Tell Them, I Am

Emmen Ahmed is a freelance illustrator and student based in Detroit (shout out to her amazing artwork for Tell Them). Her grandfather had a huge influence on her, and when he passed away a few years ago, she struggled to maneuver through life without him.

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Chef Reem Assil owns Reem’s California and Dyafa, two popular middle eastern eateries in Oakland, California. But growing up, she had a knack for filmmaking, and at 12 years old she premiered her first (and only) film on her local public access station.

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Television actor Iqbal Theba gives us an inside look on a career that many in the entertainment industry know well — service. And this probably won’t come as a surprise, but he was really good at it.

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Salman Agah is a legendary skateboarder and owner of Pizzanista, a popular L.A. pizza joint. But back when he was a teen in San Jose, he had no reference for what his future might look like or where his ambitions were taking him.

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Alia Shawkat is known for her role as Maeby Fünke on Arrested Development, and in between shoots, she loved smoking weed and pushing her dad’s buttons. One trip to Jordan changed that and helped her realize who her father was in the world.

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Ahamed Weinberg is a comedian with a series on Comedy Central. Once he hit school age, he started realizing that his parents’ values weren’t the same as his peers’. As a result, deciding his own beliefs proved, well, complicated.

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Sahar Jahani is a TV writer whose relationship to her heritage changed during one agonizing road trip in a Paykan through the Iranian countryside. 

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Ryan Harris is an NFL Super Bowl champion who, in one moment, was forced to redefine what it meant for him to be a man in a culture of toxic masculinity.

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Amirah Sackett is a hip-hop dancer who learned the art of forgiveness from a swarm of bees.

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Wazina Zondon is a sex educator and co-founder of the show Coming Out Muslim. She’s been able to understand herself better because of her relationship with one person.

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