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

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

band devoted fans
around the world.

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

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

media.

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

a warm welcome.

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

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

where these musicians
are most at home.

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

word is understood.

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

in life where there are
no barriers or borders.

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

Desert.

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

Desert.

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

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

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

Carlos Santana, and U2's Bono.

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

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

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

seizing their ancestral lands.

Many fled to
neighboring countries.

Tinariwen's founders
were among them.

They met in an Algerian
refugee camp in 1979.

Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni
plays guitar.

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

exile, hardships and suffering.

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

Moammar Gadhafi, who
provided them some freedom.

But Tinariwen fought with
their guitars, not guns.

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

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

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

absolutely everything.

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

promoting the show and
responded with hate.

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

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

"Look like terrorists to me.

No way," wrote another.

One even threatened to
bring his rifle to the show.

Singer Alhassane Ag Touhami
responds to the hate with humor.

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

People who make music
are not terrorists.

They are actually
persecuted by terrorists.

ALI ROGIN: Tinariwen
knows that firsthand.

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

to obey the
extremists' music ban.

One band member was
briefly kidnapped.

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

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

wrong.

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

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

when she was 2 years old.

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

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

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

was bought and
converted into a mosque.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

for a Tuesday night
are higher than usual.

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

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

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

long tradition of making
music, great music.

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

it Tinariwen Day.

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

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

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

like Ryan Macleod recorded cover
versions of Tinariwen songs.

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

don't know what to do.

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

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

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

Nelson, the son of Willie.

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

and acceptance
between musicians.

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

ALI ROGIN: Their album title
means foreign traveler.

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

for the Tuareg themselves.

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

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

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

welcome and support us.

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

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

welcomed as native sons.

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

JUDY WOODRUFF: And
what a great story.