Mena Arts Advocacy Coalition

For the past 5 years, we have been uplifting the voices of an erased and dangerously marginalized group in Hollywood, the Middle Eastern North African (MENA) diaspora.  We have had historic success in uplifting an entire group of performers on screen who have battled the terrorist trope by creating and building a new hiring category for MENA actors and now writers to help remove any obstacles in the way of fair and balanced hiring.  

The first time a new hiring category has been implemented into Hollywood in 37 years. Since then, we've been busy rolling out education on the category, bias story telling trainings, presenting quantitative data and more.  The Elevate prize would help us create the infrastructure we so desperately need for our organization, including the hiring of staff to help us implement and create pipeline programs for the MENA diaspora in the entertainment industry.    

In 2014, at a major television network pilot table read I was informed I was considered white. A conflict for the show I was cast in, as they needed to report their diversity hires and I was one of two. I informed them I was from Central Asia, and could be counted as Asian. But my Middle Eastern appearance is not look Asian. I knew that there was a major blindspot in the hiring and inclusion of people from my part of the world. I immediately went home to research who could help me with this, and quickly learned there were NO organizations in Hollywood that specifically protected, serviced and advanced the interests of Middle Eastern North African (MENA) performers, and so I created MAAC.

Our mission is to remove biases against Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian writers, creatives & performers on-screen through outreach, awareness, educational trainings, and create opportunities for their advancement in front of and behind the camera. We provide resources, data and mentorship to our community. So we are no longer erased from the topic of inclusion and equity, and are actively growing and looking to build pipeline programs and formalize our database. 

MAAC's presentation of the 1st ever MENA study created a ripple effect in Hollywood, calling attention to the negative stereotypes the MENA community faces. Stereotypes that lead to implicit bias with political and social ramifications. MENA studies are crucial and allows us to present decision-makers with real data to force a dialogue on how to disrupt these dangerous silos. Some key highlights from our research includes: 90% of the time MENA series regulars were tokenized. 78% seen as terrorists, threats 67% we are in geopolitical stories. Out of 3,891 speaking roles in film in 2019 only 1.6% were MENA. 

Most people learn about other cultures through Media, and the MENA community is in trouble.  It isn't that we are never represented, it's that we are overrepresented in a violent light. Our names & languages often highlighted alongside violence and murder. This rhetoric has lead to bans, hate crimes & senseless murders. We've been tackling this problem head on through research, educational trainings with C-level suite executive, smart digital marketing outreach, open townhalls, talk back panels, community engagement, building a comprehensive MENA talent database and lobbying various companies to include MENA in its inclusion efforts and are working towards pipeline programs.

Our work is innovative, because it has NEVER been included in the conversations around equity and inclusion, until we demanded and built our own seat at the table.  Before MAAC, the only time people would include us was as Muslim. I was asked on panels as a Muslim, but others were not sitting there as their religion, they were Black, Latinx, Asian. Having to identify religiously is not only illegal, but was marginalizing and did not advance the various groups the MENA region as a whole represents.  

We've been disrupting and plowing a new lane with incredible success, from MENA inclusion in casting, to gaining status in hiring standards and practices at SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America and now The Academy. We have lobbied to have MENA data highlighted by major educational institutes like USC, UCLA, and major corporations.  We have inspired the launch of MENA Clubs at various universities and MENA arts programs in the UK and Canada, and others in the US.  While we have been erased for decades, preserving our MENA cultural identity is an act of rebellion, survival and disruption. We have succeeded at holding people accountable and growing. No stories about us without us.

Our work advances a wide range of diverse Americans that have various linguistic and religious identities.  Spekaing to groups of MENA youth leaders at Harvard Kennedy in 2019, several of the students cried when they told me how invisible they feel, ashamed of their names and culture. Again after speaking at Toronto International Film Festival, several people spoke after to let me know they felt hopeful that they could pursue a career in the arts thanks to my efforts. There is so much shame that comes with the media portrayals of MENA people, and worse there is atrocious violence that happens because of both public figure messaging, but media messaging. 

The lack of representation behind the camera, in front of the camera and as executives is astonishing. The arts and entertainment is not a business the MENA diaspora was guided to, and in order to create real effective change we must build pipeline programs to create equity for our community.  We must workshop, advance, and highlight creators and talent.  

We built the path towards greater inclusion by building the category into Hollywood, but now we must advance our work by creating programs to support these voices of color.