Culture, Community & Conversations That Matter
Across track ovals, wrestling mats, soccer pitches, and swimming pools, Muslim and Arab American women athletes are competing at the highest levels — and refusing to leave any part of themselves at the door. Their stories are about more than sports, and the young girls watching them know it.
Growing up between two kitchens — one that smelled like seven-spice and rose water, the other like whatever was on sale at Kroger — taught a generation of Arab American kids that food was never just food. Now they're cooking through the contradiction, and something new is coming out of it.
Long before cold plunges and infrared saunas became Instagram staples, the hammam was doing the work. Now, a growing wave of Middle Eastern and North African wellness spaces across the US is introducing Americans to a bathing tradition that's less about luxury and more about community, ritual, and genuine restoration.
Modest wear has quietly been reshaping American fashion from the inside out, and the industry is finally paying attention. A new wave of designers — Muslim and non-Muslim alike — are proving that covering up can be just as bold, expressive, and runway-ready as anything else out there. This is what happens when a community stops waiting for permission to be seen.
From a Lebanese-Mexican fusion spot in Los Angeles to a Senegalese soul food kitchen in Atlanta, Muslim American restaurateurs are cooking up something the food world hasn't seen before. These five spots aren't just serving great meals — they're telling stories one plate at a time.
For over a hundred years, Hollywood has told stories about Arab and Middle Eastern people — just rarely the right ones. From silent-era villains to post-9/11 terrorist tropes, the pattern of misrepresentation runs deep. But a new generation of filmmakers and storytellers is finally flipping the script.
Forget the narratives handed down by Hollywood or the evening news. Young Arab Americans are building their own platforms, dropping their own music, and designing their own aesthetics — and the rest of the culture is starting to pay attention. This is what self-definition looks like in 2024.