Iraq Talks Back: Popular Movements in Iraq is an event that anticipates a new conversation by formally introducing the Long Beach Community to the voices of the Iraqi people.
Sponsored by the CSULB College of Liberal Arts Scholarly Intersections Grant and War Resisters League, Iraq Talks Back: Popular Movements in Iraq focuses on the state of Iraq without the lens of American Media or Iraqi government, according to CSULB professor Yousef Baker.
Baker hopes that this presentation will inspire and encourage conversation about voices not often heard by consumers of American media.
“The purpose of the event is to highlight Iraqi voices that are seldom heard. Usually what we share about Iraq is what governments say, whether it’s our government or the Iraqi government,” Baker said. “There is a difference between what the interest of government is and what the interests of civil society is. It would be wrong to simply believe what Iraq is based on by the description of policy makers.”
Baker says that viewing the country through solely the lens of government or media is problematic because the voices of the people are lost.
“It’s important to understand what people are saying on the ground, what people are doing on the ground. In the United States, specifically, we know very little about Iraqi society,” Baker said. “Especially after the Paris attacks, we have a very skewed understanding of what this society looks like. This is about introducing CSULB to this society.”
The presentation includes a conversation with Ali Issa, Deborah Al-Najjar and Baker, who will discuss the current state of social movements within Iraq as well as the history surrounding the crises surrounding the Iraq region.
Baker’s current research includes examining the United States’ occupation in Iraq and utilizing a systematic structural analysis on this occupation, according to his website.
Author of recently published book “Against All Odds,” Issa’s focused on providing a platform for key Iraqi organizers who worked in various movements throughout the years to speak and have their own voices heard. The novel explores the work done by integral Iraqi organizers, discussing their role in the eventual “withdrawal” from the country under President Obama, among other significant events that have taken place over the past decade, according to Tadween Publishing.
“The book is really two things. Part of it is his interviews with some of these popular leaders in Iraq—so some of the popular organizations—and the second part is his translation of these organization’s mission statements,” Baker said.
Co-editor of “We Are Iraqis,” a collection of both nonfiction and fiction published by Iraqi academics, artists and activists, Al-Najjar is a doctoral candidate in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
The event will be held today in the Long Beach Hall of Sciences room 100 from 5 to 7 p.m.