The knowledge shared throughout this zine was co-created through bi-weekly sessions between May and June 2025, in which comrades of Yellowhead’s Misko Aki Exchange (MAKE) program with diverse native tongues engaged in relational language learning. This project was co-led by Maisaloon Al-Ashkar and Ja’miil Millar, two alumni of Yellowhead’s inaugural MAKE program. The zine visual representation and storytelling was produced by Safaa Alnabelseya.
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الرحم صلة * is an Arabic expression that carries distinct Islamic significance. “Selat” means linkage or connection, and “rahem” means womb. In Islam, Allah has 99 names that evoke Allah’s qualities, and “rahem” is affiliated with two foundational ones: mercy and compassion. The literal translation of the term is “link to the womb” (i.e. umbilical cord).
The concept, “selat al-rahem,” refers to the set of responsibilities one has toward maintaining good relations with their family and, so, with their Creator. This project came to be when Ja’miil and Maisaloon did Arabic language learning in the summer of 2024, after meeting at Yellowhead Institute’s formerly known as Radical Policy School (RPS) and now Misko Aki Knowledge Exchange (MAKE). As Palestinians, they felt called to engage in this exchange as a way to deepen our respective connections to our homelands and ancestry, as well as continue the bond formed at the program.
As alumni of MAKE, Ja’miil and Maisaloon accessed Yellowhead’s Radical Reverberations Fund to build upon their language-learning journey by creating a space to explore this question with others:
What is the role of language in collective liberation?
