This video, 1700% Project: Mistaken for Muslim, was posted a while ago, but I only recently took a look at it. It's amazing. This spoken word video is a collaboration between artist Anida Yoeu Ali and filmmaker Masahiro Sugano with over 100 diverse volunteers, participants and community members in the Chicagoland area. Take a look:
The text is created from 100 lines of filed hate crime reports. The poem is an unapologetic response to injustices directed against the Muslim community that reflects both the absurdity and dangers of racially-motivated fears.
It's part of an ongoing project that engages art as a form of intervention against the racial profiling of Muslims in a post-9/11 era. The larger project, The 1700% Project, uses a multi-faceted artistic approach to educate the wider public about the diversity within the Muslim community.
The number 1700% refers to the exponential percentage increase of hate crimes against Arabs, Muslims and those perceived to be Arab or Muslim since the events of September 11, 2001. For more information about the 1700$ Project, go here.
