The co-founder of the National Arab Institute and the author of the upcoming book “The History We Carry,” Mariam Sallam tells us the story of how one journalist in Gaza sat with Mona, a young girl who had just witnessed her mother being killed by the IDF. The journalist gave the child some crayons and paper, and the trauma and depiction of her mother's killing came out on the makeshift canvas.
From there, the Bulletproof Dreams Exhibit was a mission to bring the most traumatized humans on the planet today, Palestinian children; their art and drawings of their experience under an active genocide, to light. After an exhibit in Turkey, the goal has been to show their stories to American audiences.
Mariam discusses the viral video of the imagined genocide Remembrance Day in 2040, how it impacted social media and what came of it, and how Mariam as a data scientist could no longer pursue 9-5 work amidst the atrocities on these children, and her focus on bringing their stories to light.
Our conversation is wide-ranging, including Mariam's advice for Arabs on how to best serve their culture and roots.
Our links this week:
See the art from Bulletproof Dreams:
https://www.kursungecirmezdusler.com/en/
Help support bringing Bulletproof Dreams to the US and tell the childrens' stories:
https://www.launchgood.com/v4/campaign/bulletproof_dreams_gaza_child_painters_exhibit?src=3055904
Our guest Mariam Sallam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msallam227/
Thanks for listening to Arabs in Media, and independent podcast and Substack, and remember, habibi, genocide is always wrong.
-Hazem Jamal

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About the host:
Hazem Jamal is a first-generation Iraqi-American who worked in as a programming exec in American radio for many years.
Hazem founded Arabs in Media to offer an independent platform for new stories, information and entertainment missing in corporate media.
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