Monday, July 14, 2008

Updates: Presentations, Exhibitions, and Community

Greetings everyone!
The past few months have been spectacular. I have had the great opportunity to present and share As the Veil Turns with many beautiful people, in a variety of ways, at several venues.

While I apologize for not keeping all of you in the loop recently, I am inviting you to see two of the pieces from As the Veil Turns at the Corridor Gallery this month.




Back in March, I was delighted to present As the Veil Turns at the Women's History Month Celebration sponsored by Turning Point for Women and Families Before discussing As the Veil Turns, I presented a 5-minutes video excerpt from the project. Audience members were moved to laughter with stories like Aliyah's "Black Power Punch" and filled with tears when Alberta related Malcolm X's calling to her to "join amongst your own kind." The photographs from As the Veil Turns hung throughout the room and set the ambiance for the evening.

In April, I presented and discussed As the Veil Turns at Columbia University as a guest lecturer for the Zaheer Ali's course Islam in the African American Community. The topic that week was Islam, Women, and Gender. For this 2-hour class, I presented a 30-minute excerpt from As the Veil Turns. Mr Ali's students had been reading books and articles like "Black Pilgrimage to Islam" by Robert Dannin, "Engaged Surrender" by Carolyn Moxley Rouse and "Through Sunni Women’s Eyes: Black Feminism and the Nation of Islam" by Jamillah Karim , so they were excited to witness first-hand accounts that complimented what they had been reading and, at some instances, questioned the conclusions that others have made about the African American Muslim woman's experience.

This month I will be sharing As the Veil Turns and with young women leaders in training at the Sadie Nash Summer Institute both in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Its exciting to share with ladies of a younger generation who are eager to make a difference in the world with whatever it is that they choose to do. The women of As the Veil Turns continue to make a profound impact on my life and I am honored to carrying their stories with me.