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. 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 Tenement Museum for a free event featuring the newest MAP data and three MAP NYC participants, educator Abeda Khanam, poet Rashidah Ismaili-AbuBakr, and filmmaker Ali Abbas. At this special event, we’ll look at the important contributions of Muslims to the social and cultural life of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. We’ll explore how these community leaders—using poetry, prose, education, and outreach—have both shaped and been shaped by the Lower East Side, as well as how their contributions relate to the broader city.