and instability, the girls and women of Afghanistan have close to nothing as human rights. As ruthless and misogynistic the Taliban's record (thanks to western media) as destructive and vicious were the invading Americans (in 2001) and the Russians (in 1980). Estimates speak of more than 8 million Afghan girls and women who disappeared during the last 15 years of American occupation. "Millions of Afghan girls and women live as subordinates their entire lives..." (Amnesty International 2016). Even NATO and U.N. 'peace keepers' have been accused several times of prostitution and child-trafficking in Afghanistan (Ragnhild Nordås Peace Research Institute Oslo 2014). "For decades Afghan women and girls have been beaten into submission, raped or even killed...but they are still protesting for their rights, for basic dignity, especially now, in ways not seen before.." states Sonita at a recent presentation for the Hannah Arendt Center, Bard College NYC.
 

 Sonita fled from Herat when she was 9 years old, to Iran. Call it luck or sheer resilience to be able to evade two child marriage attempts in the following years. Sonita lived as an "undocumented refugee" for a long while. No passport, no humanitarian aid, dislocated but resolute. She learned how to read and write at a NGO near Tehran. Over time, Sonita discovered her passion for music, particularly for Rap. Concurrent to this bloom, came the awareness about child marriage as a horrible tradition, that could at any moment sign off her life to slavery. During this period, the proliferation of the internet in Iran encouraged many like Sonita, in ways we know little about. Bit by bit, Sonita acquired basic skills to manifest her creativity. Sonita began to voice her dissent. In 2014, director Rokhsareh G Maghami chanced upon a video made by Sonita. Initially rapt, she shared the video with her colleagues based in Iran, Canada and U.S.  
 
"I wanted to let Sonita's story grow further, but at some point the situation became such that I had to help." states Rokhsareh, the award-winning director from Iran. Her documentaries are based on artists and personas, overcoming barriers of society, religion and gender. The film titled 'Sonita' went on to win the Sundance Grand Jury Award in 2016. Western media, institutions and certain powerful women poured in, to know about Sonita. Tabitha Jackson (Director, Sundance Institute) presented the protagonist at the Skoll World Forum Closing Ceremony 2016. The girl who had to abandon her home, bereft of a future, of her friends and family, found new hope, acknowledgement and support. In 2017 Sonita was granted a full scholarship to pursue higher studies in the U.S.

The following years, Nobel laureates, renowned change-makers and policy experts assisted Sonita to develop a curriculum on child marriage. Check the curriculum in-formation by the Hannah Arendt Center. However amazing the impact of Sonita's rap and Maghami's film, we must be aware that one artist's valorisation does not secure the future of others (millions). The story of Alizadeh succeeds in providing an incisive and empathetic analysis of the social, religious and cultural pressures placed on young adults in migrant societies. But outside that valorisation, which primarily inspires a 'white majority society' (with their codes, awards, music etc) has little social impact overall. Why such motivating stories and disruptive cultures seldom reach those who are most in need of, remains to be explored. There could be hundreds if not thousands of 'Sonitas' in Afghanistan and across the Middle-East, who remain unsung and unheard of, outside institutional patronage, awards and reach. The story of Sonita, as exemplary and courageous, is yet to effect the fate of thousands of Afghan girls - those terrorized today by religious, social and patriarchal regimes.

"I refused to go back to Afghanistan, instead decided to use my voice and words as weapons to speak against the tradition... against Taliban, against my family, even as I loved them the most... " says Sonita, as she recalls the conditions back in Herat, which have but deteriorated since. The move to America from Iran, having acquired a full scholarship, compelled Sonita to speak out against child marriage and at the same time release new music and videos, featuring Afghan and Iranian women. Watch 'Get Lost' directed by Smart Afghan. "Older generation Afghans settled in the U.S. have come to me asking several questions - about what I did to survive - about child marriage and what they can do for the women back in Afghanistan... something I never ever imagined earlier...". 
 
Reacting to the recent coup d'état in Afghanistan - the hasty American exit, the return of the dreaded Taliban and a geopolitical blunder, now more than 20 years in the making, Sonita has much to express. "I felt that I couldn't do anything... the old fears surged back... felt helpless, besides posting online and following up on friends and family back home... I ended up joining the protests here, writing letters... but we have to fight way harder...". Beyond the remorse and contempt about the utterly dismal fate of Afghanistan, Sonita Alizadeh intents to work harder, to combat child marriage, to encourage and empower Afghan children and women. Her newest collaboration, Arezo, built for a small group of impoverished children in Herat, is providing a small stipend to purchase basic necessities, school supplies, as well as "a special wish". Addressing the United Nations Education For Adoloscent Girls, in February 2020 Sonita said "...by law I was not allowed to go to school.. that law itself destroys our value and potential, which can be infinite... if only the world secures our freedom and dignity...if not, we deny millions of adolescent girls a chance to live as human beings..."

 

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