Haymarket Books & Young Chicago Authors Present Omar Barghouti, leading Palestinian human rights activist; choreographer; and author of “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Civil Rights.”

“Lucid and morally compelling…perfectly timed to make a major contribution to this urgently needed global campaign for justice, freedom, and peace.” —Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Not immune from the reach of racism, sexism, homophobia, war, and strife, art can express a myriad of reactions to oppression, from passive reflection to active resistance—which can take diverse and almost limitless forms. With examples from dance and various art forms, this presentation explores an evolutionary vision of art of the oppressed as rooted, transformative, communicative and evolutionary; as art which negates and transcends oppression.

OMAR BARGHOUTI is a choreographer, cultural analyst and human rights activist. A key contributor to the development of contemporary Palestinian dance through work as choreographer and dance teacher in El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe, Al-Bireh, and Watan Contemporary Palestinian Dance Company in New York, Omar has published many articles focusing on dance as cultural resistance to oppression. Barghouti is also the author of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Civil Rights.

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The largest of its kind in the world, Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB) is Chicago’s rapidly-growing teen poetry festival, this year taking place at various venues around Chicago beginning February 18 and continuing through to the finals on March 10, 2012. Aiming to bring teens together across racial, gang, and socio-economic lines, LTAB is a friendly competition that emphasizes self-expression and community via poetry, oral story-telling, and hip-hop spoken word.