Faizel Patel, 2016-05-09
A campaign to address and confront people’s prejudices and counter the rising tide of Islamophobia is gaining momentum.
NATIVE VML together with People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), a South African non-profit that advocates for equality, justice, and human rights for all have initiated the #IAmMuslim campaign to combat the Islamophobic prejudices against Muslims
In a statement NATIVE VML says following the recent terror attacks in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, intolerance directed at the Muslim community is higher than ever.
It says while social media has the potential to do great good, unfortunately it also often amplifies the vitriol with some individuals spending their time relentlessly attempting to cast Islam and the Muslim community worldwide in a negative light.
Recently some South Africans have adopted this terrible behaviour, the uproar over the construction of a mosque just last week being a prime example.
PASSOP’s Tendai Bhiza says portraits of Muslim women wearing a traditional Islamic hijab, fashioned after the flag of their home country, created the powerful campaign imagery.
“Juxtaposing these two symbols creates such a strong impact and challenges the assumptions people have about Muslim identity.”
Executive Creative Director at NATIVE VML Ryan McManus says the portraits were made of various Muslim women, and will be used in an outdoor, print and social media campaign.
“We are fully aware that certain quarters may find these images controversial, but the point of this movement is to challenge the prejudices people may have, and change the way we think about a culture that has been unjustly defined by the actions of a select few.”
McManus says in this era of divisive rhetoric and rampant hate speech online, he hopes that the #IamMuslim campaign will inspire people in other countries to create similar unifying images that will spread the message and help shift the conversation.
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