New Muslim Cool

An entry in the PBS documentary series P.O.V., New Muslim Cool covers a couple of eventful years in the life of Hamza (Jason) Pérez of Pittsburgh. Like his brother Suliman—his partner in the hip hop duo M-Team—Pérez converted from Catholicism to Islam. As their mother admits, “it's kind of confusing sometimes, but we accept it,” and she seems to appreciate the fact that they still embrace their Puerto Rican heritage. Director Jennifer Maytorena Taylor films the siblings cooking traditional dishes and adding cultural symbols, like flaming machetes, to their stage show. In his younger days, Pérez sold narcotics, but now he serves as a drug counselor for a social service agency, where he works primarily with inmates, and lives in a Muslim community with his children (he and his first wife divorced a few years ago). During the course of filming, he marries Rafiah, an African-American woman he meets through a Muslim website, after which the couple buy a house, and enjoy a good life. But then the FBI raids his mosque during prayer hours, presumably for unwittingly harboring a sex offender for one night (the agency refused to speak on camera about their investigation). While this incident doesn't shake Pérez's faith in Islam, he does wonder about the Bush administration-era government, especially after his security clearance for a local prison where he works is suddenly revoked. Although Taylor could have provided more information about her subject's religious conversion, she does effectively capture his successes and struggles as a husband, father, activist, and man of faith. Highly recommended. [Note: New Muslim Cool is also being sold for $19.95 to individuals at www.newmuslimcool.com.] Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)