March 1, 2022 • 9 mins
For this entry of Women Around the World, we focus in on the poet and activist Emtithal Mahmoud, and how her work has brought attention to war and displacement.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stephane.
Never told you a protection of iHeart radio. Annie. I
have a question because we've talked about poetry a lot,
but have you ever won an award or actually published
(00:26):
a poem. I have won an award, but not for poetry.
But I did win one for I was known as
like the essay Queen, and I won the state Essay Championship,
which I felt like a lot of poet who was
in there I was writing about like it was a
very metaphorical piece about hurricanes and change and all this stuff.
(00:50):
I wanna I wanna medal for that. Okay, uh my phone.
My poetry was published in our local school paper. It
does not mean much, but it was published there. Oh
my god, now that you said that, I remember we
had like paper bound like every year school year had
(01:11):
a book of their own. It was published in our
schools and we would all buy it. Oh my god. Yes,
I think it mind burned because our house burned down
several copies. But now that you said that, I think
I had poems. I'm putting decent quotes published in that too.
Forgot about that, but yeah, I try to get one
of my poems published in in online publication did not win.
(01:36):
I don't even think they responded, it's okay, it's okay,
I'm okay. I did win a short story, fictional story
for my school. Never beyond that, I guess I'm not
really a great writer, now that I think about it.
Even though I thought I was pretty good. Apparently I'm not. Oh,
I don't know about that. Today we are talking about
someone who was amazing, specifically of put with poetry and
(02:00):
about their beautiful works as well as their amazing activism
into thought. Mahmud or Emmy Mahmud for her supporters and
those who know her, um And she is a world
renowned and world champion poet who has been using her
voice and her pen to advocate for her community and
for her country, for her people and just people. Uh.
(02:22):
She wrote her first poem at the age of ten,
and it was titled War in Darfur, referencing the violence
and genocide occurring in her home country of Sudan. Um
And she is not stopped using her power of words
to fight for so many who continue to be affected
by war and displacement. Uh and My Mood was born
(02:43):
in Cartoon Sudan in nineteen but later moved to the
US with her mother and father, and she is gone
back to Sudan often with her family. Doll help continue
to protest and advocate for her community and her people.
And it's obvious that her love and her passion for
her people have only grown as she has grown in
her talent and her wisdom and her activism. Yes, and
(03:06):
in her interview with Bizarre, Mahmoud says about poetry and
her work, for me, it was a fact of life
that if you know what the cost of violence is,
you must speak up about it and try to get
as many people to understand as possible. Poetry in itself
is very powerful, and she's by nature of expressing ourselves
through this form, we're seizing that agency we might not
have had before, and she has done exactly that. In seventeen,
(03:30):
Mahmoud was able to set up the first peace talks
including civilians in Sudan in the form of poetry town halls,
and went on a one thousand kilometer peace walk from
the fort to Khartoum in thirty days the following year,
with thousands of people joining her along the way. Yeah,
this was part of her initiative that she took to
(03:50):
Sedan in trying to bring up the mini controversies that
she's been advocating for and against in essentially advocating for
the refugees that's been this placed throughout. It's amazing when
you whenever I read about people like her, I always
just sit back and you're like, man, I'm not doing
with my life, especially saying how long she's been doing this.
(04:14):
In twenty fifteen, Mamod won the Individual Poetry Slam Championship
in Washington, d C. With the poem she had written
shortly after the death of her grandmother, titled Mama, which
she stated was quote almost like a send off for
my grandmother. It was hectic, it was painful, it was
relief maybe all of the stages of grief at once
in a poem. And in that same year she was
(04:35):
named BBC's one Most Inspirational Women and then continued on
in the following year the Women of the World co
Champion and with those wins that she broke three world
records in quote contemporary poetry as the youngest recipient of
each prize and first poet to hold both titles concurrently,
(04:55):
so breaking records on top of that, and yeah, she
has since gradual awaited from Yale with the studies from
anthropology and molecular cellular developmental biology and was awarded a
certificate in Global health. And yeah, she double majored uh
and created her own double major because she says she
wanted to know the history, the ins and outs of
(05:16):
man so she could solve all the medical problems as well.
I'm sure like it's amazing. And she is the co
founder of Sickle Cell Nepal, which is a quote grassroots
research initiative that combats sickle cell disease on the ground
in Katmandu and Nepal Gunge Nepaul, reaching over three hundred
patients since fourteen. And with all of that, Mahmud has
(05:39):
not stopped writing and inspiring with her poetry. She has
been working with the u N h c R, which
is the U n Refugee Agency and was appointed as
a Goodwill Ambassador in eighteen after performing at the first
ever ted X event held in a refugee camp, ted
X Kakuma Camp. She has been performing and speaking all
(05:59):
over the world and including music festivals, conferences, you and
general assemblies and just recently she spoke on the impacts
of climate change on refugees titled die balladna I hope
I'm not butchering that meaning our Land in Arabic, which
has been published globally and you can find it on
her site and you should definitely check it out right
(06:19):
and of her experiences, she told Hyper's bizarre quote, being
a black woman, being a former refugee, being a Muslim woman,
being young, a poet, all these different things can be
a little bit disarming because people will constantly underestimate you,
and in those moments you're able to surprise them in
a really good way. And I love that take because
she talked about all the many events that she's she's
(06:40):
been in present for, including events with Obama and sitting
down with Obama and talking about different issues for the
Muslim people as well as refugees and has been a
giant advocate. So just talking about how she's underestimated in
just essentially blowing people away with our poetry. And if
you do get a chance, you should definitely go look
at her site. It's Amy dash Mott mood dot com
(07:02):
um and you can find a lot of videos that's
been published for her, her performing and her just speaking
at different conferences. But before we close here, we did
want to try and speak one of our poems because
it is so beautiful. So sorry. We love poetry that
we're going to try our best to perform it. And
(07:23):
I say, just speak it essentially. And this is from
her published works, Sister's Entrance, which you should absolutely go
check out. I'm about to get a copy and it's
titled Millennial. I think that's very on point. I want
to be owed something for all this virtue, this righteousness,
satisfaction for sacrifice. But that's not the usual way of things.
(07:45):
So I joined a group for young Muslims. We hear
the insides of our own thoughts from the mouths of
one another. There's sorrow here, and in that sorrow solace.
There's joy here, and in that joy abandoned such arrogance
was to have ever felt that I was the only
one of anything. I really loved it. It's beautiful poetry. Yeah,
(08:10):
and you should definitely go check out. Like I said,
her works. Um, you can find it on YouTube. Just
google her name. She is phenomenal. Obviously, she has been
doing this work for so long and has been a
part of such a giant conversation and as in fact
that poem our Land, she talked about how she went
(08:31):
through the different refugee camps and spoke to individuals and
was tesked by them tell them these words, and she
took a lot of what they said and in her
interviews with them and put it in her poetry. Um,
and you can hear it. It's it's beautiful and it's
heart shattering and heart pounding in every way. But she
(08:51):
does an amazing job in what she does and the
power of words, and just go and beyond that doing
amazing things of her education as well, like it is phenomenal,
and she has been in the US and she is
an asset to the US as well as UH for
refugees all over the world. So hats off and thank
(09:12):
you for what you're doing. Yes, yes, thank you so much,
And listeners go go look up her work because it
is it is amazing. And as always, if you have
any suggestions for someone we should cover on this segment,
or any suggestions at all, you can email us at
Steffanie mom Stuff at iHeart media dot com. You can
find us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast or on
Instagram and stuff. I've never told you. Thanks as always
(09:34):
to our sup producer Christina, thank you, and thanks to
you for listening. Steff I've Never told you. Production of
I Heart Radio. For more podcast my Heart Radio visited
at her radio app, Apple Podcast. Wherever you listen to
your favorite shifts
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stephane.
Never told you a protection of iHeart radio. Annie. I
have a question because we've talked about poetry a lot,
but have you ever won an award or actually published
(00:26):
a poem. I have won an award, but not for poetry.
But I did win one for I was known as
like the essay Queen, and I won the state Essay Championship,
which I felt like a lot of poet who was
in there I was writing about like it was a
very metaphorical piece about hurricanes and change and all this stuff.
(00:50):
I wanna I wanna medal for that. Okay, uh my phone.
My poetry was published in our local school paper. It
does not mean much, but it was published there. Oh
my god, now that you said that, I remember we
had like paper bound like every year school year had
(01:11):
a book of their own. It was published in our
schools and we would all buy it. Oh my god. Yes,
I think it mind burned because our house burned down
several copies. But now that you said that, I think
I had poems. I'm putting decent quotes published in that too.
Forgot about that, but yeah, I try to get one
of my poems published in in online publication did not win.
(01:36):
I don't even think they responded, it's okay, it's okay,
I'm okay. I did win a short story, fictional story
for my school. Never beyond that, I guess I'm not
really a great writer, now that I think about it.
Even though I thought I was pretty good. Apparently I'm not. Oh,
I don't know about that. Today we are talking about
someone who was amazing, specifically of put with poetry and
(02:00):
about their beautiful works as well as their amazing activism
into thought. Mahmud or Emmy Mahmud for her supporters and
those who know her, um And she is a world
renowned and world champion poet who has been using her
voice and her pen to advocate for her community and
for her country, for her people and just people. Uh.
(02:22):
She wrote her first poem at the age of ten,
and it was titled War in Darfur, referencing the violence
and genocide occurring in her home country of Sudan. Um
And she is not stopped using her power of words
to fight for so many who continue to be affected
by war and displacement. Uh and My Mood was born
(02:43):
in Cartoon Sudan in nineteen but later moved to the
US with her mother and father, and she is gone
back to Sudan often with her family. Doll help continue
to protest and advocate for her community and her people.
And it's obvious that her love and her passion for
her people have only grown as she has grown in
her talent and her wisdom and her activism. Yes, and
(03:06):
in her interview with Bizarre, Mahmoud says about poetry and
her work, for me, it was a fact of life
that if you know what the cost of violence is,
you must speak up about it and try to get
as many people to understand as possible. Poetry in itself
is very powerful, and she's by nature of expressing ourselves
through this form, we're seizing that agency we might not
have had before, and she has done exactly that. In seventeen,
(03:30):
Mahmoud was able to set up the first peace talks
including civilians in Sudan in the form of poetry town halls,
and went on a one thousand kilometer peace walk from
the fort to Khartoum in thirty days the following year,
with thousands of people joining her along the way. Yeah,
this was part of her initiative that she took to
(03:50):
Sedan in trying to bring up the mini controversies that
she's been advocating for and against in essentially advocating for
the refugees that's been this placed throughout. It's amazing when
you whenever I read about people like her, I always
just sit back and you're like, man, I'm not doing
with my life, especially saying how long she's been doing this.
(04:14):
In twenty fifteen, Mamod won the Individual Poetry Slam Championship
in Washington, d C. With the poem she had written
shortly after the death of her grandmother, titled Mama, which
she stated was quote almost like a send off for
my grandmother. It was hectic, it was painful, it was
relief maybe all of the stages of grief at once
in a poem. And in that same year she was
(04:35):
named BBC's one Most Inspirational Women and then continued on
in the following year the Women of the World co
Champion and with those wins that she broke three world
records in quote contemporary poetry as the youngest recipient of
each prize and first poet to hold both titles concurrently,
(04:55):
so breaking records on top of that, and yeah, she
has since gradual awaited from Yale with the studies from
anthropology and molecular cellular developmental biology and was awarded a
certificate in Global health. And yeah, she double majored uh
and created her own double major because she says she
wanted to know the history, the ins and outs of
(05:16):
man so she could solve all the medical problems as well.
I'm sure like it's amazing. And she is the co
founder of Sickle Cell Nepal, which is a quote grassroots
research initiative that combats sickle cell disease on the ground
in Katmandu and Nepal Gunge Nepaul, reaching over three hundred
patients since fourteen. And with all of that, Mahmud has
(05:39):
not stopped writing and inspiring with her poetry. She has
been working with the u N h c R, which
is the U n Refugee Agency and was appointed as
a Goodwill Ambassador in eighteen after performing at the first
ever ted X event held in a refugee camp, ted
X Kakuma Camp. She has been performing and speaking all
(05:59):
over the world and including music festivals, conferences, you and
general assemblies and just recently she spoke on the impacts
of climate change on refugees titled die balladna I hope
I'm not butchering that meaning our Land in Arabic, which
has been published globally and you can find it on
her site and you should definitely check it out right
(06:19):
and of her experiences, she told Hyper's bizarre quote, being
a black woman, being a former refugee, being a Muslim woman,
being young, a poet, all these different things can be
a little bit disarming because people will constantly underestimate you,
and in those moments you're able to surprise them in
a really good way. And I love that take because
she talked about all the many events that she's she's
(06:40):
been in present for, including events with Obama and sitting
down with Obama and talking about different issues for the
Muslim people as well as refugees and has been a
giant advocate. So just talking about how she's underestimated in
just essentially blowing people away with our poetry. And if
you do get a chance, you should definitely go look
at her site. It's Amy dash Mott mood dot com
(07:02):
um and you can find a lot of videos that's
been published for her, her performing and her just speaking
at different conferences. But before we close here, we did
want to try and speak one of our poems because
it is so beautiful. So sorry. We love poetry that
we're going to try our best to perform it. And
(07:23):
I say, just speak it essentially. And this is from
her published works, Sister's Entrance, which you should absolutely go
check out. I'm about to get a copy and it's
titled Millennial. I think that's very on point. I want
to be owed something for all this virtue, this righteousness,
satisfaction for sacrifice. But that's not the usual way of things.
(07:45):
So I joined a group for young Muslims. We hear
the insides of our own thoughts from the mouths of
one another. There's sorrow here, and in that sorrow solace.
There's joy here, and in that joy abandoned such arrogance
was to have ever felt that I was the only
one of anything. I really loved it. It's beautiful poetry. Yeah,
(08:10):
and you should definitely go check out. Like I said,
her works. Um, you can find it on YouTube. Just
google her name. She is phenomenal. Obviously, she has been
doing this work for so long and has been a
part of such a giant conversation and as in fact
that poem our Land, she talked about how she went
(08:31):
through the different refugee camps and spoke to individuals and
was tesked by them tell them these words, and she
took a lot of what they said and in her
interviews with them and put it in her poetry. Um,
and you can hear it. It's it's beautiful and it's
heart shattering and heart pounding in every way. But she
(08:51):
does an amazing job in what she does and the
power of words, and just go and beyond that doing
amazing things of her education as well, like it is phenomenal,
and she has been in the US and she is
an asset to the US as well as UH for
refugees all over the world. So hats off and thank
(09:12):
you for what you're doing. Yes, yes, thank you so much,
And listeners go go look up her work because it
is it is amazing. And as always, if you have
any suggestions for someone we should cover on this segment,
or any suggestions at all, you can email us at
Steffanie mom Stuff at iHeart media dot com. You can
find us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast or on
Instagram and stuff. I've never told you. Thanks as always
(09:34):
to our sup producer Christina, thank you, and thanks to
you for listening. Steff I've Never told you. Production of
I Heart Radio. For more podcast my Heart Radio visited
at her radio app, Apple Podcast. Wherever you listen to
your favorite shifts
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