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JUDY WOODRUFF: The band
Tinariwen hails from the
deserts of Mali in North Africa.

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Its sound blends ancient Saharan
instruments with electric
guitars, and has earned the

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band devoted fans
around the world.

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During a recent U.S.
tour, however, band
members experienced a
darker side of America.

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Before a North Carolina show,
they received a barrage of
Islamophobic comments on social

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media.

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But as producer Ali
Rogin reports, the city
of Winston-Salem banded
together to give them

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a warm welcome.

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The story is part of
our ongoing arts and
culture coverage, Canvas.

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ALI ROGIN: The band Tinariwen
may have traveled far for this
show, but it's on this stage

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where these musicians
are most at home.

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They hardly speak any English,
but here in North Carolina,
they feel that their every

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word is understood.

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ABDALLAH AG ALHOUSSEYNI,
Tinariwen (through translator):
Music is one of those things

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in life where there are
no barriers or borders.

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And as musicians, this is what
gives us the courage to travel
very far away from our Sahara

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Desert.

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ALI ROGIN: Tinariwen's members
are Tuaregs, an ethnic group
from all across the Sahara

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Desert.

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They're nomads who lay
down musical, rather
than physical, roots.

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The band's music follows
a rich Tuareg lyrical
tradition, gone electric.

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And they're rock stars in their
own right, sharing stages with
Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin,

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Carlos Santana, and U2's Bono.

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The story of Tinariwen follows
the story of the Tuareg people.

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Until 1960, the Tuareg
enjoyed autonomy in the north
under French colonial rule.

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But then a series of dictators
took control and subjected
the Tuaregs to persecution,

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seizing their ancestral lands.

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Many fled to
neighboring countries.

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Tinariwen's founders
were among them.

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They met in an Algerian
refugee camp in 1979.

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Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni
plays guitar.

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ABDALLAH AG ALHOUSSEYNI (through
translator): Our music was
born out of this reality of

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exile, hardships and suffering.

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ALI ROGIN: They moved to Libya
to join a Tuareg military unit
led by then-dictator Colonel

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Moammar Gadhafi, who
provided them some freedom.

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But Tinariwen fought with
their guitars, not guns.

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They sang about their people's
struggle for freedom in their
ancestral land called Azawad.

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ALHASSANE AG TOUHAMI,
Tinariwen (through translator):
We are from Azawad.

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Our identity is our Tuareg
origin, and our goal for our
country takes precedence over

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absolutely everything.

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ALI ROGIN: But none of that
mattered to a few dozen people
on Facebook, who saw a post

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promoting the show and
responded with hate.

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"Any true American will not
support this bunch of trash.

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Let them perform in their own
country," said one poster.

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"Look like terrorists to me.

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No way," wrote another.

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One even threatened to
bring his rifle to the show.

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Singer Alhassane Ag Touhami
responds to the hate with humor.

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ALHASSANE AG TOUHAMI (through
translator): Have they ever
seen a terrorist sing a song?

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People who make music
are not terrorists.

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They are actually
persecuted by terrorists.

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ALI ROGIN: Tinariwen
knows that firsthand.

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When Islamist extremists took
control of their native Northern
Mali in 2012, Tinariwen refused

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to obey the
extremists' music ban.

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One band member was
briefly kidnapped.

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ALHASSANE AG TOUHAMI (through
translator): We know that some
people in the U.S. say wrong

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and negative things about us,
but we do not feel anything
about them, because they are

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wrong.

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ALI ROGIN: And most people
in Winston-Salem would agree.

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Wake Forest University senior
Yassmin Shaltout grew up here,
after her family left Egypt

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when she was 2 years old.

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YASSMIN SHALTOUT, College
Student: I'm constantly
surrounded by people
that are very welcoming.

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ALI ROGIN: She's watched
the Muslim community grow
just within her lifetime.

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YASSMIN SHALTOUT: They used to
get together at a local house,
and then the church space

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was bought and
converted into a mosque.

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We have added new parking
space new building for a Sunday
school, so that expansion is

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even viewed in, like, the
physical expansion of space
to accommodate more people.

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ALI ROGIN: But that
expansion in the Tar Heel
State has created tension.

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In 2015, a man in nearby
Chapel Hill murdered three
college students, all Muslims.

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Shaltout said it was a
reminder that there is still
some bigotry in her backyard.

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YASSMIN SHALTOUT: I do feel
that, sometimes, my community
is like a bubble, and it's been

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sheltered from all of these
other terrible acts we
see going on so close by.

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ALI ROGIN: But in this
area, hate against a few
is mourned by the many.

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After an anti-Muslim
terrorist killed 51 people
in a New Zealand mosque
in March, non-Muslims

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filled a local Islamic center
here to show solidarity
with their neighbors.

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And they did the same
before the Tinariwen
show at the Ramkat club.

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This venue typically
doesn't have a police
presence, but because of
some of the threatening

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comments the band received,
the Ramkat increased
security for tonight's show.

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But, as you can see, folks are
still lining up outside, and
the Ramkat says ticket sales

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for a Tuesday night
are higher than usual.

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MCKENZIE GILLIS, North Carolina:
Honestly, if you didn't buy
tickets and you didn't give

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these people money, they would
have no reason to care about
what you're saying anyway.

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ROY HANTGAN, North Carolina:
These are excellent musicians,
peace-loving people who have a

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long tradition of making
music, great music.

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ALI ROGIN: Before the show,
city council members join the
managers of the venue to declare

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it Tinariwen Day.

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RICHARD EMMETT, Co-Owner,
Ramkat: We are happy
that you are here.

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We are happy that you have
chosen to be here this night.

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ALI ROGIN: Democratic
Governor Roy Cooper
wrote a letter welcoming
them, and local musicians

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like Ryan Macleod recorded cover
versions of Tinariwen songs.

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RYAN MACLEOD, Musician: I
think everybody has experienced
outrage fatigue, where you

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don't know what to do.

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And so here was something we
could do to show that this
isn't who we are in this town.

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ALI ROGIN: Tinariwen has
always believed in the power
of musical camaraderie.

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Their new album, "Amadjar,"
features American
artists, including,
Cass McCombs and Micah

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Nelson, the son of Willie.

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ABDALLAH AG ALHOUSSEYNI
(through translator):
There is this brotherhood,
automatic friendship

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and acceptance
between musicians.

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It lets us bond as soon
as we meet each other.

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ALI ROGIN: Their album title
means foreign traveler.

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The songs champion universal
values, love, brotherhood, and
freedom, in their case, freedom

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for the Tuareg themselves.

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All around the world, their
songs of longing for a lost
homeland have opened doors.

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ABDALLAH AG ALHOUSSEYNI (through
translator): We keep asking
ourselves how is it possible

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that people who do not
understand us or our
culture, very far from
our reality, can warmly

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welcome and support us.

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Words can't possibly explain
how great we feel about that.

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ALI ROGIN: Tinariwen's new
album is named for a foreign
traveler, but, here, they were

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welcomed as native sons.

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For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm
Ali Rogin in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: And
what a great story.