Radio Tahrir

Forthcoming

Snatching liberty seemed compelling. Some of us thrived; some of us died. All of us had a taste. from author Toni Morrison, on friendships.

I don't want to see stores looted or buildings burned; but African- Americans have been living in burning buildings for years, choking on smoke as flames burn closer and closer. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

That’s not a chip on my shoulder. That’s your foot on my neck. – Malcolm X

"We must never, ever give up. We must be brave. We must be courageous." John Lewis, activist, congressman. 1940-2020

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. ~ Dalai Lama

"Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public." Professor Cornel West.

"Only by learning to live in harmony with your contradictions can you keep it all afloat." Audre Lorde

"The serious function of racism is distraction". 1995, Toni Morrison; Portland lecture, Playing in The Dark

“If I tell the story, I control the version. Because if I tell the story, I can make you laugh, and I would rather have you laugh at me than feel sorry for me.” Nora Ephron

"Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another." author Toni Morrison (1931- 2019)

“If I tell the story, I control the version. Because if I tell the story, I can make you laugh, and I would rather have you laugh at me than feel sorry for me”; Nora Ephron, author/comedian

"Make your story count". Michelle Obama

"Social pain is understood through the lens of racial animus". Researcher/author Sean McElwee writing in Salon, 2016

"We are citizens, not subjects. We have the right to criticize government without fear." Chelsea Manning; activist/whisleblower

“My father was a slave and my people died to build this country, and I’m going to stay right here and have a part of it, just like you, And no fascist minded people, like you, will drive me from it. Is that clear?” Paul Robeson; activist/singer

“We have a system of justice in this country that treats you much better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent”. from civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson

“This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?” Frederick Douglass, WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS 4TH JULY? 07.05.1852 (full text in blog)

Senator Elizabeth Warren "We're a country that is built on our differences; that is our strength, not our weakness"

"We are more alike than we are different" ~ Maya Angelou

As a Black writer, I was expected to accept the role of victim. That made it difficult in the beginning to be a writer. James Baldwin

I often feel that there must have been something that I should’ve done that I didn’t do. But I can’t identify what it is that I didn’t do. That’s the first difficulty. And the second is, what makes you think you’re it?

Harry Belafonte, activist and singe

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble; It's what you know for sure that just ainst so.

Mark Twain

You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you.

Mary Tyler Moore

You can’t defend Christianity by being against refugees and other religions

Pope Francis:

"I don't have to be what you want me to be". Muhammad Ali

"The Secret of Living Well and Longer: eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and love without measure" attributed to Tibetan sources

Recent audio posts include interviews with Rumi interpreter Shahram Shiva, London-based author Aamer Hussein, South African Muslim scholar, professor Farid Esack, and Iraqi journalist Nermeen Al-Mufti's brief account of Kirkuk City history. Your comments on our blogs are always welcome.

Features

Shadia Mansour

HipHop Palestinian vocalist visits our WBAI studio. Interviewed by Phil Kai; see her tribute to Mahmoud Darwish in our "Poems and Songs"

Sample 6:16
sound

Sample by vocalist Shadia Mansour; also see Shadia's interview under Features 3:35

Sample 4:30

Malcolm X

Excerpt from Malcolm AlHajj Malik Shabazz' comments in the debate "Black Muslims vs Sit-ins" with James Baldwin and head of the NAACP.

Sample 6:07

Saadia Aslam

Portrait of Saadia by Myrna

2011 co-producers

Sarah Malaika, Saadia Aslam, BNimri Aziz, Aydin Baltaci

Walid Khalidi

Palestinian historian Professor Khalidi addresses the United Nations on the history of Jerusalem; Nov 2009.Part 1. See our Dec. 29, 2009 podcast for the full lecture.
sound

Sample Lecture: Jerusalem History 5:13

Sample 5:00

Hanan al Shaykh

author of several highly praised novels, Al Shaykh's latest book is "The Locust and the Bird: My Mother's Story".

During a brief visit to New York in September, Hanan visited Tahrir at WBAI and we had a long talk with her about her mother's story.

This is a short clip from our studio interview.
Sample 3:18

Shahram Shiva

Rumi interpreter and translator Shahram Shiva talks about the Sufi poet and performs Rumi with music.
sound

Sample Shahram Shiva in conversation with BN Aziz 6:42
sound

Sample by translator and interpreter Shahram Shiva 2:37

Professor Huda Ammash

Leading Iraqi environmental biologist, PH D in molecular biology from University of Missouri, Columbia. Former Dean at Baghdad University and highly regarded scholar.

Recently released from a US military prison in Iraq after being detained by US authorities without charge for 31 months.*
During the period of the UN embargo, Ammash was engaged in important research on the effects of toxicity created by the 1991 war and embargo on the Iraqi population and environment.
See her article "Toxic Pollution, the Gulf War, and Sanctions" which she wrote for "Iraq Under Siege", South End Press, 2000, Boston.
(* Two days after Ammash's release, her husband, Dr. Ahmed Mekki, also a scholar, was taken into custody and remains in detention, held by US military authorities.)

Ammash speaks about war related pollution in Iraq in the accompanying talk with Barbara Nimri Aziz, Baghdad, 1998. (An excerpt from the first of two interviews.)
Environmental Ruin in Iraq by BN Aziz
sound Sample Professor Ammash, excerpt part 1, reporting research on public health effects of 1991 war and embargo 6:22

Rana Husseini

Journalist and author of the newly released "Murder in the Name of Honor: When a Woman's Life is Worth Less than Honor," interviewed by BN Aziz in Amman in Sept. 2009. Complete interview, broadcast Sept 15 is now available free on our podcast (radiotahrir.org)

Sample 4:46

Houda Ghenim

after Vermeer's 'Girl with the Pearl' by Houda Ghenim, student artist; Algeria, 2008

Burhan Al-Mufti, artwork2

Omar Mullick

NY-based documentary photographer, interviewed by S. Malaika and S. Aslam

Sample 4:20

Naomi Shihab Nye reads "Half and Half "

and talks about her latest books. With BN Aziz

Sample 4:31

Nisrin Elamin

Sudan activist Elamin, working with Sudanese women worldwide to support self-help work in Darfur, came into our studio to tell us about her country. Go to our Dec 8, 2009 podcast for the full interview.

Sample 6:17

Ahmed Ahmed, stand up comedian

Ahmed Ahmed: trained as an actor, now a standup comedian. Ahmed is featured in the 4th annual Arab American Comedy Festival, New York, November 2006.
He performs across the USA, and internationally.

sound

Sample from our WBAI studio interview 6:08

Nidaa Al-Islam Hussein

Broadcaster Nidaa Hussein talks about her work at Syria Radio and her studies at the new Open University in Damascus. Produced by BN Aziz, S. Sharif, R. Nasr

Sample 5:40

Munir Bashir

Iraqi composer and oud virtuoso, from our 1991 interview in Baghdad.
sound

Sample interviewed in Baghdad, 1991; English tanslation and voice by Mari Kadi 7:00

Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor

Kalhor, Iranian musician, impresario of kamancheh, speaks with Tahrir about his work and life between Brooklyn, India and Iran.
With interludes from his CD Crossing The Silk Road.
sound

Sample Kamancheh virtuoso Kalhor in collaboration with Shujaat H. Khan; an excerpt from our 55 min. interview 7:30
sound

Sample Kamancheh virtuoso Kalhor interview excerpt 9:30

I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against.

AlHajj Malek Shabazz, Malcolm X

Tahrir Diwan

a poem.. a song..: "In The Heart of the Heart of Another Country"; Interview 2
"In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country"; a passage, recorded in 2006
See poems and songs list
Flash
: Qur'an Surat Al-Shams
from 'Approaching The Qur'an', CD.
See audio list
Book review: LailaLalami's
The Moor's Account
reviewed by BN Aziz.
See review list
Tahrir Team Maysoon Zayid: Read about Maysoon Zayid in the team page.
See Tahrir Team