Toward the middle of the Artists for Aid benefit show for Palestine and Sudan, pop heartthrob Omar Apollo captured the crowd’s attention with a performance of his popular ballad “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All).” But he then played an accompanying piece on the piano while Sudanese singer and poet Mustafa read the poetry of Palestinian writer Mohammed el-Kurd. The audience was quiet, rapt. Mustafa’s recitation of “No Moses in Siege” ended with the question, “What do you say to children for whom the Red Sea does not part?”
On Thursday, January 4, 2024, the sold-out benefit concert, organized by Mustafa, consisted of a wide range of performers: musicians Faye Webster, 070 Shake, Apollo, Clairo, Elyanna, 6LACK, Charlotte Day Wilson, Daniel Caesar, Stormzy, Nick Hakim, MC Abdul, comedian Ramy Youssef, and poets Hala Alyan and Safia Elhillo. Bundled-up attendees wrapped around the entire block of Newark, New Jersey’s Newark Symphony Hall from Broad Street to Chestnut Street in a seemingly endless line to attend Artists for Aid. Each purchase — for attending the event, accessing a private livestream, or directly donating — went to the relief organization Human Concern International.
Inside the venue, a sea of keffiyehs covered almost every attendee, and the buzzing noise of the crowd echoed throughout the hallway as people purchased commemorative t-shirts and beverages. Before heading to my seat, I met 14-year-old Ritaj, who commuted from central New Jersey with her sister and a friend for tonight’s show. Her anticipation to see some of her favorite artists like Clairo, Mustafa, and Caesar was matched with how “heartening” it was for her to “see them stand up for what’s happening in Palestine and Sudan,” she tells Teen Vogue.
Shortly after being ushered to the next available seat, guests were met with the colorful lights of the Palestinian and Sudanese flags: red, green, and white. Promptly at 8 p.m., Mustafa greeted the crowd and announced that proceeds from donations and event tickets supported aid trucks from Human Concern International, which will distribute food and medical supplies in Gaza and Sudan.
Continuing his speech, the musician honored his late brother, who was killed in Toronto last July, the city which was supposed to be his safe haven after leaving Sudan. He brought this up as a reminder to remain hopeful and allied: “We are connected to every war. We are connected to every person that dies. We are connected to every genocide.” Before leaving the stage, Mustafa quoted Gwendolyn Brooks: “We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.”
The night’s nearly three-hour lineup began with singer-songwriter Clairo playing the guitar as Palestinian-American poet Alyan and Sudanese-American poet and author Elhillo performed their poetry. British rapper Stormzy, in addition to a trio of angelic background singers, presented two songs to the crowd and ended his performance by calling for a “free Palestine.” Short sets by 6LACK, Charlotte Day Wilson, 070 Shake, and Faye Webster continued throughout the night.
Between performances, chatter ensued among the audience, and I introduced myself to the person seated next to me, Maysa. Based in Brooklyn, Maysa is a Palestinian writer who recently visited her cousins in the West Bank in September.
“As a Palestinian, I wanted to show support to artists who are showing support to Palestine,” she says. “It’s really important for our generation to know where our money is going and what we are co-signing aligns with our priorities. It means a lot for my cousins who are in the West Bank to see that what they’re enduring isn’t just happening in a void and that there are people who are watching.” Maysa commuted from Williamsburg to see 070 Shake, Omar Apollo, and Mustafa with her best friend and cousins, and the evening did not disappoint. “These artists are played in Palestine, and a lot of people don’t realize how important it is for [them] to show support and show others in power that they can do the same.”
Following Apollo’s performance, Caesar led the audience in a sing-along of “Best Part,” and he then introduced his long-time friend Hakim, who performed on the piano. Mustafa returned to the stage to introduce Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna and 15-year-old Gazan rapper MC Abdul as the evening’s special guests. Both heartfelt and emotionally-moving performances closed the stage for musical acts as comedian and actor Youssef concluded the night with a lighthearted set about his Muslim faith, identity, and urged the crowd to pray in “whatever way you do” to reach into the unseen.
Three-thousand people attended the event in New Jersey, and 220,000 have viewed the livestream so far from the @muslim Instagram account — numbers that speak to the benefit concert’s impact, and its place in a lineage of art as protest and advocacy. From global benefit shows for HIV/AIDS awareness to concerts supporting queer and transgender Tennesseans, music and politics have long intersected as artists use their voices for larger issues. Last March’s South River Festival in Atlanta’s Weelaunee Forest, for example, featured musicians like Webster, Zack Fox, and Father showing solidarity to the region’s Stop Cop City movement.
After the Atlanta Police Foundation announced the demolition plans of the Weelaunee Forest in 2021 for a prospective police training facility, environmental justice advocates created Defend the Atlanta Forest. Last January, climate activist Manuel Paez Terán, commonly referred to as Tortuguita, was shot and killed by the Georgia State Patrol, which led to the movement receiving international attention. Two months later, the free music festival held a variety of rap, jazz, rock, and other experimental acts during a week of action for a moment of collective healing. Although the two-day music festival was cut short by Georgia police, the intimate moment of community and resilience was proof that music can be an act of resistance.
As I spoke to Maysa at the show, she mentioned that concerts are usually a joyful thing to attend, but it’s been conflicting to enjoy live shows as the mass killings in Gaza and Sudan, which the United Nations has said are at high risk of genocide, continue. It’s impactful, then, when musicians use their platform to speak out. In November 2023, American rapper Redveil ended his set at Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival by telling the crowd to call their state representatives to demand a ceasefire. Behind him, a screen projected a long list of names of Palestinian children that were casualties of the war. “It’s not complicated — don’t nobody tell you that sh*t,” he said to the audience before leading a “Free Palestine” chant.
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At Artists for Aid, Mustafa mentioned that “community is not reserved for good people — it’s for all of us to access.” His call to action urged the audience to seek out community and that it’s “our responsibility” to find it. At a time when people are losing jobs, opportunities, and friendships for showing solidarity to those oppressed from war, the community that Mustafa is referring to, the one that for a few hours in Newark was so tangible, is truly all that’s left.
