A review by adriatrees
The BreakBeat Poets, Vol. 3: Halal If You Hear Me by Safia Elhillo, Fatimah Asghar
5.0
Another amazing poetry anthology in the Breakbeat Poet series that centers Muslim voices across sexual, racial, and gender identities. Safia Elhillo, an editor along with Fatimah Asghar, ends the anthology with her poem “Now More Than Ever” where she discusses how others perceive her Muslim identity after the 2016 US election. Her last few lines are striking: “My being hunted did not make me a Muslim. Or more Muslim. The election did not make me a Muslim. Or more. Or less. Not Now More Than Ever. Since the beginning.”
A recurring theme that is important is that poetry by writers who are marginalized (by religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality) do not have to make their art consumable to white consumers. In Marwa Helal’s poem “Say Ameen”, she writes how she is trading poetry through emails with a friend for feedback and “she worries the ending doesn’t land. That “they” won’t get it. I tell her the key is to center ourselves. Don’t worry about they. Focus on us. It’s like this: if you’re holding the camera then just keep it pointed at us, at yourself. Zoom in.”
What a treasure of a poetry anthology! I am excited to read more from the poets whose art was displayed in this anthology.
A recurring theme that is important is that poetry by writers who are marginalized (by religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality) do not have to make their art consumable to white consumers. In Marwa Helal’s poem “Say Ameen”, she writes how she is trading poetry through emails with a friend for feedback and “she worries the ending doesn’t land. That “they” won’t get it. I tell her the key is to center ourselves. Don’t worry about they. Focus on us. It’s like this: if you’re holding the camera then just keep it pointed at us, at yourself. Zoom in.”
What a treasure of a poetry anthology! I am excited to read more from the poets whose art was displayed in this anthology.