Sonita Alizadeh: Afghan Rap
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"As a child, Sonita and her family fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban. While seeking refuge in Iran, Sonita wrote “Daughters for Sale” after her parents tried to sell her in exchange for her brother’s wife. She watched many of her friends vanish—forced to marry in similar situations she so narrowly avoided. “Daughters for Sale” became a true anthem against child marriage and quickly went viral, grabbing the attention of a nonprofit called Strongheart.

In 2015, Strongheart facilitated Sonita’s move to the United States. And the rest is history. Or really, it’s just the beginning. Now, she receives the formal education women are denied in Afghanistan. She’s featured in over 200 media outlets across 20 countries. She stars in the award-winning documentary about her life, which debuted in Europe last year. She’s spoken from global stages, met world leaders and performed for international crowds.
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Sonita calls herself a raptivist, fighting to end child marriage—one performance at a time."

Together for Girls: Strength in Numbers
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Photo by Joel Heard on Unsplash
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Photo by Firoz Sidiqy on Unsplash
Why it matters: Seventy percent of Afghans are under 25.  Afghans are an inherently poetic people, moved by the wisdom of words, rhythms, and melodies.  What poetry was to an older generation, rap is for the emerging generation.  It speaks truth to power and can help create a new social order for Afghans.  What happens in Afghanistan affects many other in the world who want the best for Afghans and whose own lives are directly or indirectly influenced by what happens in Afghanistan.  That's why Afghan Rap matters.  That's why it is important to recognize that the winds of the Spirit blow through its prophetic invocations.
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The world of Afghan rap is wide and varied, created by some Afghans who live in Afghanistan and some who live in distant lands.  The purpose of this page is to introduce a few of the musicians and encourage you to explore more on your own.  A good place to get started is the Afghan Rap website.  Click here.
Sonita Alizadeh: Breaking Down Walls

When she was eight years old, Sonita Alizadeh and her family fled war-torn Afghanistan for Iran.  When she was sixteen, then living in Afghanistan, her mother told her she had to marry a man back in Afghanistan she didn't know.  Sonita created a video about it, put it on Youtube; and the video dissuaded her mother.  Now Sonita is a student in Utah, on scholarship, creating more rap videos about injustices.  It takes true grit to have a strong heart and wide mind.  It takes courage to be a fat soul: courage to say no to the idea that you are disposable and dispensable and yes to your own life. The "no" and the "yes" come from the same deep place in the heart: the spirit of creative transformation at work in the world.  Certainly the spirit was at work in Sonita as she created the video, but it was also in her mother in her freedom to change her mind.  The spirit is like a wind which blows freely in the world and freely in people's hearts, calling them to creativity and compassion, to break down walls of violence and injustice. 

Child Labor

​"I was a child laborer when I was a refugee in Iran. I was living with my brother, and our conversations were pretty heavy most of the time: He wanted me to abandon my education and go back to Afghanistan, because paying rent was very hard for him — his income was just enough to take care of himself and sometimes help my mother.

So I decided to start working, despite the fact it was highly unacceptable in my family for a girl to work outside the house. I started working, cleaning the nonprofit that gave me an education every day in order to make ends meet. I was at the school from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. I would clean the nonprofit in the morning, then go to my classes. In the afternoon I would clean the nonprofit again, and then go home. Most of the time my friends would help me.

The only thing that would bother and embarrass me was cleaning the toilets in front of the students, my friends. Gradually, life became harder, because I took responsibility for all the expenses. As conditions become harder, I also became tougher. No longer was I ashamed of washing the toilets. In reality, I was happy to be able to pay the rent, or buy some things for myself. I had more confidence in myself. I knew that if my life conditions had any mercy on me, I had developed enough strength to find myself a way out through the walls."

-- Sonita Alizadeh, reported Shuka Kalantari, PRI, September 30, 2015
Photo from Ninara
Open Horizons