Thank You for Making the We the People Project Such a Success!

We the People 2011: The Lives, Art, and Cultures of Muslim and Arab Women was a powerful program, and one that was most needed and timely! Thank you to all who attended the cultural festival and performance, spent time meeting out artists, listen to their stories and learned from their experiences.

The day was filled with great learning about Muslim women’s experiences in the United States. The audience listen to stories that revealed struggle for identity, and experienced art that represented social justice, cultural metaphors, and freedom of religion.

Many thanks to our friends in media, Topher Forhecz, the Gazette, Karen Kullgren,Takoma Park Patch, Ali S. Ahmed, Alhurra Television and many others who featured our artists and participants, and gave prime time to the topic of understanding our Muslim-American community.  Many thanks also to all of our wonderful artists and volunteers who made this event possible!

As Rohina said in a dialogue with the audience after her show Unveiled,
“the most deadly of all weapons of mass destruction is ignorance and fear.”

Let us not live in fear and ignorance any longer, and get to know our neighbors. We have so many stories to tell one another. We have so much to learn from each other.

Let us embrace our diversity, as one of the most powerful assets we have as a society. This is what made us succeed in the first place, and it will help us thrive in the long run.

During the show, Rohina recited a few lines from a powerful poem of Rumi, and I thought I would share this with you.

Dance when you’re broken open.
Dance when you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance when you’re perfectly free.
Struck, the dancer hears a tambourine inside her,
like a wave that crests into foam at the very top,
Begins.
Maybe you don’t hear that tambourine,
or the tree leaves clapping time.
Close the ears on your head,
that listen mostly to lies and cynical jokes.
There are other things to see, and hear.
Music. Dance.
A brilliant city inside your soul!
–Rumi

Thank you to all who sent positive thoughts and feedback after the program. I’ve included some of your testimonials below and more will be on our website soon. We couldn’t have done it without you!

WOW – What an amazing event! My daughters and I were so impressed by the artists, their talents and their inspiring stories. My youngest daughter Cayla is currently learning about Muslim culture at her school and is eager to share what she learned with her teacher. Thank you for inviting and welcoming us. Teresa Riddick

I attended the Empowered Women International event held yesterday at Takoma Park. I enjoyed both the art, the panel discussion and nearing from the artists about their art and what inspires them. I just wanted to say what a wonderful job you are doing and would like to commend you and your colleagues for making the event such a success. Malabi Venkatesan

We were quite overwhelmed by the festival – the two panels, the art, the baklava, but oh my, the one woman show. Only you would be able to convince such an amazing (and busy) women to participate…and are we glad of it. The festival certainly represents a huge amount of work and energy; however, it gave so much to the participants and to the audience. We all bought Nadia’s art – to remember – and the books of course. What else can I say…I guess thank you for your deep commitment to world justice, peace and equality. With great admiration and affection, Dianne Lorenz

We the People Featured on Gazette.net!

Marga Fripp and show curator Tom Block

 ‘We the People’ project in Takoma Park highlights Muslim and Arab women artists”
by Topher Forhecz/ Staff Writer

Ignorance and fear. In a post-9/11 world, Muslim playwright Rohina Malik recognizes these as a dangerous combination.  “If you look around the world, most of the horrific things that happen that humans do to other humans happen from ignorance and fear,” she observes.  The Chicago playwright was not spared from the backlash the Muslim and Arab communities in America faced.

One incident that sticks with her occurred shortly after Sept. 11 at her best friend’s wedding in Chicago. The venue was hosting an American wedding and a Pakistani wedding at the same time.  While Malik was pushing a double stroller with her two children in it, a guest at the other wedding confronted her. He had a problem with her attire.  “I turned around and gave him a little piece of my mind and told him to get an education,” Malik recalls. “I think that sort of shocked him and forced him to want to do something about it. So as soon as my husband appeared, he wanted to take it to violence.”

The encounter was the inspiration for “Unveiled,” a one-woman play Malik will perform at Empowered Women International’s (EWI) “We are the People Project 2011: The Lives, Art, and Cultures of Muslim and Arab Women” on Saturday at the Takoma Park Community Center.  The play’s characters are five Muslim women with very different backgrounds from a hip-hop loving Londoner to a Moroccan-American.

The show debuted in 2009 at the 16th Street Theater in Chicago. Malik says she hopes the show illustrates how diverse Muslim women can be by focusing on their reasons for wearing the veil.  “You can’t put them in a box,” Malik says. “You’ll find Muslim women who’ll cover their hair who are rappers, who love hip-hop as a form of expression, and you’ll find more traditional women who wear the veil just for God.”

At “We the People,” Malik will not perform the roles of all five women so she can have time for a longer discussion. Malik is currently a member of the Goodman Theatre’s Playwrights Unit in Chicago. Currently, she is working on staged readings of her new production “The Mecca Tales.”

“We the People” is hosted by Empowered Women International, which was founded by Marga Fripp in 2002. A former broadcast journalist who emigrated from Romania in 2001, Fripp was inspired to create the organization while taking English classes at Montgomery County. Her fellow students also were immigrants and as she learned more about their unique histories and talents, she wanted to showcase them in some way.

“They are all paid minimum wage … meaning restaurants and babysitting, and I just thought this was completely unreal,” Fripp recalls. “I didn’t realize there was so much talent and all this talent was in one classroom.”  Fripp set to work creating a space for the women in Alexandria. Still, she felt it would not help them reach a larger audience.

Read the rest of the article at Gazette.net

 

Guest Post by artist Nadia Janjua: “Mode”

Nadia Janjua’s works will be exhibited at the We the People Project 2011 and she will be featured on June 11th at the one day Multi-Cultural Event teaching visitors how to make free Persian miniature art buttons!

"Mode" by Nadia Janjua

“Mode” is one of the paintings I am exhibiting at the “We the People Project” month long exhibit this month, which explores issues of identity and interpretation. I painted it in July 2006, just at the onset of the “2006 Lebanon War.” As usual, the conflicting news and reports of the situation, and the motives behind the month-long military battle between Israel and Lebanon were confounding, and extremely frustrating. It brought me back to a quote I had once read by Robert Rauschenberg:

“I think a painting is more like the real world if it’s made out of the real world. The artist’s job is to be a witness to his time in history.”

In “Mode,” an object of the “real world” was this frustration at the forms of communication surrounding the War. Moving from right to left, I explored the evolution of different forms communication and posed several questions:

1. Language :: What has happened to the potency of the written word? Do we ever know what to believe? And why believe every word we read? What is Truth?

2. Petroglyph :: In 10,000 B.C., we used to communicate through petroglyphs – one image that served to speak to a common population, an entire society.

3. Ideas :: Where do we get our ideas from? What is the boundary that defines them? What is the filter through which they are processed? Which mode do you choose to communicate them in?

4. Knowledge :: Knowledge has become so dispersed with the proliferation of information, it’s splintering. Splintering Knowledge. Isn’t knowledge supposed to hold the social fabric together? Has unity only become prevalent in smaller and smaller units of society and absent on a larger scale?

5. Nature :: What can we learn about communication from nature? We create places for ourselves in nature and yet distinguish ourselves from it. What then, is the bridge that creates this connection between man-made and the natural?

            
In a recent discussion about this painting with a Professor of Fine Arts at Southern Illinois University of Carbondale, Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, I was moved by his expansion of my description and questions above. Here are some of his reactions, coming from the standpoint of a painter and an educator:

1. Truth is an acknowledgment of abstraction to which leads us to the reality that everything is an illusion or short lived; therefore, Truth is what feeds us abstraction.

2. Historically or contemporarily, words and pictures are the construct of symbols. Both can be taken out of context, but the artist’s meaning is the essence, and the essence is the origin, and the origin is the abstract, and the abstract is individual of our society.

3. One scholar stated, “When in France speak French . . . ” It is the diversity that allow us to come and know each other, yet, all forms of communication is the child, grandchild, great grandchild, and so forth of nature’s source of knowledge for communication.

4. Knowledge for communication has a “Splintering” effect. Each splinter represents the simplicity to which the profound is built on. In the simplicity we have found the profoundness. Unity is profoundness. There are many examples of this profoundness; for example, a college or university has countless splinters, but they come together to advance an academic institution for the betterment of mankind, despite religion, politics, race, or sex.

5. “I am because we are; therefore, I am” or in other words, I am because I am able to acknowledge you are important in the cycle of life; therefore, I am. Man is an abstract of nature, and therefore, it is only nature-made. Oneness.

Professor Najjar’s emphasis on abstraction, unity and oneness are poignant and aligned with why I am showing “Mode” in this Exhibit about celebrating our Muslim-American identity. Our lives are personal, yet the experience of it transgresses all sorts of boundaries, unifying us in the human condition, and as hopefully many of us know – art is one of the greatest tools to express the commonality of our human experience, bringing individuals, communities, and societies together on that basis.

Looking for a Volunteer!

Are you eager for peace in our world?

"Calligraphy Projects II" $450

Would you like people of different religions, race, color and creed understand each other better, so that in time we can eradicate fear and terrorism and bring peace and understanding to our global community?

If so, avail of a wonderful opportunity to meet talented Muslim and Arab women artists, writers, activists and community leaders at by volunteering at Empowered Women International’s third annualWe the People Project on June 11th at the Galleries of Takoma Park Community Center.

The volunteer will receive free admission to the one woman show Unveiled starring Rohina Malik!!

Please email shannon@ewint.org today to volunteer.

Featured Artist: Huda Totonji, MFA PHD

"Calligraphy Projections III" $450

 Dr. Huda Totonji is an established Arab female artist. She obtained her BA in Studio Art and MFA in Art and Visual Technology from the US with academic excellence.  She is a master calligrapher certified in teaching Arabic Calligraphy (Ijazat Alkhat Alarabi). As a great enhancement for future leadership in academia, her interest in scholarly research guided the completion of her PhD degree in Fine Art and Visual Technology.

"After Every Hardship There Comes Ease" $6700

Having been born and raised in Saudi Arabia, the Eastern thought is where she came from. Living her adulthood in the United States allowed the Western thought to shape her identity in the West. Huda comes from two civilizations, one that expresses itself visually through the ‘word’ and the other that expresses itself through ‘pictorial’ and figurative (representation) language.  Being able to combine both the Eastern and Western ideology has been a constant interest in Huda’s artistic approach. This furthermore exposed her to Eastern and Western educational systems.

Teaching as a fulltime lecturer at Dar Al Hekma College, Jeddah, KSA, further enriched her knowledge and exposure to academic improvement and excellence. She joined the faculty of the Graphic Design Department at the Art Institute of Washington. She also worked at Georgetown University. Her academic and professional experience from the Middle East and the West has also contributed to her ability to communicate with different age groups, cultures, and nationalities. Professionally, Huda, the artist, researcher, and lecturer has gained extensive recognition in various exhibitions as well as universities in the United States and internationally, which has been louvered in various forms of the media.

"Calligraphy Projects II" $450

Being a visiting speaker in many of the most renowned universities in Washington Metropolitan area and others such as Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University, Montgomery College, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Kansas State University, Penn State University, University of Pennsylvania, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Texas A&M University, and in Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. This enhanced her academic professional acknowledgments. Her bilingual, critical thinking, visual perception, and analytical reasoning skills is projected in applying theory into practice in the field of Fine Art in higher education.

"Two Worlds" $4500

Huda Totonji’s artwork has moved formally from painting towards video, performance and text in response to investigating issues and questions about femininity and representation. Working with the female gaze, her MFA thesis show from George Mason University presented these challenges through the use of Performance Art, Video Installation, Multi-Media, Drawing, Painting, and Photography. Her PhD dissertation explored the integration of text and image researching Islamic Calligraphy, Female Subjectivity, and Art and Science. Her future career goal is to establish robust educational channels between international universities and other universities in Saudi Arabia, leading the Saudi female educators and artists into an outstanding productive and creative educational environment.

View all of Huda Totonji’s exhibiting pieces for the We the People Project 2011.

Learn more about Huda Totonji at her Website.

Spotlight On Rebecca Jami

Rebecca Jami is a talented graphic designer based in Woodridge, VA. She graciously designed and donated promotion flyers for the approaching We the People Project 2011. EWI recently chatted with Rebecca to learn more about her passion and talent for graphic design.

Rebecca Jami credits a variety of sources for leading her into the world of graphic design. Her natural love for art and typography took her to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh where she developed her skills and talents. She has been surrounded by people who have encouraged and supported her towards a career in graphic design, including her mother and other graphic designers she knew while working as a direct mail production manager.

The medium of graphic design brings together art and images with Rebecca’s flair for typography. She loves the challenge that graphic design offers, and enjoys finding the best way to create a design that presents the client’s message in a manner that will yield the greatest reply. She says, “There is always more than one solution, so it is always interesting to see what the final outcome is.”

Rebecca became involved with Empowered Women International after deciding she wanted to volunteer her graphic design skills and create new challenges for herself. She says the mission of EWI is quite personal to her. Rebecca’s grandmother emigrated from Hungary, and she has four sister-in-laws who left their families and lives behind in Afghanistan. She has seen the sacrifices family members have made to come to America, such as giving up professions as pediatricians and teachers. Rebecca knows the struggles that immigrants face while trying to build their lives here, and she respects the valuable work EWI does.

As an entrepreneur herself, Rebecca knows firsthand about the hard work and dedication it takes to begin and run your own business. She has had her graphic design business since 2006, and understands the persistence it takes to have a business. She advises budding entrepreneurs to, “Keep your head down and keep moving forward.” As she has grown her business, she has lived by one of her favorite saying: “Don’t look back; you’re not going that way.”

EWI thanks Rebecca Jami for donating her talents for the We the People 2011
Visit Rebecca at her website: www.jamiprodesign.com or view her portfolio at www.coroflot.com/rebeccajami.

Featured Artist: Jamiah Adams

"IMAN" by Jamiah Adams

 Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, Jamiah Aniece Adams produces political, advocacy and documentary media for web, television and film. Her consulting work for the web goes hand in hand with her keen acumen for social and new media strategy for non profit organizations as she advises these orgs on how to augment their presence on the Internet through use of existing web tools; paid advertising and software tools. In 2006, Jamiah began producing new media for CBS Entertainment and from there transitioned to a management position with a political media company.

The three photos that Jamiah is exhibiting for the We the People, Speak Your Mind exhibit all represent the American ummah.  As an artist, communicator and most importantly a representative of her community, Jamiah feels that it is crucial that she present Muslim Americans as what they are, the most racially diverse religious group in the United States.  Her photos represent Muslims in three major US cities, Washington, DC,  New York and Chicago (a city that some refer to as the Mecca of America.)

"I am America Too" by Jamiah Adams

Jamiah’s captivating photo, “I am America Too,” was inspired by the Langston Hughes poem, “I Too am America.”  Each year, the New York Muslim community gathers for awonderful parade and bazaar.  Last year, Jamiah captured some of the sisters marching in the parade.  Jamiah stated about this moment, “I was moved by their patriotism and watched as they proudly marched in the parade wearing hijab and waving the American Flag.  They want fellow Americans to know—“I am America Too,” because as a good friend of mine once said, there is no greater place to be Muslim and to be a Muslim woman than these United States of America.”

Last year during the ISNA convention Jamiah was invited by her friend and colleague, Rami Nashashibi,  on a bus tour to the Southside of Chicago.  She was introduced to his organization, the Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN), which provides job training; health care and educational resources for the community.  Jamiah was struck by the poverty during the tour of Southside, but when she arrived at IMAN’s headquaters she was instantly overwhelmed by the inspiring mural painted on its walls which is the source of her next piece being exhibited.   Jamiah stated, “This photo is a beautiful mural on the wall of IMAN–the Islamic calligraphy looms over the sister at the end of the wall gazing at the art.  Among the hard scramble landscape of this Southside community, people of diverse backgrounds were coming together to provide for the less fortunate—their commitment to the services they provided truly exemplified zakat.”

Her final photo in the We the People Exhibit“The Eid” is a photo of some of the sisters from Jamiah’s masjid, Masjid Muhammad in Washington, DC.  Jamiah commented about her photo “The colorful sister’s hajibs and clothing demonstrate all the creativity

"The Eid" by Jamiah Adams

within Muslim women dress and the wonderful and vibrant style of African American women.  Our Eid celebration took place in a large DC park, where the men laid out large pieces of tarp for everyone to pray.  It was my first Eid in DC and the masjid is a poignant faith home because it once served as a temple for theNation of Islam—the place where my family was first introduced to Islam.  After the death of the NOI leader, the movement split and believers began following the tradition of Sunni Muslims.  “The Eid” means a lot to me because it represents the largest racial group of Muslims in the US—African Americans.”

In addition to Jamiah’s work for the We the People Project, highlights of her political work include two videos she produced for c4 organizations that supported the campaign of President Barack Obama and covering 6 states as a new media specialist for the Service Employees International Union, supporting health care reform legislation. A recent DC transplant, Jamiah is most proud of the work she has produced for the ummah– “Count Me In” PSA featured Muslims of Pakistani; Egyptian; American; Iranian and Iraqi origin to extol the importance of US census participation within the Muslim community. Additionally she produced videos for an event surrounding the US Muslim Entrepreneurial Summit and for the progressive think tank, Center for American Progress. She uses her knowledge of production, coupled with executive experience in both the mainstream and new media to consult for advocacy, faith and policy organizations to improve the lives of working Americans and others who need their cause amplified.

View all of Jamiah Adam’s exhibiting pieces for the We the People Project 2011.

View Jamiah Adam’s work on the “Count Me In” PSA campaign.