Friday, November 30, 2007

Aliyah: An Evolutionary Process...



Aliyah Abdul Karim was an artist, activist, educator, mother, pioneer, and friend to many. When she passed last year, I felt the urgency to begin As the Veil Turns. In this video, her daughters Majida Abdul Karim (right) and Aisha Abdul Karim discuss her evolutionary process.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

From "Return to Innocence: The Transitioning of the Nation of Islam"




On November 20th I posted a historic, and in my opinion, eerie photograph of Elijah Muhammed and his son, then young Imam Warith Deen Mohammed (refer to the post entitled "Transition" ). In the photo there is also large photo of Fard Muhammad in the background. The above speech made by Warith Deen Mohammed is the first in a series of postings on this blog related to WD Mohammed and his accounts on the transitioning of the Nation of Islam to Sunni Islam. This excerpt is from a speech given by Imam WD Muhammed entitled "Return to Innocence".

Friday, November 23, 2007

Daily News article on As the Veil Turns today/ 90.3 FM interview tonight

Peace everyone,
Check out this article in the Daily News today about As the Veil Turns and I. It's still on news stands so get your copy today. Also, I was on WHCR/ 90.3 FM at 7:15pm today (God-willing) discussing the exhibition. Everyone can listen to the interview on www.whcr.org
Here's the link for the Daily News article:

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2007/11/23/2007-11-23_spotlight_on_city_people_oral_histories_.html

Tomorrow, I'll be on news 12 inshaAllah. That's for the BK folks, but, I'll post the video on here as soon as I get it.

-Nsenga

Thursday, November 22, 2007

As the Veil Turns and I are featured in the Daily News this Friday 11/23/07

Yesterday I interviewed for the Daily News concerning As the Veil Turns. The article will be a feature article in the Daily News tomorrow (God Wiling) and in the Brooklyn Section of the paper. Check it out! I intend to scan a copy of the article and post it here as soon as I get it.

Thank You!!!

Thank you to everyone who came out and partook in As the Veil Turns this past Sunday. It was great seeing so many of you and sharing the afternoon with you all. I am still collecting photos from those who took them that afternoon and I'll post them on the blog soon.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Bean Pies for everyone!!!

As salaam alaikum/ Peace to everyone,

I look forward to sharing As the Veil Turns with everyone today inshaAllah.
We will be serving bean pie as a special thankyou
... its sunnah.

-Nsenga

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

WBAI Interview

Today I discussed As the Veil Turns on WBAI from 7:30- 8pm. If you missed it, or would just like to hear the interview again, here's the link (go to the middle of the audio to go directly to the As the Veil Turns interview):

feed://archive.wbai.org/files/xml/tahrir.xml

Monday, November 12, 2007

As the Veil Turns on WBAI 99.5 FM Tuesday, Nov 13th at 7:30pm

I hope you all are well. InshaAllah, I'll be discussing As the Veil Turns with radio host Sarah Malaika on WBAI (that's 99.5 FM) this Tuesday, Novemeber 13th at 7:30 pm so please tune in. This will also be an opportunity to listen to some of the oral history that will be presented as part of the exhibition starting Sunday, November 18th (I'm really looking forward to seeing you then).

Visit this blog regularly. The blog is updated daily with information related to the project including photographs, video, articles, and other As the Veil Turns related documents (historical and contemporary). Once the exhibition is up I'll be presenting images from the actual show online as well. astheveilturns.blogspot.com is especially designed to reach out to those of us who will not be able to be in the New York area during the exhibition....I didn't forget about y'all.

Also, on Friday, November 16th, I will be discussing As the Veil Turns at the United Nations as part of the Science, Art, and Metaphysics conference. The topic: "How can we use art to inspire people to understand themselves more profoundly and consequentially contribute to global harmony and balance." To learn more about the conference, or to attend, please visit www.sciartmet.com If you would like to attend, mention my name and your registration cost will be half of the regular price.

-Nsenga

Sunday, November 11, 2007

What do Muslims believe?



Glossary of arabic terms in this document (in order of appearance):

Allah: this word has no corresponding word in English but is closely translated to mean "The God" and is the proper name for the only Supreme Being who exists by Himself.
Rabb: Lord
Rasool: A Prophet who is given the Book of revealations and Islamic law, and is selected by Allah to pass on his message and be a model for a particular nation.
Sunnah: Tradition (particularly as it relates to the actions of Prophet Muhammed which are in accordance to the commandements of Allah).

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Transition

Friday, November 9, 2007

Alberta Beginnings

Thursday, November 8, 2007

First As the Veil Turns session at Masjid Abdul Muhsi Khalifah


June 3rd, 2007 session with Sister Alberta.... MashaAllah!... a beautiful, wise woman. She was the first sister I interviewed and photographed for As the Veil Turns. The interview took place at Masjid Abdul Muhsi Khalifah located at 120 Madison Street in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, NY. This mosque was established by the then Minister Malcolm X in the 1950's and was Temple 7C as part of the nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammed's leadership. Elijah Muhammed died in 1975 and under the leadership of his son Imam Warith Deen Muhammed, Temple 7C became Masjid Abdul Muhsi Khalifah and was ushered into the practice of traditional Islam. Sister Alberta has been attending this mosque since the 50s and experienced its entire transition. The community is constantly progressing and I love this mosque and that's why I decided to start As the Veil Turns here. I feel like I am living in the richness of this mosques history and truly feel at home in this space (you see what the Imam let me do... ;)).

More about Sister Alberta in the next post.....

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Invitation to As the Veil Turns Harriet's Alter Ego Exhibition


Press Release

For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Ngozi Odita, (718) 783-2074, Vodita@aol.com
or Laylah Barrayn at (646) 573-2422, LaylahBarrayn@gmail.com

As The Veil Turns: Female Pioneers of the American Muslim Community
On View: November 18 – December 31, 2007
Opening Reception Sunday, November 18, 2007, 3-6pm
Artist Talk (with video presentation) Friday, December 7, 2007, 6-8pm



Brooklyn, New York, November 2007 - The Gallery at Harriet's Alter Ego is proud to present As The Veil Turns: Female Pioneers of the American Muslim Community. Through Photography, video and oral history, Brooklyn-based artist Nsenga Knight explores the spiritual and community lives of Black women who converted to Islam prior to 1975 and pioneered Brooklyn’s oldest Muslim communities.

On February 25, 1975 Nation of Islam founding leader Elijah Mohammed died. The day after his death, his favorite son, Warith Deen Mohammed rose to power as the new leader and led his flock on a dramatic new journey toward orthodox Sunni Islam. Under his leadership, the world witnessed the largest mass conversion in the United States. “The women in As the Veil Turns experienced this great transition and unification of ideologies,” notes Nsenga.

The popular perception of the African American religious experience is that of Christianity. Outside of the Christian religious tradition, many associate the Islam of African Americans with the Black Nationalism philosophies of the Nation of Islam, an alternative religious/political identity of African Americans. “I believe the Nation of Islam was more popular (than Sunni Islam) at the time because it very much aligned with what was going on in the Black community, Black people fighting for Civil and Human Rights.” The women documented in As The Veil Turns were both members of the Nation of Islam and practitioners of Sunni Islam. “The reason why it's so important to know about the experiences of women who were never in the Nation of Islam is because by learning about them, you learn about the complexities of the Black community at that time and more specifically the complexities of the Muslim community at that time.”

Reared in the indigenous Muslim communities of Brooklyn, Nsenga has experienced the transition, expansion and diversity of the Muslim community here in New York City. In 2006, Nsenga attended funeral of activist, educator and community pioneer, Aliyah Abdul-Karim. On her way to Aliyah’s burial she rode in a car of Muslim women 50 and older; Nsenga found herself in the middle of conversations and invaluable recollections of the emerging Brooklyn Muslim community from nearly 60 years ago. “When I was a film student at Howard University, my goal was to tell stories about the indigenous American Muslim experience and this project is just a part of that.” Realizing that these elders had an amazing grasp of the history of the Muslim community in New York city, and that these women in her company may soon pass on, Nsenga became motivated to have them tell their stories through As the Veil Turns. “These women are such phenomenal and daring and giving women. They had a lot of courage and faith,” describes Nsenga.

As the Veil Turns will be on display at Harriet's Alter Ego from November 18th through December 31st 2007. View the project online at http://www.astheveilturns.blogspot.com

As the Veil Turns is sponsored in part by the greater New York Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural affairs administered by Brooklyn Arts Council incorporated (BAC). This project is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. In Kings County the Decentralization program is administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council incorporated (BAC). Funding and support is also provided by Puffin Foundation Ltd. and the BCAT/ Rotunda Gallery Joint Multimedia Residency.

The Gallery at Harriet’s Alter Ego is located at 293 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213. Subway: 2 and 3 trains to Bergen and B or Q trains to 7th avenue. Admission to the gallery is free open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10am-8pm and Sundays 12-6pm.