Title
Ex Pats in the Big Easy: Shia Women from Southern Iraq
Files
Interviewee
Ikbal Mohammed
Description
Farah Alkafaf writes about her experience as a “first generation Shia woman from Iraq living as a minority in the southern United States.” Her mother, Ikbal Mohammed, relates her experiences in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s that caused her leave and establish a new life in New Orleans. Mohammed explains the sociopolitical context of the war and how it impacted her daily life. She also speaks to the pressures of assimilation and how she maintained her faith and core cultural values through connection with the New Orleans Muslim community. In dialogue with her mother’s story, Alkhafaf explores her own upbringing, values, and her role in her faith community.
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2017
Publisher
Neighborhood Story Project
City
New Orleans
Keywords
: Islam; Iran-Iraq War; Jafari; Shia; Baathist Party; Immigration; Religion; Spirituality; Assimilation; Muslim-Americans; Ramadan; Eid; Foodways; Um Bashar
Location
New Orleans, Louisiana; Middle East; Iraq; Iran; Karbala, Iraq; Najaf, Iraq
Disciplines
Social and Cultural Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Alkhafaf, Farah. “Ex Pats in the Big Easy: Shia Women From Southern Iraq.” A Guide to South Louisiana: Stories of Uncommon Culture, edited by Rachel Breunlin, Neighborhood Story Project, 2017.
Comments
The ethnographies in Guide to South Louisiana were created by students in Rachel Breunlin’s “Storytelling and Culture” course for the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Orleans in the Spring of 2017.