small girl. BIG PICTURE.

Sharing my visual experiences of life, language, and film.

[arraiyan]

📖 #nowreading (at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

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The inspiring Linda Sarsour spitting that truth. "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair." #icna2018 #lindasarsour #blacklivesmatter #getoutandvote #makeadifference (at Baltimore Convention Center)

[arraiyan]

People Over Policy

In looking at all of the coverage on gun violence here in the U.S. and the genocide going on in Syria, I was struck by this quote from Tariq Ramadan’s In the Footsteps of the Prophet:

 “No one must ever let power or social, economic, or political interests turn him or her away from other human beings, from the attention they deserve and the respect they are entitled to. Nothing must ever lead a person to compromise this principle of faith in favor of a political strategy aimed at saving or protecting a community from some peril.” 

The sanctity of human life is always going to matter more. Praying those in influential positions will remember this.

[arraiyan]

Yo no quiero que a mi niña golondrina me la vuelvan, se hunde volando en el Cielo y no baja hasta mi estera; en el alero hace el nido y mis manos no la peinan Yo no quiero que a mi niña golondrina me la vuelvan. Yo no quiero que a mi niña la vayan a hacer princesa. Con zapatitos de oro ¿cómo juega en las praderas? Y cuando llegue la noche a mi lado no se acuesta... Yo no quiero que a mi niña la vayan a hacer princesa. Y menos quiero que un día me la vayan a hacer reina. La pondrían en un trono a donde mis pies no llegan. Cuando viniese la noche yo no podría mecerla... Yo no quiero que a mi niña me la vayan a hacer reina!

Miedo (Fear) by Gabriela Mistral

[arraiyan]

The trailer for our new comedy drama series, Layered, is here. To say I'm hype would be an understatement. Blessed to have these ladies @aikobphotography and @za.jones as partners. Oh and it helps to have had a dope cast and crew @3queenproductions #womenmakingmoves #filmmakers #dreamweaving

[arraiyan]

Hype to share the new teaser for our new comedy drama series, Layered. Teaser shot and edited by yours truly. Dope dress by @zainalove. See more of the project @3queenproductions. #layeredtheseries #newproject #3queenproductions #itsbeenaminute #tellingstories

[arraiyan]

Deep sigh. Alex Isley is...

[arraiyan]

When hope gets dislodged, gratefulness will help set it straight. Thinking vertically... (at Asian Arts Initiative)

[arraiyan]

Please support The Aftermath by going to itsashort.com. Once there, just Register, Watch, and Vote at the end of the film. Gracias! #Repost @theaftermathfilm (@get_repost) ・・・ Tonight starts the voting process for our film! Everyone go to itsashort.com and Register to vote for @theaftermathfilm 💯Cast and Crew register first so you can vote to get our film to LA🙌🏾🎥 dm if you're having trouble to vote! @itsashort #film #filmfestivals #shortfilms #itsashort #firstglancefilmfestival #phillyfilm #phillysupportphilly #theaftermathshortfilm #theaftermath #phillyfilmfest #support

[arraiyan]

Found an unfinished short story I started writing a year ago...

When had she become a machine? Had she been born that way? A train car on a track unable to move save the force of others. If she had been stranded alone on an island, how would she survive? What would she do? Sit immobile and watching as the tide crawled closer and closer to her metallic limbs? She was like a computer program without a string of code. How was she supposed to operate without someone hitting enter? 

Maybe she was only meant to be a kind of object. The kind that needed others to motivate it to stand, to lift one foot in front of the other and go. The problem was with her motivation - it kept disappearing, kept changing and leaving chunks of time where she could only stand still like an automaton waiting for the next shift. Her mind would think of all the ways she could continue walking, crawling, running, riding. But her body refused. It wasn’t equipped with the mechanical parts to act on its own. ©2016

[arraiyan]

Morning! #primarycolors #happyfriday #jumahmubarak #morningcommute #halfsleep #awkwardselfie #favoritedayoftheweek (at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

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Curious about the film? Follow #theaftermathfilm

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First Glance Film Festival is just the beginning, Inshallah. So excited for the rest of this journey. #theaftermathfilm #awesomestories #shortfilms #womendirectors #phillyfilms #firstglancefilmfestival #womenartists #finalist

[arraiyan]

African Violet

Shot on Canon 60D with Sigma 18-35mm lens. Unedited.

[arraiyan]

A Tribe Called Red - R.E.D. Ft. Yasiin Bey, Narcy & Black Bear (Official...

[arraiyan]

On my way home from work, caught a bit of the Trump protest. Peep the colorful signs.

[doubledepressowithtwobrownsugars]

The Best Poetry I’ve Ever Read…

A friend will not (literally) share your struggles and a loved one cannot physically take away your pain… and a close one will not stay up the night on your behalf….

So look after yourself, protect yourself, nurture yourself and don’t give life’s events more than what they are really worth.

Know for certain that when you break no one will heal you except you… and when you are defeated no one will give you victory except your determination.

Your ability to stand up again and carry on is your responsibility… Do not look for your self worth in the eyes of people; look for your worth from within your conscious. If your conscious is at peace then you will ascend high and if you truly know yourself then what is said about you won’t harm you.

Do not carry the worries of this life because this is for Allah.

And do not carry the worries of sustenance because it is from Allah.

And do not carry the anxiety for the future because it is in the Hands of Allah.

Carry one thing: How to Please Allah. Because if you please Him, He Pleases you, fulfils you and enriches you.

Do not weep from a life that made your heart weep.

Just say, “Oh Allah compensate me with good in this life and the hereafter.”

Sadness departs with a Sajdah (prostration).

Happiness comes with a sincere Du'a.

Allah Does Not forget the good you do. nor Does He Forget the good you did to others and the pain you relieved them from. Nor Will He Forget the eye which was about to cry but you made it laugh.

Live your life with this principle: Be good even if you don’t receive good, not because for other’s sake but because Allah Loves those who do good.