A year ago, Laura Burhenn was part of the Bright Eyes touring band. Flash forward and the 32-year-old Burhenn has gained enough confidence to unleash her own torrent of green-minded, anti-corporate, pro-Occupy Wall Street views. An entire album’s worth, in fact, on Generals (Saddle Creek), her sonically adventurous sophomore outing as one-woman band the Mynabirds. In her previous incarnations as a solo artist and part of Washington, D.C., folk/rock duo Georgie James—and even on her soulful 2010 Mynabirds debut, What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood. Burhenn will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our latest feature on her.
Burhenn: I am utterly amazed at and inspired by the secret societies of Afghan women—their daring spirits—expressing themselves, finding and using their voices, literally risking death, writing and reciting poetry called landai. It’s a testament to how important personal expression is, to how liberation starts with self-expression. And because the poems exist anonymously (for fear of punishment and death), they become the voice of the every woman. This poem (technically a rubaiyat), written by a 15-year-old girl named Lima, is one of the boldest protest statements I have ever read:
“You won’t allow me to go to school. I won’t become a doctor. Remember this: One day you will be sick.”
Video after the jump.
