The hip-hop group “We’re Muslim, Don’t Panic“ was conceived of by dancer Amirah Sackett in 2011, a moment Sackett referred to as “a really tumultuous time in history as far as Islam is concerned.” Just seven years earlier, France banned students from wearing hijab to school, the headscarves that in Islamic tradition represent modesty and morality.

Although much of the Western rhetoric surrounding the hijab, niqab and burka focuses on the importance of freedom and empowerment, Sackett noticed that by forbidding women to wear certain clothing, France wasn’t liberating women, but controlling them.

Determined to shift the terms of the conversation, she teamed up with dancers Iman and Khadijah to create WMDC, a three-woman performance group that executes flawless hip-hop numbers in niqab and high-tops.