Educating, Protecting, and Loving: My Journey as a Black Radical Teacher

My father taught me to believe that the only real chains are in our minds, and when I went to college at San Francisco State University, I pursued child psychology because I wanted to help break these chains. I took all my general education courses in Black studies, which meant that whether I was studying economics or public health or literature, the curriculum centered the Black community in the U.S. These classes reaffirmed all the lessons that my father had imparted and reinforced my understanding, empathy, and love for my people. Then I started to ask myself, if this is who we are in spite of white supremacy, who would we be outside of an oppressive system? Who could we become?

Nafeesah MuhammadFebruary 20, 2024Black HERstory, Intersectionality, Anti-Racism, resistance

Blazing the Trail for Muslim Women Filmmakers & Creatives

I’ve never met another Muslim or Bangladeshi woman in this role, so I take my responsibility as a representative of my identities and my culture very seriously. When I studied film, I set out to make stories that people like me can relate to. When a director wants to make their narrative about how Islam oppresses women, for example, I consider it my responsibility to speak up and call out the stereotypes that harm our communities. There’s a misconception that Muslim women don’t have a say, but my voice is always the loudest in any room.

Mabby AlamAugust 15, 2023Storytelling, Identity, resistance

Transitioning Leadership with Amana: A Conversation with Nausheena & Malika

We know our community wants to know more about our recent leadership transition, so we sat down with Nausheena and Malika to talk about transitioning leadership with community trust, support, and love.

Nausheena Hussain & Malika DahirSeptember 20, 2022Leadership, Community, resistance

Moving From Self-Care to Community Care

The same late-capitalist world that has commodified the language of self-care encourages us to isolate ourselves, to retreat from each other. What if, instead, we took care of ourselves in order to seek camaraderie and companionship with others?

Roda AbdiNovember 4, 2019self-care, trauma, resistance

Sudan Uprising: How a Protest Changed Me

When my supervisor said that we needed to show up at a rally downtown to support those involved in the Sudan uprising, my initial reaction was not “yes, I finally get to go to a protest” — instead, it was a combination of dread, fear, and insecurity that ran through my system. I had mixed emotions of “should I, or should I not?”

Hodan AliSeptember 6, 2019advocacy, resistance, sexual violence

Pass the Mic

I didn’t speak up for the things that mattered to me. I was a good girl. I thought “good” girls endured. “Good” girls didn’t resist. They persevered. They were resilient in the face of all obstacles, no matter how unjust.

Asma NizamiMarch 13, 2019advocacy, Islamophobia, resistance

Leadership Inspired by Islam

I recognized my own uniqueness and embraced my responsibility to spread good and justice. A Somali woman, born and raised in the Arab world and having immigrated to America in my teens; I speak three languages and I acquired three different cultures and world views that are crucial to understand the needs of my community.

Kaltun KaraniMarch 11, 2019leadership, advocacy, resistance

Expressions: The Muslim Women’s Narrative Project

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