They all dared to challenge the system. (page 4)

Up Close with

Barbara Nimri Aziz
Radio host, anthropologist and author of books including the new “Swimming Up the Tigris: Real Life Encounters with Iraq.” How the fast-talking (we mean that in a good way!) New York Voice of the Middle Eastern Community got powerful in five (not so) easy steps:

1. She saw the problem. “In the early 80’s, the ignorance was rampant. The information America was getting was skewed towards crisis. As an educator it was my responsibility to present the people, their families, the community in their correct light, as an anthropologist would see it. I wanted to provide a respectful forum away from the negativity that the mainstream media always showcased.”

2. She found her spot. “Voices of the Arab/Muslim Community” has aired continuously on New York’s WBAI since 1989. “I conduct anthropology now as a journalist. It was, and is, a perfect transition to radio. I used all of my skills—research, interviewing, one-to-one contacts—to showcase the other side of my community as a tribute to my own culture.”

3. She presented a solution. “When you can be in a proactive position in the media, it changes everything. Our problem as a community is that typically we are reacting. Very few people deny themselves the opportunity to defend something that goes awry. When you are defensive you lose your power position. When you are proactive, you don’t have to explain your place. You get to say what you want to say and not what you are being forced to defend. “Voices” provides that proactive solution.”

4. She found the best and brightest. “Etel Adnan, Naomi Shihab Nye, Suheir Hammad. They are the heroes. Their voices that people have heard on the show carry a universal message that goes beyond our ultimately finite culture. They are dynamic, active, and free thinking, and their works are brilliant.”

5. She continued her advocacy. “My book ‘Tigris’ is my version of advocacy journalism. It can be the voice of the Iraqi people, people who are not much different from you and me. I wanted to remind Americans of the recent history of Iraq. We forget what our relationship used to be with Iraq and how it was not always hostile. The war has transformed it from a modern, productive, thriving, educated land to something hardly recognizable from the UN embargo of 1989. I knew Iraqi as people with dignity and class who loved their country. They understood they were the custodians of 6,000 years of history. After the ’91 Gulf War, I spoke with a woman, and the first thing she said to me after 42 days of bombing, was ‘We couldn’t read.’ It was her only concern that she was intellectually cut off from the world.

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