AVAILABLE NOW FROM VOICE OF WITNESS

PATRIOT ACTS: NARRATIVES OF POST-9/11 INJUSTICE

A POWERFUL BOOK OF ORAL HISTORIES DOCUMENTING EXPERIENCES OF POST-9/11 BACKLASH

Edited by Alia Malek

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A groundbreaking collection of oral histories, Patriot Acts tells the stories of men and women who have been needlessly swept up in the War on Terror. In their own words, narrators recount personal experiences of the post-9/11 backlash that have deeply altered their lives and communities. The eighth book in the Voice of Witness series, Patriot Acts illuminates these experiences in a compelling collection of eighteen oral histories from men and women who have found themselves subject to a wide range of human and civil rights abuses– from rendition and torture, to workplace discrimination, bullying, FBI surveillance and harassment. Included in this collection are narratives from:

ADAMA, a sixteen-year-old Muslim American who was abruptly seized from her home by the FBI on suspicion of being a suicide bomber. Even after her release from detention, she was forced to wear a tracking bracelet for the next three years.

TALAT, the mother of 9/11 first responder Salman Hamdani, who went missing after the attacks. As Talat and her husband searched desperately for their son, they were hounded by the media, who portrayed Salman as a possible terrorist in hiding.

RANA, a Sikh man whose brother Balbir was gunned down outside the gas station where he worked. Balbir’s death was the first reported hate murder after 9/11.

Click here to purchase the book from McSweeney’s.

DOWNLOAD FREE CURRICULUM FOR THIS BOOK

Click here for this teaching resource, created in collaboration with the Korematsu Institute.

WANT TO LEARN MORE? 

Click here for an excerpt of Adama’s story.

 

ABOUT THE EDITOR:

Alia Malek is an author and a civil rights lawyer. Born in Baltimore to Syrian immigrant parents, her reportage has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, Salon, The Christian Science Monitor, The Columbia Journalism Review, and WashingtonPost.com. Her first book was A Country Called Amreeka.

SELECT PRESS & PRAISE FOR PATRIOT ACTS:

“Hate crimes killed his brothers, not his compassion” (Salon, 9/7/2011)

“When Mistaken Identity Leads to Torture” (Salon, 9/12/2011)

“‘Talk About It All the Time’: Alia Malek’s ‘Patriot Acts, Narratives of Post-9/11 Injustice’” (Arabic Literature, 5/2/2012)

“At a time when America is reflecting on years that have passed since September 11, 2001, Patriot Acts offers an opportunity to explore the dark side of our country’s response to the attacks. The strong voices contained in this collection offer first-hand insight into experiences of injustice often overlooked in post-9/11 media coverage.” – Hamed Aleaziz, Mother Jones

“Gripping. This is an important book that takes us beyond the featureless generalities of the post-9/11 drama to show us the particular experiences of individual human beings, each one living a life unlike any other.” – Tamim Ansary, author of West of Kabul, East of New York

Patriot Acts has also been excerpted and featured in the Boston Review, Salon,  Alternet, Guardian UK, and the San Francisco Chronicle.