Ahla friends,
June arrived and brought everything with it. The World Cup, Pride, and something we've been building for months, shaped by so many conversations with you, a way to actually connect this community IRL. More on that below, along with the waitlist.
The World Cup is here and we're releasing daily watch party lists on our Instagram, organized by country. And for Pride? Our website is on fire!
Samar
LITERATURE
The Complicit Lens: Book Launch with Rashid Khalidi
Wednesday, June 10th, 6–7:30 PM
Virtual
Robin Andersen's new book unpacks the gap between US mainstream coverage of Israel's war on Gaza and what social media and international press were showing. In conversation with Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian historian, Columbia professor
WELLNESS. POLITICS
Therapy is Political: Shaza Abu Dayah
Friday, June 12th, 12–1:30 PM
Virtual
A lunchtime conversation with Shaza Abu Dayah, psychologist, writer, journalist, on trauma, resilience, and what therapy means under ongoing genocide. Where the traditional mental health frame fails, what collective care can look like instead
PARTY
FUNCTION XXVII // 5TH ANNIVERSARY
Friday, June 12th
TBA, Williamsburg
Function NYC, Brooklyn's queer dance collective, hits its fifth anniversary with a three-room activation in an expanded new space. Techno and house all night, style and fashion required, performance and craziness are a no brainer
THEATER
Sisyphus in Yaffa (Stage Left Festival)
Sunday, June 14th, 7 PM
Theatre Row, Hell's Kitchen
R. Forest Malley's play closes Stage Left Festival, directed by Sivan Battat. Walid Elsady, a Harvard professor, takes a keynote in Yaffa,Tel Aviv, telling himself the politics won't reach him. Ben Gurion proves otherwise. The detention begins the reckoning: every story he's told a wife, colleagues, himself, and the compromises that built a Western career.
CINEMA
Women Beyond Borders — أرض النسا
Wednesday, June 17th, 7:30–9:30 PM
Cobble Hill Cinemas
Jean Chamoun's documentary on the lives and resistance of Palestinian women, Kifah Afifi, Samiha Khalil, and others. 30-minute discussion after with Nour Chamoun and special guests. All ticket proceeds go to Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah's Children's Fund, which provides medical aid for Gaza's children
THEATER
Faggy Faafi Cairo Boy
Wed June 17th-20th, 8:30 PM
Mainstage Theatre, SoHo
Mariam Bazeed's play, Egyptian-American writer, Dramatists Guild Lanford Wilson Award, at the Criminal Queerness Festival. Mohammad returns to Cairo as his father's body fails, and finds his closeted past waiting: an estranged NYC partner, an old flame still working it out, and the slow weight of a homecoming that was never supposed to happen
SHOW, FOOD
Drag Bingo Night at Huda
Wednesday, June 17th, 6 & 9 PM
Huda, Williamsburg
Diva Beirut, from Beirut's underground drag scene, makes her NYC debut at Huda. Bingo, prizes, snacks from Edy's Grocer with two drinks min. The promise of a great night!
THE FREE ONE
Free and Delightful
PARTY
The MET Date Night | Pride
Friday, June 12th, 5–8 PM
The MET Fifth Avenue, UES
Pride night at the Met, two-for-one drinks, gallery talks, a participatory chorus, art-making at the tables. Mask-making with Caribbean Equality Project, Arabic typography name prints with Tarab NYC and Wael Morcos, ETHEL 3-O and DJ CMD+JAZMINE on the music. The museum after hours, with company.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHT
Cool Initiative To Support
A Call For Friendship & You’re Part Of This
I've lived in New York for over a decade without much of a SWANA community. Like many of you, the last few years shook me to my core. They made me crave understanding, belonging, and community in a way I never had before.
That's why menna started.
What's funny is that most of the SWANA people I've met, I've met through this newsletter rather than at events.
I'm not particularly good at networking at events. I'll exchange a few sentences with someone and then stop myself. I just don't want to impose. Everyone is kind, but most people leave with the same group they arrived with.
Over the past year, this community has grown far beyond anything I imagined. But it's still largely connected through one person: me.
And that's not the point.
If we want a stronger SWANA presence in New York, we need to be connected to each other. Not just to a newsletter. Not just to an Instagram account. And definitely not just to me.
The reality is that many of us are looking for the same thing.
Last year, nearly 600 people told us they wanted more opportunities to meet other SWANA New Yorkers. that they wanted an In real life community.
For months, I kept asking myself the same question: How do you help people find each other without making it feel forced? Without turning connection into performance?
I looked at all kinds of models. Supper clubs. Algorithms. Matching questionnaires. Networking events, more cultural events…I tried many services (like Timeleft which I have the craziest stories about but that would be for another time.)
And then I realized the answer had been sitting right in front of me the whole time.
The events.
Think about it.
If two people choose to attend the same documentary screening, poetry reading, artist talk, dabke workshop, underground rave, a protest, or a group run, they've already told us something meaningful about themselves.
Their interests.
Their taste.
Their curiosity.
Maybe often their values.
That's a pretty powerful starting point.
So we're building something around that idea.
Very very very soon, we'll be launching the menna app (Yes, I know. Another app. Please bear with me.)
One tab is for events: everything you're already used to discovering through menna.
The second is for meetups: a space where community members can gather around events they're attending or create their own.
Going to a poetry reading in Williamsburg? Have other SWANA people who love words join you.
Heading to a rave in Bushwick? Have other SWANA people who love an endless night join you.
You are set to run a marathon? Have other SWANA people with the same goal join you.
Want to organize a picnic, a restaurant outing, a coffee walk, a museum visit, or something entirely different? host a meetup.
Hosts decide the theme, the size of the gathering, and who joins. Guests request access. The goal is small, intentional gatherings built around shared interests rather than endless swiping, awkward one-on-one encounters, or random matching.
What makes this different from every other community apps is that you're not starting from zero. You're meeting people who already choose the same rooms as you. The same cultural references, the same zaghrouta, the same causes, the same city.
I've spent the last year talking to many of you. I know this need is real because you've told me so…600 of you told me so (thank you for everyone who took the survey)
And when this launches, I want the first people inside to be you. The newsletter readers. The people who share a curiosity about culture, community, and what it means to build a stronger SWANA presence in New York.
We'll be rolling access out slowly and intentionally, free of cost but not everyone will be admitted right away.
If this speaks to you, secure a spot and add your name to the waitlist
I genuinely can't wait to see what happens when this community starts meeting itself.
Samar
Self Funded. No Compromise
Allowing us to stay editorially independent and guided only by our values and the community we serve. If our work resonates with you and you’d like to support it, you can do so through the link below.
As always, thank you for being here.
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— Menna curates cultural content and events for informational purposes only. Event details are subject to change—
