- Will Youmans
"Not to be confused with
William Youmans , Broadway actor."Will Youmans (born in
Detroit, Michigan , United States in 1978) is a Palestinian-American writer, activist and hip-hop artist.Youmans is an outspoken advocate for the cause of
Palestinian human rights and a critic of American foreign policy in the Middle East. He co-hosts and co-produces a show, "What's Happening?," on the American channel of the international satellite TV station Arab Radio and Television (ART). He has written extensively in various media outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle,Michigan Daily ,Daily Californian ,Counterpunch . He writes a weekly column with the Arab-American News.He authored chapters in anthologies alongside many prominent progressive academics and journalists: "Civil Rights in Peril" and "The Politics of Anti-Semitism". His writing will be featured in an Encyclopedia of Social Justice and a book on Arab-American art in 2007.
Youmans was also one of the early student leaders of campus divestment campaigns targeting Israel. He co-founded the national student group, the
Students for Justice in Palestine .Youmans founded a leading Arab-American blog, [http://kabobfest.blogspot.com KABOBfest] , where he writes regularly with other activists. It tackles current affairs and news relevant to the U.S. and the Middle East with both intelligence and humor.
Youmans also performs as a hip-hop artist under the stage name, "Iron Sheik." The [http://www.ironsheik.biz Iron Sheik] released two albums, "Camel Clutch 2003" and "Yet We Remain." Much of his music relates to the historical andcurrent plight of Palestinians, making the Iron Sheik a part of the growing Palestinian hip hop movement. The Iron Sheik has been featured in media such as the
BBC ,CNN , the "San Francisco Chronicle ", "The New York Times ", and "Rolling Stone" (France). He performs regularly at venues throughout the United States, and has performed in Egypt, Lebanon andthe UK. He is profiled in an exhibit in the Arab-American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.Films
*2007 - " [http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/about/show_campus_battleground.html America at a Crossroads: Campus Battleground] ".
Profiles, Interviews
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C15FD3E5F0C7B8CDDAE0894DC404482 New York Times: "Drawing a Rap Refrain From a U.N. Resolution"]
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/22/CMGO87TBMQ1.DTL San Francisco Chronicle Profile]
* [http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=5958 Znet/Left Hook Interview]
* [http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070118/ENT04/701180338/0/NEWS05 Detroit Free Press profile]
* [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:AFx5gGxtzEIJ:www.michiganhumanities.org/radio/recent.htm+youmans+iron+sheik&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=31&gl=us Michigan NPR Interview]External links
* [http://kabobfest.blogspot.com Kabobfest Blog]
* [http://www.ironsheik.biz Iron Sheik Website]
* [http://www.arabamericannews.com Arab-American News]
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