Fatima: Daughter of the Prophet Mohammad
Through Lisa’s Goddess on Earth- project, she has met many amazing women- some of them acquaintances, some through a friend of a friend, and even others just by seeing them on the street and saying, “Hey! You are a goddess. I would love to do a portrait of you! ” For this particular photo, Lisa was looking for a woman from the Sufi mosque in Chestnut Ridge. Through a mutual acquaintance she reached out to them and was invited to their Saturday night potluck dinner. They welcomed her with open arms, asking her to tell them about her project. She was introduced to a group of three sisters as possible subjects.
Their names were Amina on the left, then Nuranisa, and Sema. They are college students living with their family in Chestnut Ridge, New York. When asked what myth or sacred life story they would like to embody, they spoke about of the importance family, community, and faith in their lives. The significance of these elements led them to Fatima. “We chose Fatima because she is the ideal model for all Muslim women (even men) in spirituality, worship, prayer, service and inward and outward demeanor. Her loving and kind countenance made the people love her, her shrewdness made people respect her and her words and actions made the people imitate her.”
Fatima was one of the first children to be born into Islam and the fourth daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. Fatima is considered to be one of the four holiest women in Islam after the Virgin Mary, Khadija, and Asiya, the Queen who rescued Moses from the river. It is said that when she prayed, her light was reflected by the mihrab, the direction of the Ka’aba in Mecca that a Muslim must face when praying. Her inner light was seen by everyone and the name “Zehra”, meaning “resplendent or shining one” was given to her among other such titles.
Nuranisa, Amina and Sema wrote, “Our parents surrounded us with a very spiritual Islamic lifestyle based on prayer and worship but most significantly with love and service to our community, which is ultimately service to Allah.”
It is admirable to see the dedication and devotion these three sisters have. I would say they were a lucky find, and another excellent choice to represent and further show the diversity of the Women of Rockland.
Hopefully these stories of the seven women from Rockland County give you a better look into their lives, and leave you with a broader perspective on the culture and diversity that surrounds us. These women are our neighbors, living out their lives with uniqueness of their culture and values; emanating beauty and strength as they doing so.
Enekpe: African Goddess of Family
Goddess Enekpe: African Goddess of Family
Anna Msowoya-Keys was one of the women Lisa photographed and chose to be on 1 of the 5 banners to be displayed. Anna is from Malawi, and goes back and forth from Africa where her roots are, to Valley Cottage, New York where her immediate family resides. In her words, “I am a Malawian woman, happy to be in America. But as much as I love life here, I have not forgotten my roots, the small village where I come from in northern Malawi. The closeness of family and the importance of community I experienced in Malawi sustains me to this day. I now live in two worlds. One is not better than the other. They’re just different. Don’t ask me to chose, but do give me the space to live fully in both.” Anna is a wife, mother, friend, sister, development activist, and founder of Mzuzu Academy, the Northern Region’s first internationally accredited secondary boarding school. The schools vision is to provide the highest quality education for 400 children. Their goal is provide full scholarships to the brightest and most needy children so that they can receive an education that they would have never dreamed possible. This is a woman that went after her dreams and with much hard work saw them come to fruition. She is a beautiful picture of strength, fullness of life, warmth and joy. I am proud to say she is a Woman of Rockland.
In two weeks Lisa will be traveling to Malawi with Anna to photograph the opening of a new school. Lisa will be there for ten days getting to know the Malawian culture and Anna’s hometown, along with taking many pictures of people and places in this African country. Stories and pictures will follow suit when Lisa gets back! If you would like to learn more about Anna and the Mzuzu Academy in Malawi, you can take a look at the website: http://www.malotoinc.org/index.html. Check in for another update on Goddess number 2 of the 5, and more on Lisa’s trip to Africa!
Women of Rockland Events
I’m back with another update for you all!
Now I can say ‘you all’ because I am from Minnesota, which isn’t exactly the South, but close enough, right? I never thought I had an accent until I came to the East Coast, and now I get ridiculed for the stretching of my vowels and saying things like, “pop” and “ruff” instead of ‘roof.’ Anyhow, although the ponderings of accents and pronunciation are pretty interesting and could be mused over for a good while, I have come to share with you something more exciting on this fine spring morning!
When Lisa received the grant, The Journal News Newspaper wrote an article on the awarded groups, and featured her project and picture on the front cover. Quite the honor!
Now that you and I are more familiar with Lisa Levart and the unique work she has been creating, you should know where her work will be seen in the upcoming months. The Women of Rockland Exhibition will have an Opening Reception at the Nyack Center on Saturday, April 17th from 10-12 noon for the Women of Leadership and Vision Brunch. Unfortunately, Lisa won’t be there because she will be in Malawi, Africa, where she will be photographing one of her Women of Rockland subjects; Anna Msowoya-Keys, at the opening of her new school, the Mzuzu Acaedmy. The show stays at the Nyack Center until April 28th – this is a great chance to see the installation up close and personal.
From there, the show can be seen at The Rockland Country Day School from April 30 – May 21.
On June 1st, 
comes to the Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack where these extraordinary banners will be suspended between four floors in an open atrium (!!!!). The opening is from 6-7pm and everyone is welcome to stop by. The installation will be at the Palisades Mall through July 31st.
Whether you’re pondering accents, irrigation systems, or politics today, I hope you enjoy your afternoon, and speaking for Lisa, we hope to see you in a couple weeks at one of the events!
Lydia