Author: y.mohamed

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK— On Thursday, November 21st, The Brooklyn College Women’s Center hosted a Becoming a Professional Muslim Woman event as part of the Muslim Women’s Leadership Development project with the goal of serving, empowering and guiding Muslim women to become leaders and professionals in their fields of interest.

The goal of the event was to bring in successful Muslim women from various career fields to discuss their journey; not just highlighting their achievements, but also their challenges and how they were able to overcome them.

Rana Abdelhamid, the keynote speaker of the event is a longtime human rights activist. She is the founder of a non-profit named Malikah, which encourages women to come together to engage in reflection, learning, and building habits of self-love. Abdelhamid is also the Leader of Google’s Women in Technology initiative, as well as a Deputy Secretary at Amnesty International, working towards improving human rights issues globally. 

A recurring piece of advice that Abdelhamid consistently emphasized was to seek a “tribe of women” who understand what you are going through and who are able to support and motivate you.

Abdelhamid recited a poem that depicted one of the challenges faced by Muslims in the workforce. She says “You will walk into an interview and instead of critical questions about your resume or your time at Harvard they will ask… How is your English so good?” 

After being a victim of a hate-based attack at the age of fifteen, Rana Abdelhamid, a black belt in Shotokan karate decided it was time for a change. Malikah became a place where women of all backgrounds are able to come and talk about their challenges. Malikah also trains women in “Self defense, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, organizing, and healing.”

Muslim women in America have been both underrepresented and misrepresented in the media. For many U.S. Muslims, the American dream may seem out of reach, as they continuously live with the fear and suspicion that their religion, race or ethnic background seems to generate. Maryam Ahmad, the project coordinator of the Muslim Women’s Leadership Development Project hopes that the Muslim women that attended the event gained some confidence, knowing that “They are not going to be the only Muslim woman in their field, so it’s not as scary.”

Numerous Muslim women from all backgrounds also shared some insight into what it is like to be a Muslim woman in their respective fields. Safina Babar, a first-generation Pakistani-American is a Talent Acquisition Coordinator at NBCUniversal provided the young Muslim women with advice on resume formatting and networking. 

The students who attended the event were exposed to different career fields and opportunities. two high school seniors, Rewan Marwan and Sumaiya Ayad expand on what they learned from the mentor at their table, Maroua Righi, a coordinator for Outreach and Intergovernmental Affairs at the city agency. They say that regardless of any mistreatment that she faces, “She still speaks up and tells people that they should know their rights and not hiding or being afraid of the police.” 

https://vimeo.com/yasminemohamed/review/374515620/a730a9fc96

Little Egypt in Astoria

Egyptian diasporic community growth, based around traditional food spots and community spaces such as mosques and coptic church.

B-roll of the community spaces, the food, the community get-togethers

Get some interviews of egyptian immigrants- how they built a home away from home in Queens.

Chai Time with Ani Sanyal 

By Yasmine Mohamed 

LOWER EAST SIDE — Natural entrepreneur. For many first-generation Americans, entrepreneurship is thought of to be a fate that is reserved for those with the money-making gene. But is that really the case?    

The Business Journals recorded more than 11 million minority-owned businesses in operation nationwide, nearly double the number of 10 years ago. However, although minority-owned businesses are on the rise, most minority entrepreneurs still face challenges that their white counterparts are able to avoid. Including lack of representation, confidence and investor support.

At Kolkata Chai Co., cultural differences are used as a strength instead of a weakness.

Ani Sanyal is the founder of the new cafe, Kolkata Chai Co., located in Manhattan’s East Village. The grand opening of Kolkata Chai Co. took place on September 18th, the turnout was unexpected; the line wrapped around the block. 

Ani and his brother Ayan Sanyal aim to transport his customers to the streets of Kolkata, India with authentic spiced tea. 

“My background is kind of crazy” Ani says. “I am the product of two immigrant parents from India. And for me, I just knew from a young age that I couldn’t really work for somebody else. I saw my dad got laid off a lot growing up and it was just this thing where I was like, it doesn’t make sense for someone else control your financial family’s future.”

So Ani started his own business, scratch that — businesses. From music to marketing, Ani and his brother do it all. He manages an artist named Anik Khan, runs a creative agency, and started a real estate investment group.   

“My brother and I have been running a creative agency for the past five years and, our business was like super busy and like as a way to kind of get away from always being behind a computer my brother just started to experiment with Chai.” Ani says. “We had been to, you know, India, our whole childhood kind of back and forth and so Chai was a big part of our lives, but he just started like cooking it up in his room in his in his apartment started, you know, giving it to friends and family and kind of letting them taste it and then kind of like, just kept rolling from there”

Chai is a way of life in India. you’ll find chaiwallahs on almost every corner. They are vendors who specifically sell the sweet, spicy, milky beverage. 

In America, “chai” has become known as a flavor of tea with predominantly cinnamon or cardamom elements. Ani and his brother Ayan noticed that there is a lack of authentic chai in New York, so… they decided to do something about it. 

“Some of the most beautiful things in the world we found in Kolkata. And some of the most heartbreaking things in the world we found in Kolkata.” Ani says. “So when it came to like creating a space in New York City, it was like what better way to shed light on a place that’s meant so much to us that a lot of people don’t know about. just reclaiming that narrative of what our culture and what our food and what our people actually are like.”

Ani is motivated by the sacrifices his family has made to come to America, he also wants young people to know that it’s possible to live life on your own terms.

“For me especially, I grew up as like a brown kid in the 90s and it wasn’t cool to like own your culture. I was like “wow” you know, our food smells crazy, or like my mom was like, just like making me dress in all these like crazy outfits and I was like damn ma, this is not it.” Ani says. 

“And I just remember being like, never been like super proud of like being where we’re where we were from. It took me like trips back home and just like spending time with my culture to understand how beautiful it really was.” 

Ani sounds determined to challenge white-dominated spaces so that the next generation of kids like him don’t feel unwelcome.

“If we don’t start changing the conversation and changing what spaces look like. And take that responsibility ourselves, then things are not going to change, and every space or every venue or every all the infrastructure in this country is going to remain the same.” Ani says. “It’s going to be white-owned it’s going to be a space that we don’t have the ability to influence. Like you go to every co-working space around the country. It all looks the same.” 

Another chai place called the Chai Spot opened last year (confirm) in lower manhattan, but Ani he doesn’t see competition. The Chai Spot, another chai place in lower manhattan is one that also sells a similar product; Ani explains why Kolkata Chai stands out from its competitors. 

“I don’t think there’s competition.” Ani says, “We created a new category, how I see it, you have coffee shops you have all these things, but you don’t have places that serve authentic Chai exclusively that understands young millennial diasporic culture, there’s no place doing that.”

Noran Omar, a customer at Kolkata Chai, sits nearby writing a paper. I ask her what she thinks of the place.

To be honest, this place gives me such brown vibes, and I love it. Do you know what I mean? I mean the music, the scents, the ambiance it just takes me back to my cultural roots which I miss very much. 

The brothers are anticipating future investments through content and collaborations. While mostly based in the Greater New York City area, Kolkata Chai Co. is anticipating expanding with pop-ups in L.A. and other markets in an effort to use chai as a means of connecting people across different generations and cultures.

Pitch 1: Overheard Baruch: An anonymous Instagram tailored to Baruch students which posts random conversations overheard by Baruch students in various places such as the elevator, the library, etc. 

 I would like to interview the person or people involved in creating the Instagram account but I would like to do so anonymously, maybe by changing the sound of their voice? 

Pitch 2: Kolkata Chai: Two brothers, Ani and Ayan Sanyal opened up a new cafe in NYC where one could get a real authentic cup of masala chai. It is called; Kolkata Chai, but it goes way beyond chai. The two brothers wanted to serve a cup of chai that would transport people to Kolkata, India where they spent their childhood, to appreciate and respect the traditions where their family came from. 

The brothers emphasize the importance of tradition because they are first-generation immigrants, they are Bengali, Indian and American, and their store represents the beautiful mix of cultures. 

They are opening this cafe so that the community has a place to “Gather, create and grow.”I would like to interview the owners about what the place means to them, why it is so important to preserve tradition and culture, what does it mean to be a brown entrepreneur in 2019, and what are the challenges they have had to face. I would also like to interview several customers about the Chai, whether they like what it stands for, or if they relate to it.

https://yasminemohamed.exposure.co/tensions-boil-over-in-kashmir

My experience at Photoville was so enjoyable that I had decided to go twice in the same weekend. The exhibits were inspiring and thought-provoking, each piece of art was so meaningful, and the ambiance was beautiful. It was a wonderful gathering of artists, amateurs, and artists-to-be. However, it was a place where we were all welcome, not only to explore the physical space (which was undoubtedly beautiful) but also our mental space. Everything was up to your interpretation, that is the special thing about photography. 

My favorite exhibit was the “One Day, I Will” exhibit featuring Vincent Tremeau and Curated by Charolette Cans. This exhibit documented the hopes and dreams of women and girls between the ages of 6 and 18 who are disproportionately affected by different humanitarian crises. Each girl had dressed up to show who she wants to be when she grows up. Each of these girls reminded me of myself, as I have been raised in similar a culture and I related to many of the girls’ aspirations. One thing that they all had in common was that they inspired to be useful, independent, and empowered in their community for the sake of themselves and others. 

My heart ached when I read each of their quotes. I wanted to be able to help them because their aspirations are very similar to mine, yet they may be out of reach for them due to external conflicts in their community that they had never chosen to be a part of. These girls are living in an area and at a time that they had not chosen to live in and are forced to deal with its consequences, yet they do so with grace and innocence and with eyes and hearts filled with love and courage. 

These women and girls are empowered by their struggles, they have become stronger and more ambitious because they see a desperate need for change, and that is how we all must be. We need to help those who do not have as many opportunities as we do, and we need to tell their stories as Vincent Tremeau told theirs.

 

Along with the rise of islamophobia and xenophobia, has been a corresponding rise of fear in Muslim communities. After a bomb threat was detected at a mosque in Bergen County, New Jersey, and after the traumatic event of the New Zealand shooting, Muslims all over the U.S. have been experienced a heightened emotion of fear in what is supposed to be their most peaceful area of worship. I would like to capture a series of photos that capture the everyday lives of Muslims in this community, and provide shots of what goes on in the mosque, and how the community has been dealing with these threats by volunteering as security and organizing therapy sessions for the youth in the community.