Suspects
-
Brother AliBrother Ali is a highly respected Hip Hop artist, speaker and activist from Minneapolis, MN. His decade long resume includes six critically acclaimed albums, mentorships with Iconic Hip-Hop legends Chuck D and Rakim and performances on late night talk shows with Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon. He’s been the subject of Al-Jazeera and NPR pieces and was a keynote speaker at this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Forum. He’s landed coveted press features such as Rolling Stone’s 40th anniversary “Artist to Watch” and Source Magazine’s “Hip-Hop Quotables.”
Ali has won the hearts and minds of Hip-Hop fans world wide with his intimate song writing, captivating live performances and outspoken stance on issues of Justice and Human Dignity. In 2007, Ali was flagged by The US Department of Homeland Security for his controversial critique of America’s human rights violations in his song/video Uncle Sam Goddamn. In the summer of 2012, Ali was arrested in an act of civil disobedience as an organizer of Minnesota’s Occupy Homes movement to defend Twin Cities homeowners from unjust foreclosures.
Brother Ali’s latest album, Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color is his manifesto on the political, socioeconomic and cultural suffering in modern American life, as well as a declaration of hope and possibility for a brighter future. The album is introduced by Dr. Cornel West.
Dr. West had this to say about Ali and his work. “Brother Ali is fundamentally committed to truth and justice. He’s part of a great tradition in this country and around the world that highlights the wretched of the earth, allows them to undergo an awakening and shatters their sleepwalking. I want the world to know that Ali is my brother and I have so much great love and respect for him. We’re part of the same tradition concerned with Truth and Justice. He does it in his own smooth, sophisticated way. Sometimes he’s funky and sometimes he’s direct, but I love the way he tells the truth. The album itself (Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color) is such a force for good and a food source for people’s souls. People can feel the love on the vanilla side of town and on the chocolate side of town. It’s a human thing. A love thing.”
Brother Ali is currently working on his first literary offering, tackling the topics that are discussed in his speaking engagements and workshops.
-
Sohail Daulatzai
Sohail Daulatzai is a founding member of Razor Step, a creative media lab that works at the intersection of art, politics, and culture. He is the author of Black Star, Crescent Moon: The Muslim International and Black Freedom beyond America and co-editor of Born to Use Mics, a literary remix of Nas’s album Illmatic. He is the curator of the exhibit Return of the Mecca: The Art of Islam and Hip-Hop, and editor of the limited edition, companion commemorative book of the same name, which includes an interview with Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), essays by Chuck D and Sohail Daulatzai, the work of Jamel Shabazz, Ernie Paniccioli, and others, as well as album cover art, photography, flyers and other ephemera. He has written liner notes for the 2012 release of the 20th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set of Rage Against the Machine’s self titled debut album, the liner notes for the DVD release of Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme and the centerpiece in the museum catalog Movement: Hip-Hop in L.A., 1980’s – Now, and his other writings have appeared in The Nation, Counterpunch, Al Jazeera, and Souls, amongst others.
He also curated the exhibit Histories Absolved: Revolutionary Cuban Poster Art and the Muslim International, which showcased the work of the Havana-based OSPAAAL (Organization of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America) and their political graphic art of the 1960’s, ‘70’s and ‘80’s with Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan and other Muslim majority countries. He is the founder of Groundings, a conversation series that has included Immortal Technique, Chuck D, Rosa Clemente, dream hampton, Robin D.G. Kelley and Jasiri X. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies and the Program in African American Studies at the University of California, Irvine. For more of his work visit openedveins.com.