{ "article": { "title" : "Treat Me Like Your Mother: Immortalizing the untold stories of Queer & Trans folks, from Beirut & beyond", "author" : "Mohamad Abdouni, Yassa Almokhamad-Sarkisian", "category" : "visual", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/treat-me-like-your-mother", "date" : "2024-07-02 12:08:00 -0400", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/mohamadabdounithumbnail.jpg", "excerpt" : "", "content" : "Mohamad Abdouni is a photographer, creative director, and filmmaker based in Beirut, dedicated to shedding light on and celebrating the rich, yet often hidden or erased queer histories of the Arabic-speaking region through documentaries and photo stories. By retelling and showing these works, both archived and created, he is playing a key role in the art world to make sure queer SWANA voices are brought back to life. His work has been featured in publications such as A24, Telerama, Foam Magazine, Tetu, New Queer Photography, Kaleidoscope, i-D, Photoworks, The Guardian, Facebook, and more.Since 2019, he has dedicated his time to what is arguably the first archive of trans histories in an Arab country, a project titled “Treat Me Like Your Mother: Trans Histories From Beirut’s Forgotten Past”. This collection is now safely housed at the Arab Image Foundation. Mohamad creates a powerful pairing, with timeless photos of the trans feminine experience and oral histories from Lebanon’s post war period. So far Mohamad has compiled over 300 photos in this ongoing project.In Mohamads latest series, “Extended Archives,” the artist builds on this concept by expanding his current project and creating “pseudo-archives”. Drawing from personal photographs generously donated by the women, transcriptions of their oral histories, additional images from the Arab Image Foundation, and his own past photographic work.Recently, Mohamad has been working on a long-term project exploring his hometown in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, near the Syrian border. This project examines the ideals of masculinity he was expected to embody and the strains these expectations place on familial relationships.Do you feel like there are some parts of Arab culture that are inherently Queer?I think what’s even more interesting is how much queer folk have always had a strong influence on our culture as a whole. Whether it’s in art, entertainment, nightlife or even politics, figures that we consider as pillar exports of our Arab culture have always had massive queer influences that helped shape them, and so in turn are, and become, inherently queer.Why is highlighting Queer/Trans SWANA experience important to you personally?Because I grew up with much more questions than there were answers available. I mean it’s easier to find answers today, something to help you find some sort of belonging, but at the time there was a frustration to know more that stuck with me until today. The fact that it was harder for anyone to document their own life the way we do now, meant that many stories went unrecorded, and I find that to be a little tragic. I try to do my part in bridging whatever little I can of that gap, when I can.How has your approach to your art shifted as you have grown as an artist?It’s constantly ever-changing but I suppose that’s what keeps it exciting, at least for me. At times I’ve found more of an interest in documenting others, whereas lately I’m turning the lens back on myself playfully. At times I have something I deem important to express, and sometimes I just want to poke fun and make jokes. No one’s ever all serious, nor all frivolous, and I find there’s a beautiful world right there in the middle.Beyond an orientation, what does Queerness mean to you?‘Queerness’ is a fickle term; it has quickly become what it originally set out to exist against. Queerness can mean different things, but the definition I’ve personally found most comfort in is simply that of a life lived differently, unrestricted by normative societal expectations." } , "relatedposts": [ { "title" : "100+ Years of Genocidal Intent in Palestine", "author" : "Collis Browne", "category" : "essays", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/100-years-of-genocidal-intent", "date" : "2025-10-07 18:01:00 -0400", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/1920-jerusalem.jpg", "excerpt" : "Every single Israeli prime minister, president, and major Zionist leader has voiced clear intent to erase the Palestinian people from their lands, either by forced expulsion, or military violence. From Herzl and Chaim Weizmann to Ben-Gurion to Netanyahu, the record is not ambiguous:", "content" : "Every single Israeli prime minister, president, and major Zionist leader has voiced clear intent to erase the Palestinian people from their lands, either by forced expulsion, or military violence. From Herzl and Chaim Weizmann to Ben-Gurion to Netanyahu, the record is not ambiguous:{% for person in site.data.genocidalquotes %}{{ person.name }}{% if person.title %}<p class=\"title-xs\">{{ person.title }}</p>{% endif %}{% for quote in person.quotes %}“{{ quote.text }}”{% if quote.source %}— {{ quote.source }}{% endif %}{% endfor %}{% endfor %}" } , { "title" : "Dignity Before Stadiums:: Morocco’s Digital Uprising", "author" : "Cheb Gado", "category" : "", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/dignity-before-stadiums", "date" : "2025-10-02 09:08:00 -0400", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/EIP_Cover_Morocco_GenZ.jpg", "excerpt" : "No one expected a generation raised on smartphones and TikTok clips to ignite a spark of protest shaking Morocco’s streets. But Gen Z, the children of the internet and speed, have stepped forward to write a new chapter in the history of uprisings, in their own style.The wave of anger began with everyday struggles that cut deep into young people’s lives: soaring prices, lack of social justice, and the silencing of their voices in politics. They didn’t need traditional leaders or party manifestos; the movement was born out of a single hashtag that spread like wildfire, transforming individual frustration into collective momentum.", "content" : "No one expected a generation raised on smartphones and TikTok clips to ignite a spark of protest shaking Morocco’s streets. But Gen Z, the children of the internet and speed, have stepped forward to write a new chapter in the history of uprisings, in their own style.The wave of anger began with everyday struggles that cut deep into young people’s lives: soaring prices, lack of social justice, and the silencing of their voices in politics. They didn’t need traditional leaders or party manifestos; the movement was born out of a single hashtag that spread like wildfire, transforming individual frustration into collective momentum.One of the sharpest contradictions fueling the protests was the billions poured into World Cup-related preparations, while ordinary citizens remained marginalized when it came to healthcare and education.This awareness quickly turned into chants and slogans echoing through the streets: “Dignity begins with schools and hospitals, not with putting on a show for the world.”What set this movement apart was not only its presence on the streets, but also the way it reinvented protest itself:Live filming: Phone cameras revealed events moment by moment, exposing abuses instantly.Memes and satire: A powerful weapon to dismantle authority’s aura, turning complex political discourse into viral, shareable content.Decentralized networks: No leader, no party, just small, fast-moving groups connected online, able to appear and disappear with agility.This generation doesn’t believe in grand speeches or delayed promises. They demand change here and now. Moving seamlessly between the physical and digital realms, they turn the street into a stage of revolt, and Instagram Live into an alternative media outlet.What’s happening in Morocco strongly recalls the Arab Spring of 2011, when young people flooded the streets with the same passion and spontaneity, armed only with belief in their power to spark change. But Gen Z added their own twist, digital tools, meme culture, and the pace of a hyper-connected world.Morocco’s Gen Z uprising is not just another protest, but a living experiment in how a digital generation can redefine politics itself. The spark may fade, but the mark it leaves on young people’s collective consciousness cannot be erased.Photo credits: Mosa’ab Elshamy, Zacaria Garcia, Abdel Majid Bizouat, Marouane Beslem" } , { "title" : "A Shutdown Exposes How Fragile U.S. Governance Really Is", "author" : "EIP Editors", "category" : "", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/a-shutdown-exposes-how-fragile-us-governance-really-is", "date" : "2025-10-01 22:13:00 -0400", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/EIP_Cover_Gov_ShutDown.jpg", "excerpt" : "Each time the federal government shutters its doors, we hear the same reassurances: essential services will continue, Social Security checks will still arrive, planes won’t fall from the sky. This isn’t the first Governmental shutdown, they’ve happened 22 times since 1976, and their toll is real.", "content" : "Each time the federal government shutters its doors, we hear the same reassurances: essential services will continue, Social Security checks will still arrive, planes won’t fall from the sky. This isn’t the first Governmental shutdown, they’ve happened 22 times since 1976, and their toll is real.Shutdowns don’t mean the government stops functioning. They mean millions of federal workers are asked to keep the system running without pay. Air traffic controllers, border patrol agents, food inspectors — people whose jobs underpin both public safety and economic life — are told their labor matters, but their livelihoods don’t. People have to pay the price of bad bureaucracy in the world’s most powerful country, if governance is stalled, workers must pay with their salaries and their groceries.In 1995 and 1996, clashes between President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich triggered two shutdowns totaling 27 days. In 2013, a 16-day standoff over the Affordable Care Act furloughed 850,000 workers. And in 2018–2019, the longest shutdown in U.S. history stretched 35 days, as President Trump refused to reopen the government without funding for a border wall. That impasse left 800,000 federal employees without paychecks and cost the U.S. economy an estimated $11 billion — $3 billion of it permanently lost.More troubling is what happens when crises strike during shutdowns. The United States is living in an age of accelerating climate disasters: historic floods in Vermont, wildfire smoke choking New York, hurricanes pounding Florida. These emergencies do not pause while Congress fights over budgets. Yet a shutdown means furloughed NOAA meteorologists, suspended EPA enforcement, and delayed FEMA programs. In the most climate-vulnerable decade of our lifetimes, we are choosing paralysis over preparedness.This vulnerability didn’t emerge overnight. For decades, the American state has been hollowed out under the logic of austerity and privatization, while military spending has remained sacrosanct. That imbalance is why budgets collapse under the weight of endless resources for war abroad, too few for resilience at home.Shutdowns send a dangerous message. They normalize instability. They tell workers they are disposable. They make clear that in our system, climate resilience and public health aren’t pillars of our democracy but rather insignificant in the face of power and greed. And each time the government closes, it becomes easier to imagine a future where this isn’t the exception but the rule.The United States cannot afford to keep running on shutdown politics. The climate crisis, economic inequality, and the challenges of sustaining democracy itself demand continuity, not collapse. We need a politics that treats stability and resilience not as partisan victories, but as basic commitments to one another. Otherwise, the real shutdown isn’t just of the government — it’s of democracy itself." } ] }