For African-Americans in the 90s, comedy sitcoms such as ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ introduced the idea of the ‘Black American Dream’. Historically, Black people on American television were rarely presented without negative stereotypes, yet the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air gave an interesting twist – it illustrated the power of comedy to build deeper connections with audiences, and to also authentically share the experiences of communities in their own way. Comedy is more than just an entertaining way to express stories; it also humanizes our experiences. It makes us think and feel differently about the everyday issues we face, and break the walls that block us from sharing our realities with others. As children, we have always watched American sitcoms and often tried to blend them with our own Egyptian culture. But what would have happened if we had grown up watching American sitcoms that talked about our own culture? Not simply American, more like American…ish? ‘My identity would always be around being a Muslim’ View this post on Instagram A post shared by Iman Zawahry (@imanzawahry) Egyptian-American Iman Zawahry is one of the first Muslim-American filmmakers…
‘Muslim-American Women are Not a Monolith’: Egyptian-American Filmmaker Iman Zawahry
November 5, 2021
