Twelve days after Sept. 11, 2001, spoken word artist Shannon
Staloch converted to Islam, and has been melding her spirituality
with her art ever since.
Staloch, who will be performing at UCLA tonight at the Cooperage
to conclude Islamic Awareness Week, believes her art and that of a
growing number of Islamic artists across the nation serves a unique
function: giving a voice and an identity to a new generation of
Muslim-Americans.
The Catholic-turned-Islamic poet gets satisfaction out of giving
a culture to the American-Muslim ““ a culture that is
relatively new to the country, she said in a phone interview from
her San Jose home.
The 26-year-old Staloch, who is studying to be a midwife,
discovered the art of the spoken word a few years before she
discovered Islam. Influenced by other prominent spoken word artists
like Saul Williams and Jessica Care Moore, Staloch took to the
stage to express her message of social justice.
But when Staloch converted to Islam she said “it opened up
my world, I felt more comfortable writing about
spirituality.”
“(The poems) took on a new meaning for me,” she
said.
While Staloch hopes to dispel outside stereotypes as a
hijab-wearing Muslim woman calling for social change through her
words, other artists are faced with resistance from inside the
Muslim community.
“The general view among the older community is that (the
music) is indulgent,” said Anas Canon, the director of the
Northern California-based independent record label Remarkable
Current, which consists of many Muslim artists.
More traditional Muslims are concerned about too much Western
influence infiltrating the Muslim culture, especially that of the
younger generation, Canon said.
“Although (the older generation) brought their kids here
to assimilate, their parents don’t really want to compete
with American influence,” Canon said.
But as is the case with the subsequent generations of most
immigrant communities, many young Muslim-Americans continue to
embrace and meld both cultures.
“We just play through it. … “˜I don’t really
care’ is the bottom line,” Canon said about more
conservative ideals.
But he added that most artists are often under financial
constraints to produce their work when the older, more financially
stable members of their community do not support them.
Faryal Humkar, a member of UCLA’s Muslim Student
Association, said it is possible for younger generations to retain
their Muslim culture.
“There is a gap” between generations, but “at
the same time, you don’t have to throw out your religion and
culture,” she said, comparing American culture more to a
“salad” rather than a “melting pot.”
This assimilation and merging of the Islam with the arts, while
currently expanding, is also deeply rooted in history ““ from
painting to architecture, Canon said.
There’s also a recent history of notable artists
converting to Islam and incorporating their spirituality into their
work.
In the 1970s, singer Cat Stevens converted to Islam and changed
his name to Yusef Islam. In September 2004, Islam was placed on a
Homeland Security watch list and is being denied entry into the
United States due to donations he made to a charitable organization
that allegedly had terrorist ties.
Such incidents lead to misconceptions about Islam and make it
difficult for artists in the Muslim community to succeed, Humkar
said.
With tonight’s event, Humkar said she hopes students can
apply the general respect they have for poets to Muslim poets as
well.
More than anything else, Staloch said Islamic art in the United
States helps society realize the important contributions that
Muslims are making to American culture.
“Muslims have a really bad rep, it’s really vital to
use expression to show we belong here,” she said. “We
belong here, and we can contribute to the American
society.”
Spoken word artists will be featured in “Rhymes for
Consciousness” tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the
Cooperage.