Remi Kanazi

By Sophie DeWitt

Seven months pregnant, Remi Kanazi's grandmother was forced to flee her home in Jaffa in 1948. Himself a refugee since birth, Kanazi was born in Western Massachusetts in 1981 and grew up in the United States, disconnected from his Palestinian identity. When he moved to New York four months before September 11, he had already begun to rethink his place in the world. That event, as was the case with so many Arab Americans, helped shape his future path. Kanazi found himself overwhelmed with anger and frustration, which sent him on a reading frenzy - learning all he could about the Middle East, especially Palestine. Recalling stories from his grandparents and parents, Kanazi began to reformulate and articulate his own views on Palestine. Then came the first transformational encounter he had as an emerging artist: seeing Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, Read More ...