By aishasalehDear Spidey, Just in case nobody informed you, using the hijab as a prop in your movie does not count as representation. Yours Truly, A Real Life Hijabi Okay, I know the intro sounds a bit salty, so let’s preface this with the fact that I obsessively love the Marvel films, and thoroughly enjoyed “Spider-Man:…
By aishasalehAs of late, a movement of speaking up has picked up traction on our social media feeds surrounding the situation in Sudan. Just in case anyone is still behind on what is happening, here is a summary of the situation that has culminated over the past several months — After 30 years of violent oppression…
By aishasalehDear G. Willow Wilson, Can I just say, thank you for your new novel, The Bird King. I have been a fan since I read your novel Alif The Unseen. I thought that novel was an incredible work of literature because it was set in the modern Muslim world, and you made it easy to navigate…
By aishasalehMy younger brother has recently made it a habit to attend our local mosque in order to pray every fajr and isha prayer. This means that every morning and every evening, he walks up the steps to the masjid to pray with the few brothers and sisters who join in for the same prayers. Every…
By aishasalehBeing a Muslim-American, just like being a part of any minority community, comes with its own set of unique experiences and expectations. The aspects of the Muslim-American experience that I don’t think are discussed nearly enough, considering just how much they affect our daily lives, are the warring sexual extremes that actively define Muslim and…
By aishasalehLike with every issue that America faces today, when the issue of gun violence is brought to the forefront of conversation, it is treated as a stand-alone subject, unconnected to the chain of issues that plague America and the communities within. When a shooter walks into a bar, shoots dozens of people, and then kills…
By aishasalehFor those of you who are unaware, a short horror film from the tiny archipelago of Bahrain was screened at the 2018 ScreamFest Film Festival in Los Angeles! ScreamFest is the largest and longest running Horror Film Festival in the United States, and has premiered some of the most successful films in the Horror genre,…
By aishasalehIf we were to convince the Republican party that not allowing abortions was Sharia Law, I have no doubt that they would change their stance to Pro-Choice immediately. The reason I think it’s important to say this is because no matter how they shape their arguments around the subject matter, the truth is that the…
By aishasalehThere was a movie that was released a few years ago called Spotlight, which covers the investigative journalism that went into uncovering the scope of molestation within the Catholic Church worldwide. One of the points that was brought up when hearing out the victims of this international crisis was that boys were usually more often…
By aishasalehFeminism is light coming to confront the darkness. It is a coming of change and a warning to those who are not willing to let this change build a new world. Feminism is art and action, history and future. Feminism is present. A gift built to new heights with the fire of…
By aishasaleh2018 has been the year of incredible diversity and inclusion in the film industry, giving us all hope that maybe we are witnessing a progressive push forward from tokenism to genuine representation. Just this February, the world was gifted Marvel’s Black Panther, featuring an almost entirely black cast showcasing what black excellence looks like on the big…
By aishasalehWhen I was attending university at UC Riverside, I worked at a place on campus called the Middle Eastern Student Center, where I met and befriended (as you can imagine) students from all different Middle Eastern, South East Asian, and North African backgrounds. The best part of that experience was the opportunity to converse with…
By aishasalehOne of the problems with being a part of a minority that is continually criticized and demonized by the media is that as Muslims, we find that we are constantly on the defense: “No we are not all terrorists,” “This is my country, too,” “Please, stop bombing our people,” etc. The reason why this is…
