It’s All Happening: The Taqwacores Debuts in Los Angeles
Sundance Festival Pick The Taqwacores officially premiered in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theater to a modestly sized crowd on November 12. Friday night’s screening marked the fifth time I had seen the film, almost two years after hearing of a movie in pre-production about “Muslim Punks.” Though it’s a phrase I try to … Read more
Got an Ache in My Gut and My Stomache’s Alight
Crossposted from Touring the Light. Written by Stoney. I will not discredit taqwacore for connecting me with people that now mean a lot to me. I also will not discredit taqwacore for making me think a little bit more about identity and questioning my place in the world. But it started as a fictional novel, … Read more
Hollywood-ification
It was another Taqwacore road trip, from Oakland to Los Angeles. This was strange considering that Los Angeles was home turf, I just happened to move to Oakland rather recently. It seemed like all my Taqwacore adventures revolved around a trip of some sort – there was never a semblance of “home,” which is ironic … Read more
Composing Master Mind of Omar Fadel
It’s hard to believe that The Taqwacores feature film Sundance Film Festival debut was back in January. So much has happened since the adventures in the Taqx punk house in the snowy valley of Park City. It was in the house that I first met the illustrious Omar Fadel. Poised and soft spoken, it was … Read more
Oaklandistan
Blue skies, potholed streets in Oaklandistan – I was craving halal hot links as I drove by the halal market. It was Friday, and I was stealing some “me” time away from my job on the campaign trail. In my head though I was still working, thoughts preoccupied, stressed about finances and wondering if we … Read more
Ramadan Mubarak, Punk
Confession. I don’t know in what direction to place the prayer mat. It hit me with extreme sadness this evening as I came to that realization. I had been fasting all day for Ramadan and had just broken my fast with a date by myself in the kitchen and I didn’t know what to do … Read more
DarthNader & the Intifada
At last night’s open mic to support Los Angeles divest from Israel’s water issues, I finally met up with a Taqwacore punk – Nader, otherwise known as DarthNader on the twitterverse. I’d been following his tweets for some time, but even though we live in the same region and have attended the same rallies, we … Read more
Taqwacore in the U.K.
[Insert Sex Pistol, The Clash, and all other Brit 70's punk reference here...] because our Taqwacore bands are taking the music overseas. Well at least across the Atlantic to colonizer central, the United Kingdom. Both Al-Thawra and The Kominas will be making their rounds in the U.K., and leaving in the next few days. This … Read more
Pass the Mic. To Riz MC.
Crossposted from Sepia Mutiny. I was first blown away by Riz Ahmed when I saw him perform on Britz. It was only after seeing him perform on The Taqwacore documentary, that I realized that Riz wasn’t just an actor – he’s also known as Riz MC. Straight out of the U.K., his lyrics are dynamic … Read more
Taqwacore: An Ismaili Perspective
by Sadiya Abjani I am a hated breed. By day one way, by night another. When the sun rises, I put on clothes after morning ablutions and prayer, and make my way to a college campus littered with my kind. I feel entirely alone, but show nothing but a loquacious vibrancy. I employ the day … Read more
