Using her hijab to challenge accepted views of Islam in America is teacher, singer, dancer, hip hop artist and choreographer Amirah Sackett. Sackett is the brains behind dance hip hop group We're Muslim, Don't Panic (WMDP) which was founded in 2011 as a way to change accepted narratives about Islam and Muslim-Americans in the United States.

“I wanted to flip the script,” Sackett told Bust Magazine “I wanted to educate others and reflect the beauty that I know and love in Muslim women. Yes, there are oppressed women in the Muslim world. Women are oppressed the world over. These are our mutual struggles.”

Advertisement

The group not only challenges the perception of the Muslim community by Americans at large, but also seeks to create a more positive image for young Muslims too – which should have been unnecessary, of course. “At one [WMDP] performance for a middle school audience, a girl screamed out ‘You are beautiful!’ She saw us in the abaya (long, black dresses), niqaabs (face veils), and headscarves, and she loved us before we even moved. After the performance, she came on stage and hugged me, and told me she was from Saudi Arabia. She had seen the image of her family and country and she loved it. She had so much pride.”

Here's a video of one of their performances.