{"id":37916,"date":"2017-10-28T12:42:27","date_gmt":"2017-10-28T18:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=37916"},"modified":"2021-02-11T20:50:30","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T03:50:30","slug":"spokenwordpoet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2017\/10\/28\/spokenwordpoet\/","title":{"rendered":"Arabic spoken word poet finding her voice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Jordan Saab<\/strong> pauses to collect her thoughts during a run through of her spoken word piece “Good Morning You” in the Arts Lounge on the University of Calgary Campus on Sept. 23, 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

J<\/span>ordan Saab, a 19-year-old Arabic spoken word artist, performed her piece \u201cGood Morning You\u201d for the first time on Sept. 18.<\/p>\n

S<\/span>aab performed at the Dickens Pub\u2019s monthly poetry slam, presenting the piece in honour of a member of her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandmother\u2019s last name Saab means \u2018morning.\u2019 Growing up, whenever she would see me, she\u2019d say, \u2018my morning is here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

After the death in March of her grandmother, Saab wrote \u201cGood Morning, You\u201d as a tribute.<\/p>\n

In high school, Saab\u2019s first fan was her Arabic grandmother Aida.<\/p>\n

The older woman pushed Saab to perform at the Lester B. Pearson High School annual talent show.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a growing poet, I was still learning how to write the right rhymes,” said Saab.<\/p>\n

“My first piece was about the struggles of high school and finding your identity.”<\/p>\n

Though she did not place in the contest, it taught Saab a valuable lesson.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerforming in the talent show in Grade 11 really helped me come out of my shell.”<\/p>\n

Saab\u2019s grandmother was a lover of poetry, who often read Arabic poetry to her granddaughter.<\/p>\n

A member of the University of Calgary\u2019s Spoken Word Association and the Muslim Art Movement, Saab speaks on behalf of Muslims and Arabic artists who have not yet found ways to express themselves.<\/p>\n

With her mother\u2019s help, Saab began to work on pieces in Arabic as a way to get in touch with her culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is her passion,\u201d said Oma Rahman, mother of the young poet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever she writes Arabic [poetry], her sisters and I gather around to listen to her. She has so much heart in her words, I only hope others can feel it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the increasing cultural diversity in Canada, Saab has experienced discrimination when performing in Arabic instead of English.<\/p>\n

Lauren Thompson, a member of the spoken word community and a friend of Saab, has witnessed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe once performed a poem in Arabic at one of our poetry slams and it was about how she feels lost in her culture and its traditions as a third generation Arabic-Muslim in Canada,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n

During the performance, a middle-aged [Caucasian woman] whispered to Thompson, “shouldn\u2019t she be performing so we can all understand? What\u2019s the point of performing if no one can understand?”<\/p>\n

There have been other times when Saab has performed in Arabic at poetry slams held at pubs where customers have directed racial slurs at Saab.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really let it affect me,\u201d said Saab.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m content with who I am and if they don\u2019t like it, they don\u2019t have to listen to my poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have the right platform to express who I am. – Jordan Saab<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite the discrimination she has faced, Saab has the support of her family, friends and community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the right platform to express who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

After performing in March at the Muslim Art Movement<\/a>, Saab feels secure with her identity and who she is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I have a place to speak my true feelings and a place where I can be accepted and welcomed by my peers,\u201d said Saab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jordan Saab is a 19 year-old spoken word poet who has faced some discrimination as an Arabic performer, but that doesn’t stop her from voicing out her thoughts and feelings. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":403,"featured_media":37992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S1 Jordan Saab Spoken Word Poet","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,711,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37916","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-featured","9":"category-u-of-calgary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37916"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39392,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37916\/revisions\/39392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}