Faroukh Virani Reflects on the Love his Community has around Delicious Eid Dishes
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"There was a key point when I understood the power of my writing connecting with an audience, and then that became more important to me as I realized the impact of misrepresentation, stereotypes and the erroneous narratives that were circulating in my society about people who are Muslim [like me]."
"The most important thing as a creative person is finding people who are willing to protect the sanctity, the originality of your idea. Not anyone and everyone can understand minute hints about cultural context [or the] religious sense that is inherent in our writing."
When I was growing up, I couldn't just go to the library and find a bunch of fun books by Muslim authors. But now you can, [and] it's really exciting. I'm happy to be one of those people in the community. I think uplifting each other's voices just helps us grow stronger.
"I would say I am ambitious, overly ambitious. I'm extremely passionate about just making people laugh and smile. That is ultimately my goal with content creation [and] why I started it. I love just making people's days when I'm streaming."
"I was one of the few [Muslim authors in young adult and middle grade] in the beginning, and now there are more and more, but you have to remember and honor those people around us. We stand on their shoulders, and so I think that's just really important to read the works of those who came before."
Mahnoor is interested in exploring entertaining stories about the South Asian diaspora through the female gaze. With her films, she seeks to decolonize the mind by empowering audiences to engage in radical self-love. And if she can make you laugh while doing it, even better.
"There are so many aspects of Muslimness [about which] you can write a story. It's really, really challenging to let that go and to erase those different voices. When I write, I try to remember to write for little me. "
"We're entering a new period for Alzheimer's. I don't think a lot of people know about that. There are a couple of new drugs that received FDA approval over the last couple of years. [The research around Alzheimer’s] prevention and how to stay cognitively healthy has been very enlightening for me."
"It's important to keep holding government officials accountable, even if they're not giving you much or they're just reverting to talking points. You are questioning them before the public, on behalf of the public, in the interest of transparency and accountability."
"I think Muslim and Arab books and authors should be read and celebrated all year round."
The author of the bestselling books "Amina’s Voice" and "More to the Story" sits down with Fann to discuss her upcoming book “Drawing Deena” and her love of writing for children.
"You would be surprised how many people complain to me about my books. If you want to read a book about perfect people then I don't know what you'll read because that would be boring. Nobody would do anything. There would be no story."