Events

Speaking at Temple Emanu-El

Emanu-El | Calendar. All temple members and their guests are invited to join us for an evening celebrating our commitment to our friends in the Muslim American community. First, Muslim scholar and educator Dr. Hussein Rashid will address the congregation at Sabbath services about his experience of being Muslim in America. Then, at 8 PM in I.M. Wise Hall, we will host a festive Iftar, the break-fast meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (Please note: The Iftar begins later in the evening because break-fast occurs after sundown. Programming to be held after services and before the Iftar will…

Read More
Conferences Events Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

Leading Edge – Conference

I’ll be speaking at the following conference on a Muslim theology of Black Lives Matter. I’ve spoke at the church before on a similar topic, but this will be different.   “Body Politics” :: Jan 17 @middlechurch from Middle Collegiate Church on Vimeo.       The Leading Edge 2016:  REVOLUTIONARY LOVE—Tools, Tactics, and Truth-telling to Dismantle Racism  Friday, April 15 – Sunday, April 17 in New York City  Our nation is in a crisis. Though there is only one race — the human race — racism is a construct with lethal consequences. People die while in its custody. Racism…

Read More
Events Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

Panel: Advancing Religious Literacies: Exploring Islam through the Cultural Studies Method

The loud discourse on Islam in the United States today marks Muslims as a threat, embroiled in pre-modern sensibilities, and unable to participate in democratic societies. These articulations are often made by recycling colonial and oriental images of Muslim women as oppressed and Muslim men as violent, with objects such as the hijab and the figure of the terrorist at the center. This rise of Islamophobic commentary has resulted in myriad incidences of bullying, teasing, and direct violence against teachers and students who identify, or are read by others, as Muslims. All this points to the lack of understanding about Islam and…

Read More
Art Books Events Film Food and Drink Games Inter-faith Intra-faith Literature Media Appearances Music Photos Poetry Religion

Newsday on America to Zanzibar

Here is a Newsday article on the exhibit America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far, at The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, for which I was the lead academic advisor. It’s a good chance to shout out my friends from high school. “Our goal is to have children deal with differences in a healthy, positive way and encourage them to be inquisitive while exploring the world instead of running away from its differences,” Rashid said, an experience not so different from his years growing up in Elmont.  

Read More
Art Books Events Film Inter-faith Intra-faith Literature Media Appearances Music Poetry Religion Video

Reuter’s Coverage of America to Zanzibar

Here is a Reuter’s video on the exhibit America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far, at The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, for which I was the lead academic advisor. I had no idea the tie was rakishly crooked. The Muslim Culture Exhibition on TRT Showcase from Reuters Content Solutions on Vimeo. The Muslim Culture Exhibition on TRT Showcase

Read More
Art Events Film Inter-faith Intra-faith Literature Music Poetry Religion

My Secret Thoughts of America to Zanzibar at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan — Ummah Wide — Medium

My Secret Thoughts of America to Zanzibar at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan — Ummah Wide — Medium. For the last few years, I got paid to play with toys. I was able to put a philosophy of Star Trek’s Vulcans into practice, and live as a Jedi. Comics littered my work space, and Dr. Who’s TARDIS traveled with me through space and time. All I was missing was a Buffy or Firefly fix. All of this was possible because I was working on religious literacy and global citizenship.

Read More