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The Forever War; The War on Terror
October 24, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT
Join us for a screening of “Tarik Shah: Don’t Play Like Them,” a documentary film about locally-based jazz musician Tarik Shah who was incarcerated for almost 15 years on terrorist accusations, and panel discussion around the lasting impact of the war on terror. The event will conclude with a musical performance with Tarik Shah on bass accompanied by guitarist by Luke Franco. This is a collaboration with the Coalition for Civil Freedoms.
5pm: Be The Media! workshop with Barry Rubinow
Locally-based jazz musician Tarik Shah is one of the many victims of “the war on terror.” “Tarik Shah: Don’t Play Like Them,” a documentary film by Barry Rubinow, takes the viewer through Tarik’s release and subsequent jobs, gigs, past career highlights, his imprisonment, life events, and difficulties in getting back into the ever-changing jazz scene in New York City. This short film (37 minutes) will be followed by a panel discussion which will include Tarik Shah, Barry Rubinow, and Kathy Manley and Jeanne Finley on behalf of Coalition for Freedoms. This event looks at the lasting impact on the lives of political prisoners.
Panelists:
Tarik Shah, Locally-based jazz musician who was incarcerated for almost 15 years on terrorist accusations, and the subject of “Tarik Shah: Don’t Play Like Them.” Shah’s musical journey began in earnest at the age of 16, when he became the sole bass student of internationally acclaimed bassist Slam Stewart. By age 21, Shah was touring the world with legendary vocalist Betty Carter. From there, he has performed and recorded with a stunning array of Jazz legends, including Ahmad Jamal, Randy Weston, Abbey Lincoln, Pharoah Sanders, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Dr. Lonnie Smith and so many more.
Kathy Manley is the Legal Director of the Coalition for Civil Freedoms and the Vice-President of the Capital Region Council of the New York Civil Liberties Union. She is also a founding member of Project SALAM. Her main emphasis is criminal defense and constitutional rights. She concentrates on appeals, has written many winning briefs before a variety of courts, and has received several awards for her work.
Barry Rubinow is the director of “Tarik Shah: Don’t Play Like Them.” Rubinow’s career as a producer, director, editor, and indie filmmaker includes an Emmy Award for editing the CBS science show, Beakman’s World, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject for the first documentary he edited, Red Grooms: Sunflower in a Hothouse. He was also a founding member of The Documentary Channel. His latest film, “Tarik Shah: Don’t Play Like Them,” won Best Documentary at the 2025 Albany Film Festival.
Moderator: Jeanne Finley is a photographer, writer, and editor. She was an original member of the Muslim Solidarity Committee, the grassroots group formed in 2006 to advocate for two Albany Muslims, Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain, who were unjustly convicted in an FBI phony “terrorism” plot. She also edited Yassin Aref’s memoir, Son of Mountains, and a Palestinian prisoner’s book of poetry and art, Light from Deep Under, by Shukri Abu Baker. With colleagues, she now advocates for prisoners through Coalition for Civil Freedom.
The Coalition for Civil Freedoms (CCF) is a survivor-led nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the abuses of the U.S. domestic “War on Terror.” Founded in 2010, CCF is a coalition of civil liberties and human rights organizations that challenges preemptive prosecution and the post-9/11 targeting, surveillance, and criminalization of Muslim communities. CCF’s core areas of work include education and outreach, prisoner and family support.
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