On stage in the Turpin-Lamb Theatre of Morgan State University's
Murphy Fine Arts Center, Dr. Nawal El Saadawi addresses the audience.
In a recent appearance at Morgan State University, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, The College of Liberal Arts, and The Women's and Gender Studies Program, world renowned Egyptian author and political activist, Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, shared her views on creativity, the current political climate in Egypt, religion, and women's issues. The two day event, featured a discussion titled "A Public Conversation with Dr. Nawal El Saadawi," followed by a lecture, "Creativity and Dissidence," in which Saadawi touted creativity as the key component of pleasure, freedom, and education.
Though Saadawi rejects labels because she does not adhere to any particular philosophy and follows her own mind, she is viewed as an outspoken radical, feminist, and revolutionary. She stands against oppression and creativity is her guide. Her writings and political work have resulted in termination from a job, a ban of some of her work, imprisonment, and death threats. But, the joy of creativity and fearlessness have allowed her to prevail.
"Creativity is based in courage, and once you taste it, you never want to give it up. The pleasure of creativity is greater than sexual pleasure," she explained further.
"I am working on loosing fear of punishment," Saadawi said. "We are trained to be punished or rewarded, not to be creative. We must not be fearful of punishment, and we must not wait to be rewarded four our creativity. I am rewarded when a young person says one of my books has changed his or her life. That is the purpose of creativity."
According to Saadawi, our creativity is suppressed from birth because of fear. We fear power and authority, including our parents, and we are afraid to criticize and challenge. We fear that what we say will not be accepted, and that others are smarter. We loose our creativity because we hate school, and find no joy in our work and studies. Emotional and economic dependence also stifle creativity.
Creativity means remembering, having a critical and analytical mind, integrating past, present and future, connecting body, mind, and spirit, and incorporating real love and joy into our lives. It means challenging and criticizing authority, seeking real rather than psudo-knowledge, and connecting elements of society such as economics, politics, and education. Incorporating those elements into our lives breeds revolution, which makes is less possible for a few hundred people to control millions.
Saadawi on stage taking a question from a guest in the audience.
Asked about the revolution that Egypt has undergone, Saadawi said that the people were frustrated with poverty, corruption, and vestiges of colonialization. Fifty percent of Egyptians live below the poverty level, earning two dollars a day, are starving and dying of disease, while Mubarak and his cronies have millions outside the country. When Egypt was proclaimed a democracy in 2005, Saadawi wanted to explore the political climate, and pave the way for women who were subjugated members of society. She announced that she was running for president, and was told by police that if she continued to organize a campaign, she would be jailed. For that reason and because of the pervasivepoverty, she surmised there was no real democracy
"In order to have a democray, you cannot have poverty," Saadawi shared. "You must have the freedom to eat."
Saadawi receiving an award. (Top two photos).
Saadawi in the studio preparing for an interview.
Saadawi exiting the Communication's Center after interview.
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