Esra'a Al Shafei

Illustration by Esra Roise

When Esra'a Al Shafei and her colleagues created CrowdVoice last year to amplify the voice of activists in the Middle East, she never imagined how timely it would be. Since January, traffic has exploded on the site, which showcases blogs and user videos alongside media clips. "We have members from every single Middle Eastern country," she says, "so it's a way to keep in touch that's not overwhelming."

Mideast Youth

CrowdVoice

"I really get my inspiration from the stories of activists who have been patient despite incredible amounts of oppression, whose kids were killed, or who were arrested for their religion or ethnicity."

"I have to be here,” says Shafei of her staying in Bahrain. “Here, every day I’m inspired. I have to work incredibly hard and inspire those around me."

Which song is guaranteed to amp up your creative spirit? "I found a website called MideastTunes.com that's a platform for underground musicians. There's Kurdish rap, Bahai, Palestinian, Iranian rap. These are very political songs about things they've witnessed, wars that left their families divided, that inspire me to work harder for the causes many of us support. One I'd recommend is a Bahai rap artist: Foad Manshady. The other one is a Kurdish rapper named Siwan Erdal."

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Interests:: Assyrian Rights, Ahwaa.org: Space to debate LGBTQ-related issues in the Middle East, Free Maikel Nabil Sanad الحرية لمايكل نبيل سند, Free Iman Al- Obeidi, Voices for Gaza, Empowerkit, MEYThemes, Free KareemAmer, Hoda Al Hamed Support Campaign حملة التضامن مع هدى الحامد, U.S Torture in Bagram Prison, Afghanistan, United States Crimes at Guantanamo Bay, Kurdistan Commentary, Foad Manshady - فواد منشادی, CrowdVoice.org, OR318, Mideast Youth: Thinking ahead, MideastYouth.com, Alliance for Kurdish Rights, Israelis For Palestine, Mideast Tunes, شباب الشرق الأوسط, Migrant-Rights.org, Remembering Kurdish Prisoners
Groups:: TwitterKurds

Connect & Act

Migrant Workers Protection Society

One Young World Asia Network

Save IRAN from Executions

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Founder at MideastYouth.com, CrowdVoice.org, TED Fellow, Echoing Green Fellow | Bahrain

Summary:

CrowdVoice is a user-powered service that tracks voices of protests from around the world by crowdsourcing information.

Connections:

500+

Positions:

Founder at CrowdVoice.org
TED Fellow at TED Conferences
Founder & Director at MideastYouth.com