It is commonly said that we fear what we don’t understand. Living up to our American ideals requires us to understand our neighbors, our colleagues, and our friends despite our diverse backgrounds. Yet in recent years, Muslims in America have rarely been portrayed as nuanced and complex human beings, and most Americans say they don’t know a Muslim. Muslims for American Progress (MAP), a project of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), aims to change this narrative. Through human stories and hard facts, MAP quantifies Muslim contributions in Michigan and New York City.

Join ISPU and the Mulberry Street Branch of the New York Public Library for a free event featuring the newest MAP data and three MAP NYC participants, author Moustafa Bayoumi, journalist Hamdan Azhar, and playwright Aizzah Fatima, as well as journalist Rowaida Abdelaziz. At this special library event, we’ll take a look at the important contributions of Muslim writers to American society, how they narrate diversity, and what their work can teach us more broadly about social, cultural, and political life.