Muslims Turn to Pop Culture to Challenge Stereotypes

Inspirit was featured in New Canadian Media’s recent story on narrative change. CEO Sadia Zaman, Program Manager Angie Balata, as well as Lab Cohort members Adnan Khan and Yazmeen Kanji discuss the Narrative Change Lab and its work to shift narratives about Muslim Canadians.

Read New Canadian Media’s feature here.[mk_divider]

An excerpt from the article:

Since August, the 17 creatives/professionals and three facilitators have been holding bi-weekly virtual meetings to find collective ways of smashing those stereotypes while exploring the question: “What does Muslim identity look like?”

But that’s a lofty question, says program manager, Angie Balata, because there simply has not been a space where “Muslims have gathered to discuss these things in this kind of format” – especially such a diverse group in terms of gender and sexuality, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and even professional paths.

“So, we broke down the idea of ‘narrative’ into its very core, and that is a narrative system,” Balata said.

“What is the value system that brings people together? What is the thing that connects us from which we can then start building bigger narratives?”

[mk_divider]Read the full article here.