密歇根新闻广播 非殖民化的音乐

Syrian-American rapper Mona Haydar describes herself as a poet, an activist¹, a God-enthusiast, and a feminist².

The Flint native is known for her 2017 breakout hit Hijabi, a song about Muslim women choosing to wear the traditional headscarf as an expression of their faith. Haydar recently released her latest EP, Barbarican.

Haydar says that she's always found the world just beautifully poetic³, and that she became passionate⁴ about songwriting as a young child. But her love for music clashed with some aspects of her religious upbringing.

I felt it, like, deep down in my heart that it was a part of me, but I also grew up in a culture where music wasn't necessarily permissible⁵, at least of the variety that I wanted to take part in, Haydar explained.

Haydar's love for her religion prompted her interest in the field of sacred knowledge, she has a Master's degree in Christian⁶ Ethics⁷ and is now working on another Master's in Theology. Through her academic pursuit of religious studies, Haydar discovered that Islam itself does not deem music impermissible, but instead that that viewpoint is simply one of many different interpretations⁸ of the faith.

Since then, Haydar has actively⁹ pursued her musical dreams. Her experiences as a Muslim woman of color in the United States, a nation that she says is still defined by the structures and systems of oppression that helped to build it in the first place, play a major role in shaping her music.

The EP is a lot about decolonizing our minds, for me at least as a woman who comes from a colonized¹⁰ background," she said. "It's about resisting standards of beauty that are not affirming of all people, of all body types, of all skin colors, of all shapes and sizes that we come in as people, as humans. Barbarican is a love note to the world, that whoever you are, wherever you are, you should love yourself.

Listen to Mona Haydar's conversation with Stateside's Mercedes Mejia to hear more about the artist's roots in Flint and the tragic¹¹ experience that led her to write one of her most personal songs.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

3 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

4 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

5 permissible   

adj.可允许的，许可的

参考例句：

• Is smoking permissible in the theatre?在剧院里允许吸烟吗？
• Delay is not permissible,even for a single day.不得延误，即使一日亦不可。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

8 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

10 colonized   

开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The area was colonized by the Vikings. 这一地区曾沦为维京人的殖民地。
• The British and French colonized the Americas. 英国人和法国人共同在美洲建立殖民地。

11 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。