Essam Muhammad, a Seattle-based performing artist and songwriter, has been telling the stories of the South End ever since he was a little kid. Art has been his first love since he was 9 years old. “I was exposed to the hip-hop scene from a young age,” Muhammad began.
Recently, Muhammad was able to bring those stories onto the big screen for the first time, acting in a starring role for the feature film, Purple Don’t Cry. Directed by Mamoun Hassan and written by Boonaa Mohammed, the film will be premiering at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) on June 1.
This year, Ramadan starts March 23 and ends April 22, depending on when the crescent moon first appears. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar, which reckons time by the moon. It is a part of the five pillars of Islam, a series of obligations that every Muslim needs to abide by. During the month, Muslims fast from sunup to sundown, keeping up with their prayers and working towards purifying their hearts and actions.
We know that health disparities are a looming threat to minority groups’ quality of life and well-being. Yet, most popular attention on minority health disparities, both in the medical literature and in the public, focuses on racial and ethnic disparities. While these inequities are real and rightfully deserve attention, other demographic gaps, such as those among Muslim Americans, are also important.
Picture a college kid 10 years ago. In addition to the acid-washed skinny jeans and an obsession with Angry Birds, imagine this person is a sophomore pursuing a political science major. They are politically active on campus, participating in protests against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; and they love camping. Usually, this student would be seen by law enforcement as just a normal college kid doing normal college kid stuff. Except for one thing: This kid is Muslim. Because of this, they are instead seen as a potential terrorist.
This is the legacy of the War on Terror: an America where everything about the Muslim identity has been criminalized and that criminalization is embedded in our criminal justice system.
When the Islamic School of Seattle closed in 2012, the children and parents who were part of the local Muslim institution’s community did not want to lose the spirit of the school. Wasat emerged from this gap, fulfilling a need for former Islamic School of Seattle parents and students to stay connected around shared values and exploration of the Islamic faith. What started with informal meals and community Iftar dinners during the month of Ramadan eventually became a robust and cross-cultural space called Wasat.
In Arabic, “Wasat” means “middle-way.” According to Executive Director Baraka Blue, it is the principle that guides a just and balanced community. Wasat is a community of —but not limited to — the Muslim faith and is dedicated to being a space where members can bring their whole selves and engage with the Islamic faith across the many different cultures that Wasat members come from.
The Cherry Street Mosque (CSM) building has been a hub of progressive, interfaith community in the Central District for decades. In-person services and events stopped last year due to the pandemic, but several faith-based and arts communities launched a fundraiser last fall to make necessary repairs to the 90-year-old building. Members of the newly formed Cherry Street Village have a vision to turn the building into an interfaith and arts space that will truly be one of a kind in Seattle — but first, the roof has to be fixed.
What was once a month filled with community gathering, food and nightly congregational prayers now has an eerie sense of loneliness that has Muslims around the world mourning the loss of traditions held dear during the holy month of Ramadan.
Peals of laughter and layers of conversation in Arabic, Somali, and English echoed up to the high ceilings of the Sullivan Community Center in Tukwila on Saturday November 17th, when 50 guests shared a meal in an event hosted by EatWithMuslims.org and Action Tukwila, a grassroots group that organizes community-building projects. During the event, Muslims and non-Muslims from South King County shared food provided by two local Somali restaurants and listened to stories in an effort to foster cross-cultural understanding.
