Instead of spreading white supremacy, why not read these?

While the whole country is mourning, and we as a nation are having to confront the white supremacy which we let grow in our backyard, we at The Pantograph Punch think it is of the utmost importance to ensure we are continuing to centre the voices of our Muslim brothers and sisters. Following the terrorist attack on the Muslim community in Ōtautahi, we've compiled an incomplete reading list of voices to listen to, from Muslim perspectives surround the attacks, how to combat white defensiveness and how to talk about tragedies to our children.

We recommend reading:

• Saziah Bashir on Four things you should do following the Christchurch terror attacks.

• Pakeeza Rasheed writes from her perspective as a Muslim New Zealand woman on both her anger and her pain.

• Faisal Halabi reckons with what being an Arab, a Muslim, and a New Zealander mean for him. 

• Anjum Rahman of the Islamic Women’s Council of NZ, points out the longstanding and stringent efforts the made to point out White Supremacy up until this moment and how those efforts weren’t heard.

• Our friends over at The Spinoff have been doing an amazing job. Here’s a growing piece which centres Muslim voices on the Christchurch attacks.

• Al Noor Mosque Imam Gamal Fouda one week on.

As well as amplifying the voices that need to be amplified at this time, it's also an appropriate moment to turn inward and really confront the ways in which we as a nation state founded on settler colonialism have helped violence like this this thrive.

• Lamia Imam poignantly reminds us not to forget the anti-immigrant views that got us here in the first place.

• Brannavan Gnanalingam acknowledges that this didn’t come from nowhere and urges us to listen.

• Moana Jackson on the connection between white supremacy and colonisation.

• Max Harris on racism and white defensiveness in Aotearoa, from a Pākehā perspective

• David Cormack writes on the ways in which words hurt.

• Dr Julie Bhosale shares daily racism directed at immigrant husband.

• Toby Morris illustrates the ugly truths this has exposed.

• Duncan Greive highlights how Facebook allowed the livestream to happen and turned a profit while doing so.

• Looking forward, Sarb Johal has been providing advice for how we talk about this tragedy to our children and also sharing what our mental care services might learn from this. 

• Natasha Johnson a mother of mixed-raced children writes on why she’s worried about raising them in New Zealand. 

• Our politicians have also come forward in love and solidarity. At the peace vigil in Aotea Square, MP Goliz Ghahraman spoke through anger and tears about her hurt.

• And the Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s first address to parliament since the attack paid tribute to the Muslim community and pledged to deny the perpetrator the notoriety he craves.

For those who may be looking for writing to give a bit more context, a number of our writers here at Pantograph Punch have been voicing opinions about islamophobia and anti-Muslim rhetoric for far too long.

• Back in 2013 Saziah Bashir wrote on Muslim Feminisms, Femen and the Hijab.

• In 2015 Mohamed Hassan asked when do we get to speak, in relation to the deliberate exclusion of Muslim voices in mainstream media.

• In 2017, Faisal Al-Asaad wrote on “the Muslim Problem”, Saziah also wrote a warning and a plea in response to Trumps “Muslim Ban”.

• Not on Pantograph Punch but well worth a listen is Mohamed Hassan’s 4 part Public Enemy Podcast on Radio New Zealand. There is also this podcast After March 15 from Plains FM which includes a lot of great interviews.

Perhaps most importantly is the need to confront our own complacency with white supremacy and islamophobia. We shouldn't be expecting the affected communities to do all the heavy lifting. While flowers and vigils are touching, the real action will be targeting and unpacking the structures that got us here, and that can be challenged by interrogating our own biases and the biases of others to prevent hate from spreading. Because this is by no means a new phenomenon. Here and here are pre-existing reading lists which might be good places to start. If that’s not fast enough for you then check out the free Me and White Supremacy Workbook.

If you want to enact further direct action after reading, you can give money through the Muslims Around The World emergency appeal fund. The Spinoff also have some links here and here of how we can support our Muslim communities and amplify the voices that should be amplified.

We’d like to keep adding to this list, so if you’ve read something you think should be on here, let us know at kiaora@pantograph-punch.com.

Illustration: Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho