Protest Poetry – open mic with Sabika Abbas We live in an age where voices of dissent are curbed because they question those in power. There is a lack of any effective tool to articulate an effective challenge. In a world where the media and the social media are controlled by vested interests, where safe spaces are increasingly decreasing, we have turned to poetry. Because poetry, like political language is rarely spoken without intention. As Audre Lorde puts it, “Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives.” What makes poetry so powerful as a tool of protest? as a weapon we can use to challenge the malicious powers that have risen to prominence in this age? Because poetry is far more than syntax and grammar– the terms and measurements that help us identify and discuss language. It is more than copy on a page. It is rhythm; it is sensations; it is incantation. And, through this, poetry becomes meaning. It becomes truth. We at lamakaan are happy to invite you come and participate in a poet led revolution. A revolution towards a more equal, trusting and loving society. Along with Sabika Abbas Naqvi, who is a protest poet and has performed at numerous occasions and more importantly, at numerous street corners, we invite you to write your own protest poems and read them to an audience on the 9th of February.