Category: local

People’s Solidarity Rally

Friends and compadres, I hope to see u at this rally on January 21st at 11am. I will be speaking there, very deliberately and mindfully, as a first generation immigrant, a woman of color, and a Muslim. I want to open up the conversation a bit and talk about the importance of recognizing (and working with) difference within struggles for justice. Would love to see u there so we can march together.

People’s Solidarity Rally

talking about #NoDAPL with local reps

met with chuck schumer’s staff today, with my wonderful friend sue smith, in order to talk about #NoDAPL and our own personal experience of traveling to standing rock. we focused on human rights (tied it to schumer’s opposition to jeff sessions as AG), gave context to NoDAPL (a history of theft and river dams that have made land uninhabitable, but also unemployment rates of close to 80%, rampant poverty and consequent social problems including suicide rates that are double the national average), and insisted that the racist language being used by ND congressional reps on the floor of the senate (calling water protectors and their allies terrorists for example) be challenged and stopped. we described the oceti sakowin camp – how well-organized, clean and spiritual it was – and reiterated the right to free speech and peaceful assembly. i hope that these face to face meetings work. sue insists that they can be effective, if they take the form of ongoing conversations. that’s exactly what we need to do then. next: kirsten gillibrand.

anti-racism work and engaging with trump

at an anti-racism worshop. a lot of talk about trying to burst the so-called liberal bubble and engage with trump voters. in fact, trying to connect with trump himself by focusing on mutually agreeable areas, to which i had to say, pardon me for being the agent provocateur here, but sometimes it’s ok not to find a meeting point with fascism. it’s ok not to make friends with the racist bubble. sorry for being radical and for using an extreme example, but if hitler were in power, would we want to find some common ground by focusing on mutual interests? guaranteed to be a killjoy 🙂

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Stanford – “The other America” 1967

the speech i used as the foundation for my talk today about dr king and his formidable legacy, at the Islamic Center of Rochester Inc. full house, a rousing speech by rev marlowe washington sr who urged us to speak up for justice, references to the parting of the red sea and MLK’s status as a kind of prophet by rabbi debbie till, and the tying together of racism, poverty and war by yours truly. best of all, in the middle of my presentation, we showed a clip from the actual speech, so that we could hear dr king’s powerful words firsthand. the most charming and unexpected moment came when a little girl from the islamic center, in a white dress and a lovely white hijab, began to beatbox during a rap she and her elementary school classmates had prepared about dr king and how cool his message was. they got a well-deserved standing ovation 🙂

writing about MLK

starting to put my thoughts together and write a speech for this interfaith event at the Islamic Center of Rochester Inc this coming monday. want to use dr king’s “the other america” speech as a jumping off point. this event will be open to the public. rev. marlowe washington sr and rabbi debbie till will also be speaking. hope to see u there.

rochester activism fair

wonderful to be at the rocheser activism fair today. 52 activist organizations, lots of friends and familiar faces, but then many new connections, social justice causes and ideas about organizing and working together as well. bravo Athesia Benjamin for putting this together at the Visual Studies Workshop.

a vast and mysterious universe

yesterday evening, as the sun was about to set, this beautiful soft light poured from the sky and spilled onto the snow. it was like looking at the world through a lens filter, or through rose-colored glasses, literally. the top of the sky was a gorgeous, warm pink which bled gently into a cooler yellow, only to be transformed into the purest blue. this splash of color was reflected faithfully by the snow and created a unified, magical landscape.

we live in such a vast universe, full of mystery and miracles. it’s easy to get caught up in too many thoughts, to live too much in our heads, and so it’s comforting to know that there is such a prodigious world outside of us, connected to us, yet also gloriously ancient and infinite.

[these photographs are unfiltered and don’t even begin to describe yesterday’s color extravaganza]


screening of “the muslims i know” at SJFC

got back home from NC after driving for 15 hours yesterday, dropping our son off to college on the way. but no time to slouch today. i screened half of The Muslims I Know for a class at st john fisher college and got to talk to students afterwards.

i was invited by the brilliant Roja Singh who’s been teaching her anthropology class about globalization, immigration, ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.

the discussion went well, with students asking about minor clarifications related to cultural and geographic specifics they had noticed in the film. there were also larger questions about both islam and american politics that i was happy to address.

as we were ending the class, a student asked me how i felt about what was going on in the country. he said: “u’ve made a very sensible film and provided a lot of information here, but it cannot be easy. how do muslims feel right now?” i had to be honest and tell him that in all our family conversations over the holidays we had shared ideas about relocating to other countries/parts of the world.

it’s particularly sad to have these discussions with our kids. it’s not something i had to contend with when i was growing up. i always felt i had choices – stay on and study in europe, remain in pakistan, settle in the US, etc without these choices being forced on me, on account of fear. what a privilege that was. it’s not so easy for most…

thank u to professors like dr Singh for creating the space necessary for this type of dialogue in smaller, predominantly white colleges and universities. it’s so very needed.

Opera like no other

saw this wonderful mexican-american, multi-media opera at the eastman theatre today and loved every minute of it.
…

Daniel J. Kushner: In the opera, Soprano Tony Arnold plays the character known as “the author,” who battles the demons of writer’s block in an attempt to create lasting and meaningful art. Among the other characters are what Sánchez-Gutiérrez describes as “amorphous creatures,” ideas not yet fully formed that act as a kind of choir in support of the drama. The puppets and costumes featured in “Don’t Blame Anyone” (“No Se Culpe a Nadie” in Spanish) are fantastical and imbued with a cryptic surrealism.
While the visuals — somewhat similar in tone to those in the Guillermo del Toro film “Pan’s Labyrinth” — are a little discomforting, they’re also profoundly imaginative and fascinating. Adding to that the musical styles of both composers, the visceral combines with the otherworldly in a way that accentuates a sense of wonder, mysticism, and even dread.

This ambitious artistic endeavor benefits from the official involvement of the Mexican government — amid an American political landscape blanketed with the long shadow of Donald Trump-era, anti-immigrant discrimination and xenophobia. The operatic premiere begins to take on a major cultural significance in Rochester and beyond. More here.