‘We Are the Power of Society’ Mural Reflects Milwaukee's Diverse Muslim Communities

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Photo by Angelica Y Rocha

Amelia Bader

Amelia Bader with the "We Are the Power of Society" mural behind her

A beautiful new mural highlighting the diversity of Milwaukee’s Muslim communities recently found a home on the city’s South Side, displayed on the east-facing wall of Amanah Food Market (1301 W. Edgerton Ave.). This mural is the work of artist Amelia Bader, completed on commission by Fanana Banana, a Milwaukee-based collective of Muslim and SWANA women artists.

Unveiled in September, the mural depicts 12 Muslim figures of different ethnicities wearing traditional cultural clothing, standing alongside one another under the words “We Are the Power of Society.” From left to right the figures are: a Desi woman, a Burmese woman, a Yemeni woman, an Omani man, Palestinian man, an African American man, a Jordanian man, Tunisian man, Palestinian woman, a Somali woman, an Afghan woman and a Syrian woman. The only figure based on a real person is the African American man, Malcolm X. 

“I wanted everyone to feel included,” Bader says. “They’re all equally important, and I wanted this mural to unite everyone. We may come from different places and have different backgrounds, but at the end of the day, we’re all one ummah.”

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Photo by Ben Slowey

"We Are the Power of Society" mural

"We Are the Power of Society" mural

Fanana Banana co-founder Amal Azzam had originally discovered Amanah Food Market as an ideal place for murals in 2020, noting its location on a corner with high traffic and visibility. “The market’s owner said to do what we wanted,” Azzam mentions. “It’s nice to have a wall that feels like it’s ours.”

On one wall of Amanah is the original mural displaying “We Are the Power of Society” in both English and Arabic, painted by artists Aya Mustafa, Wajiha Akbar and Fanana Banana co-founder Nayfa Naji. Designed by Azzam, she commissioned this mural while working for the nonprofit Leaders Igniting Transformation. “I was trying to civically engage Muslims to vote,” Azzam explains. “That was basically the idea for that mural, and I was able to carve out a budget to hire artists which was pretty cool.”

This new, second mural has the distinction of being the first commissioned and funded entirely by Fanana Banana. The collective had put out an open call in May for artists to design a mural around the same phrase as the first. “I wanted to keep the statement because I felt we really needed to see that as a community,” Azzam notes. Bader ended up being the sole artist to respond. 

“I already had a mural background and have been with Fanana since its start, so I really wanted to do it,” Bader recalls. “I shared my digital sketch of all the people with their cultural clothing with Amal for approval, and she loved it.”

Free Creative Rein

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Photo by Amal Azzam

"We Are The Power Of Society" mural

"We Are The Power Of Society" mural painted in 2020

Fundraising for the project with a GoFundMe, Azzam gave Bader free rein to put her creativity to the test. “I think she really was perfect for the opportunity,” Azzam says about Bader. Upon finalizing a contract, Bader spent about a month over the summer painting the mural, which was mostly done with spray paint.

“We painted the entire wall red, then I projected the design onto the wall and outlined all the figures with spray paint,” Bader explains. “The next day I spray painted all the figures one-by-one. The only part I didn’t use spray paint for was the lines on the kuffiyehs and the face veil for the Yemeni woman; those I used paint marker for because the lines were so small.”

Bader painted the figures from left to right. For each, Bader started with painting the face, followed by clothes, then doing hair, hijab or scarf last. Once she finished all 12, Bader projected “We Are the Power of Society” onto the wall at night and filled in the phrase with spray paint as well.

When she first saw the completed mural, Azzam was amazed. “I felt happy for Amelia and for the community, and I felt proud of Fanana for being able to pull this off,” she remembers. “It was an extremely grassroots thing to do, without grant funding or institutional money, especially because the arts in Milwaukee are pretty much all tied to a nonprofit. I was really proud to have this accomplishment.”

Neighborhood Demographics

She notes how “We Are the Power of Society” accurately reflects the demographics of the neighborhood and Milwaukee being a haven for immigrants and refugees. “When I was growing up, I remember that area would change so often in terms of the majority of who was living there, and it really is tied to which external country is going through something. I remember when there were a lot of Syrian immigrants and refugees, and now there’s Rohingya and Burmese and Afghans.”

With the ongoing threats to immigrant and refugee communities on account of ICE and the Trump administration, “We Are the Power of Society” is an act of resistance and a bold testament to immigrants making Milwaukee a better place to live. Bader reckons, “Milwaukee and America in general are becoming so much more diverse, and that scares some people but shouldn’t, because America was built on the backs of immigrants. We wouldn’t be where we are today without immigrants and that should be valued and highlighted.”

She adds, “I want this mural to be a medium for social change in times where words aren’t enough or when our words might be silenced. Our differences make us beautiful.”

Azzam hopes that “We Are the Power of Society” helps to inspire future projects by Muslim and SWANA artists in the area. “More of us should be reflected in the spaces we live in,” she affirms, while extending huge thanks to the Amanah owner for supporting her in these creative projects. “I don’t know if I could ever repay his act of kindness.”