I-AMM: The Defining Moment

Arab lives Matter! Roywar sets out to find a goo ACLU attorney.

First, why are there two episode 12s? Who is doing the numbering, Roy War? Second, we finally broke down and talked about the Derek Chauvin convictions! Third, specially guest appearance by Lando! Fourth, no really Roy War, why are there two episode 12s?

A discussion on Gerrymandering, voter suppression, and Lil Nas X's satan shoes!

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. 

The McDonald's that Never Was In today's episode we attempt to pin down the strangeness of US imperialism, with a specific eye on the CIA, multinational corporations, orientalism, and Miles Copeland.

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. 

Trauma, more trauma, and resilience. The team tries to ask the question: was that really as bad as it felt or am I just a ninny?

Scruffy strikes back! Are we realistic, pessimistic, or just way too optimistic. FDR, liberals, and the swing towards the sadism of normalcy. Will fanatic normals derail this opportunity and stick with 8 years of blah until the next Trump comes around?

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. 

In this episode we discuss how Barry Goldwater in 1964 reshaped the Republican party in such a way that he should be considered the chief architect of this political moment. Congratulations Mr. AuH20, your monster lives! Red Peace Machine is a new program as a collaboration between The Austin School and I-AMM. Each week, we will discuss the news of the week and look at the history of the news.

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. 

Raw and uncut, the Red Peace Machine discusses the Trumpist insurrection and the history of insurrection in the US. Red Peace Machine is a new program as a collaboration between The Austin School and I-AMM. Each week, we will discuss the news of the week and look at the history of the news.

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 who exist between seemingly disparate identities. 

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 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 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 their specific AMM community by deconstructing billboards in Sugarland, TX. What does it mean to be a model minority among South Asian Americans? Are billboards like this an invitation to join whiteness and move up the ladder? 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? And does it look like the same thing for AMM silos segregated based on race/ethnicity/country of origin?

While most AMM folk in the US don’t fall under the Caucasian category, peoples from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are folded under white in the census. In this episode, we begin by explaining how the census category does not save these folks from  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. The less we align with white norms the farther from acceptable we become.    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. Using the definition of racism created by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB), we dive into what being racialized looks like for the AMM by hearing the co-hosts’ personal stories. What’s Race Got to do with it? A lot.   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.

In this introductory episode, the co-hosts, Dr. Banafsheh Madaninejad, Maira Sheikh JD, Dr. Roy Casagranda and Ramish Nadeem get a first take at introducing themselves and follow the intro up with an initial dive into what AMM represents. 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?