You are here: Home / 2010 / Archives for January 2010

Sharing Speak 2B Free’s story in an informational interview

January 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I was recently asked to participate in an informational interview on entrepreneurship and I thought I would share some of the questions I was asked about Speak 2B Free:

How do you feel about being an entrepreneur? What was your inspiration? How did you identify this wonderful opportunity?

I feel like I am blessed to be an entrepreneur. I cannot imagine any other path in my life that would have forced me to come out of hiding my gifts and challenged me in such a way. My inspiration has always been that I love writing and I am surrounded by amazing artists that the world is not able to see and complement that broke my heart and inspired me to change something. I discovered this opportunity during the entrepreneurship class at Simmons, Teresa kept challenging me to make it make sense and fill a need.

 Was there any specific preparation? How did you plan for it? Did everything go as per the plans or were there any surprises, disappointments, triumphs? How long it took you to get started from the point when you had the idea?

The business plan, informational interviews and research of the idea were all preparation but to be honest I think the whole journey up until now (and probably even in the future) has been constant preparation. I was so not ready to be an entrepreneur; I was trying to find a job when I decided to do this, and even then it was because I needed to complete the certificate course but somewhere along the way I realized the resistance was just fear of the unknown and that I was really passionate about serving artists and finding a way to make sure poets started getting paid for their art. The disappointments have been many (more than I like to admit) and I think I have constant surprises on what can actually go wrong and how it can crush me and break me. It took me about 5 months to get started on the idea – that’s because I worked on it as my practicum, it would have taken a lot longer if I had not (I know because I was just scared).

 How did you finance the start-up? Roughly how much initial investment is needed to setup a business at this scale?

Speak 2B Free has no funding so I am being hyper creative in how we get things done, I have amazing people working with me and I also use whatever money I make in strange ways to fund what we need (I work full time on the company so that is another tale for another day).We need a minimum of $500,000 to fund the company because of all the software innovation we are doing and we are exploring various ways of funding but if there is one thing I am learning is that you have to keep going and do whatever it takes to get to the next phase.

Speak 2B Free is still the beginning baby stages so I have no clue how much commitment it takes to be successful but from what I can see it will take me always working on it full time because there is just so much to learn and get done. 

Could you please share some of your learnings in the process? If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

The key learning for me is just have fun and do not try to control the process, become comfortable in uncertainty. I have realized that things will go wrong and I will have set backs and business ideas change, employees leave and personal drama will happen at the most crucial time but the only thing I can control is me and how I react to all that. If every disappointment breaks me then I will never become a person of character. So I am learning to make hard decisions and cut loses early and listen to my gut. If I could do anything differently I would have started working on my insecurities a lot earlier and faced them long before but I think maybe this is the process I needed to learn to trust myself. Speak 2B Free is doing that (forcing me to trust myself) to me every day especially because there are many milestone we have not yet met and people cannot see the work that is getting done behind the scenes.

 How does your family feel about you being an entrepreneur? Is work-life balance possible? Does being a woman make it different? How do you think a marriage or family commitment affect your involvement in your business?

My parents are both entrepreneurs and so is then majority of my family so to be honest my journey is not at all that interesting to them. Sad I know, but it also means that nobody stresses me and tells me to get a job or anything instead I get parents that tell me that it is natural to struggle in the beginning but the important thing is never to give up and to keep moving forward (this is my dad’s advice to me). 

I think being a woman makes it different just in the way I have approached the process – I have made it into a self exploration and spiritual journey. Also I have been told that the way I manage is feminine so I am learning to make that a complement by being an iron butterfly.

As for marriage and family commitment – Right now I am dating Speak 2B Free but I think I want to marry an entrepreneur because they would understand why I never go out, why I eat and read emails at the same time, why I work from 12 pm to 5 am in the morning (and break only to chant, talk on the phone and jog) and sleep my mornings away. I think I would like to have kids in another decade and not before then, so I am not too worried about motherhood right now to be honest. 

Filed Under: -General business advice Tagged With: , , ,

Fear of rejection kills all great talent

January 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I hope you are well.  Last week I did a Speak 2B Free blogpost on how the best poets are the ones that are not scared to strip naked.
I must admit that was one of my most fun blog posts to write because it has led me to asking even more interesting questions. Why it is so hard for so many of us to strip and let the creative within us out?  Why is being an artist and producing something that represents you always surrounded by internal strife? Why are we so scared of rejection as people? As artists? Is it a wonder that a recent study found that our desire to be attractive stems from our fear of rejection (http://tinyurl.com/ya36ury)? So what if we get rejected? Our egos get bruised but what makes rejection so scary?
I am not going to say it’s not personal because in my view everything is personal because you live it but really…
We live in this world where we are told we are free and yet every day we consume media that tells us what beauty is and how to get love, find a soul mate and just be in a relationship. Obviously the reason that these articles never go out of style is because they are tapping into this fear of rejection that we have. If you are human and you care enough about something, you most likely want others to care about it and accept it.
We are taught to value ourselves in relation to the opinions of others and not to what we feel and believe. If we are artists we are seduced into forgetting that our mission is to use art as a reflection of our society and to effect change, instead we are encouraged to be seek the approval of critics and to identify with a school of thought so we can be defined and better understood even when we do not yet have the words to describe what we will be in an hour from now. All this so we can avoid rejection. At what cost? Is rejection really that bad if we are being true to ourselves? If we are creating something that we believe in?
I remember watching the HBO show, Brave New Voices (amazing show) last year and seeing one of the teams fall apart at the slam finals because one of the poems they had written was about a transgender boy; they were scared that the piece was too controversial would cost them points. It was a very intense moment and an interesting insight into the world of performance poetry and its competitiveness. I almost got up and cheered when the team decided to stop competing and start doing what they loved – performing. It was a brave moment for them and a beautiful one as well.
As a poet I could identify with this episode because I have often struggled with this and was actually used to apologizing for some of my work before I even performed it. I don’t know why I stopped doing that except that one day it suddenly hit me that I should stop apologizing for my truth and start respecting it.
The truth is that many of us face rejection every day but we just don’t realize it because the person we are rejecting is ourselves. Every time we silence ourselves or act against to the little voice in our heads and stop ourselves from artistically creating what we feel, in favor of the majority and its approval we reject a part of ourselves in return for social acceptance.
There are ways to speak our truths without ostracizing others or being derogatory and really being true to you is not harming anyone, in fact it may be liberating them.
At the end of the day the question really is: 2B or Not 2B.
Filed Under: Art of Spoken Word, Writing Process Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The best poets are the ones that are not afraid to get naked in public

January 14, 2010 By 4 Comments
CNV00028

Bob Dylan once said: ” A poem is a naked person . . . some people say that I am a poet.”

Not every poem is a naked person

I disagree with Bob Dylan – not every poem is a naked person, only the best poems are naked people. Some poems are just a tease. So the real question I find myself asking recently is: how naked do I want to get in public for total strangers? Do I even want to leave the house? This is a question I think every artist asks themselves…how much do I want my art to reflect or reveal about me and how much am I willing to fight for its authenticity?

What it means to be a naked poem

Every time we write we reveal a little more of our thoughts, our lives, our stories to total strangers and that is the equivalent of stripping naked in public. A poem is like a memento, an autobiography, or at least a journey into the imagination of another being.

Learning to strip naked

There is a kind of exhilaration that comes with stripping naked – people get to see who we are and there is no more reason to hide and play games because they see the flaws and the perfections. But there is always the fear that after we shed all our layers the other party (or parties) may not like what they see so to protect ourselves we follow a school of writing, a school of thought, a school of art because it is safe and decreases the chances of rejection.

We learn to emulate cover girls or better yet how to appear naked by being half naked by mastering the tricks of the trade – we tease, we distract with fancy underwear, play games and give the impression that we will eventually become naked. We do this because being nude with nothing to hide behind makes us vulnerable and there is a fear of rejection that others will not find us perfect in our imperfections.

Or the worst response to our nudity: indifference. The “so what” response:  is that all there is? After all the suspense, the layers of clothes you want to tell us that is all there is?! That is the response that I dread as a writer and poet so on some days I have to fight myself to get naked and strip the fancy underwear and write what I really feel and risk indifference and finding out that my story moves no one.

Learn from the best spoken word poets

Every time I watch a spoken word performance I see poets give a part of themselves to the audience. The best spoken word performers are not afraid to undress their scars in content and in performance. They hold nothing back and strip with abandon and say this is me. In the age of performance poetry the best do not let their performance (CK or Victoria’s Secret underwear) make up for their lack of content. They tell their stories and they relive the moments – real or imagined and they let themselves be vulnerable.

The beautiful thing about poets is that they have this ability to explain emotion in an enchanting manner, they make pain look like a passionate crucifiction and even the most twisted love stories are haunting soap operas filled with demons that rise from the dead.

I have been reflecting on Bob Dylan’s statement a lot lately because I am in the middle of a transition as a writer and it is sometimes scarier to tell the truth to yourself on paper than it is to keep writing about what is familiar.

So what if they hate your nudity

After reading about the earthquake in Haiti I have been lost in thoughts about how transient life is and how full of pain and I have finally taken a crucial step and started writing badly worded love poems, only this is not just about my sad/crazy love stories but self love and the relationship with myself and all that I am learning from past relationships with men about transforming outward approval into self approval.

This is my most personal topic to date, the one that uncovers my vulnerability. And I never quite appreciated the courage it takes to speak the truth even to ourselves.

But like all poets and artists, my decision 2B or not 2B is really my decision on how naked I want to get in public. Do I want to be a tease and show the good parts of me, walk around in a too short skirt with a tight top or do I want full frontal nudity and therefore total vulnerability? Is it enough to be an artist or should one also be an artist that is true to themselves?

Filed Under: Art of Spoken Word, Writing Process Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Muhammad was a Punk Rocker

January 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

After weeks of just being comatose (I slept 12 hours a day for 2 weeks) and plain exhausted from first moving countries only to end up moving neighborhoods I am back to being a blogger and not just an entrepreneur. I have been focusing on the new blog we are developing and designing; yes Speak 2B Free is going to have a stand alone blog that will be integrated into our new website (it’s about time too). I am asking questions about life and expression again and tomorrow’s newsletter will definitely touch on these. 

I have sent out my emails to bloggers to swap blog posts on different topics in return for topics on Taqwacore and am hoping to get a response soon (fingers tightly crossed). In the meantime I would like to share the following poem:

Muhammad was a Punk Rocker by Michael Knight

I see Muhammad
down at the corner store
rocking on Galaga
getting the high score

the kids think he’s a bore
but when he smashes idols
everyone cheers for more

Muhammad was a punk rocker
he tore everything down
Muhammad was a punk rocker
and he rocked that town

All the people in Mecca
knew Muhammad’s name
they knew him by his fucked-up hair
and dangling wallet chain

They knew him by his spikes
and said he was insane
but Ali knew better
Uncle wouldn’t play their game

Muhammad was a punk rocker
you know he tore shit up
Muhammad was a punk rocker
Rancid sticker on his pickup truck

When he was in a dumpster by himself
Allah told him crazy things
for Muhammad to share with all of us
on his six holy strings

Filed Under: -Traditions: Americas Tagged With: , , ,

Taqwacore: how a work of fiction birthed an islamic punk subculture

January 7, 2010 By 1 Comment

Taqwacore: the birth of punk islam

Yeah I know its mad wild… “There is a cool Islam, You just have to find it.” – Michael Muhammad Knight

To be honest I have no clue how to start today’s blog post because I have many strong emotions about the topic and I will probably take the next 4 days to really explore it and write about it and find guest bloggers to blog for us.

I first found out about taqwacore from my student (who was studying Islam last semester), he thought it was cool and told me about it and I told him I would blog about it because it is the essence of finding a voice and struggling to express yourself. Since that first introduction to taqwacore I have been reading up on it obsessively and trying to understand how a work of fiction can birth a real life subculture and music genre and characters. This is the stuff of legend and it al has to do with expressing yourself/ finding a voice.

So what is taqwacore and how did it come into being? Taqwacore is a genre of punk that deals with Islam (culture, religion etc) and originates from a total work of fiction – a book, The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight. In Arabic taqwa means god fearing and off course core is short for hardcore. Unlike punk punk (for lack of a better description) there is no definite sound for taqwacore, it ranges from hip hop to Bollywood sounds and influences.

In 2003 Michael Muhammed Knight a white Muslim convert wrote a book (I am reading it slowly) about a Muslim punk house in Buffalo, New York and self published it from home and bound it himself (you are getting the picture I am sure) and started selling a few copies to people. The book featured all types of Muslims (gay, straight, straight edge, drunk, femnists etc) just living their lives, following their passions and also being pious, holding prayer meetings in the house where they smoke, drink and have sex. Before long the book was circulating underground and garnering a real following. People were hunting for it and it was causing a real stir.

People started emailing Michael asking him where they could find taqwacore bands and communities; his answer was always that none existed so they went off and formed their own bands and communities. The result is that now you have young Muslims all over the globe starting taqwacore bands, performing and getting a following (on of the most popular bands is from Boston). Suddenly there are clubs filled with kids wearing burqas and spotting mohawks. And my favorite – all girl bands like Secret Trial Five whose lead singer is openly gay.

When I first heard about this movement I must admit I was kind of skeptical – there was a part of me that was like oh here we go again: a white boy thinking he knows how to make another culture better (in my mind I was already linking this to missionaries going to spread the good word in South America and Africa). And then there is this other part of me that cringes at the thought of any religious iconoclast and this is still the part of me that wants to run and scream whenever I read Michael Muhammad Knight’s poem “Muhammad was a punk rocker” and hear The Kominas singing “Suicide bomb the Gap” but that’s the thing about freedom of speech – you do not have to agree with an opinion but you have to respect it.

.All that aside why did this book touch people so deeply? Why did it inspire a subculture?

The power of the written word is very well known but it is not often that you see fictional characters become real. This book seems to be a manual or the bible for taqwacore followers. I have spent many hours reading some interesting blogs written by these followers and there seems to be a recurring theme of religion and individuality. The book (I am not very far into it) showcased ordinary people with issues who just so happened to be Muslim and are trying to find their place in society. They are living their lives in a way that is true to them at that point. To quote Sabina England (who is actually a deaf playwright and taqwacore singer): “Taqwacore means being true to myself, having my own faith, and interpreting Islam the way I want to, without feeling guilty or being looked down at by other Muslims.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/apr/28/popandrock.culture)

But the book is also questioning religion and implying that there are many ways to live and still be a believer. I think anyone who is deeply passionate about an idea or a way of life can understand the tension that exists when you want to remain true to yourself and still practice an ideology. iIn addition to that the book was very timely because it came out at the height of the war on terror propaganda when the world decided Muslims were public enemy number 1 and young American Muslims had no channels to voice their frustrations.

Accordiung to most bloggers taqwacore gives them a voice, a way to express themselves. I think this is what inspired the subculture – this need to express and find your voice and be free.

Sources: http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005438.html
http://www.taqwacore.com/?page_id=41
http://taqwacore.wordpress.com/
http://dancull.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/the-spirit-of-taqwacore/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/us/23muslim.html?_r=2
http://www.sabinaengland.com/
http://dancull.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/the-spirit-of-taqwacore/
http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/arts_culture/view.bg?articleid=1222665&srvc=home&position=also

Filed Under: -Traditions: Americas Tagged With: , , , , , ,
Login