Video: Black Public Media Presents "Ask a Muslim"

Black Public Media has released the first episode of six, in its new web series, "Ask a Muslim." The series of videos, from emerging filmmaker Idris Abdul-Zahir, along with Ra'id De Veaux and Qasim Rashad, draws the viewer into questions from the public about the lifestyle, beliefs, traditions, and practices of American Muslims.

The first episode asks why Muslim men have beards and why Muslim women cover their hair and bodies.



Random Americans offer the questions, some based on myths about Muslims. Answering the questions are a range of Black Muslims, including: author Jamillah Karim; spoken word artist Amir Sulaiman; healthcare company CEO, Michael Rashid; Congressman Keith Ellison; and comedian Omar Regan.

Black Public Media was created by the National Black Programming Consortium to support Black digital authorship and to distribute unique stories of the Black experience. Black Public Media created the popular AfroPop series as well as two other web series, including Black Folk Don't, which explores myths and truths about African American culture.

CORRECTED: This article was corrected Aug. 13 to note that Black Public Media created AfroPop.tv not the musical program with the same name.