Review: 36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime by Tarek Albaba

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I watched 36 Seconds: Portraity of a Hate Crime by Tarek Albaba via the NYC Film Festival, where it is available for streaming through November 26, 2023.

Recommendation: Documentary "A Stranger at the Gates," Directed by Josh Seftel

 Check out the documentary A Stranger at the Gate by Josh Seftel.

My only reservation is the pressure Muslims in the United States place on reverts to represent us. May Allah help all those in the documentary to continue on His path, especially Richard McKinney.

"The Great Muslim American Road Trip" Once Again Demonstrates that Unity Productions Foundation Is Worthy of Support

I am a long-time supporter of Unity Productions Foundation. I've blogged about its productions numerous times.

I just finished watching the series The Great Muslim American Road Trip on United States's Public Broadcasting System. The series presented vignettes of Muslim life in North America through the lens of Mona Haydar and Sebastian Robins, a married couple, who traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles on the famed Route 66.

Recommendation: We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration by Frank Abe, Tamiko Nimura, Matt Sasaki and Ross Ishikawa

We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration 

was written by Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura and illustrated by Matt Sasaki and Ross Ishikawa.

For me, it was powerful to learn how ordinary Americans of Japanese descent resisted official Japanese-American organizations' recommendations to demonstrate loyalty to the United States, regardless of its treatment of Japanese-Americans.

I urge people to visit the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California.

It is vital that people learn about the limits of respectability politics.

If you want to read more about these events and even teach about them in a classroom, check out the accompanying curriculum.

Think about this panel the next time your masjid or Muslim association welcomes agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations or military recruiters. (click to enlarge). If you hear somebody say, "I'm fine with the FBI spying on me. I have nothing to hide.", then lock them in a room & read this to them until they know better.

P.S. Nauseous that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had a recruiting booth at the 2022 Islamic Society of North America Annual Convention.

Recruiting at the Islamic Society of North America annual convention 🗑️ pic.twitter.com/GVbkZUFkQJ

— Climate reparations for the global south 🌏 (@ShabanaMir1) September 5, 2022

Review: "The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf" by Mohja Kahf

When I first started this blog, Mohja Kahf's The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf was the kind of book I imagined this blog would focus on. And I had my copy for some time, but, along with thousands of other books on my shelves & my virtual to-read lists, I had not gotten around to reading it. A friend told me he had assigned it to students in his class, and he asked me to participate. Assuming the mantle of "native informant" (ha!), I sped through the book and am now writing as a way to organize my thoughts for the class.

Khadra Shamy, the protagonist, is the daughter of Wajdy & Ebtehaj, Syrian immigrants who eventually move to a town south of Indianapolis, Indiana to work at the Dawah Center. There, they and their co-workers work to realize the ideal Muslim community and raise their children to carry on that legacy after them. Khadra suffers some abuse from prejudiced classmates at the public school and neighbors in the apartment complex, but, for the most part, she grows into the young woman which the leaders of the Dawa Center envisioned: She prays, reads Quran, supports causes of Muslims suffering around the world and scrupulously upholds the interpersonal morals and gender roles of the community.

Author Olivia Abtahi Discusses Her YA Novel "Perfectly Parvin"

Author Olivia Abtahi discussed her Young Adult novel Perfectly Parvin, Thursday, May 27, 2021,  with Professor Neda Maghbouleh 

Film: "Zahra and the Oil Man" by Yucef Mayes

My local NBC affiliate substituted "African American Short Films" by BamadiTV for the repeatedly postponed Baltimore Ravens versus Pittsburgh Steelers football game. Among the features was the short film Zahra and the Oil Man, directed by Yucef Mayes.

It's refreshing to see a depiction of USA Muslims without violence and with loving family relationships. Yet the film has a twist which I didn't see coming and a satisfying resolution, so I can recommend it for more than just its representational value.

The film is available for streaming from Alchemiya & Kweli TV.

The film has a Facebook Page. Here's the IMDB entry.

You can subscribe to be notified if a BamadiTV program airs in your locale.

Review: We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders by Linda Sarsour

Author Ausma Zehanat Khan reviewed Linda Sarsour's memoir We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders in The Washington Post, April 3, 2020.

Sitting in a cafe reading Linda Sarsour’s memoir, We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders, I was afraid to expose the book’s cover, which shows the author in a hijab. As a Muslim woman living in the United States, I am well-acquainted with the different ways American Muslims minimize themselves in public. And for that reason I am all the more heartened by Sarsour’s fearlessness. -- read more -

I have not read the book.

Review: Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capó Crucet

I first heard about Jennine Capó Crucet's Make Your Home Among Strangers when students at Georgia Southern University burned it after she spoke there about white privilege in the Fall of 2019.

The novel deals with many vital themes, but I recommend it especially for students in high school & college who may have mixed feelings about stretching their wings for personal achievement.

The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández

The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández is an episode of the PBS show "P.O.V." about U.S. marines' killing of U.S. citizen Esequiel Hernández Jr in 1997 in his hometown of Redford, TX. Recently, President George W. Bush has again deployed military forces for border duty. This documentary is emotionally compelling and timely. The people who call for a "secure border" have no idea what it would actually take to do so, and even then it would not stop the flow of drugs and workers.