D’Asia Leathers
Dl320913
Who is Wajahat Ali?
Wajahat Ali is a “multi-hyphenated,
left-handed brown skinned, bay-area of California bred son of a Pakistanian, who
only knew the words ‘Shut up,’ ‘Idiot’ and ‘pasghetti (spaghetti)’ until the
age of five,” or at least that’s how he describes himself. However, what I soon
grew to learn was that he was a comedian as well. His dark humor is evident as
he says things like ‘Who are the Muslims? Raise your hand? See, this is our
problem. Why are you raising your hand? I’m trying to save you.” He does a great
job of utilizing witty remarks that keeps the crowd laughing hysterically whilst
making you think critically within the next statement.
Understanding Muslim:
Islamaphobia and Turning Villains into Heroes
Ali discusses these aforementioned
villains when he points out the fact that the things occurring in today’s
society are just replicas of things that happened in the past. Old villains
have been reincarnated into new villains and there are still similar problems
and the same groups are still being targeted: Jews, Catholics, LGBT, Women,
African Americans and Immigrants. He then goes on to relate this to this year’s
presidential election by discussing how 65% of Donald Trump supporters say Obama is Muslim, but then jokingly turns this around and states that if Obama
was in fact a Muslim, he would be the worst Muslim of all time, as he practices
little to none of the Islamic principles. Throughout his presentation, his disgust with
this year’s election results is made relevant, stating “I don’t understand how
most people did not have a problem with voting for a candidate with a racist
platform.” He then takes us back 1,000 years into Muslim history in 5 minutes,
his key points being that there has always been a fear of Muslims in America
and that this stereotype is due to ignorance and silence. Ali explains that
most people have referred to 11/9 as their 9/11, but he encourages us to
utilize this as great opportunity for growth and reflection.
If you aren’t always writing your
story, it is always being written for you by others
Ali reminds us that there will be
some bleak days and dark nights to come, but we will all make it through
together. Yes, systematic racism is alive, but we cannot live in culturally isolated
cocoons because we don’t live in culturally isolated cocoons. He goes on to
talk about how we must plant the seed and watch it flourish so that the next
generation can inherit a great legacy. “I’ll be damned if I have to tell my
kids “You’re a victim. So just be a great, glorious victim with your head held
down and marry a doctor who’s a 9 on the scale” he states. He then goes on to
say “They can’t beat us all down. They can’t rob us of our dreams, wealth, ambition
or anything of the sorts. But they will try. The greatest revenge is success.”
Therefore, do not allow the 1,000+ hate groups in America to write your story. Do
not allow those who are oblivious to your situation to you write your story. Only
YOU can write it. But nonetheless, have faith and have hope.
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