Category: Performing
Country: Canada

About

Sofia Servando Baig is a poet and spoken word artist from Montreal, Canada. Although Sofia grew up in a Muslim family, she said that it was only much later that she learned what it meant to be a practicing Muslim.¹

Of Pakistani, Chinese, and Spanish descent, Sofia felt that the “world had labeled” her after 9/11, and the event compelled her to question and explore her identity.² In an interview with Muslim Girl magazine, she discussed the complexities of being of mixed race and Muslim. “The world had already put me into a category that I knew nothing about. You’re forced in this little box and you’re like, ‘Who am I?’ … And on top of that, being mixed, being diversely mixed, you’re already so confused about who you are.”³

Sofia writes about discrimination, prejudice, and Islam in her poetry. In 2008, she released her debut album, Daughter of the Sand. The spoken word album takes the listener on a lyrical journey through Sofia’s personal struggle in understanding the intersections between faith, culture, and race. In “Can I Breathe,” she says, “There is no ‘I’ in my life but a why, question mark. Question – who am I?”, and in “Runs Deep,” she speaks about a young couple falling in and out of love – “See love runs deep. Now they sit in the kitchen, heads in their hands, fussing with numbers and calculations. The equation for a perfect marriage is left for last.”⁴

In an interview with Azizah magazine, Sofia discusses the importance of perseverance and speaking out. “Muslim women are not represented enough and not that well…People say media doesn’t give voice, but sometimes women shy away from speaking up.”⁵ In response to her poetry and work as a social activist, Sofia has appeared on CNN, participated in Canada’s MuslimFest and HipHop4Islam, and been featured in numerous newspapers.

[1] Sofia Baig: CNN Interview.

[2] ibid.

[3] Misha Warbanski, “A Muslim poet gets political”, Thismagazine.com.

[4] Sofia Baig’s Official MySpace page.

[5] Nadirah Z. Sabir, “Rhyme and Reason,” Azizah Magazine, Vol. 6, Issue 1.