Stories focusing on the intersection of religion, identity and creativity among minority groups in the US
Islamic Society of Boston in Roxbury, Mass. Photo by Khadijah Khogeer.
Batsheva Dweck before Sukkot in Boston, MA. Photo by Khadijah Khogeer
Published in The New Arab. 2024. Article by Khadijah Khogeer
Q&A: Playwright Kareem Fahmy on his background, Broadway and New York
While series like Hulu’s “Ramy” and Netflix’s “Mo” bring authentic Middle Eastern American stories to the screen, Middle Eastern representation remains rare in mainstream American theaters. Playwright Kareem Fahmy, a Canadian-American of Egyptian descent, plays a leading role in the movement to amplify Middle Eastern voices in American theater – on and off stage.
Boston’s First and Only Muslim-Run Transitional Shelter
At a Dorchester homeless transitional shelter Friday at noon, Ayesha Kazmi puts the last few touches on the application of a homeless woman to move into permanent affordable housing – the fourth resident this year.
Kazmi is the director of the city’s first Muslim-run shelter, Amal Women’s Transitional Housing, the only shelter that allows homeless women and children to stay for six to 12 months, a model that allows people to break the cycle of homelessness, she said.
Navigating College as an Orthodox Jewish Student
For most college students at Boston University, Friday night signals the beginning of the weekend; whether it’s going out to parties or meeting up with friends, students can unwind from the week’s classes. But for Batsheva Dweck, Friday night is the start of Shabbat, the Jewish holiday of rest, which means no lights, no technology, and no writing.
Algerian Americans on Cuisine, Culture, and Colonial Influence
Algerian cuisine boasts an exquisite fusion of Berber, Arab, European, North African, and Mediterranean flavors.
Halim Fekraoui is determined to showcase the wide variety of foods and culinary influences within Algerian cuisine. With his cafe and restaurant, Kasbah Café, located in New York, he is on a mission to tantalize the taste buds of food enthusiasts.
“I get people here who don’t even know where Algeria is or even heard of a country called Algeria,” says Fekraoui, who co-runs Kasbah Café with his wife Amina Fekraoui since 2021.
Islamic Society of Boston, Roxbury MA. Paint night is held here. Photo by Khadijah Khogeer
Community Paint Night
Nayma Islam discovered that one of her suitcases was lost whilst emigrating from Bangladesh to Boston in 2011. Her mother saved every painting, from her first watercolor of a sparrow when she was five years old to national exhibition paintings she did as a college student, but all were gone in that one suitcase.
“When I found out, it was painful,” she said. “I wish I still had them now to have something to look back on.”
Islam, a software engineer, now organizes and teaches a community painting night at her mosque to help people find relief in art from stress.