As AMM (Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern) folk, we are a very diverse group of loosely-defined, fuzzy-boundaried people in the US. We are Black, Brown and white, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist, agnostic—and all the other levels of religious commitment and interest. What bring us together is our connection to the Islamicate world. We are an almost invisible, but emerging new identity group in the US. This podcast is a safe and loving space where AMM folk get to talk about and deliberate on ourselves as Americans. We tackle issues like internalized racism; living in the heart of empire; modesty; colorism; lacking an identity bloc; belonging; being mixed-race; being religiously mixed, ambiguous or searching; anti-Blackness; what ties us together; Palestine; US foreign policy; whiteness; our role in the greater progressive movement; the possibility of “cultural Muslim†as an identity marker; spirituality; definitions of Spirit/The Divine; connection/disconnection to Spirit/The Divine; our sheroes and heroes, and so much more… It's time to get in front of the negative PR, define who we are and strengthen our American AMM culture.
Join I-AMM and Ameera Khan for her story as Muslim and Trans. Part 2 of 3. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and explore our website at I-AMM.org to learn about all the work we do. We explore stories around family and belonging with an eye towards humanizing the often-politicized AMM folk who exist between seemingly disparate identities.
Join I-AMM and Ameera Khan for her story as Muslim and Trans. Part 1 of 3. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and explore our website at I-AMM.org to learn about all the work we do. We explore stories around family and belonging with an eye towards humanizing the often-politicized AMM folk who exist between seemingly disparate identities.
Join our continuing conversation on the four modernities. Part 2 of this series focuses on Persia/Roman Empire. This new format for I-AMM will focus on longer conversation divided into episodes as a series. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and explore our website at I-AMM.org to learn about all the work we do. We explore stories around family and belonging with an eye towards humanizing the often-politicized AMM folk who exist between seemingly disparate identities.
Join us for our conversation on the four modernities. Part 1 of this series focuses on Egypt from the 18th dynasty to its fall. This new format for I-AMM will focus on longer conversation divided into episodes as a series. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and explore our website at I-AMM.org to learn about all the work we do. We explore stories around family and belonging with an eye towards humanizing the often-politicized AMM folk who exist between seemingly disparate identities.
In this episode, we talk with Armin about his experience teaching school to children going through difficult times, how he is seen as an Iranian-American and representing himself in America. Join us for this conversation with the Austin ISD High School Teacher of the Year! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and explore our website at I-AMM.org to learn about all the work we do. We explore stories around family and belonging with an eye towards humanizing the often-politicized AMM folk.
In this episode, Ramish and Roy have a conversation about how Egypt is perceived, it's culture, and history. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and explore our website at I-AMM.org to learn about all the work we do. We explore stories around family and belonging with an eye towards humanizing the often-politicized AMM folk who exist between seemingly disparate identities.
In this episode, we talk with Mohan about the challenges of categories within the AMM, citizenship, and representation. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and explore our website at I-AMM.org to learn about all the work we do. We explore stories around family and belonging with an eye towards humanizing the often-politicized AMM folk who exist between seemingly disparate identities.
Bonus recording of Interconnecting—Arabs, Muslims and Middle Easterners (I-AMM) with our brilliant panelists, Dr. Amilcar Shabazz, Sabina Ibraheem, Dr. Maryam Kashani, Sara Bawany and Dr. Phil Hopkins on how to think about policing in our communities. This episode was recorded through Zoom. Discussion begins at 3:20. To find our future events, visit our website I-AMM.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We hope you can join these live events in the future!
In this episode, we talk through belonging with Habiba, from youth in NYC to a parent in Texas. We feature our guest Habiba, a close friend who shares stories of her experience in desi spaces in New York with culture she helped shape and work she does to this day in Texas to craft Desi spaces. Visit I-AMM.org to see our work and follow us on social media. We explore stories around family and belonging with an eye towards humanizing the AMM folk who exist between seemingly disparate identities.
In this episode, we dive deep into questions of belonging and AMM identity at the "boundaries". We feature guest Rhie Azzam Morris, who "works with street kids, was a street kid". She describes herself as mixed Lebanese with standard, white, Texan, southern, good-ol-boy. We explore stories around family and belonging with an eye towards humanizing the often-politicized AMM folk who exist between seemingly disparate identities.
We are so excited to share our conversation with local AMM shero, Bahia Amawi. She shares how she suddenly found her job as a speech language pathologist with Pflugerville ISD restricted her freedom of expression and her journey fighting back. Some say Don't Mess with Texas, we say Don't Mess with Bahia! In this episode, we discuss what it means to be an American citizen as AMM, how we stay true to our principles, Bahia's relationship with the BDS movement, and Freedom of Expression in Texas.
In this episode, we pick up where we left off in episode 3, diving deeper into what it means to assimilate as an AMM person. Maira and Ramish speak to what assimilation means for the South Asian community by deconstructing billboards in Sugarland, TX. What does it mean to be a model minority among South Asian Americans? Set against this background of a white dominant culture that tries to seduce us with uplift, what does authentic American AMM culture look like anyway?
In this episode, we begin by explaining how those folded under the census category of white too, experience racialization. This racialization, while imposed from the outside, also takes form in how we see ourselves and aspire to whiteness. The more we mimic white norms in behavior, taste, and values, the more we feel and are seen as assimilated and acceptable. We ponder if the effects of being racialized, and internalizing that racialization are turning us (the AMM) into a new racial category.
In this episode, we begin a discussion about how the racialization of AMM folk works. Pivoting in the second part of the conversation we move away from how we are perceived by others into how we perceive ourselves. We touch on anti-Blackness among the non-Black AMM folk. And we zoom in on the “Asian” racial category South Asians identify with and begin the conversation about how some non-Black Arabs and Middle Easterners perceive themselves as white.
Who are the AMM and what are the boundaries of this Identity Bloc? Some other issues that are touched on are: Why the moniker Muslim by itself is not enough? What might AMM cover that Muslim by itself does not? Why bring Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, etc. into the picture? Why is there a need for a new AMM identity bloc? What are some things that tie the identity bloc together? Are fuzzy identity boundaries inevitable?
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