This is a behind the scenes snack from my upcoming project “Call to Disarms” featuring Iranian American MC Shervin Nooravi and LA based producer Bei Ru. After a late night meeting with Shervin we decided to give you a taste of the music for the project as well as some improvised lyrical acrobatics. Enjoy.

This is an appearance I did as a guest on EBRU’s Fresh Outlook segment talking about Michelle Obama’s appearance at The Oscars, and the controversy behind Argo, and Zero Dark Thirty. EBRU is a cable network available in Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia.

This was one of the hardest videos I’ve ever made. Ali Moaddel was 20 year old friend of mine who died suddenly of cardiac arrest. He was a healthy and pious spoken word artist that was the type that would make me want to be a better person and gave courage to those who aspire to speak truth to power. The message we saw in this tragedy is that life is fragile and its expiration is out of our control.

Ali Moaddel was truly an example of the famous saying of Ali ibn Abu Talib…
“Live amongst people in such a manner that if you die they weep over you and if you are alive they crave for your company.”

Here’s a short video I produced for Bassem Youssef’s show “The Program” in Egypt, featuring comedian Mo Amer. The Program is one of the highest rated television shows in all of the Middle East and I was super excited for the opportunity to work with them. We had some very funny moments that didn’t make the cut for Egyptian TV but I may cut another version of this one day for an American audience.

A big thank you to Taleef Collective for hosting me and everyone who came out Sunday night to hear me speak about “Re-Made Men.” I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to contribute my voice in a panel discussion about incarceration, reentry and Islam moderated by Usama Canon.  The conversation about new Muslims coming home from prison is a topic that has become very close to me in my 5 years of research and production of my film.

After the panel, Hajj Usama put me on the spot to share some bboying skills in the adjacent room. I ended up having an impromptu cypher with spoken word artist and writer Mark Gonzales which I thought turned out really dope.

Photos courtesy of Bushra Burney (aka Caffeinated Muslim)

In 2 days I will turn 28 years old. It’s been a pretty sweet ride but I’m really excited for this year. I’m currently in production of my second feature length documentary, “Re-Made Men” and I think it’s my best work yet. While you’re thinking of what you’re going to get me for my birthday, let me make it easy. All I want this year is help making this film.

Kickstarter and Indiegogo are awesome, but rather than going all web 2.0 at this stage in the game, I’ve been doing grassroots community events and meeting people in person, sharing my vision for this film. Consider this a kick-starter before kickstarter.

Bay Area // Oakland @ ICCNC: December 22nd

Bay Area // Fremont @ Ta’leef Collective: December 23rd
Orange County: December 27th

To contribute to the film follow this link. When donating be sure to write in “Re-Made Men” in the film to support box.
http://hartleyfoundation.org/en/islam-on-the-inside

All contributions are tax deductible so try to make your donation before the end of the year. I value each and every donation and word of encouragement that I get, no matter how small.

Stay tuned for more updates on the film.

This is a performance I got to take part in this June in Washington, DC for an organization called Project Reach. I had a great time performing with DJ Asad Jafri aka Manowax, along with fellow bboys Super InLight and Brave Monk out of Chicago.

More info on FEW Collective:

FEW is an artist collective that believes in the power of art to engage, educate, and inspire.  The collective combines traditional forms of music, dance, and art with the elements of Hip Hop and theater to address contemporary issues.   FEW combines the spiritual with the physical and mental to give divine order to their work.  As representatives of Hip Hop Culture, they acknowledge the evolution of music, visual art, the spoken word, and dance as basic elements of the culture and Knowledge as a master element.

Some know them as the Fifth Element Warriors, others relate because they are From Every Walk, but they know themselves as always Finding Eternal Wisdom.  FEW was founded by core members Man-O-Wax, DJ Arkitek, Bravemonk, Super Inlight, D-Nick the Microphone Misfit, Pezent Waters, and College – Two DJs, Two B-Boys, Two MCs, and a Visual Artist.  Today FEW continues to grow with more rotating member artists that join us when the time is right.

FEW specializes in hip hop theater, concert performances, multi-disciplinary workshops, and cross-cultural collaborations.  FEW members have travelled to Colombia, Brazil, Uganda, Morocco, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, India, and Jamaica spreading their positive messages through their art and music.

I recently got my two Emmy statues in the mail and wanted to share since I was in Iran during the awards in August.  The Emmys are for an hour educational special I edited for KTLA called “Heal the Bay” and another for a series of news stories I edited called “Gang Behind the Badge.”

I’m glad to let you know that Hartley Film Foundation is my fiscal sponsor for my current film, Re-Made Men (still a working title, don’t get too excited).  As my fiscal sponsor, Hartley allows all monetary contributions towards my project to be tax-deductible. Click here to help me in the on-going production of the film. At present, I am self-financing production, (read Visa, Mastercard, Amex) so any contribution helps me in continuing to document the story of incarcerated converts to Islam transitioning out of prison.

This clip consists of a roughly edited scene with Amir Ali Hakim who was released from prison in 2011 and at the time of this recording, was living with his cousin and her teenage son Darian in South Central Los Angeles.  Now that my project, tentatively titled “Re-Made Men” (previously “Islam on the Inside”) is focused entirely on Project Restore in Chicago, this clip will not be included in my final film.  However, I find this scene to represent a re-occuring theme in many of the previously incarcerated men that I have documented in the past 3 years which is a fervent desire to divert those around them from negative life decisions and reckless behavior.