Embroidery art to showcase Michigan's Bangladeshi community
Bangladeshi American artist seeks photos for an art exhibit
Fatema Haque is an academic program manager and adjunct lecturer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Haque is also a Bangladeshi artist who works with fiber art using embroidery as a tool to create portraits.
Previously Haque showcased her fiber art at “The World We Need” exhibit focusing on radical change in the world. It was held at the Swords into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery.
Her new project is commissioning the portraits of Bangladeshi families who immigrated to Michigan for an upcoming art exhibition.
“This exhibition is to highlight our rich legacy of migration and settlement, specifically in the Metro Detroit area,” she says in a posting about the exhibition.
Photos will be used for embroidered pieces or used in the exhibition.
Art exhibit brings people together for criminal justice reform
Inside Voices exhibit features art and poetry featuring dialogues around criminal justice reform. The exhibit is a culmination of the University of Michigan Dearborn’s Inside Out Prison Exchange program and the Art & Agency workshops - which aim to bring incarcerated people together with community members and students for honest conversations.
Tamir Bell is a co-facilitators for the Art & Agency workshop. He says it’s important to center the voices who are impacted.
“It’s very important to give those who are justice impacted some vehicle or some tools to express themselves — to deal with the trauma they went through and also to connect back and give back to the community,” Bell says.
This story was initially featured on WDET.
Don’t Strive to be the Perfect Mom, Focus on Being a Good One
Guest post by Fahmin Fardous, Certified Financial Planner
“There is no way to be the perfect mother but a million ways to be a good one.” A statement made by a famous author, Jill Churchill. How do we define a perfect mom? Truth is, we cannot. Being a mom is the most challenging and rewarding experience. For working moms, with that experience, comes a massive feeling known as “mom guilt”. As a working mom myself, with two daughters under the age of 5, I struggle with this feeling on a daily basis.
Although it is an ongoing list, some factors that contribute to this feeling are worrying about the financial security of your family, rising cost of higher education, along with the increased burden of child care expenses. Even though moms who work outside the home have accepted this guilty feeling with their heads down, they never really forgive themselves internally. By internalizing this feeling, they make themselves more susceptible to feelings of depression, stress, and anxiety.
However, there are ways to climb the mom guilt mountain without incurring mental breakdowns. First, you have to truly understand why you are working. Most moms will say they work because it is a dual income household, or many times they are the sole breadwinner in their household. Some moms work to maintain a certain lifestyle, while others work to provide for their family in the best way possible. The truth is by staying in the workforce, moms, women are able to provide greater financial security for not only their families, but for themselves as well.
Once you see yourself as more than just a mom, your foggy financial security lenses start to clear up quite rapidly. By staying current in the workforce, even if it is through part time work, you have the power to do so much more for yourself and your family. You are able to contribute to your own retirement, contribute to higher education for your children, and are able to take charge of your own finances.
When you do have the time to spend with your children, intentionally being mentally present is key. Give your child your undivided attention, not distracted time. Spend time without your phone in your hand, without all those pending chores and errands on your mind. Allow yourself to live in the present without drowning yourself in mom guilt. Instead, focus on the now and give your child all of you. As all moms will say, the days are long but the years are short. Know that you might not be a perfect mom, but you found a million ways to be a good one.
Fahmin Fardous is a financial planner. She’s sharing tips and tricks in the financial sector with Saa Nasta Newsletter readers. She brings forth her years of experience, cultural understanding, and ability to bridge the gap between traditional wealth management and working toward creating a better understanding of what it means to create wealth from the bottom up. Check out her work on Instagram @fahminknowsfinance.
This article was originally published in zenithwealth.partners, a 100% minority-owned business that aims to create “financial success for clients.”