I'm a blogger, a filmmaker and a butcher, and I'll explain how these identities come together.
我是一个博客作家、电影制作人、屠夫，让我来解释这些身份如何汇聚到一起。
It started four years ago, when a friend and I opened our first Ramadan fast at one of the busiest mosques in New York City.
一切都是从4年前，我和一个朋友在斋戒月的第一个夜晚去了纽约其中一间最繁忙的清真寺开始。
Crowds of men with beards and skullcaps were swarming the streets.
一群群头戴瓜皮帽的大胡子男人挤满了街道。
It was an FBI agent's wet dream. But being a part of this community, we knew how welcoming this space was.
简直就是FBI特工的梦寐而求的美事。但是作为这个社区的一员，我们知道这个地方是多么的热情友好。
For years, I'd seen photos of this space being documented as a lifeless and cold monolith,
多年来，我看见这地方的照片被做成没有生命的、冰冷的磐石一般，
much like the stereotypical image painted of the American Muslim experience.
就像典型的美国穆斯林的经历。
Frustrated by this myopic view, my friend and I had this crazy idea:
我和我的朋友为这种短浅的目光而恼火，我们也因此有了一个疯狂的念头：
Let's break our fast at a different mosque in a different state each night of Ramadan and share those stories on a blog.
就是每晚在各个州不同的清真寺里，度过我们的斋月，并将期间的经历分享到博客里。
We called it "30 Mosques in 30 Days,"
我们管这个项目叫“30个清真寺的30天”，
and we drove to all the 50 states and shared stories from over 100 vastly different Muslim communities,
我们驾车去了美国所有的50个州，并且分享了来自100多个互不相同的穆斯林社区的故事，
ranging from the Cambodian refugees in the L.A. projects to the black Sufis living in the woods of South Carolina.
包括洛杉矶项目中的柬埔寨难民，住在南卡罗莱纳州森林里的黑苏菲派。
What emerged was a beautiful and complicated portrait of America.
美国美丽又复杂的另一面逐渐呈现出来。
The media coverage forced local journalists to revisit their Muslim communities,
媒体报道促使各地记者们重新探访他们当地的穆斯林社区，
but what was really exciting was seeing people from around the world being inspired to take their own 30-mosque journey.
而真正激动人心的是，看到来自全世界的人们，因此受到启发，开始了他们自己的“30个清真寺”旅途。
There were even these two NFL athletes who took a sabbatical from the league to do so.
甚至有两个国家橄榄球联盟的队员专门请了假来做这件事。
And as 30 Mosques was blossoming around the world, I was actually stuck in Pakistan working on a film.
这一计划在世界范围内越办越火，而同时我正在巴基斯坦忙着拍一部电影。
My codirector, Omar, and I were at a breaking point with many of our friends on how to position the film.
我的合作导演欧玛和我以及许多朋友争论到快要翻脸，也定不下如何为这部电影定位。
The movie is called "These Birds Walk," and it is about wayward street kids who are struggling to find some semblance of family.
这部影片名字叫“行走的鸟”，内容是关于一群固执的流浪孩子，在挣扎地找寻一些象征家庭的存在。
We focus on the complexities of youth and family discord,
我们关注于年轻一代和家庭冲突的复杂性，
but our friends kept on nudging us to comment on drones and target killings to make the film "more relevant,"
但是我们的朋友一直鼓动我们讲无人机和定点杀戮，使得这部电影更有“关联性”，
essentially reducing these people who have entrusted us with their stories into sociopolitical symbols.
而最终把这些信任我们的人们的故事降格为是一种社会政治学的象征。
Of course, we didn't listen to them, and instead, we championed the tender gestures of love and headlong flashes of youth.
当然，我们没听他们的，而是捍卫其中温柔的爱意和稍纵即逝的年少。
The agenda behind our cinematic immersion was only empathy,
我们如此投入地做这部电影，是因为我们发自内心的同情，
an emotion that's largely deficient from films that come from our region of the world.
一种穆斯林地区的电影中经常缺失的情感。

And as "These Birds Walk" played at film festivals and theaters internationally,
随着“行走的鸟”在世界的电影节上或者电影院里播出，
I finally had my feet planted at home in New York,
我终于有机会在纽约的家里多待待，
and with all the extra time and still no real money, my wife tasked me to cook more for us.
有许多空闲时间，仍然没什么真正的收入，我太太要求我多做做饭。
And whenever I'd go to the local butcher to purchase some halal meat, something felt off.
每次我去附近屠夫那里买清真牛肉，我总觉得不太对劲。
For those that don't know, halal is a term used for meat
如果你不了解，“清真肉类”是指，
that is raised and slaughtered humanely following very strict Islamic guidelines.
那些严格遵循伊斯兰教义人道养殖和宰杀的肉。
Unfortunately, the majority of halal meat in America doesn't rise to the standard that my faith calls for.
不幸的是，美国大多数的清真牛肉并没有达到我的信仰所要求的标准。
The more I learned about these unethical practices, the more violated I felt,
我知道的越多这种不道德的行为，我就越觉得被冒犯，
particularly because businesses from my own community were the ones taking advantage of my orthodoxy.
尤其是和我有共同宗教背景的商家，正是那些利用我们教义来行骗的。
So, with emotions running high, and absolutely no experience in butchery,
所以，在这样强烈的情绪感染下，尽管我对屠宰行业一无所知，
some friends and I opened a meat store in the heart of the East Village fashion district.
于是，我和一些朋友一起开了一家肉店，就在纽约东村时尚区的中心地带。
We call it Honest Chops, and we're reclaiming halal by sourcing organic, humanely raised animals,
我们叫它“诚实一刀”，我们通过贩卖有机、人道养殖的肉重新定义了清真一词，
and by making it accessible and affordable to working-class families.
并且让工薪阶级也能买得到，买得起。
There's really nothing like it in America.
在美国真的没人这么做。
The unbelievable part is actually that 90 percent of our in-store customers are not even Muslim.
最让人难以置信的是，我们百分之九十的顾客根本不是穆斯林。
For many, it is their first time interacting with Islam on such an intimate level.
他们中的大多数很多人都是第一次接触伊斯兰教，而且是这样的近距离接触。
So all these disparate projects -- are the result of a restlessness.
所以所有这些零碎的项目--都是因为我不能接受现况的关系。
They are a visceral response to the businesses and curators who work hard to oversimplify my beliefs and my community,
它们是对于商家和那些管理者的一种发自内心的回应，那些力图将我的信仰和背景过分简单化的人们，
and the only way to beat their machine is to play by different rules.
唯一能战胜它们的方式就是不走寻常路。
We must fight with an inventive approach.
我们必须用一种别出心裁的方式来斗争。
With the trust, with the access, with the love that only we can bring,
带着信任，带着魄力，带着那份爱，
we must unapologetically reclaim our beliefs in every moving image, in every cut of meat,
我们必须毫无歉意的重燃我们的信仰，并体现在电影的每一帧，切肉的每一刀里，
because if we whitewash our stories for the sake of mass appeal, not only will we fail,
因为如果我们为了大众要求而粉饰了自己的故事，我们不仅会失败，
but we will be trumped by those with more money and more resources to tell our stories.
而且会被那些有钱有势的人战胜，去炒作我们的故事。
But the call for creative courage is not for novelty or relevance.
但是我们呼吁有新意的勇气并不是为了新奇和反叛。
It is simply because our communities are so damn unique and so damn beautiful.
只是因为我们的社区确实独特而美丽。
They demand us to find uncompromising ways to be acknowledged and respected. Thank you.
这驱动我们去寻求不妥协的认可和尊敬。谢谢。