After September 11th, I started becoming frustrated about the misconceptions that many people have about women and Islam. I think the media handled the attacks very poorly. Phrases such as "Muslim terrorists" and "Islamic militants" were frequently used on almost all news coverage about 9/11. The media was very biased towards Muslims and Arabs, although the media did do a good job in capturing the shock that people in America felt. After 9/11 there were countless attacks against Muslims, South Asians, Arabs, and Sikhs. But the media almost never publicized any of this. I found out about these crimes from the victims' families or my parents. I realized more than ever how biased the media is and how barbaric some people can be. I personally experienced racism after 9/11. One day I was standing on the sidewalk waiting to cross the road, and this man was staring at me. Then he asked me, "What are you, Indian?" I replied, "No." He then said, sneeringly, "Oh, that's right you're an ARAB!" As if being an Arab is something low and dirty. There are other incidents similar to this. The experience is scary, because you don't know what that person's intentions are. It's sad because despite the fact that we live in the 21st Century, people still have a Stone Age mentality. And it's frustrating, because instead of asking or seeking knowledge about Islam, people just make their own assumptions about it and the people in it. I wanted to raise awareness about what Islam really is and what the Koran says about men and women, so I started a workshop called "Islam, Women and Terrorism".