3rd Listening Post and Impressions

I'll be blunt: I failed again.

I returned to the mosque at the same time I went in my first LP, hoping to find the same people that I talked to that time. There were no families I could see on the premises at that time and no women, so there was no way I could stick my foot in my mouth on that level. Well, I was partially correct; there were no families, but nobody that I met during my first LP was there. Even the Imam wasn't there.

This concerned me, because this meant I had to start over with making connections. I wasn't bothered, so I tried to strike up conversation and ask a couple of questions. However, I was politely rebuffed, with litterally no cooperation with anybody there. Again, nobody was overtly rude, but it was clear that nobody was interested in talking with a Spanish kid that walked in and was curious. I couldn't get a name, much less a number out of anybody there. What really seemed to be a turn off was the fact that I was a student. They seemed mildly receptive until they knew that I wasn't a legit reporter, which is something that one of my friends who has taken this course before warned me about. Following that, I stuck around for about a half hour hoping that somebody I knew last time would show up, but alas I was SOL. Defeated, I left and went to work with my failure hanging over my head.

Now I'm supposed to talk about what I learned through this entire process. I'm sure most people in the class will have wonderful stories of enlightenment and new human connections they have formed. Unfortunately, I have none of those stories. What I learned in this class was to always, always, always get contact information with any and everybody that I can speak to. If I had the presence of mind to get either Yusef's or Sulaiman's phone number, I probably would've had the 'in' that other people had. While I did get the contact information for the Imam, he never returned my phone calls. This also taught me that it's important to get more than just the information for the man in charge, and I absolutely NEED to get other people's info.

I don't have any negative feelings toward the mosque, but I have to say that I'm surprised I got rebuffed the way I did. I thought I was dressed appropriately and was courteous. I thought that people would help out somebody who was curious, but I guess that they thought I was suspicious. That isn't surprising, considering the acts of vandalism that the mosque has been subjugated to over the last several years.

However, I did learn a bit more about Islam and the people that follow it based off my first LP, so I wouldn't call this a complete wash. I feel that if I had some more time I could crack somebody there and get the 'in' that everybody else seemingly got. I just hope that anybody else that reads this doesn't make that fatal mistake I made earlier.

Journal Entry 10/7/2009

I'm convinced that Multi-Ethnic reporting must be taught at any institution that has a communications program. Besides the experience it gives students in going out in the field, it should also teach advertising majors how to not make themselves look like an ass. Although there are many levels that ads have to go through before they are published, it would help to teach those that design the ads to not disenfranchise entire segments of the population.

The ads that Professor Reisner brought in were mostly prime examples of ad designers not being in touch with the world. How else would an ad for weapons have American soldiers storm a mosque with no obvious provocation besides the 'all of Islam are terrorists' stereotype. That also goes for the British ad featuring an Islamic man anxiously waiting for the sun to set so he can eat his chicken. I'm pretty sure that the ads weren't designed to piss off an entire religion or people, but they certainly did a good job of it. I'm also sure that the people that designed the ads have had little interaction with the races they are stereotyping and belittling. A class like Multi-Ethnic reporting (or something along those lines) would expose people to different groups of people and hopefully prevent something like that.

It also may have something to do with how people in society seem to be afraid to be frank about race. Religion can sometimes be spoken about openly, but only if it's Christian-based. With the exception of Professor Reisner, I've never heard Judaism spoken about openly and I've never heard Islam spoken about. I don't know if it's fear of being called a bigot or if people inside just don't care. Although it didn't answer this question, the NPR interview right before the Obama/McCain election was an interesting insight into the mind of Americans. Although everybody there claimed that race wasn't an issue on their vote or general opinion on politics, by the end of the group interview it was clear that race was a major issue in their viewpoints.

I can't say it surprises me, but it does make me sad on the state of the country that something as simple as discussing race was like pulling teeth. If people fear talking about what makes us different, how are we going to deal with more complicated issues? The fact that race is an issue at all is a sad reflection of on us as a country. Hell, it might be better if a class like Multi-Ethnic is taught to everybody, maybe then people will have a better understanding on how different people live and not be so judgemental.

2nd Listening Post

After my successful first experience during my first listening post, I was looking forward to coming back to Masjid An-Noor. This time, they would recognize me and I wouldn't have such a hard time dealing talking with people. I also felt confident as opposed to worried. However, I have to say that this last visit was an unmitigated failure.

I originally meant to return to Masjid An-Noor the week after my first visit, however I came to a problem: A metal gate pulled across the entrance and nary a single car in the parking lot. I would stay for at least a half hour at a time, only to find absolutely nothing. This happened three times, leading to increased frustration and increased panic. It got to point where I emailed Professor Reisner about changing the location of my project.

I decided to try again on Sunday, hoping that people would be going to the Islamic School located on the premises. At first, I came up to the entrance and found the gate closed again. In my frustration, I decided to drive around and look for any other possible entrances, despite never seeing any other places that I could get into the area. Much to my surprise I found another entrance that lead right into the area with the mosque and the school. Not only that, but I saw that most of the cars were parked in this back area, well away from my sight.

Aside from the goals of this class, I learned the valuable lesson of scoping out areas that I'm covering. I thought that because I read about the location online and walked around the mosque that I had seen everything. Clearly, that was quite wrong and lead to way more stress than was necessary. I learned after the first post to get the phone numbers of people I talk to and now I learned to thoroughly check out locals before I even get started.

To add to this, when I came in I found few people at the mosque. There were few cars in the lot and what seemed like fewer people walking around the premises. I walked into the mosque, but didn't find anybody in there. Considering that it wasn't time for any of the daily required prayers, it wasn't a surprise, but I didn't expect that nobody would be inside.

I went back outside and found a group of men talking about the mosque and some about their lives. Considering that these were the only people I saw around, I walked up and tried to strike up some conversation. To say that they were stand-offish would be putting it likely. I introduced myself as a student and gave my usual introduction and I was barely even acknowledged. I tried this for another 10 to 15 minutes before giving up and excusing myself.

I took a walk around the mosque and toward the Islamic School, but found nobody inside. I walked outside and saw a couple more people there, but the group consisted of women and children. I didn't approach them because they were playing with their children, as well as the odd stigma that the men were projecting about talking to women. I didn't want to risk ruining my last visit for the class for a slim chance of getting anything.

I stayed for another 15 minutes, then left. I was feeling a panic attack coming and I'm sure that would've been the whipped cream topping on the cake. I now know that I have a lot riding on my last visit to the mosque. I'm hoping that I can get better results by going at the same time period that I went last time.