by Jasmine Davis
Susan Feroz
One of my favorite genres of music is rap - especially women rappers. Susan Feroz is one of the coolest new rappers I’ve found recently. She’s being billed as Afghanistan’s first female rapper, and her first widely-available song, “Our Neighbors”, proves why. Her lyrics are sad and poignant, discussing issues like women rights in Afghanistan and how Afghan refugees were treated in Iran.
This recent article in The Daily Beast profiles Feroz and her songs. Rapping isn’t something that women in Afghanistan do - in fact, rapping is a new art form for much of the country. While her songs are seen as “a novelty”, her lyrics express her emotions in a new way.
Feroz herself is incredibly opinionated - in the recent article, she discussed her opinions about Parliament, foreign forces and women rights in Afghanistan. She explains that even though her cousins are estranged and she regularly receives death threats, these issues only make her more likely to express her opinions.
Feroz explained in the recent article that her education was put on hold for many years when her family lived in Iran. According to the article, “Some bureaucratic excuse always surfaced to prevent her and other refugees from registering.” Because she spoke Farsi, she was unable to attend school even after her family returned to Afghanistan in 2003.
Although Feroz was able to succeed without education, many students in Afghanistan are not. Educating students in Afghanistan, particularly in modern fields like social media and film technology, may help them create better futures for themselves and their families. One of my favorite initiatives, the Afghan Development Project, works to create connected classrooms for students across Afghanistan. Not every young person will be able to rap and make a name for him or herself - which is why it’s so critical to make schools inclusive and for them to teach important modern skills. In a post-2014 world, it’s even more important that students are educated to help provide for their future.
Young women in Afghanistan in an Afghan Development Project classroom
Plus, social media leads to discoveries of new worlds. For example, if it wasn’t for social media, I wouldn’t have found out about Susan Feroz and her awesome rapping skills. Social media is a great tool for connecting people in countries like Afghanistan with people in other countries. Social media helped me find Susan’s raps - along with the works of many other amazing Afghanistan women.
