I’ve always described myself as an activist filmmaker. The desire to illuminate stories from the periphery, to create dialogue, challenge pieties, and disturb oppressive systems is why I became a filmmaker. Community projects, where diverse groups of people congregate, exchange ideas and transform one another, are also a form of art. So are collabs with other artists and activists. Recent projects I’ve been involved in.
In this series the artist Mara Ahmed has re-created her own history by using old, black and white photographs of her ancestors, juxtaposing them against South Asian architectural details, and subverting boundaries by placing them on the wrong side of the India-Pakistan border.
A recent event at the Islamic Center of Rochester asked how anti-Semitism, anti-black racism, and Islamophobia connect. A number of young activists joined together to answer that question, and to discuss how to counter white supremacy.
At a time when hate crimes against Black churches, synagogues and mosques are spiking, we need to connect the dots between anti-Black racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, understand white supremacy, and build collective resistance to it.
Co-taught a workshop on ‘Race, Racism, and Relationships: Microaggressions and the Beloved Community’ at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester. Used Claudia Rankine’s work to frame the discussion.
Two years ago, Amanda Chestnut, Rachel DeGuzman and I organized a celebration of Frederick Douglass’ 199th birthday at his gravesite in Mount Hope Cemetery. The following year, in 2018, the city of Rochester was energized to mark Douglass’s 200th birthday with multiple community events. Part of this process of excavation included a work of art by Isaac Julien, commissioned by the Memorial Art Gallery.
The White Supremacist Roots of Anti-Muslim Violence: Commentary and Analysis by Mara Ahmed, Halima Aweis, and Hibah Arshad, in the aftermath of the terror attacks on two New Zealand mosques, on March 15, 2019, that killed 50 people and wounded another 50.
We, the members of Rochester Jewish Voice for Peace as well as the broader Rochester community, stand by Ilhan Omar and her right to critique the influence that Zionism has on US politics. Join us as we rally outside congressman Joe Morelle’s office to demand an end to Islamaphobia, anti-blackness, and malicious mis-appropriation of anti-semitism.
An audio poem about rain, its varied moods, geographies, and contexts. Written and read by Mara Ahmed, sound design by Darien Lamen.
The goal of this conversation is to take diversity beyond the niceness of multiculturalism and inclusion, and to focus on how full equity can revitalize and transform systems and societies.
The Gandhi Institute is preparing to host a program about the “diversity advantage” — how society benefits when inclusion transforms into full equality.
Kundiman is a national organization based in NYC, which was inspired by Cave Canem, and which supports and promotes the work of Asian American writers. Kundiman Northeast will hold its first western New York reading at the wonderful Spirit Room.
An Australian political cartoonist created an image of Serena Williams stomping on her racket; her features were exaggerated and a pacifier was at her feet. Cartoonist Mark Knight and his defenders called it satire; others called it racist and sexist.
