Now more than ever, the world needs to hear from Roger Sedarat. Since his career began, he’s been raging against oppressive regimes throughout the world, but his focus is Iran. He wants his work to help the Iranian people seize their country for their own. Sometimes this plays out in a symbolic way in his work, and sometimes in more literal fashion. He laments lost loved ones, lost human rights, and lost culture. He focuses his anger to a point and uses it to change people’s minds. Witness this video of his poem “IRAN,” a call to seize the word itself:

Urban Word welcomes Roger Sedarat Wednesday, August 3, for their 4th Build-A-Peace workshop from 3pm until 5pm. As always, they will be live-streaming the workshop on the Internet. Follow their Twitter to catch writing prompts, videos, and more. That same night, Roger will read from his work at the Bowery Poetry Club, starting at 6pm.