REVIEW: Hijabi Monologues

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A woman sings “Hallelujah” while her friend plays guitar.
A freshman tells the stories of her grandfather’s past love, her mother’s past love, as well as her own experiences with love.
A woman from Malaysia recounts her experiences working in a male-dominated corporation.
A U-M alum shares her story of depression.

These women, and many more, shared various aspects of their life this past Friday night in the Rackham Ampitheatre. Although their backgrounds were diverse, these women shared the identity of being Muslim women who practiced the hijab: a modest lifestyle that includes wearing the veil.

Halfway Hijabi: Hijabi Monologues was a safe space created by sophomores Fatima Haidar and Alyiah Al-Bonijim. These students felt the tension towards Muslims after last year’s election and felt that Muslims, particularly hijabis, needed a space to showcase who they are. This would allow Muslim women to be seen in another light, rather than have the media paint a picture of Muslims for Americans. What Fatima and Alyiah thought to be a small get-together, however, was anything but.

I arrived twenty minutes before seven and found a seat in the third row of the theatre. People trickled in as I made small talk with those around me, but by 7:15PM the room was packed: doors were blocked by a wall of students while others sat on the floor of the stage. Attendees included Muslims and non-Muslims and people of various ethnic backgrounds. After several complaints from security, everyone finally settled in and the monologues began.

Each hijabi—a Muslim woman who practices the hijab—who presented in the safe space had something unique about them that they shared with the audience. Students were moved to tears when U-M alum Dana sang “Hallelujah.” The room was filled with laughter as Malaysian student Anati shared comical moments of her life, of why she decided to practice the hijab. For each story, the audience gave a roaring applause for the courage that the hijabis presented when they were on the stage.

Shortly after the monologues was dessert, where presenters and audience members got to sit together and converse while eating sweets. New friends were made that night, and I was no exception to that.
I was glad to have been able to go to this event last Friday, to listen to the stories of such wonderful people, and would definitely stay on the lookout for more safe space events to come!

 

 

REVIEW: Jackie

Jackie places us in the world of the former first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy (played by Natalie Portman), after the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. The movie is told through a conversation between Jackie and a journalist and mixed with flashbacks from her point of view. This works stylistically; however, even with this and Natalie Portman’s excellent portrayal, the movie’s pace and lack of risks prevent this movie from being special.

If the target audience is people who know close to nothing about this event then I would consider the movie a success. However, for the audience that is fairly educated about JFK’s assassination, not much is brought to the table. The film, although it goes behind what has been seen publicly before, it fails to break her from what we already have seen. The iconic, stoic role she portrayed in face of this great tragedy at the time, is never deviated from, even when she is behind closed doors. This unwavering conscientiousness makes her character very much unaccessible and unrealistic. I think that the choice to not take any risks with the title character contributed to the mundane nature this film took on.

The other flaw of this film was the pace. The conversation with the journalist moves slowly and the flashbacks don’t get interesting until late in the film. I think that the film could be much stronger with a major restructuring of the story. There is not much to draw the viewer in and the public knowledge of the tragedy prevents the film from being suspenseful.

Overall the film falls short as a movie. The story is an important one, but the film itself brings little new value to the audience. Although it puts you in her shoes and gives a unique perspective of the assassination, it does not give you new insight into Jackie Kennedy’s life.

PREVIEW: TEDx U of M 2017

In less than a week, the organizers of TEDxUofM will open the doors to: TEDxUofM 2017: Dreamers and Disruptors.

Although tickets are sold out, you will be able to watch a livestream here

Also, you can still arrive early for live music, interactive activities, coffee from RoosRoast, and pastries from Avalon Bakery all in the lobby area of the Power Center

This year has another incredible list of speakers, as well as performances by Groove and Midwest Territory Band

Where: The Power Center

Time: 6:00 PM

REVIEW: Hijabi Monologues

Twenty minutes before the event started, the 4th floor Rackham Auditorium was already packed. Students, friends, family, and curious people filled the seats, the stairs, the walls, and the walkways. Organizers had to repeatedly clear the overflowing doorways, and we we were repeatedly warned that if any more audience members came, it would be a fire hazard and Rackham would have to shut the event down. Both sophomore event organizers, Alyiah and Fatima, introduced Halfway Hijabi as an event for Muslim women who wore hijabs (headscarves) to “reclaim our voices and our space rather than having others speak on our behalf.”

To create a safe space, photographs and video recording by audience members was not allowed. All that really mattered, however, were the words that flowed out of these powerful, well-spoken women.

The first of many female performers read an essay speaking of themes that would become a common thread throughout the night. Anger and humiliation at being forcibly strip searched at an airport because she had a metal leg brace. Comments like “you look like you came out of Iraq” and “This is America sweetheart–you can take that [the hijab] off now.” She ended with the words “I do not allow the hijab to limit me, so why do you?”

Another performer talked of women reclaiming the American flag from a symbol of oppression to a symbol of pride by wearing the design on headscarves.

Most of the performers were students, and they pointed out how often they walk into a room and find that they are the only hijabi, and having to represent the entire Muslim population.

Although many of the performances were raw and heartbreaking, a few of the women lightened the mood. One international student from Malaysia read a short speech regarding her reasons for wearing her hijab, and comparing what it was like to wear one in Malaysia versus the US. She concluded that “I was told that God wants me to wear hijab and actually I’m okay with that” and then hilariously quoted Miley Cyrus when she said “only God can judge us.”

The one musical piece of the night was naturally one of the saddest songs ever created: a rendition of Leonard Cohen/Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah. It was not only beautifully sung, but also refreshing to hear it sung in this context.

My only regret about the event is that it wasn’t in Rackham’s larger auditorium. The Hijabi Monologues is the kind of event that should be shown to as many students as possible, because much of the hate and rudeness that these women experienced comes from ignorance.

 

PREVIEW: Hijabi Monologues

By now many of you have heard of or even experienced the surge in hate crimes against Muslims–especially Muslim women that wear headscarves (Hijabs).

This event will begin with a teach-in, followed by student monologues about their experiences wearing hijabs.

Here you will learn about the history of the hijab, poems, stories, and who knows what else!

Even better, the event will have a FREE DESSERT BAR

Date: February 3rd

Time: 7 – 9 PM

Place: Amphitheater Auditorium, Rackham

Here is the link to the Facebook event

 

REVIEW: Stamps Speaker Series- Joe Sacco

I had heard rumblings that the night’s guest would draw a larger crowd than usual but I wasn’t prepared for how large the crowd might be.  As we filed into the theater from the packed lobby area, it was difficult to find an ideal seating spot. This presentation was co-presented with the University of Michigan International Institute’s Conflict and Peace initiative, and the official Stamps website contains a full list of the sponsors for the night.

Tonight’s event was not a formal speech, but more of an open discussion between the guest Joe Sacco and a host from the International Institute’s Conflict and Peace Initiative.  As the discussion proceeded different images of Sacco’s work were projected onto the screen behind them, and while switching from photo to photo could be highly distracting it was a nice visual supplement to the presentation, and often was used as a conversation point.

Joe Sacco, as we gradually came to know throughout the course of the talk, had originally received a degree in journalism at the University of Oregon, before finding that creating comics was both a way to indulge in his passion for art and to reach a wider audience that are put off by long history books and dense articles.  He approaches his subject matter in the same way a war correspondent might.  He traveled the world, and his very first comic, Palestine, was directly based off of his personal travels through Israel and the West Bank.  Some of his award-winning works include Footnotes in Gaza, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt and Safe Area Gorazde.  He is highly regarded by comic lovers and news junkies alike for his careful research and thoughtful approach to delicate and politically charged subjects.

When asked what inspired his work and the topics he chooses to work on, Joe Sacco responded quite succinctly that anger above all else was the driving force behind his comics.  He looked for topics that created a sense of frustration or injustice in him, and just as importantly ones that he would maintain a passion for the many years that it takes to finish a single piece.  He also discussed his dislike of the word “graphic novels,” because of how his works are not novels despite fitting under that subcategory.  He admits, however, that the word is here to stay and will use it himself when describing his occupation to others.

One of the very first panels from “The Great Wall”

One piece that was discussed quite thoroughly was Sacco’s 24-foot-long graphic tableau “The Great War.”  Sacco spoke briefly about how fascinated he was with World War I while growing up in Australia, where that war takes up a large part of their cultural identity.  His inspiration for this specific piece was The Bayeux Tapestry, and he wanted to create a similar narrative scroll that told a story when read from left to right.

middle segment of “The Great War”

As an artist, I also found the discussion of the artistic styles to be quite interesting.  Sacco talked briefly about his upcoming project and how he will be turning traditional comic styles on their head in order to better convey the meaning and message that he wants to.  He’s working on a project about the indigenous peoples of Canada, and as such is experimenting with creating comics with no borders and an aesthetic style that focuses heavily on nature and natural forms.  He believes this will better fit the ideology and tone of the work itself, as the groups he will be focusing on have a specific way of thinking about nature.

Panel from his book “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt”

As the crowds streamed out of the theater and into the brisk night air, we were once again greeted with live music.  A long line of people waiting for autographs trailed up the staircase to the second balcony, further proving the popularity of tonight’s speaker.

If you would like to check out more of Joe Sacco’s work you can purchase many of his books from amazon here.  The STAMPS speaker series is free to the public and is free to the public and is offered every Thursday at 5:10 at the Michigan Theater.  You can find a full list of the upcoming speakers here.

 

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