American Muslim Project

This week we are joined by Executive Vice President Mir Ali of USHUB TV, a forthcoming streaming service explicitly for Muslim content in the United States.

Growing up in the bubble of Southern California, Mir interacted with his predominantly non-Muslim community the only way he knew how—by showing that he was a friendly, typical, hard-working American first, then revealing his full identity once he’d been accepted. Like most all of our guests, it took effort to maintain his identit(ies) in these disparate circles. Though his passive approach may have successfully changed people’s mindsets about Muslims at the time, he’s now much more proactive.

Tired of our mainstream media “really just messing up Muslim narratives,” Mir decided to take on a side hustle. What started as an idea for an American-based Muslim news station has now morphed into a full-fledged streaming channel delivering the varied, rich, and diverse stories that exist within the Muslim world. Not only will the channel, named USHUB TV, broach Muslim-centered topics; it will also feature work by Muslim directors, producers, and writers across the world. Mir explains the name, which is from the Arabic word aishab meaning friends and companions, and says it’s often butchered; Asad and Rifelion relate. Launching this fall, USHUB will stream Islamic news, TV series, documentaries, and even original content, by and large in English and from a culturally Muslim standpoint over religious. His goal, Mir says, is to provide really relatable and accurate portrayals, something he didn’t grow up with.

Started by Gen Z and millennial founders, USHUB now comprises a team with unique talents, from tech to business to content creation, and a shared commitment to setting the record straight. We learn how Mir channeled his finance and real estate backgrounds into this new venture, and he provides advice about relationship building and how to create a phenomenal team. The motivation behind the project and the impetus for starting it now are discussed. He touches on the gravity of Muslims being favorably regarded in our country. And explains why he didn’t make a fellow Muslim friend until age 25.

Subscribe to USHUB this fall to see their full line of content, including the films Valley of Saints, Bilal: A New Breed of Hero, The Drone and the Kid, and Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf.

See previews, announcements, and their final launch date by following them on Instagram @ushub.tv and Twitter @ushubtv. And see what Mir is up to @mrmirali.

American Muslim Project is a production of Rifelion, LLC.

Writer and Researcher: Lindsy Gamble

Show Edited by Mark Annotto and Asad Butt

Music by Simon Hutchinson

Hosted by Asad Butt

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Israel launches attacks on Rafah, the last “safe zone” in Gaza. The stabbing of a Palestinian-American in Austin meets the definition of a hate crime according to the police. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times post some questionable (Islamophobic) opinion pieces. And Selma Blair posts Islamophobic and xenophobic comments on Instagram. Sam Gill, President and CEO of the Doris Duke Foundation, writes an opinion piece on Hollywood’s Responsibility in Combating Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism. Guest Neebz (WatchWithNeebz) discusses the removal of his TikTok account and his hope in the future with Gen Z.

For more information on the topics discussed in this episode, you can visit the following articles and websites:

• Body of 6-year-old killed in ‘deliberate’ Israeli fire found after 12 days | Al Jazeera | https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/10/body-of-6-year-old-killed-in-deliberate-israeli-fire-found-after-12-days
• Austin stabbing of Palestinian-American meets hate crime standard, police say - | The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/08/austin-stabbing-hate-crime-palestine/
• Israel Strikes Rafah, and a Super Bowl Surprise | NYT | https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/podcasts/israel-rafah-super-bowl.html
• Israel kills dozens in Rafah strikes, frees two captives | Al Jazeera | https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/12/israel-strikes-rafah-says-two-captives-freed
• Understanding the Middle East Through the Animal Kingdom | NYT | https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/01/30/opinion/thepoint#friedman-middle-east-animals
• Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital | WSJ | https://www.wsj.com/articles/welcome-to-dearborn-americas-jihad-capital-pro-hamas-michigan-counterterrorism-a99dba38
• Michigan city ramps up security after op-ed calls it ‘America’s jihad capital’ | AP News | https://apnews.com/article/dearborn-michigan-wall-street-journal-jihad-islamophobia-8c9ed0029ab21e6cd134b15f121b833a
• Biden condemns ‘anti-Arab hate’ after Wall Street Journal op-ed labels Michigan city ‘America’s jihad capital’ | The Hill | https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4448494-biden-condemns-anti-arab-hate-after-wall-street-journal-op-ed-labels-michigan-city-americas-jihad-capital/
• Selma Blair Called Out for Saying ‘Islam Has Destroyed Muslim Countries’ | Yahoo News | https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/selma-blair-called-saying-islam-011119453.html
• Muslim Representation in Hollywood Can Help Combat Islamophobia | The Hollywood Reporter | https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/muslim-representation-hollywood-islamophobia-1235820454/
• Hollywood’s Responsibility in Combating Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism | Fann | https://www.createfann.com/hollywoods-responsibility-in-combating-islamophobia-and-anti-semitism/

Follow Neebz on Instagram @watchwithneebz

Follow Neebz on his new TikTok @WatchWithNeebz2

Check out the Salaam Nerds Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5fnHFob9WJa5ZZNyCFJC2a?si=669887f41be44735

Produced by Rifelion Media.

Hosted by Asad Butt.

Edited by Ari Mathae

Music by Simon Hutchinson

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This week we invite founder and CEO of SiNON Therapeutics, Afreen Allam, to discuss the business world and her biotech start-up that's designing one pivotal particle.

At 17, Afreen found herself publishing her first DNA sequence, and at 20, applying for her first patent—no big deal. We talk about how her passion was rooted in her 7.5-year stint as a Duke Cancer Center volunteer, which was alternately depressing and motivating. Her father permitted her to study abroad as a premed undergrad with three very specific conditions, and it was then that the nanoparticle for drug delivery was developed.

While she loved the field of medicine, she felt she could make a bigger impact going into research, and thus ditched her (parents’) med school plans for business school. And that’s how her company SiNON got started. Currently they’re continuing the work on the nanoparticle that began when she studied abroad. She fills us in on a little stat—that only 2% of currently available drugs can pass through the blood-brain barrier (and schools us on just what the blood-brain barrier is). Meaning a targeted delivery tool to carry drugs from point A to B would be game-changing for neurological diseases. This could reduce dosing and side effects while improving efficacy, and be less damaging and more targeted than chemo for brain tumors, etc. The technology is in preclinical testing as SiNON raises money, hoping to license their technology to other pharmaceutical companies perhaps in late 2022.

Asad and Afreen swap start-up stories. We touch on what it’s like being a double minority in the business and biotech worlds, and how it’s especially difficult to prove your point when you can’t raise the money to prove your point. She mentions the importance of connections, and how the Muslim community is lacking. Anecdotes of fellow students who’d “never seen a Muslim in their life other than Fox News,” a reproachful campus preacher, and a legit inquiry about her making bombs are shared. We end with inspiration for future female entrepreneurs and the source of her own.

Learn more about SiNON Therapeutics' patented nanoparticle, the Carbon Dot, which looks to change the face of neurological diseases profoundly. And keep up with the latest news from Afreen @Afreen_Allam and the company @SiNONTP or @sinon_therapeutics.

American Muslim Project is a production of Rifelion, LLC.

Writer and Researcher: Lindsy Gamble

Show Edited by Mark Annotto and Asad Butt

Music by Simon Hutchinson

Hosted by Asad Butt

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 2 of American Muslim Project kicks off with Sahar Aziz, Professor of Law and Chancellor's Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers University Law School. She is also the founding director of the interdisciplinary Rutgers Center for Security, Race, and Rights.

Sahar joins AMP to talk about her new book, "The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom."

About the Book:

"Why does a country with religious liberty enmeshed in its legal and social structures produce such overt prejudice and discrimination against Muslims? Sahar Aziz’s groundbreaking book demonstrates how race and religion intersect to create what she calls the Racial Muslim. Comparing discrimination against immigrant Muslims with the prejudicial treatment of Jews, Catholics, Mormons, and African American Muslims during the twentieth century, Aziz explores the gap between America’s aspiration for and fulfillment of religious freedom. With America’s demographics rapidly changing from a majority white Protestant nation to a multiracial, multireligious society, this book is an in dispensable read for understanding how our past continues to shape our present—to the detriment of our nation’s future."

Visit the Center for Security, Race, and Rights: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/

Buy the book at the University of California Press: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520382299/the-racial-muslim

Or at Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-racial-muslim-sahar-f-aziz/1139114859

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Gone are the days where local politics amount to reelecting erstwhile high school classmates to fill potholes and grow schools. Policy attorney by day and public servant by night, Mehreen Butt, sister to our host, is a Pakistani American town councilor in Wakefield, MA. She joins us to speak about her unique experience as the first American Muslim woman elected to a select board in the state. Believing steadfastly that government is good and public service is a way to give back, she decided to run in 2016 to fulfill a duty “to be the voice for people that don’t have a seat at the table.” As there's no handbook on how to be a town councilor, we find out how she acquired support from apolitical aunties and uncles, invaluable coaching from Emerge, and an unsolicited declaration from her father that Obama and Abe Lincoln had both been defeated before. She lost that election. However, she reran in 2017 and was recently reelected for her second three-year term.

To her surprise, she liked it a lot more than she thought she would. If you’re wondering how town officials can make a difference, consider small but meaningful actions like liaising with the police department regarding implicit bias training, installing a Pride flag, and dedicating funds to protect lakes. So why, we ask, is representation in local politics important? She believes diversity makes for the strongest policy. Case in point: the iconic 2017 photo of exclusively white, right, long-in-the-tooth congressmen considering the future of women’s healthcare. It’s noted, again, how minorities in power don’t just lead but pull others up with them, so that they’re not the lone woman or POC in the room where it happens. We learn that it takes an average of seven asks for a woman to agree to run for office; thus, every time Mehreen crosses paths with a potential advocate, you’d better believe she’s making that ask.

This interview with Mehreen Butt was recorded in November 2020. See what Mehreen is up to as Town Councilor, or fangirl over fellow inspirational female leaders of color such as Sumbul Siddiqui (the first Muslim mayor in Massachusetts) or the Squad. Also check out two organizations she adores, Muslim Advocates, a civil rights organization, and Emgage, a civic nonprofit that encourages American Muslims to be more involved in their communities.

American Muslim Project is a production of Rifelion, LLC.

Writer and Researcher: Lindsy Gamble

Show Edited by Mark Annotto and Asad Butt

Music by Simon Hutchinson

Hosted by Asad Butt

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices