1) In Chicago, Muslim Activist Is Named MacArthur Genius: Community organizer Rami Nashashibi was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Genius Award this week for his work as founder of Chicago’s Inner-City Muslim Action Network.
2) ‘Tacos At Every Mosque’ Heads South Of The Border: Tacos At Every Mosque is a big success in Southern California and has now taken their mission south of the border to Rosarito Beach, a resort town on the coast of Mexico’s Baja California.
3) Yusuf/Cat Stevens Talks To Rolling Stone About New Album: Yusuf/Cat Stevens has re-recorded seven of his early hits from the 70s, and put them on his new album which is now out. “It was like going into a trunk of your old toys,” he says. “You pull them out and see whether or not these choo-choo trains still goes on the tracks.”
4) New Digital Series On ‘Being Black and Muslim in Britain’: There are approximately 272,015 Muslims of African heritage in the UK which represents nearly 10% of the UK’s Muslim population (per the Muslim Council of Britain). The new digital series, Black and Muslim in Britain, features five episodes which explore “stories and dialogue around being Black and Muslim in Britain.”
5) And lastly, 13-year-old Syrian Refugee Wins Poetry Prize: 13-year-old Amineh Abou Kerech is the proud winner of the Betjeman poetry prize for her poem “Lament for Syria” which was written half in English, half in Arabic. “I take words from anywhere,” Amineh told the Guardian. “I take them from songs and films, from what I see on the computer or the television. And I put them all together.”
