smaller audience but so much love at the Sacred Heart Cathedral (Rochester, New York) this morning. i am always wary of doing Q&A after screening The Muslims I Know and addressing standard questions about ISIS, terrorism, sharia law, and the split between sunni and shia islam. i manage but it puts a strain on my ability to be patient. no such challenge today. there was a level of sophistication in how people understood american imperialism and wars and were able to connect them back to islamophobia at home. there was much longing to interact with other communities. people were open to new information and welcoming in a way that was v moving for me. my friend judy toyer, an attorney and activist who does anti-racism work, organized this wonderful screening.
Category: local
The Prison in Twelve Landscapes
Yesterday I saw a remarkable film about the American prison system at The Dryden Theatre. Brett Story’s The Prison in 12 Landscapes is a series of vignettes that stitch together a quiet but compelling narrative. It approaches mass incarceration tangentially, from multiple vantage points, in an effort to define the contours of a prison system that has been deliberately disappeared, camouflaged, rendered inaccessible. By painting American landscapes rooted in diverse geographies, histories and socio-economic realities, the film is able to explore many dimensions of the prison system such as urban decay, environmental degradation, poverty, unemployment, gentrification, job creation, policing, racism, injustice, the criminalization of protest, etc. By refusing to shoot inside prisons, not only does the film avoid the usual images of human beings ensnared in cages but it also decenters crime from the discussion of mass incarceration.
Inspired by the work of Ruthie Wilson Gilmore, Angela Davis and others in the anti-prison movement, Brett’s film aims to interrupt our complacency and questions the very logic of an invisibilized carceral system, a crime and punishment experiment that’s not more than 200 years old, but impacts millions of people.
As a filmmaker, I found amazing parallels with my own work. For example, the idea that documentary film is a malleable art form, not straightforward reportage, the refusal to be tied to a linear plot, the freedom to mix beautiful imagery with heavy content, the decision to discard cliched images that reinforce certain stereotypes by using alternative modes of representation, the invitation for audiences to fill in the blanks and interact with the material, etc. Much like what I did with A Thin Wall, Brett too decouples the various audio-visual components of film (visuals, background noise, voice-over, music, graphics, etc) and puts them back together according to her own ethical and aesthetic preferences. It’s a different way to construct documentary film.
After the screening, I asked her if perhaps this was a feminine way to articulate film, our own écriture féminine which doesn’t subscribe to the Ken Burns formula 🙂
pfaudler lecture at RIT’s osher institute
i was invited to deliver the pfaudler lecture at RIT’s osher institute today. the event was organized by the wonderful Nita Bledsoe Genova. excellent attendance, even on such a warm and sunny day (a rarity in rochester). i screened The Muslims I Know and then opened it up for Q&A. a lot of the feedback was heartwarming but some of the questions predictable. a woman asked about sharia law taking over the country: “that’s what we’re really worried about.” i urged her to check out the ACLU’s report Nothing to Fear: Debunking the Mythical “Sharia Threat” to Our Judicial System. i reminded her that muslims represent 1% of the american population (a bit hard to take over the country in any way whatsoever, let alone by overhauling its entire legal system) and that fears of “stealth jihad,” “creeping sharia,” and “islamofascism” come directly from the islamophobia industry. these are some of their hottest selling products. someone asked about islamic republics and if i was worried about their human rights challenges. i wish i had had more time to delve properly into how these “islamic republics” are the result of complicated histories and politics and processes of nation-state formation and not just religion, even if they speak the language of islam. i spoke a bit about iran from the 1950s onwards and zia’s islamization in pakistan during the cold war. always wish i had had more time to discuss…
Fascism: Fake News or Fact?
Attended “Fascism: Fake News or Fact?” at RIT College of Liberal Arts today. The event was organized and facilitated by three extraordinary women (Paulette Swartzfager, Elisabetta Sanino D’Amanda, Sara Scott Armengot) and Vincent Serravallo.
Elisabetta mentioned Ettore Scola’s “A Special Day” – a film set during a massive rally that marked the visit of Adolf Hitler to Mussolini’s Rome in 1938.
Sara discussed some of the features of fascism as described by Umberto Eco in Ur-Fascism. Much of it aligns uncomfortably with the experience of living in Trump’s America: fear of difference, appeal to frustrated middle class, xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, and impoverished syntax. Some of it (traditionalism, the veneration of ancient Rome, the idea that there’s nothing to be learned and one must look back at a mythical, unified past) reminded me of the Taliban and their wish to return to some idealized, unified point in Muslim history (yeah, the Taliban are a product of modernity, not the stone age).
Edward Kannyo reminded us of Aimé Césaire’s analysis that fascism was colonialism coming back home to Europe. There was a discussion about othering. Some said it was not a useful term, that we needed to name and address the systems of oppression on which it’s built. Others talked of education as a means of countering the fear of the unknown.
One young woman played “devil’s advocate” and challenged the group about othering fascists. I hear that in “nice” liberal circles frequently, this accusation that Ben explained beautifully as: being intolerant of the intolerant is also a form of intolerance. Paulette clarified that political disagreement is not othering which is embedded in structures of oppression.
We also talked about corporate media, capitalism, class and privilege, Modi and India, RIT’s own problems with diversity, and ways of organizing and resisting. Loved the interactive, democratic format of the discussion and Paulette’s terrific moderation. The delicious lasagna and cake didn’t hurt either 🙂
dinner with friends
lovely, cozy, relaxing evening with our roc peeps. thx so much for ur hospitality shabnam.
spring 2017
spring is here. what a beautiful place we live in.
Remi Kanazi on Palestine and BDS – Witness Palestine Rochester
Last year in October, Rajesh Barnabas and I interviewed Remi Kanazi when he was here to perform his work for Witness Palestine Rochester. It took us a while to get all the footage sorted out and for me to edit, but here it is. The interview includes a reading of one of Remi’s poems from his book “Before the Next Bomb Drops: Rising up from Brooklyn to Palestine.” Pls watch and share.
Imam Khalid Latif in Rochester
With Imam Khalid Latif and members of the Civic Engagement Committee at the Islamic Center of Rochester today. Khalid Latif is Executive Director and Chaplain for the Islamic Center at New York University. He shook things up and challenged us to be more specific about our long term goals and strategy. Just the impetus we needed to delve more deeply into what we’re trying to achieve and the best way to get there.
YWCA’s person-2-person program
my wonderful person-2-person partner and i, talking about ywca’s program and what it has meant to us.
dinner with muslim guests
a lovely dinner with guests from palestine, saudi arabia and iraq. i can never get over the warmth of our people, us the global south, the “muslim world.” all i can tell u is that there’s this ability to connect without hesitation, a closeness that’s v human and refreshing. and the stereotypes? bashayer, the young woman from saudi arabia, only 23 years old, but full of ambition and very much her own woman: “i’d rather die than be married to someone i don’t like.” ashwaq, a young teacher from palestine, full of resilience and hope: “come to israel, i’ll join u from gaza so we can meet up.” hasanain from iraq, who knows a lot about the world – even the flag lowering ceremony at the wagah border between pakistan and india. such beautiful people, all of them. if only we were all allowed to live our lives freely and be in control of our own destinies.
photography awards ceremony
such a joyful ceremony at rochester city hall this evening. wilson foundation academy students were presented awards for completing Flower City Arts Center’s Studio 678 photography program. an honor to participate. grateful to my husband for attending with me after a long day at work and to amanda chestnut for connecting me to this program. thank u.
Studio 678 Exhibition – The Flower City Arts Center
Today at Rochester City Hall, 6:30-7:30pm, awards will be presented to students in Studio 678, the Wilson Foundation Academy Photo Club. This is the 19th year that Flower City Arts Center has provided this after school photography and writing program, currently to thirty 7th and 8th grade students of Wilson Foundation Academy. It is a 24 session program which includes several field trips. Students learn how to use 35mm film cameras, take pictures in the community, make their own black and white prints in the darkroom, work with spoken word poets to write poems to accompany their photographs, take portraits of each other in the lighting studio, scan their prints in the digital lab and use Photoshop and In-Design to create a book of their work. They also mat and frame two of their photographs for an exhibition at the link gallery, City Hall, and present all of their work as a multi-media presentation. Today’s award ceremony is open to the public. I will be there, hope that u can make it too. Let’s celebrate these brilliant students and their work. More here.
The Muslims I Know at RIT
Wonderful screening of The Muslims I Know at Rochester Institute of Technology yesterday. Thank u for organizing Elisabetta Sanino D’Amanda, Paulette Swartzfager, Sara Armengot and RIT MSA! and thank u to all my friends who attended especially Susan Galloway and Ream Kidane ? [Photo by Elisabetta]
Screening of The Muslims I Know at RIT’s Allen Chapel today
Film and Discussion “The Muslims I Know” (Closed Captioned): RIT’s Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, the College of Liberal Arts, Center for Religious Life, & the Muslim Student Association present “The Muslims I Know,” followed by Q&A with Director/Producer Mara Ahmed. The Muslims I Know is a 2008 documentary film directed by Pakistani-American producer/director Mara Ahmed. The film tries to answer the clichéd question “Where are the moderate Muslims?” by focusing on a small American Muslim community in Rochester NY. The film explores culture (including norms and values derived from religion). Islamic scholars are interviewed to answer basic questions about Islamic theology and history, but most issues are commented on by regular Pakistani Americans who want to participate in America’s mainstream socio-political discourse. Today at 7pm at Allen Chapel, Interfaith Center, RIT, One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623.
Organizing the reading of Jen Marlowe’s play
Excellent meeting with Reuben J. Tapp this morning. Found out that he’s involved with the African American theater companies that form The Rochester Bronze Collective and perform at MuCCC. Even more thrilled at the prospect of working with him on a play by Jen Marlowe. Thx for this brilliant connection Scott Lancer. And yes, 490 is driveable, although it’s better to stay slow. Apparently up to 42 inches of snow from this latest storm, in some areas of upstate NY. Stay warm everyone!
