I've discovered a forerunner blogger, Margari Aziza, who also reflects and writes on the intersection of Islam, gender, and race. Her latest post is an excellent letter in response to ABC's 20/20 regarding "Islam: Questions and Answers." View her letter here.
This kind of writing is critical, especially in the current climate of widespread misunderstanding and prejudice against Muslims.
If I were at Spelman this semester, I would use this letter as a model for students. A central part of my Introduction to Islam course is responding critically to media depictions of Islam and Muslims.
In my next post, I will share a recent letter I wrote to a new friend answering a difficult question about Islam, also an example of how I imagine my students taking knowledge from the classroom to better represent Islam to others.
ASA Jamillah,
ReplyDeleteI didn't see the program. But based on the letter you just shared I am glad I missed it. The three key points Ms. Hill mentioned seemed to be he same three issues that we continuously encounter when it comes to mainstream media's depiction of American Muslims. We have to continue to forge our own identity by creating our own media and supporting it. Hopefully we can change some of these negative stereotypes through patience and perseverance.