
It’s 2003. It’s been several months since the US officially declared war on Iraq and the political world has evolved. Shadi, who wears a hijab, a visible allegiance to Islam, keeps her head down. Hate crimes are spiking. Undercover FBI agents are infiltrating mosques and interrogating members of the congregation, and the local Muslim community is beginning to fracture. Shadi hears the arguments between families about what it means to be Muslim, about what they should be doing and saying as a community, but she does not engage.
She’s too busy drowning in her own troubles to find the time to deal with bigots.