From CSCC.edu

http://cscc.edu/News/10-10/New-Muslim-Cool.html

Film, performance and panel discussion Nov. 3, 2010

Journalist, activist and political analyst Bakari Kitwana will lead a townhall meeting on the intersection of Islam, hip-hop and identity among a new generation of American youth with a panel discussion and viewing of the award-winning documentary film, “The New Muslim Cool” at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 3 in room 404 of the Center for Workforce Development (WD)

The 2009 film, which has screened the Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) follows Puerto Rican rapper Hamza Perez as he steers away from his former life as a drug dealer and embraces Islam. Yet, as he rebuilds his life with a message of faith through hip-hop music, the FBI raids his mosque challenging him to embark on an even deeper exploration of his religion, profiling, tolerance and American identity.

“New Muslim Cool” was an Official Selection of the Rooftop Film Festival and Lincoln Center Independents Night and the winner of the Freedom Award at the Al Jazeera International Film Festival.

Following the screening Bakari Kitwana will moderate an interactive panel discussion about the film with Perez, the subject of the documentary, political hip-hop luminary M1, one-half of the rap group dead prez, and Nura Maznavi, staff attorney with Muslim Advocates, a San Francisco-based nonprofit sister organization of the National Association of Muslim Lawyers, and counsel for its Program to Combat Racial and Religious Profiling.

This event is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored by Diversity, Study Abroad and TRIO Programs, Muslim Student Association, Que Pasa Hispanic student organization, Pan African Student Union and the Student Ambassadors Leadership Program.