About

Four years ago, the slogan “Make America Great Again” divided the populous over those who can sympathize with the saying and those who can’t relate at all. When was America great? And for whom? And who was excluded? And why? 

Four years later, it looks like suburban white moms will get to have the final say. 

But what does it even mean to be American? It seems like we as a country wrestle with this question every four years when the circus arrives, not really learning anything from the last time the clown show was in town. 

Now imagine asking that kind of question, what does it mean to be from a certain part of the world, not every four years, but in perpetuity, especially as you and your people are still trying to figure out what the culture really means. For most people that are a part of a specific diaspora, it’s a fact of life.

But If you’re an Afghan living in America, it’s a trip. There’s the obvious reason, the two countries have been at war with one another for more than 18 years. And the more complicated one where one culture is built around collectivism while the other celebrates individualism.

And to help better understand why, this story begins at an Islamophobia rally back in the Summer of 2017 in Santa Clara, Calif.

This is a prologue to a multi-part series about the Afghan diaspora in America reclaiming their past and trying to grow from the present. It’s a story about culture, identity and authenticity.

Show Notes: 

1. [00:30] “The Layers of Heaven” by Jovica

2. [00:55] Hit rewind. (freesound.org / cognitu perceptu)

3. [01:00] “Our Son the Potter” by The Blue Dot Sessions

4. [01:10] When LeBron James threw up his arms at J.R. Smith

5. [01:20] The hit song of Summer 2017

6. [01:30] Why the Game of Thrones finale was awful

   • The teaser to Season 7 for old times sakes

7. [01:45] Brigette Gabriel’s call to “protest”

   • More on Brigette Gabriel

8. [02:10] The Southern Poverty Law Center’s take on ACT for America

9. [02:15] Saturday, June 10, 2017, “anti-sharia protests” take place across the country

10. [03:15] Dispatch from an “anti-sharia protest” in Santa Clara, Calif. (h/t @SarRavani)

11. [06:25] More on the 2017 Portland train incident

    • Related: The Story of a Hate Crime

12. [06:40] The surge of hate crimes that followed shortly after the 2016 election

    • See here, here, here and here

13. [09:00] Light reading on no-go-zones.

14. [09:10] Light reading on Dearborn, Mich.

15. [09:40] “Cupcake Marshall” by The Blue Dot Sessions 

16. [12:15] Light reading on “white genocide”

17. [14:40] “Verdigris” by The Blue Dot Sessions

18. [16:20] This is a throwback to the original prologue of this podcast. It’s meta.

19. [16:50] Light reading on that third culture wave.

20. [17:20] Spoiler alert: no.

21. [17:30] Afghan National Anthem performed on TOLO TV