RT by @RymMomtaz: These days, it feels very different to be Arab, or Iranian, or Muslim in New York. Over the past decade, a new generation of artists, chefs, comedians, designers,

These days, it feels very different to be Arab, or Iranian, or Muslim in New York. Over the past decade, a new generation of artists, chefs, comedians, designers, and others have built unprecedented cultural and political capital. Together, they’re what you might call a *scene.* Where the diasporas once seemed siloed, the new Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) scene is increasingly united across identities — Iraqi, Yemeni, Egyptian, Sudanese, Mauritanian, Afghan — and bound together by shared values.