I can’t thank you enough to those of you who responded to my last piece, Ramadan Reflections, with words of wisdom, kindness, or just quick messages of love—thank you. <3
It made me want to keep reaching out about things I’m struggling with in my heart.
Today, I have a new question...
Tonight for Pal Perspectives Media Club we’re watching Mo on Netflix. A few weeks back, I finally sat down and watched all of Season 1 and 2, and I loved everything about it.
Recently, I was talking with my friend Noel on a podcast we started, and he mentioned how Mo not only shows love and respect for our beautiful culture but also carefully weaves in critiques of it.
I hadn’t realized it before he said it, but his words got me thinking.
Sometimes, I want to vent about aspects of our culture or our people, but I hold back because we've been so vilified in the West that I feel overprotective of our image. The downside? It means I rarely get to voice my frustrations. And if we don’t voice our frustrations, we risk internalizing them.
If we as a people don’t talk about the problems freely, how can we fix them as a community?!
I don’t want to be part of the problem—perpetuating cycles of abuse or toxicity simply because I want to protect my people from outsiders that mean us harm. But I also can't risk adding fuel to the ceaseless fire.
I want us to be better. I also think fixing our issues will protect us way better in the long run, but how do we go about it in this political climate?
I imagine some of you from non-Arab but equally vilified cultures get what I’m saying—so how do you balance it out?!
That’s my question - looking forward to your thoughts.
Anyway, I REALLY HOPE YOU’LL WATCH Mo (with or without Pal Perspective) and rate it accordingly—obviously with two thumbs up on Netflix and 10/10 on IMDB, yea?!
Salaam (peace),
Amel (hope)