If John Brown Were a 21st-Century Palestinian Jew
Labeled “Antifa militant” by Andy Ngo and “quite profound” by Chuck D of Public Enemy, AWKWORD is a 30-year organizer, activist and political and nonprofit strategist, a co-founder of TEN DEMANDS, a union journalist, and an internationally acclaimed Hip Hop artist, who donates all proceeds to Black charitable organizations. A Palestinian Jewish, neurodivergent, mentally disabled addict, with two adopted daughters, awkword prides himself on embodying struggle and redemption.
Raised by an activist mother radicalized during the Civil Rights and Vietnam War eras, AWKWORD converted from troubled graffiti artist and Nazi destroyer — angry and acting out at the world’s injustices — to productive organizer at 16, when he collaborated with the Anti-Defamation League to establish what would become his high school’s annual Diversity Day. That year, he also created his school’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, and spoke for the first time at the town’s Martin Luther King Day celebration.
At Vassar College, AWKWORD served as co-chair of the Student Activist Union, co-founded the Justice Group, and earned his degree in Sociology, with a focus on the intersections of race and class, the prison industrial complex, and houselessness and the politics of public space.
In addition to creating The Ten Demands for Justice, since the early 2000s AWKWORD has:
Organized with rapper Pharaohe Monch and anti-gun violence nonprofit Guns 4 Cameras
Lobbied New York State Congress for the repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws
Sued New York State to reinstate the 2020 Democratic Primary and add Bernie Sanders back on the ballot
Worked pro-bono at Green Haven maximum security prison, an alternative-to-incarceration center and a number of teen centers, after-school programs and shelters
Created rap songs and videos used or sponsored by Occupy Wall Street, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and The Ocean Project
Delivered keynotes and presentations on abolition, labor organizing, anti-fascism and Hip Hop education
Written for Unicorn Riot, Counterpunch, Crooks & Liars, Antagonist Mag, Mass Appeal, YRB, Fly Paper, and Elemental
Served as strategic consultant and/or designer to Songs for Good, Anti-Police Terror Project, Stand Up For Science, Black Lives Matter Grassroots, National Resources Defense Council, National Writers Union, Universal Music Group, The Virtual Citizen, Dr. Melina Abdullah, Cat Brooks, and Noelle Cook
AWKWORD has also toured the United States as a performing artist, opening for The Cool Kids and BLESTeNATION, and sharing stages with Grandmaster Caz, Masta Ace, J-Live, Pumpkinhead, Hip Hop Pantsula and others; served as an Audiomack Verified Tastemaker, spotlighting alternative Hip Hop music; acted as brand ambassador for Aerosoul Limited; managed Nigerian American rapper Chisom; and secured hundreds of premium press placements for artist, author and influencer clients; and released the first-ever 100% for-charity global Hip Hop project, World View, with all profits going to educate and empower ‘at-risk youth’
Most recently, AWKWORD has been organizing with TEN DEMANDS; delivering timely social justice content through his AWKWORD INTERVIEWS and Global Warning video podcasts; serving as a regular contributor to Counterpunch Media and Unicorn Riot; and promoting the release of his first new song in five years: “Hands Off! Melt ICE!”.