Results will be announced July 4th

This “Celebrating Cultural Muslims” competition is a creative opportunity to explore Cultural Muslim Identity. Address one of the question prompts by submitting an essay, drawing, short video, audio recording, or photograph. Use the online form to enter. Entries will be reviewed by a panel of celebrity judges. The deadline to enter is April 15, 2022.

People of cultural Muslim heritage are a growing part of America’s national tapestry – and a growing influence in American society. Hailing from diverse backgrounds, we cultural Muslims engage in a classic American tradition of creating roots infused modern identities. Muslim heritage becomes one component of our layered individual experiences. Write an essay or make a multimedia entry answering one (just one!) of the following questions related to Cultural Muslim Identity:

• What key personal memory evokes your cultural Muslim identity? Bring to life a moment, experience, or person that shaped how you relate to your Muslim heritage. It could be an influential relative, holiday celebration, cuisine, song, movie, lifecycle event or something else meaningful. Explain how and why the experience had such an impact.
• Describe how you as an individual relate to your Muslim heritage and how you respond to other peoples presumptions about who Muslims are supposed to be.
• Why does American society not easily recognize cultural Muslims in the same way it recognizes “cafeteria Catholics” and “cultural Jews”? What might be done to help raise public awareness about cultural Muslims in American society?
• Profile a cultural Muslim positively contributing to American society. Explore how they do or do not make their Muslim heritage part of their public persona.
• Share an idea for project that can help nurture a growing scene of cultural Muslims in American society. It might be an artistic project, a social gathering, or an entrepreneurial initiative. Describe how your proposed project makes an impact. If you want, describe the project as if it already happened to bring to life what its future impact might be.
• Specific requirements for different kinds of entries:
  • Written essays should be between 600-1200 words.
  • Photographs or other visual art entries should be high-resolution images.
  • Videos should be between 1-5 minutes.
  • Audio recordings should be between 1-5 minutes.