February 5, 2010: Film Screening and Discussion: "New Muslim Cool" by Jennifer Maytorena Taylor

Friday, February 5, 2010 at 4pm

New Muslim Cool (2008)

A film by Jennifer Maytorena Taylor,  followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker, Hamza Pérez, Zaheer Ali (Columbia U), and artist Popmaster Fabel. Moderated by Imam Khalid Latif (NYU Islamic Center).

Organized by the Center for Religion and Media. Co-Sponsored by: Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, Kevorkian Center, NYU’s Islamic Center, Department of Social & Cultural Analysis/Program in Latino Studies, The Center for Multicultural Education and Programs and The Center for Spiritual Life.

King Juan Carlos Center
53 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012 (get map)
(co-organized by the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics)

Jennifer Maytorena Taylor is producer/director of New Muslim Cool. Her credits include credits include the documentaries Ramadan Primetime, Special Circumstances, Paulina, Home Front and Immigration Calculations, and many short films and television segments.Her work has won numerous festival awards and two Emmys.  Based in San Francisco, she has held several arts and journalism fellowships — most recently with New Muslim Cool at the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Edit and Story Lab.

Hamza Pérez is a a Puerto Rican American rapper and the star of New Muslim Cool.

Zaheer Ali is a doctoral student in history at Columbia University, where he is focusing his research on twentieth-century African-American history and religion. He is conducting an oral history of the Nation of Islam's community in Harlem, which will also be the focus of his dissertation. www.zaheerali.com

Popmaster Fabel (Jorge "Fabel" Pavon) of the famed Rock Steady Crew was born and raised in Spanish Harlem, NYC where, at an early age, he developed his dance and choreography career at Hip Hop jams and clubs throughout the city. He is a historian of and activist within Hip Hop culture.  Fabel is a co-founder of Tools Of War, a grass roots Hip Hop company covering publicity, events coordination and promotions, activism, bookings, and consultation. For more information please visit see the article written about Fabel in The New York Times. 

Imam Khalid Latif is a Muslim Chaplain at New York University. Under his leadership, the Islamic Center at NYU became the first ever fully established Muslim student center at an institution of higher education in the United States. Imam Latif’s exceptional dedication and ability to cross interfaith and cultural lines on a daily basis brought him recognition throughout the city, so much so that in 2007 Mayor Michael Bloomberg nominated Imam Latif to become the youngest chaplain in history of the New York City Police Department at the age of 24.