Journey into America

We got off to a great start in our trip in St. Louis, meeting the former governor Bob Holden, current mayor Francis Slay (pictured above) and members of many different ethnic communities. St Louis has a multitude of communities, from the French Catholics who settled the area in the fur trapping days to the Jews who came in the 19^th century. There is an increasing Mexican population and Italians live on “the Hill.” Then there is the predominately African-American area of East St. Louis, which exists as almost its own entity. The first question people usually ask one another in St. Louis is “what high school did you go to?” which immediately places one in a certain economic and cultural context. With all the different enclaves, we wanted to know: are people getting along? Are they talking to each other? Is there communication?

One of the most fascinating communities we visited were the Bosnians—Muslims who immigrated to the United States in the mid 1990s during the war. The Bosnians, like the Somalis we spoke to earlier in the week, were fleeing almost unimaginable suffering in their country and sought escape and solace in a new land. St. Louis has between 50,000 and 70,000 Bosnians, a substantial population. The Bosnians moved into old neighborhoods and opened businesses. They are widely credited by many in St. Louis with vastly improving areas of the city.

Unlike other Muslim groups we spoke to in St. Louis, the Bosnians have light skin which they said eased their transition to American society. Before 9/11 when Islam was largely invisible in the US the Bosnians said relations with other Americans in St. Louis were largely a matter of culture, but after the attacks a new dynamic entered the fray. As one Bosnian explained to me, the new attitude toward the Bosnians was “right skin color, wrong religion.”

Although the Bosnians said that they had been welcomed by America with open arms and loved their new country, the situation facing Islam in America was putting them on the defensive. When Imam Muhamed Hasic, the Bosnian community and spiritual leader, sought to add a tall minaret to the community center, a website arose threatening to pour pigs blood on it and sounding the alarm that the Muslims were taking over. In an instance of globalization at work the website was picked up by Hindu and Serb nationalists who jointly warned Americans of the coming Muslim threat. The hysteria drummed up by the American media regarding Islam struck many Bosnians as eerily reminiscent of the situation back home immediately before the genocide when Serb media warned that if the Muslims were not stopped they would take over. The media warned Serbs that all Christian girls would soon be wearing the headscarf, despite the fact that most Bosnian women did not wear the headscarf, according to a Bosnian man I spoke to.

Despite these challenges the Bosnians always took great pains to say how accommodating Americans had been, and how lucky they felt to be in America and to have the opportunities it afforded. In a Bosnian mosque after Friday prayers a man in his 50s told me of his belief that Americans were Muslim without knowing it because they treated the Bosnians with such compassion. The Americans, he said, had not read the hadiths where the Prophet spoke of kindness towards others, but they followed them nonetheless. So we heard different views of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in St. Louis, but in general seemed largely positive, although I’m not sure how much mixing actually goes on outside of the enclaves. I’m looking forward to seeing what the situation is like in Dearborn, Michigan, our next stop.

When I was at Needham High School in Massachusetts, I was a basketball star with ambitions of playing collegiately. When I arrived at American University in Washington, DC for a Bachelors degree, I shifted priorities and dedicated my energy to scholarly activities. Within the last year, I continued this pattern upon studying Political Science at the University of London for an MSc. Now, just days after finishing my dissertation and arriving back in the

United States, I find myself the director of a documentary. The times have certainly changed. Certainly, I have changed as well.

In London, I remained in close contact with Ambassador Ahmed. His assistant, Jonathan Hayden, notified me of ‘Journey into America’, a continental expedition to study the American identity through the eyes of Muslim Americans and their neighbors. I raised a large sum of money on my own to embark on the trip, an event that is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life thus far.

As an assistant to Ambassador Ahmed in 2007, I wrote numerous articles and attended many events in the Washington, DC community. I figured I would have a similar role on this journey, like helping out with writing, research and collecting data. The team sat down no more than a week ago in the Ambassador’s office to sketch out the nature of our study. I was informed of the projects effort to create a documentary. Five minutes after this conversation began, I was appointed by the team as its director.

The director of a documentary? Never in my life would I have thought of such a title. But in just three days, I find myself completely invigorated and immersed in the intricacies of the job. Angles, lighting, facial expressions, scenery, objects, and symbolism – all of these elements are crucial in grasping the essence of the characters and events we have already experienced.

Ambassador Ahmed calls me ‘the next Steven Spielberg’. Big shoes to fill, for sure! Right now, the team is in its third day of research and filming in St. Louis, where today we met with former Governor Holden of Missouri. We have also searched for conceptions of the American identity in meeting with Muhamad Hasic, a Bosnian Imam, and Mufti Minhajiddin, the Imam of St. Louis’s largest Islamic center. Tomorrow, we are meeting with local Rabbi’s, and even the Mayor of St. Louis.

Is filming challenging? Absolutely, but it is a challenge that I am most certainly excited for. Keeping that arm straight is perhaps the biggest of all problems. I hope, though, that the battery of my camera does not run out anytime soon, for this journey has only begun.

By the way, be sure to listen to Dr. Ahmed and Madeeha on "St. Louis on the Air" from KWMU, a local NPR station.

Here's the video of us listening in the car on the way to a Mosque. We'll write about that later. Watch for a hilarious reaction from the team at the end of the clip.

Craig Considine

It finally happened…I looked outside the window as our plane to St. Louis took off from BWI airport towards the clear blue sky. As Craig sat next to me filming the beautiful scene of Washington, DC, from the air, I sat there staring outside the window thinking that just yesterday I was an ordinary student at the College of William and Mary, and here I was today embarking on a journey that would not only change my life but potentially change the face of history.

When we landed in St. Louis we went to our hotels, freshened up and reconvened to discuss the schedule of the day. Our first assignment was to interview Somalian refugees who had settled in the greater St. Louis area. These were low-income quarters inhabited by Somalians who first went to Kenya for refuge and then flew to America. As Craig, Jonathan, and Frankie were filled with excitement to go on the very first assignment, my excitement was a little inhibited by my hunger and I just didn’t know how I was going to make it through the 13 hour fast on the first day of Ramadan.

Soon after, our car pulled up in an area with old, worn out buildings with a number of Somalian children playing around. A couple of men came outside to greet us. While they were warm and welcoming to Frankie, Jonathan, and Craig, most of them refused to make even eye contact with me. The ones who did look at me, seemed very confused at the image of a Muslim girl, wearing a scarf over her head, stepping outside the car with three white men none of whom were related to her by blood. As they tried to make sense of that imagery, I went inside to their prayer area to say my afternoon prayers. I was guided around the building by a 7 year old girl named Zaynab. As I prayed, Zaynab stood next to the wall observing me. When I finished my prayers, she invited me to visit her home. She told me that her mother was currently making some iftaar (Ramadan meal at sunset that marks the end of the fast). I accepted the invitation and went over to Zaynab’s house where her mother, along with her two aunts and four daughters were making dough and manually grinding up beef.

They all lived in a one bedroom apartment while about 15 children slept on the floor. The decorations of the house and the smell of African food gave the illusion that I was sitting right in Somalia with all of them. Zaynab being her mother and aunt’s translator started talking to me about a little background. Her mother, leaving her father in Kenya, had moved with her children and sister to America only two years ago. She was currently supporting her entire family by housekeeping and picking up trash around the area.

The mother then invited me to roll the beef into what is known as ‘samosas.’ As I rolled samosas into perfect triangles, Zaynab’s cousins gathered around and started talking to me about Eid. I told them that I celebrate Eid by wearing new clothes, jewellery and henna. The word ‘henna’ spread an excitement around the entire room. The girls showed me their palms on which they had drawn henna patterns with a pen because they could never afford henna. Zaynab, staring at me with her sparkling eyes asked me if I could come to their house on Eid and put on henna on their hands. I promised to send them some henna even if I wasn’t in St. Louis. While Zaynab went to spread the news, I started asking her other cousin Mana about America. 13 year old Mana said that the only thing she liked about America was her school. The other girls agreed with her. She said that she does not like living in America because people make fun of her here for her typical Muslim attire. They would ask her why she would wear a hijaab (head scarf) and a dress covering from head to toe during the scorching summer heat. With her gleaming eyes glued to Hannah Montana on the TV she told me that she just wanted to go back to Somalia to reunite with her older sister and friends.

Mana’s mother started explaining to me how the situation in Somalia had worsened over the years. She said that she could see houses being blown away right in front of her eyes. Her family split up and fled in different directions just to assure safety of her kids. She also said that she came to America with the hope that she could get America to fix the situation in Somalia and reunite her with her other kids. These Somalian women served as a symbol of strength. They were all either widows or separated from their husbands during war. They all struggled to keep their families together. I felt very annoyed at myself for not being aware of the situation in Somalia.

I said goodbye to the warmest and most hospitable families of Zaynab and Mana. As I walked back with Zaynab, she told me that her only wish for Eid this year was to wear a matching top and skirt for Eid this year because her old ones had worn out. She asked me to find her something nice for her when I return home. I told her I would try my best. She pulled me down, gave me a kiss on my cheek, and said “I really really love you. I just want you to come back and see me again.” Tears started trickling down my eyes as Zaynab held me tight in her feeble arms for a couple of minutes. That hug changed my entire life around. A few hours ago all I could think of was when I would get a chance to eat next. Now all I could think about was how to fulfill Zaynab’s wish and help these women support their families. I realized that for the first time in 21 years I had truly understood the spirit of Ramadan. The essence of Ramadan and Islam – the word ‘Compassion’ could never have been taught to me in a better light.

Ramadan Mubarak.

I am writing this from the plane from DC to St. Louis on our first leg of the trip. We are really excited to be launching the trip today, as you’ll see from the video below. (We each say “excited” several times.)

We start in St. Louis today. Hailey tells me that Lewis and Clark began their exploration from St. Louis so it’s fitting, I suppose.

The schedule is jam packed for the next 24 days. We plan to update the blog every day with a rotating cast of team members updating us all on their activities and video that we are filming throughout the trip. We will share our personal thoughts, interesting stories or some of the better interviews. Also, you will see some guest bloggers appear from time to time.

The team consists of Frankie Martin, Hailey Woldt, Madeeha Hameed, Craig Considine, myself and of course Dr. Akbar Ahmed. Bios of everyone should be up shortly. Some of us worked on the previous project, Journey into Islam. We have a couple of new faces, but we’ve all worked together before in some way. We are friends, which makes traveling in such close quarters easy. Frankie is peering over my shoulder as we speak. And I'm not even mad at him for losing my peanuts somewhere underneath the seat.

Anyways... The video below is an introduction to the “team”.

Tomorrow, we will have another update after an amazing day in St. Louis.

Jonathan

Here's the link to our YouTube page.