With all the stories on the Internet it can be difficult to always stay in the know. To help, we’ve searched the web for interesting pieces of news, videos and tips to help you start off your week on the right foot.
1. I learned Arabic As An Adult To Reclaim My Palestinian Heritage
The Arabic alphabet, which is written from right to left.
The Huffington Post—Canada contributor Else Khoury writes about her struggle and journey to learn Arabic in an effort to connect to her Palestinian roots.
“I speak Arabic,” Khoury writes, “Not very well, unfortunately. If someone were being particularly generous, they might say that I sound like a seven-year-old child.”
Khoury writes that it wasn’t until she was 27-years-old that she learned to speak Arabic even though it was her father’s first language. She explains that her father immigrated to Canada in his 20s and made the difficult decision to not speak Arabic at home in an effort to fit in—be more Canadian.
“At that time, in that place, it wouldn’t have been wise to highlight the invisible weight of our hidden identity: Palestinian, Khoury writes. “It would be easier to just ignore it.”
[tweetthis]”Our words explain who we are, with our many complexities, to others,” Else Khoury writes as she describes how she learned Arabic to connect to her Palestinian roots.[/tweetthis]
2. Explaining Muslim diversity through music
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol is a Turkish-born Muslim American teacher and composer.
The Bostonian recently emailed PRI’s The World telling them how “the constant talk of Islamic terrorism and banning Muslim immigration has created paranoia in the US.” According to PRI Sanlikol explained in his email that the “mainstream media paints a picture of ‘veiled Muslim women and devout Muslims who follow the Sharia law.'”
“The cultural heritage of Islam is much more diverse,” he wrote.
Sanlikol then asked, to better show what he meant, if he could come into the PRI studio and talk about his new project: his new album “Resolution.”
[tweetthis]”The cultural heritage of Islam is much more diverse,” says Mehmet Ali Sanlikol a Turkish-born Muslim American teacher and composer.[/tweetthis]
3. This anti-Donald Trump billboard in Michigan is the best clapback to his racist rhetoric
Photo/@SirajAHashmi (Twitter)
The Nuisance Committee — an anti-Donald Trump political action committee created by the makers of Cards Against Humanity — have posted a black billboard with white Arabic writing to frighten the Republican Presidential nominee.
Located on a highway in Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest concentration of Arab- Americans in the United States, the billboard reads, “Donald Trump: He can’t read this, but he is afraid of it.”
According to the Detroit Metro Times, the billboard was created in an effort for local Arabic speakers to get out and vote.
“[The billboard] targets Arabic-speaking voters in the Detroit area and encourages others, who don’t speak Arabic but are curious about its message, to ask a friend what it says,” the press release reads, according to Detroit Metro Times.
[tweetthis]Thanks to The Nuisance Committee a black billboard with write Arabic writing in Dearborn, Michigan reads, “Donald Trump: He can’t read this, but he is afraid of it.”[/tweetthis]
4. 16 Ways to Speak Arabic with your Hands
Slow down, wait, “shway shway”! (palm up, fingers grouped, up, down motion) Commonly displayed on Arab roads by cabbies who shun hi-tech indicators & signals. Arm thrust out of window, hand wagging. Can carry a covert threat: Just you wait, I’ll show you. If brought down from higher up, and held, can register appreciation, a favorable rating.
The website Arab American has compiled a list of 16 ways to speak Arabic with your hands. With the help of Al Bawaba’s Dictionary of Unspoken Arabic Arab American writes that it will “have you ‘speaking’ fluently in a matter minutes—able to express a wide range of key human expressions—while sidestepping costly classes, hellish homework, and embarrassing pronunciation gaffs. Yalla, get ready to speak Arabic without uttering a word!”
[tweetthis]16 ways to speak Arabic with your hands—Yalla, get ready to speak Arabic without uttering a word![/tweetthis]
5. Artist-Activist Taz Ahmed Is Creating Spaces for the South Asian, Muslim Community
“My journey as an activist-artist has taken me on the path of telling the counter-narrative of the South Asian and Muslim community. I wasn’t seeing the stories in the public sphere that I needed to see to make me feel whole, so I created them.” –Taz Ahmed
[tweetthis]”I wasn’t seeing the stories in the public sphere that I needed to see to make me feel whole, so I created them,” says activist-artist Taz Ahmed.[/tweetthis]
[tweetthis]altM’s weekly roundup of news[/tweetthis]
This list was curated by Kaitlin Montgomery, altM News Editor
