American Muslim Futures Presents an Online Concert for Ramadan

By N. Jamiyla Chisholm May 20, 2020

Before Ramadan ends in most places on May 23, Muslim Advocates, Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will host an online concert—American Muslim Futures—Wednesday night (May 20) on Facebook and YouTube, Muslim Advocates announced.

“Muslim Advocates has spent 15 years fighting hatred and bigotry in courtrooms and the halls of power,” said the organization’s digital advocacy officer Erik W. Martínez Resly, who curated the concert. “American Muslim Futures works towards that same goal by harnessing the power of artists to address the attitudes and beliefs that give rise to many of these civil rights abuses in the first place.”  

The American Muslim Futures concert is part of an ongoing, larger project “that connects visual and performing artists with civil rights advocates and cultural institutions to shift the public perception of Muslims in this country and envision a future where all Americans live free of hate,” says the release. Thursday’s concert will be emceed by Ascia Sahar, a Washington, D.C.-based social media influencer, and will feature Virginia-based, singer/songwriter Raef; Colorado’s hip-hop, soul, and roots duo The Reminders and California’s electronic artist Madame Gandhi

“My hope is that Muslims will continue to live their faith in ways that enriches American society,” Raef said in the statement. “I believe music plays a critical role in bringing people of all faiths together in service and solidarity.”

Register here to tune into the concert. Watch Muslim political leaders host the national Iftar, the breaking of fast, here.