By Abbi North & Tilila Bakrim

About: 

The Al Fusaic Advocacy Series is a space for:

• Amplifying the voices of activists in the MENA/SWANA region

• Educating ourselves about historical and contemporary resistance movements in the MENA/SWANA region

• Terminology guides

• Resources for getting involved… 

• And so much more towards our language and knowledge!

Glossary:

• Amazigh: ‘Amazigh’ or ‘Imazighen’ is used in place of ‘Berber’ to identify Native North Africans.

• S.W.A.N.A: S.W.A.N.A. is a term word for the South West Asian & North African region of the globe in place of Middle Eastern, Near Eastern, Arab World, or Islamic World - phrases all with colonial, Eurocentric, and Orientalist origins.

• Afro-Arab: Afro-Arab is a phrase that intends to capture the intersectional identity of Black and Arab individuals.

Photo sources: 

• Amazigh World News – http://amazighworldnews.com

• CBS Local, San Francisco – https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/09/24/sf-library-celebrates-swana-southwest-asia-north-african-culture/

• Laura Dale, AfriPop! – http://afripopmag.com/2016/02/04/authentically-black-authentically-arab-a-roundtable-on-afro-arab-identity/

References and Resources:

AMAZIGH

• Amazing Amazigh: https://www.instagram.com/amazing.amazigh.off/

• The Amazigh Cultural Renaissance: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/amazigh-cultural-renaissance

• Nationalia: https://www.nationalia.info/profile/5/amazigh

• Free People: The Imazighen of North Africa: https://intercontinentalcry.org/free-people-the-imazighen-of-north-africa/

S.W.A.N.A.

• “Middle Eastern”  “Arab”: https://www.dance.nyc/programs/jcomm/blog/2019/02/Middle-Eastern-Arab-Why-That-Matters-and-more/

• Tarab NYC: https://tarabnyc.org/about/

• The SWANA Alliance: https://swanaalliance.com/about 

• The Limits of Whiteness: https://bookshop.org/books/the-limits-of-whiteness-iranian-americans-and-the-everyday-politics-of-race/9781503603370 

Afro-Arab

• Authentically Black, Authentically Arab – A Roundtable on Afro-Afro Identity: http://afripopmag.com/2016/02/04/authentically-black-authentically-arab-a-roundtable-on-afro-arab-identity/ 

• “Arab-Black” Solidarity Shouldn’t Erase Afro-Arabs & The Racism They Face In The Arab World: https://afropunk.com/2017/09/arab-black-solidarity-shouldnt-erase-afro-arabs-racism-face-arab-world/

• Essential Resources on Racism and Anti-Blackness in the Middle East and North Africa: https://www.pinkjinn.com/2020/06/24/essential-resources-on-racism-and-anti-blackness-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa/