Tag: Muslim

When I was in high school, my teacher overheard a classmate mention that I’m Palestinian. He pulled me into the hallway to interrogate me to make sure my family and I didn’t have ties to Hamas. There was no reason for him to believe this other than my identity. This kind of discrimination would color my entire life, but as a result, it forced me to see the systemic injustices around us.

Some of this hatred, I think, is in response to this philosophical idea of lack, this idea that there are not enough rights, there’s not enough justice. There’s not enough love, not enough healthcare, not enough food. And if some other people get it, we’re not going to get it. But there is enough. There is plenty.

At the Mughals in Norcross, families gather—cautiously—to celebrate during the holy month that once again falls during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As an Iranian-American, the travel ban hits close to home. My husband, Maysam, came to this country from Iran in 2000 through a student visa to get his PhD in electrical engineering. Today he is a professor at Georgia Tech, where his research focuses on helping people with disabilities lead independent lives.

Prompted by the attacks in Paris and California and the anti-Islam furor that followed, the Atlanta Muslim community organized the event with the support of 16 local mosques.