Now more than ever, in this era of Muslim bans and large scale deportations of undocumented immigrants, I have been feeling like I need to do something concrete to intercept bias and hatred. Signing petitions, marching for women’s rights, donating to immigrant rights organizations — many of us are doing these things already.

But we need to consider ALL the strategies we each have available to promote justice and respect. We each have unique opportunities, different strategies, depending on our experience and position in life, and we can use our sense of agency to leverage those opportunities.

For example, as an educator, I can reach my students and hopefully make a positive difference in their lives. And as a filmmaker, I also have the opportunity to share the stories and experiences of the women in “Just a Piece of Cloth”. I have found that the most powerful changes take place through dialogue before and after the film as people share with one another — what affected them in the film, how they see things differently afterwards, and what they plan to do with that change in perception. The film is a trigger that helps us to explore deeper connections with one another, as well as consider how we act in the world to promote respect and justice.

Just a Piece of Cloth received a small grant from the Open Meadows Foundation! The grant is focused on outreach to educational communities and will be used to develop lesson plans that will extend the learning that is possible from the video.

Here are a few snapshots of what people have said at different screenings:

Woodland Community College:  “Very informative — I didn’t know about hijab and the different points of view, for instance that it’s a choice, not forced.  I like that different ethnicities were used.”

San José State University: “I consider myself as a Muslim but I learn something new every day about my religion so it’s unfortunate we put a lot of pressure on converts to automatically be a ‘perfect’ Muslim.”

“I really gained insight on how many different variations of opinions there are within the Muslim community. In America, we never really take the time to understand people, and instead we are quick to label others that are different from ourselves. It was really cool to actually see how similar these women are to me: Arwa’s tomboy nature, Dian’s struggle with finding her identity, Nur Laura’s difficult past, and Masha’s fire within her to do what she feels is right. I feel like I am going to have so much more respect for Muslim women when I see them wearing the hijab because now I know some of the thought, struggle, and dedication that goes with it. These new thoughts that I have about Muslim women can be applied to my life because there are many people in my classes that wear hijabs. Now I will feel more obligated to hear their story and have more respect for all of these women because it truly is not just a piece of cloth, there is a real story, one that everyone should hear, under each piece of cloth.”

5th grade class, San José:  The teacher, Fabio Coelho, used the film to supplement a unit they were doing on stereotypes. First he showed them photos of women wearing hijab and asked them what the women are wearing and why (see photo).  Then, they discussed what stereotypes are and then they viewed the film. Students were asked to identify the stereotypes they heard about in the film.  One student wrote, “People think Muslim women didn’t go to school, all girls love makeup and dolls, Muslim women don’t like to have fun, and women who wear the hijab are oppressed. These are stereotypes.”