Imagine being in the shoes of a 10-year-old Afghan girl, who has learned that her mother intends to sell her to a man. Forced marriage is still a common practice in Afghanistan, and although Sonita Alizadeh, now an 18-year-old, no longer has to worry about that (she currently resides in the United States). It’s a problem that she’s fighting against — through music. After posting a video of herself rapping on YouTube, Alizadeh was awarded a full scholarship to a music school in the U.S.
According to a report from CNN, when she was still a child, Alizadeh’s family fled the Taliban in Afghanistan and moved to Iran. It was there that she learned to read and write, and became infatuated with music videos, rap and Eminem. She then started rapping about her life; being a woman, refugee and child laborer, as well as seeing her friends from school disappear to get married and have children.
As CNN reported:
“While Afghan civil law says that a girl cannot marry until she is 16, or 15 with her father’s consent, the United Nations claims that some 15% of Afghan females are married before age 15. Of all Afghan marriages combined, roughly 60 to 80% of them are forced…”
The news channel also stated that “singing solo as a female is illegal in Iran without special permission from the government,” but that Sonita was able to “rap in secret with the help of a few defiant music producers.”
At the age of 16, frustrated and terrified by her mother’s proposal to sell her into marriage again, Alizadeh teamed up with an Iranian filmmaker and created the music video for her song, “Brides for Sale.” The video depicts the rapper wearing a wedding veil and covered in fake bruises, while a bar code adorns her forehead. “Let me scream / I am tired of the silence / Lift your hands off me / I feel suffocated,” are what her raps translate to, Alizadeh offering a passionate and serious commentary on a problematic practice.
The video caught the attention of the Strongheart Group, which works to support the voices of traditionally marginalized people through art. They offered her a visa and a full scholarship to Wasatch Academy in Utah.
Since then, Alizadeh has been thriving in the U.S. She’s working on some new music, and a documentary about her journey called “Sonita,” will premier at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam next month. She also took the stage at London’s Women in the World summit to share her story, as well as spoke with BBC News reporter Huw Edwards, last week.
https://twitter.com/stefideabreu/status/652628625603346433
@TinaBrownLM Such a privilege to hear the inspiring story of #SonitaAlizadeh on @BBCNews at 5 #WITW pic.twitter.com/hGmXzdO23z
— HUW EDWARDS 🏴 (@thehuwedwards) October 7, 2015
Alizadeh already has many fans across the world, and although it took her mother some time to come around, she’s fortunately become her biggest fan. Talking with the New York Times:
“My mother was 13 when she was married. Everyone had told her that she was a woman and had no value. This is what her family has told her and that is what she believed. My music was a nightmare for her. Now, she is one of my biggest fans.”
(Via CNN)