The Queer Arabs

Nahid is a Sudanese artist and activist with a background in theater, music, education, and human rights work.  Nahid talks about her current experience caretaking for her grandmother and how skills from working with children transfer to elder care.  She also discusses her childhood experience of displacement, moving from Sudan to Yemen and then Western Massachusetts following her father’s persecution and torture for his human rights advocacy under the Bashir regime. Nahid recounts her early experiences in the arts, being introduced to political theater at an early age, and then being one of the few people of color and “not…

Clarissa Bitar is an accomplished Palestinian oud musician and composer hailing from Los Angeles, California. With a background in Music and a specialization in Ethnomusicology from UC Santa Barbara, Clarissa’s musical journey has been enriched by training under esteemed Arab oudists such as Simon Shaheen, Charbel Rouhana, and Bassam Saba. Their performances have graced stages across the United States and internationally. On this episode, Clarissa talks about growing up playing guitar, falling in love with the oud in college, and gradually switching from a biology major to ethnomusicology major to a working musician.  Clarissa’s latest song ‘Leh’ is coming out…

Bijhan Agha is a trans Persian-American comic artist living in Uruguay, and second-time podcast guest! This time, she joined us to talk about her latest superhero comic “The Legendary X-Knights” for which the Kickstarter comes out today! “The Legendary X-Knights” is about a group of diverse people working together to defeat monsters. They are all brought together by messages from the future which guide them in a war against Vampirekind. They get their powers from colored crystals which translate their emotions—especially those typically considered negative—into physical armor and weapons. We discuss the unique power of comics to reach both children…

Sheyam Ghieth is an artist, organizer, Egyptian propagandist, and repeat podcast guest after 4 years!  Sheyam is a co-founder of Creators for Gaza, a SWANA-led mutual-aid network connecting artists and amplifiers with Palestinian families facing genocide. Check it out to donate or get involved as an artist! They also discuss their work drawing connections between disease and colonialism in genocidal states, building COVID-19 and Palestine solidarity, especially in the face of mask bans meant to attack pro-Palestine protesters. This work includes their Zine “mask up we need you” (in collaboration with @rimo_skyo). We also talk about how we’re showing up…

We’re back with an episode with Alia, Ellie, and Nadia talking about: – An incredible show Nadia saw called LINES about the interconnected histories of Palestine, Uganda, and the UK through prison systems  – Participating in Palestine protests and college encampments around us (and how college students are doing a better job of building a movement as they go than most of us) – Why protests and direct action can sometimes be *good* for mental health, actually – Nadia’s organizing work with @dancers_for_palestine – Anti-BDS laws, anti-protest laws, and anti-bail fund laws across the US – Alia goes to @laylitparty…

Hannah Moushabeck is a second-generation Palestinian American author, editor, and book marketer. She is the author of Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine, a children’s book about three girls who experience Palestine through bedtime stories. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts on the homelands of the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc Nations. Hannah talks about growing up in  New York, Massachusetts, and the UK while her family ran an Arab independent publishing house. She discusses how representation in children’s books has and hasn’t changed since her childhood, with a clear uptick in queer stories but very few Palestinian stories. Hannah recounts the variety…

Yaffa is a trans displaced Palestinian activist, engineer, death and birthing doula, peer support specialist, and artist. They are the Executive Director of Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity and recently released their book of poetry Blood Orange, raising funds for queer and trans Palestinian work.  In this episode, Yaffa reads a poem from Blood Orange, and we reflect on the cognitive dissonance of diaspora, wondering “which cut from your paycheck killed your cousin.” Yaffa discusses their work in peer support, and how we can find alternatives to an individualized, compartmentalized, escapist framing of self care, witnessing each other’s…

Lamya H., author of Hijab Butch Blues, joined us for a wonderful episode! Lamya talks about the line between invisibility and hypervisibility as a brown person in hijab in the US, alternatively overlooked or policed. She discusses her path into Queer Muslim community as well as her mixed experiences in both Arab and Desi spaces as someone born in a South Asian country who grew up in the Gulf. We also talk about the differences between culturally- and religiously-specific queer communities and the issues with policing borders around identity.  They also mention how quickly Queer Muslim communities have become more…

Finlay Sarafa McHale is a queer Iraqi/Chaldean-American clinical social worker currently facilitating a free peer support group for queer SWANA people. They joined us for a wonderful conversation about how mental healthcare can be a tool for political liberation rather than means of detaching from it.  Finlay discusses censorship and Zionism in the mental health field, the challenges of developing culturally responsive practices in a profession with white-centric roots, and the myth of therapy as apolitical. They explain how traditionally strict expectations of “non-disclosure” regarding therapists’ personal or political perspectives can widen the power gap between therapist and client and…

Leila Mire is a PhD candidate in Performance Studies at UC Berkeley, as well as a dancer, choreographer, organizer, and sometimes disorganized person. She researches Palestinian dance and the role of dance in US and Israeli cultural imperialism. We discuss the misleading implications of certain “coexistence art” which locates interpersonal prejudice as the source of conflict while deliberately glossing over systemic inequality. As Leila puts it, while art can build bridges, a bridge built on uneven ground is just a dysfunctional seesaw.  We also talk about Martha Graham, cultural appropriation as a foundation of US modern dance, the Cold War-era…