Suhier Hammad is a poetess/rapper and Palestinian refugee who was raised in Brooklyn. She "consistently focuses on a sense of deprivation and discrimination and a message of political and social activism and empowerment." Hammad recently performed at Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam's Rap Unplugged, which is meant to be a "platform for minority and marginalized voices." Through her performance on Def Poetry Jam, Hammad was able to reach a large public audience, and has begun taking strides to reach the hip hop mainstream. Also, she has given the public a glimpse of hip hop's international role as a voice of the downtrodden. "Hip hop has a tradition of...imparting your parents' historical legacy when that history has been marginalized in schools and in the mainstream. I understand the Palestinian diasporic situation better through hip hop," explains Hammad.

http://angelingo.usc.edu/issue03/politics/a_palhiphop.php