Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary: How Storytelling Can Take Back Narratives on American Muslim Life
By Elisabeth Becker
Editor’s Note: In April 2018, StoryCenter partnered with the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), which conducts objective, solution-seeking research that empowers American Muslims to develop their community and contribute to democracy and pluralism in the U.S. We guided a small group of Muslim American women and men in New York through the process of sharing stories, as part of ISPU’s Muslims for American Progress project. In this post, ISPU consultant Elisabeth Becker writes about the workshop and the value of personal stories that resist media misrepresentation.
“Stories are a communal currency of humanity.” -Tahir Shah, in Arabian Nights
Najmah Nicole Abraham, fashion designer and spoken-word artist, described her struggle breaking into the fashion world, despite graduating at the top of her class. Being a Black Muslim woman made an already cut-throat industry nearly impossible to penetrate. “I had one interview where the man interviewing me, referencing my hijab, told me I could take off my coat and scarf.” I had to reply, “they don’t come off.” She recalled how the first woman who hired her expressed shock that Najmah hadn’t been immediately “snatched up” by a fashion company.
Najmah’s inspiring story speaks to her determination as an individual. Looking back at the year she completed her fashion design degree, Najmah laughed. “I was pregnant with my son,” she recounted,. And I knew I had to give birth during school vacation so I could graduate. And so, I told myself, I had two weeks when he could be born. And he was born just in time.” Today, Najmah is a celebrated spoken-word artist who performs across the country at schools, prisons, and public events, educating diverse audiences about the power of verse.
Najmah is one of 86 research participants in the Muslims for American Progress (MAP)-NYC project, led by ISPU, which explores the many ways in which Muslim Americans make a positive impact on New York City. MAP-NYC focuses on eight areas: medicine; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); civics and democracy; philanthropy and nonprofits; education; economics; arts and entertainment; and sports. The project combines the hard facts quantifying Muslim contributions to the city (jobs created, number of students educated, etc.) and human stories. ISPU is a leading research institution focused on studying and empowering the American Muslim community.
On the first two days of April, 2018, MAP-NYC project leaders and StoryCenter collaborated to share and develop the stories of five outstanding Muslim New Yorkers as short videos. By chance, we booked our workshop room in a co-working space at the heart of New York City’s fashion district, right across the street from Najmah’s first job. Her memory jogged by the location, she recalled both the challenges and successes she has experienced on the very same street over the past two decades.
In addition to Najmah, Ali Abbas, writer and producer; Adeba Khanam, celebrated educator and community leader; Zainab Ismaili, personal trainer and founder of Fit for Allah; and Zehra Siddiqui, Medical Director of the Ryan Chelsea/Clinton Community Health Center in Manhattan, participated in the two-day workshop.
On a warm spring day in Midtown Manhattan, we listened to the unique—at times humorous and at others heartbreaking—stories about of these five individuals, from a dog’s rise to celebrity, to building homes in Chiapas, Mexico, aiding a recent immigrant through birth with the universal language of empathy, and becoming a community leader across borders.
The stories shared in the workshop break with dominant stereotypes that cast Muslims in a dark and dangerous light, showing instead the extraordinary successes, in spite of their struggles, of ordinary Muslim New Yorkers who shine in their respective professions.
In all of these stories, the uniqueness of New York shines through: for Najmah, providing a world-class education in fashion; for Abeda, encountering an opportunity for a new beginning on her arrival at Orchard Street; for Zehra, offering a chance to go beyond her official responsibilities as a doctor who lives by the mantra that “healthcare is a right, not a privilege"; for Ali and her surprising brush with celebrity; and, for Zainab, making available the space to integrate spirituality and health. All five of these individuals, in return, contribute to their communities in New York.
The stories push back against media coverage associating Islam and Muslims with terrorism and violence. With this unbalanced portrayal of Islam focusing on security and threat, it is more vital than ever to bring to light the largely untold stories of American Muslims who give so much, day in and day out, to our society—stories about community and well-being, culture and creativity, and loss and renewal. Stories are, after all, a “communal currency” that can powerfully contend with stereotypes, showing all that we share, despite our differences, in the city that never sleeps.
View the remaining MAP-NYC stories online.