"But what are the feds looking for, and after years of seemingly fruitless surveillance, how is their continued scrutiny and racial targeting justified? Equal parts angry and anxious, Boundaoui’s smart, unsettling documentary functions both as a real-world conspiracy thriller and a personal reflection on the psychological strain of being made to feel an outsider in one’s own home."

-Guy Lodge | Variety

In film screenings across the country, community members have expressed experiencing a wide range of emotions as they bore witness to filmmaker’s Assia Boundaoui’s journey to uncover one of the largest counter terrorism investigations ever conducted in the U.S. before 9/11, code-named “Operation Vulgar Betrayal.” Community members have described feeling “scared, proud, angry, confused, surprised, discouraged, frustrated, sad, proud and grateful.”

There is no doubt that wide-spread government surveillance of Muslims in the U.S. has caused profound collective trauma. However, we often talk about surveillance in a legal or civil rights framework. Yet, secrecy and unchecked surveillance are eroding the health and stability of Muslim communities across the U.S. and we simply aren't talking enough about it. This guide is intended to help impacted communities began an open dialogue about the psychological impact of racism, discrimination, profiling and surveillance. As community members, organizers, student leaders and activists across the country we can change the narrative of fear that has plagued our neighborhoods for far too long. Together, we can use the film as a catalyst to create safe spaces that allow our communities to come together, discuss the impact of surveillance on our lives, build power, and heal.

This guide is intended to help facilitate these long overdue and critical conversations within the Muslim and Muslim-American community. This is not a time for debate, but of reflection and dialogue. It is a time to identify the ways in which we have been traumatized and together begin a journey to process these troubling experiences.

There are three ways to utilize the resources included in this guide:

1. Before watching the film: take time to process the possible triggers you may feel and prepare for the film prior to watching it. In anticipation, we gathered several resources you can draw on during this period of processing.
2. During the film: take time throughout the film to evaluate your pulse. Breath in, check in and check out, if necessary. If you feel the need to stop watching the film, jump right into page 5 of the guide.
3. After the film: once you are feeling activated, the guide contains three questions you can answer in a group setting.

The information is a helpful roadmap for a generative conversation to guide the group through a process of collective healing. All should be empowered to utilize these guiding questions as needed, or create new questions together. In order to engage openly with members of the community, all should feel welcome to supplement this guide with relevant and helpful tools.

What is the film about?

In the Muslim immigrant neighborhood outside of Chicago where journalist and filmmaker Assia Boundaoui grew up, most of her neighbors think they have been under surveillance for over a decade. While investigating their experiences, Assia uncovers tens of thousands of pages of FBI documents that prove her hometown was the subject of one of the largest counter terrorism investigations ever conducted in the U.S. before 9/11, code-named “Operation Vulgar Betrayal.” With unprecedented access, The Feeling of Being Watched weaves the personal and the political as it follows the filmmaker’s examination of why her community—including her own family—fell under blanket government surveillance. The Feeling of Being Watched follows Assia as she pieces together this secret FBI operation, while grappling with the effects of a lifetime of surveillance on herself and her family.

Who are members of the community?

The Mosque Foundation community that was founded in 1954 by a handful of Arab immigrants living on Chicago’s suburban South-west side. Since then, the Mosque Foundation has grown to serve over 50,000 Muslims in the community. Controversy and interaction with the surveillance state are not new in the community. In 2004, the Chicago Tribune published a story pitting “moderate” Muslims against their more “conervative” counterparts,” by arguing that there is worry in the community that the “Muslim Brotherhood, a controversial group with a violent past, has an undue influence over the mosque.” In fact, as the film revealed, Muslims in southwest suburban Bridgeview had been under surveillance by the U.S. government for decades.

What themes will the film surface?

Racialized surveillance: Neighborhoods across the country have been under digital monitoring for decades in the United States. In Dark Matter: On the Surveillance of Blackness, Simone Browne defines racialized surveillance as a “technology of social control where surveillance practices, policies, and performances concern the production of norms pertaining to race and exercise a ‘power to define what is in or out of place.’” Informed by centuries of anti-Black fear and suspicion, these practices reify boundaries and borders along racial lines.

Fear of religious practice: Law enforcement’s emphasis on indicators of religiosity as hallmarks of radicalization, and on religious spaces as generators of radicalization, has put the very practice of religion at the center counterterrorism policing. The perpetual and palpable scrutiny has deeply disrupted American Muslims’ ability to practice their faith. This becomes apparent in every facet of religious identity – from how one chooses to dress, to what types of religious activities one engages in, to where one prays, how one interacts with other members of his or her faith, and even what type of Islam American Muslims feel comfortable practicing.

Paranoia: All communities adopt and adapt defensive mechanisms in response to targeted violence. In this way, paranoia is a tool of caution that has protected our communities, yet, it continues to be weaponized to silence community members. It is a result of hypervigilance, which accentuates a state of extreme alertness and a constant search for hidden dangers - both real and presumed. Paranoia is also triggered in marginalized communities through racial gaslighting. This is defined as “the political, social, economic and cultural process that perpetuates and normalizes a white supremacist reality through pathologizing those who resist.” These processes include minimizing or denying the lived reality of people of color and other oppressed communities. This active denial causes the impacted community member to doubt the validity of their own experiences.

*It is important to note that paranoia is also associated with mood or personality disorders and may be a symptom of an individual becoming unwell. If an individual is expressing an abnormal delusion or hallucination which falls well outside the definition of a rational fear, this individual should be assessed by a qualified mental health professional.

Communal shame: Endorsing anti-Muslim caricatures and assigning collective blame to the community for the actions of individuals is normally thought of as an issue among Americans who are not Muslim. However, like other minority groups who suffer from internalized stigmatization, studies have found that Muslims (roughly one in ten) sometimes adopt popular stereotypes about their own community. The majority of Muslims (62%) say they agree strongly or somewhat that they feel personal shame when they hear that a member of their faith community committed an act of violence.

Sources

Angelique M. Davis & Rose Ernst (2017) Racial gaslighting, Politics, Groups, and Identities, DOI: 10.1080/21565503.2017.1403934

Mogahed, Dalia, and Azka Mahmood. “American Muslim Poll 2019: Predicting and Preventing Islamophobia: ISPU.” Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 12 Sept. 2019, https://www.ispu.org/american-muslim-poll-2019-predicting-and-preventing-islamophobia/.

"Everywhere I look, Lord

I see FB eyes

Said every place I look, Lord

I find FB eyes

I'm getting sick and tired of gover'ment spies."

-Richard Wright, 1949

The Feeling of Being Watched is an intense and compelling film. It will undoubtedly elicit many reactions in you as the organizer as well as community members who are eager to watch and discuss with others. Due to the emotional nature of the content and what it might trigger, organizers are strongly encouraged to view the film prior to the screening. As you watch, notice how you feel, what comes up for you, and what is stirring some discomfort within you. Trust yourself and be open to the experience. After all, you will be asking community members to trust that you have created a space for them to feel safe - it is imperative that you work to provide that safety for yourself first.

Take a few minutes to reflect on the following questions:

What do you hope to learn by organizing this screening?

What do you think will be your biggest challenge to facilitating this dialogue?

What are some fears you may have about this screening and dialogue?

What hopes do you have for this screening and dialogue?

Using the feeling wheel (see resources), write down all of the emotions you experienced during the screening. Does anything surprise you?

Additional Suggestions for Organizers

Mental health volunteers: Invite qualified and trusted mental health professionals or individuals certified in mental health first aid from the community to serve as volunteers during the screening. The role of these individuals are to act as consultants, not therapists. They can help de-escalate anyone who is experiencing distress and encourage appropriate professional support and resources.

Normalize potential for distress or emotional impact: Be sure to remind the audience of where the nearest exits are should individuals decide to step out of the room to tend to their physical and emotional needs. Ideally, reserve a dedicated space or “calming room” where individuals can rest and relax - this allows for greater privacy and reduces the stigma associated with experiencing distress as the reserved room normalizes the occurrence of these overwhelming emotions and feelings. This room should contain items that have proven useful for those experiencing symptoms of re-traumatization or anxiety. These items may include stress balls, coloring books, “thinking putty” or play-doh, or bubbles and mental health resources.

Review trigger warning: a trigger warning is an acknowledgement or alert that the content or image to be discussed or viewed may be distressful or offensive. This notice or warning allows the community member to become more aware of their own responses and what they might need to soothe or calm themselves in a healthy way.

Before The Film

Once you welcome community members, acknowledge that the film may trigger difficult emotions and that this is normal. Invite them to take a moment to participate in a deep breathing or grounding exercise. This allows everyone to clear their minds and feel connected to the experience of being with others in this space.

Use the following example, or feel free to use your own:

Close your eyes (if this is uncomfortable, look at a spot on the floor just in front of you). Take a deep breath in through your nose. Sit comfortably and place one hand on your abdomen. Breathe deeply enough that the hand on your abdomen rises. Hold the air in your lungs, and then exhale slowly through your mouth.

Progressive muscle relaxation:

This exercise can be used to help settle any anxiety or stress that might arise.

Say: Sit back in your chair in a comfortable position. For each area of the body listed below, you will tense your muscles tightly, but not to the point of strain. Hold the tension for 10 seconds, and pay close attention to how it feels. Then, release the tension, and notice how the feeling of relaxation differs from the feeling of tension.

Feet Curl your toes tightly into your feet, then release them.

Calves Point or flex your feet, then let them relax.

Thighs Squeeze your thighs together tightly, then let them relax.

Torso Suck in your abdomen, then release the tension and let it fall.

Back Squeeze your shoulder blades together, then release them.

Shoulders Lift and squeeze your shoulders toward your ears, then let them drop.

Arms Make fists and squeeze them toward your shoulders, then let them drop.

Hands Make a fist by curling your fingers into your palm, then relax your fingers.

Face Scrunch your facial features to the center of your face, then relax.

Full Body Squeeze all muscles together, then release all tension.

Reflection Questions:

Take a moment to notice your breath, your body and the emotions you may be experiencing before the film begins. Are you feeling anticipation, excitement, dread? Write them down here:

What interests you most about The Feeling of Being Watched? What are you hoping to learn or understand by watching the film?

Write down any questions you currently have about surveillance, trauma or healing?

After The Film:

Once again, invite everyone to stand, stretch, take a deep breath and notice where they might feel tension in their bodies. Have they been holding their breath during the film? Have they felt their hearts racing?

Open the dialogue with an intention, prayer or reflection which sets the tone for the conversation. Here is one example:

May we be connected to each other

May we know the range and depth of feelings in ourselves and in each other

There is vulnerability, fear, love, rage, hatred, compassion, courage, despair, and hope

In ourselves, each other and the world

May we know our most authentic feelings

And voice them when we speak

May we tap into soul and spirit when we are silent together

May we form and become a circle

Be silent and feel the clasp and connection of hands and heart

Then each in turn

Speak for yourself and listen to each other

Put judgment aside

Remember that anything voiced that you want to silence may be a silenced part of yourself”

May the Healing Begin in Us

-Alice Walker

The following questions can be used to begin the conversation by focusing on the emotional experience of watching the film:

Take a moment to close your eyes, place your hand over your heart and listen to your breathing. What emotions are you feeling?

What moment in the film impacted you the most?

Have you (or someone you know) had a similar experience?

What did you learn from this film?

“The gray area between paranoia and the truth is a dangerous place."

-Assia Boundaoui

The themes, struggles, and deep scars surfaced by this film implicate communities nationally. State surveillance is a technology of white supremacy. Along with policing and incarceration, surveillance is a tool used to deify whiteness and demonize non-white peoples.

This film portrays the emotional, social, inter-personal and cultural realities of surveillance on Muslim communities in the United States. However, it captures the essence of surveillance of communities of color across the country. In post 9/11 America, law enforcement officials have documented how many times a day Muslim students prayed during a university whitewater rafting trip, which businesses shut their doors for daily prayers, which restaurants played Al-Jazeera, and which businesses sold halal products and alcohol. Capitalizing on their ability to recruit a diverse force with diverse language capabilities, law enforcement officials were able to send officers with various ethnic and linguistic backgrounds into communities, matching them accordingly. Such intrusive strategies have dramatic impacts on community engagement, and hospitality, healing, and spirituality.

The following information provides an overview of trauma, warning signs and symptoms, as well as suggestions for coping.

Trauma, Racialized Fatigue and Emotional Triggers

What is Trauma?

Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless and vulnerable in a dangerous world. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and alone can be traumatic, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. Trauma can occur when an event:

● Happens/ed unexpectedly.

● You were unprepared for it.

● You felt powerless to prevent it.

● It happens/ed repeatedly

Signs & Symptoms

• Physical
• Eating disturbances (more or less than usual)
• Sleep disturbances (more or less than usual)
• Sexual dysfunction
• Low energy
• Chronic, unexplained pain
• Emotional
• Depression, spontaneous crying, despair, hopelessness, and anxiety
• Panic attacks and fearfulness
• Irritability, angry and resentment
• Emotional numbness
• Withdrawal from normal routine and relationships
• Cognitive
• Memory lapses, especially about the trauma
• Difficulty making decisions
• Decreased ability to concentrate
• Feeling distracted
• ADHD symptoms

Wounds of Racial Trauma

“Racial oppression is a traumatic form of interpersonal violence which can lacerate the spirit, scar the soul, and puncture the psyche. Without a clear and descriptive language to describe this experience, those who suffer cannot coherently convey their pain, let alone heal.” -Dr. Kenneth Hardy

Psychologist Dr. Kenneth Hardy explains that for those who experience continued oppression and marginalization (due to racism, bigotry and violence), it can lead to race-related trauma emotional wounds which must be acknowledged in order for the healing process to begin. These wounds include:

1. Internalized devaluation
2. Assaulted sense of self
3. Internalized voicelessness
4. Rage

Racial battle fatigue occurs when an individual must cope in environments that are hostile towards their racial or religious identities. Dr. Smith writes that this fatigue “is the result of constant physiological, psychological, cultural, and emotional coping with racial microaggressions in less-than-ideal and racially hostile or unsupportive environments. Microaggressions are subtle but offensive comments or slights directed at a Black person. An example of a microaggression is a statement like “I don’t see color” or “I don’t understand, don’t all lives matter?” The cumulative symptoms of racial battle fatigue are both physiological and psychological.

Signs of gaslighting:

Informed by fear, and at times, trauma, reactions to the film can vary between disbelief to a complete reorientation and introspection. Signs of disbelief, or doubt can dismiss, and therefore silence collective healing. This kind of dismissal may gaslight victims of surveillance, and instill doubt and self doubt. This stunts reconciliation and honest truth-telling, and should be identified at the earliest possible juncture.

Racialized fatigue can lead to:

• constant anxiety and worrying
• increased swearing and complaining
• inability to sleep
• sleep broken by haunting, conflict-specific dreams
• intrusive thoughts and images
• loss of self-confidence
• difficulty in thinking coherently or being able to articulate
• hypervigilance
• frustration
• denial
• John Henryism , or prolonged, high-effort coping with difficult psychological stressors
• anger, anger suppression, and verbal or nonverbal expressions of anger
• denial
• keeping quiet
• resentment

What are triggers?

(Adapted from: https://integrativepsych.co/new-blog/anxiety-counseling-long-island)

A trigger is the feeling you get when something happens and you have a sudden flood of negative feelings. For example, someone makes a half joking-half mean comment, and it hits a raw spot for you, and you feel destabilized by anxiety, shame, doubt, panic or sadness for the rest of the day.

A trigger can set off a memory, or flashes you back in time to an event that was stressful, confusing scary or traumatic. When experiencing this kind of trigger, your body will react with a similar emotional intensity that was experienced at the time of the original event.

You can also experience an emotional trigger that may not feel related to an event or specificimage, but you suddenly notice yourself:

• sweating
• feeling disconnected (dissociating)
• discomfort in your body or chest
• having a hard time breathing
• feeling like you're trembly
• have the chills
• suddenly feel dizzy

These are some of the ways that you know that you've been triggered, as you're left with a physical or emotional imprint for the moment in time.

Now, different things trigger different people as triggers are very personal, however, they are usually activated by the five senses;sight, sound, touch, smell or taste.

Emotional flashbacks may happen due to any of the following:

• Feeling helpless in a situation that is out of your control
• Feeling judged by someone else
• Seeing disappointment in the eyes of someone important to you
• Experiencing someone who is clingy and being needy, leaving you feeling stifled
• Feeling chronically not "good-enough"
• Sensing that you are not important or valued
• Feeling abandoned when someone leaves you
• Feeling judged, belittled or disrespected
• Feeling guilty about leaving someone or ending a relationship
• Experiencing sexual harassment
• Being shamed in public
• Someone insulted you and hit a sore insecurity of yours
• Smelling a whiff of the cologne of someone who abused you

These are just a few, and each person has unique triggers to them and their life experience.

During the film, you may notice feelings of distress, or of your mind wandering to an experience that you have had in the past. You may know exactly what is causing you to feel anxious or short of breath, or it may seem to come out of the blue. This is normal. There are many strategies that you can use to help soothe or calm yourself when you are triggered.

Guided Imagery:

Your thoughts have the power to change how you feel. If you think of something sad, it’s likely you’ll start to feel sad. The opposite is also true: When you think of something positive and calming, you feel relaxed. The imagery technique harnesses this power to reduce anxiety.

Think of a place that you find comforting or safe. It could be a secluded beach, your bedroom, a quiet mountaintop, or even a loud concert. For 5 to 10 minutes, use all your senses to imagine this setting in great detail. Don’t just think fleetingly about this place-really imagine it.

• What do you see around you? What do you notice in the distance? Look all around to take in all your surroundings. Look for small details you would usually miss.
• What sounds can you hear? Are they soft or loud? Listen closely to everything around you. Keep listening to see if you notice any distant sounds.
• Are you eating or drinking something enjoyable? What is the flavor like? How does it taste? Savor all the tastes of the food or drink.
• What can you feel? What is the temperature like? Think of how the air feels on your skin, and how your clothes feel on your body. Soak in all these sensations.
• What scents are present? Are they strong or faint? What does the air smell like? Take some time to appreciate the scents.

Source: Therapistaid.com

Healthy Minds: Online Mental Health Screening

You keep tabs on your blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol. How about your emotional well-being? You can check it out right here, anytime. This tool is completely anonymous. In a few minutes, you will learn whether or not you might be experiencing behavioral health challenges.

The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale

Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that "demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize." In less formal terms, we feel stressed when we feel that "things are out of control". The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale is a tool helps us measure the stress load we carry, and think about what we should do about it.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

If you feel you are in a crisis, whether or not you are thinking about killing yourself, please call the Lifeline. People have called us for help with substance abuse, economic worries, relationship and family problems, sexual orientation, illness, getting over abuse, depression, mental and physical illness, and even loneliness.

Khalil Center

Khalil Centeris a community psychological and spiritual wellness center. Khalil Center’s approach emphasizes: psychological reconstruction, behavioral reformation and spiritual elevation. Khalil Center utilizes faith-based approaches rooted in Islamic theological concepts while integrating the science of psychology towards addressing social, psychological, communal and spiritual health

Muslim Mental Health - Find A Therapist

This directory is a very useful tool to help people find a counselor, therapist, psychologist, and/or psychiatrist throughout North America

Muslim Wellness Foundation

Muslim Wellness Foundation (MWF) is an organization which seeks to reduce stigma associate with mental illness, addiction and trauma through dialogue, education and training.

Nasiha Counseling

Counseling can be a meaningful way to address some of life's challenges you are facing or have been facing for a long time. As therapists, we provide support and feedback to help you cope with current life challenges and long-standing issues

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER READING:

American, Muslim, and under constant watch: the emotional toll of surveillance. Retrieved from:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/27/american-muslim-surveillance-the-emotional-toll

Khan, S. R. (2014). Post 9/11: The impact of stigma for Muslim Americans. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 20(4), 580.

O’Connor, A. J., & Jahan, F. (2014). Under surveillance and overwrought: American Muslims’ emotional and behavioral responses to government surveillance. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 8(1).

Rodriguez Mosquera, P. M., Khan, T., & Selya, A. (2013). Coping with the 10th anniversary of 9/11: Muslim Americans' sadness, fear, and anger. Cognition & emotion, 27(5), 932-941.

Shamas, D., & Arastu, N. (2010). Mapping muslims: NYPD spying and its impact on America muslims.

Our core mission is to reduce stigma and promote healing in the American Muslim community through dialogue, education and training. In order to achieve this goal, we have adopted an interdisciplinary approach which addresses mental health challenges using a spiritually relevant community-based public health framework. This approach recognizes the negative impact of stressors such as poverty, oppression, anti-Black racism, and anti-Muslim bigotry which lead to diminished well being.

Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Rashad

Kameelah is the Founder and President of Muslim Wellness Foundation (MWF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing mental health stigma and promoting healing in the American Muslim community. Kameelah also serves as the Fellow for Spirituality, Wellness and Social Justice at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and advisor for Penn Sapelo, the first Black Muslim Student organization on campus. Kameelah earned a BA in Psychology and MEd in Psychological Services from the UPenn and a second Masters in Restorative Practices & Youth Counseling (MRP) from the International Institute for Restorative Practices. She completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Chestnut Hill College.

Aya Saed, JD, MPA

Aya is a Bertha Justice Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights. She previously earned a JD at Harvard Law School and a Master’s in public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She is pursuing a career in litigation and community organizing in marginalized communities, with a specific interest in curating safe spaces for young American Muslims from which to advocate and build political power. She is also program coordinator for Muslim Wellness Foundation.

Dr. Lamise Shawhin (MWF Board Member)

Lamise Shawahin, Ph.D is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Psychology and Counseling at Governors State University. Her research centers on exploring risk and resilience factors among by ethic and religious minority individuals within the United States. Dr. Shawahin has published and presented on issues related to Muslim mental health, health disparities, cultural competence, counseling considerations for diverse populations, anti Muslim prejudice.

Dr. Mona Masood, DO (MWF Board member and Psychiatrist)

Dr. Mona Masood, DO is an outpatient psychiatrist practicing at Southampton Psychiatric Associates. She has experience treating patients with diverse sociocultural and religious backgrounds and hopes to address ways of building therapeutic alliance with Black Muslim clients across the racial divide.

This resource was created, in part, with the generous support of the Open Society Foundation.