Reviews

Before the Next Bomb Drops: Rising Up from Brooklyn to Palestine by Remi Kanazi

year23's review

challenging dark informative sad fast-paced

4.5

dianna_reads's review

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

nomonbooks's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense

4.0

satrayreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional fast-paced

4.75

plantingneurons's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

#InsideOut      

building bombed, beams through flesh 
   buried under rubble
   suffocated to death 
but only beheading is barbaric to the West 
   #Gaza

[…]

        45 degrees
     clear to the sky  
  still would terrorize
soldiers and police aim for the head
chest. kneecaps. ligaments. debilitate. disable
bilin. nabi saleh. oakland. athens. #teargas

[…]

1000-pound
    bombs
don’t inquire about
the sexuality
    of victims below
#pinkwashing

[…]

transphobic feminists   misogynistic socialists
anti-Black leftists   ableist Palestine activists
selective justice   isn’t a path to liberation
#NotJustUs

guccinothoochie's review

challenging dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

I started this book prior to the media explosion of the conflict in Palestine.. reading it in the context of present context it made me very emotional. Remi writes in such a passionate, harsh, and informative way needed for the tone of this occupation. Highly recommend if you want to learn about what’s going on in poetry form.

abbie_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

Brutal, spare, unflinching and unapologetic about Kanazi’s right to be angry about the brutalities suffered by his people in Palestine. I can and cannot believe that people come up to him after his shows and tell him he should lighten it up, be less aggressive when his family members are being killed. Why are white people so intent on tone policing the grief of people of colour, it’s disgusting. I can only imagine how powerful these short, sharp poems would be spoken aloud by the author. 

Published in 2015, another brilliant collection for anyone who seems to think that Palestine’s history of tragedy began on 7th October 2023. Anyone wilfully ignoring history at this point is doing untold damage. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Torture, Murder, Religious bigotry, Death, Violence, Police brutality, Racism, and Child death

emomaggie's review

I have no words. So powerful, moving, and deeply gripping. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

katharina90's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative fast-paced

5.0

A strong collection of modern poetry.

"we will return
that is not a threat
not a wish
a hope
or a dream
but a promise"
From: Nakba

"this is not normal
not rational
but it is
and it was
and it won't stop being
just because you refuse
to acknowledge it"
From: Lit Up

"the world is a messed-up place
and you seem to be profiting nicely"
From: Nothing to Worry About

"you want to battle oppression? 
confront your own complicity 
in communities of solidarity"
From: Solidarity

"your system of injustice
is coming to an end
and whether you 
recognize it or not yet
it will be liberating
for you too"
From: Normalize This! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Colonisation, Death, and Police brutality

ellieeeeeee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

"it is 
and it was
and it won't stop being 
just       because       you     refuse
to         acknowledge it"

"you want to battle oppression? 
confront your own complicity 
in communities of solidarity"

"if to prop up your own plight 
you have to shove another 
people's face down in the mud 
you are simply affirming
the very structure of cruelty
you claim to be combating" 

"repackaged racism and domination
of natives may mask the messenger
but it doesn't transform the parcel
#LiberalZionism"