🎙️This week on the Sumud Podcast, we sit down with Aymann Ismail, journalist, storyteller, and father, to explore how identity, faith, and truth-telling intersect in a time of moral crisis. A staff writer at Slate, the author of Becoming Baba, and president of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA). Aymann has spent years documenting how American media frames Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians, and what it means to write honestly while the world burns.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, to Egyptian parents, Aymann came of age in the shadow of 9/11, an experience that forced him to navigate fear, belonging, and dual identity. In this deeply personal conversation, he shares how those formative years shaped his journalism from "Who’s Afraid of Aymann?" and PBS’s "American Muslims: A History Revealed" to his acclaimed essay, "The Store That Called the Cops on George Floyd", which won a Writers Guild Award and was nominated for a National Magazine Award.
With humility and clarity, he unpacks the ethical dilemmas of journalism, the burden of representation for Arab reporters, and the parallels between the post-9/11 era and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Through it all, Aymann reflects on fatherhood, faith, and what it means to tell stories that refuse to dehumanize.
🔑 In this conversation, we explore:
➡ Growing up Arab Muslim in New Jersey after 9/11
➡ The parallels between anti-Palestinian racism and post-9/11 Islamophobia
➡ Journalism, bias, and courage in the era of genocide
➡ Storytelling, empathy, and moral responsibility in media
➡ Becoming Baba: faith, fatherhood, and belonging in America
This video is for educational purposes only. It provides historical and political analysis to inform and educate viewers.
📌 Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction & Opening Reflections
01:45 – 9/11 and October 7th
13:23 – Being Both: Arab American Identity & Belonging
22:18 – The Human Story of Being Gay and Muslim
25:13 – “Who’s Afraid of Aymann?”: Curiosity as Resistance
29:57 – Unearthing Muslim Roots in America with PBS
33:46 – The Store That Called the Cops on George Floyd
40:42 – Media Bias, Arab Journalists & Ethical Reporting
49:59 – Privilege, Courage & Writing Hard Truths
55:43 – Becoming Baba: Faith, Fatherhood & Finding Meaning
01:19:05 – Final Reflection: Teaching Faith in America
🎥 Full episode: https://sumudpod.com
📚 Check out Aymann’s work:
📖 Becoming Baba: https://bookshop.org/p/books/becoming-baba-fatherhood-faith-and-finding-meaning-in-america-aymann-ismail/dd46efc949a7959e?ean=9780385549615
🧠 AMEJA: https://www.ameja.org
📲 Follow: @aymanndotcom
📲 Follow: @dredhasan
#Palestine #SumudPod #FreePalestine #AntiZionist #EndtheOccupation #Media #Journalism #GeorgeFloyd #MuslimAmerican #Islamophobia #AMEJA
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