Illustration by A Journey through NYC religions
Visitors to Prospect Park might have come across some women wearing hijabs acting in ways that defy the stereotypes of such Muslim women as cloistered medievals who stay silent and unnoticeable compared the Muslim men. They think of themselves as Muslim hipsters and call themselves Mipsterz.
Brooklyn-based directors Habib Yazdi and Abbas Rattani got together models from the Underwraps Agency – which calls itself the world’s first Muslim modeling agency – for the video shoot. They added more footage from Williamsburg, Brooklyn and other parts of the country to show Muslim women wearing the latest fashions with the hijab doing skateboard and other activities counter to the stereotypes of Muslim women with Jay-Z’s “Somewhere in America” as the soundtrack. Sheikh and Bake Productions released the video.
The collaborators have a Tumblr site, Facebook page, an email listserv called Mipsterz, and an Islamic matrimonial website called “Hipster Shaadi.”
Mos Def is a Muslim NYC rapper. Native Deen, a hip-hop Muslim group in Washington, D.C., evangelize for Islam in their music:
Thanks!
Good, excellent!