This past week, I was at the Asian American Journalist Convention in Houston, TX; my hometown. I was privileged to meet some wonderful people and hopefully, future employers. I also was invited to attend NBC University, a day long workshop, sponsored by NBC (obviously). We were asked to produce a script on a particular story and we would get critiqued…
This is a late post and is pretty irrelevant. It’s just shameless self-promotion of my work as a scholar. This was a reaction paper for my Theories & Methods class I took in the Fall Semester of 2017. My professor praised the paper so much and I think it was also a pretty good start to a successful semester (shukarAllah)…
Dedicated to the great friends I’ve made this year: Tarik, Yusuf C., Moadh, Maaz, Yusuf B., Ola, Denise and Stephanie, Brian, Dylan, Kensi, Delilah, Kuba, Teri, Grant, and Jessica Thank you guys for your generosity and making this semester so memorable. Also special thanks to Asad, Ashley, Ahmad, Krystle, Nathalie, Kyle, Vincent, and Zenoor for their close friendship and timeless…
This essay was inspired by my beautiful and supportive fiancé, Emily. A couple days ago, my lady was in town and she told me she heard this quote on NPR and was curious what my response on it would be. In all honesty, I tried looking for the quote albeit not very vigorously so you’ll have to bear with the…
The following entry is a summary of an article from The Guardian, whose link is included below. I do not reserve the right to ownership of said article, just the words summarizing the article here. I share this with my readers in remembrance of the victims of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey and the victims in Pakistan, Nepal, India, and…
Pakistan Zindabad! Jai Hind! Azad Kashmir! (Pakistan Live Long! India Live Long! Free Kashmir!) Today marks the 70th anniversary of Pakistan’s Independence from India. And tomorrow, will be the 70th Anniversary of India’s Independence from Britain. Strangely, we cannot celebrate the two events together. Just ask bollywood playback singer, Mika Singh. Poor guy had the purest intentions to have Pakistanis…
This is such a broad question to ask, of whether or not loyalty to something signifies that one is subservient in the ideological sense. If I am going to swear my allegiance to my country, does this mean I am forbidden from criticizing it? If I were to do so, does that mean my status as a “loyal citizen” is…
My sincere apologies for the delay in writing this. I was supposed to publish this after the end of Ramadan, but I got caught up with other things. Please excuse me and Eid Mubarak! The fact that I have to explain why I believe what I believe is really annoying. This is an issue that plagues Muslims worldwide, where we…
Who are we? We seem to be asked this question a lot and no one knows how to properly answer and no response seems satisfactory. In the past, people would identify themselves through their last names. “My name is So and So, son of Whatshisface” And with that form of identification, people gained an impression of you, despite their interaction and properly…
This essay is dedicated to my friends: Dr. Andrew J. Pegoda, Trevor Boffone, and Josh Inocencio and to all the comrades in the LGTBQ Community. I also dedicate this essay to my Brothers and Sisters in Islam. Also it should go without saying, that this dedication extends as well as to those in the Muslim community who identify as Queer/Trans…