too much into this but it became interesting to me to realize how much it mattered that my name was najla said and i didn't want to change it. i didn't want to change it because i don't know as i said last night in my book talk i honestly thought maybe if someone set a different name i wouldn't answer them because i would forget that i change my name. it wasn't like -- everyone thinks i did these things with a certain amount of integrity and thought but i honestly just did what to change my name. it seemed like an old-fashiold-fashi oned silly thing to do in a world in which we live but when i became a professional actress and i realized what having the name najla said regardless of who my father was, how it meant i would be perceived and what would be expected of me i began to really start to deal with my identity. in the book i write a lot about how as a little girl i went to school with these white episcopalian girls and i was episcopalian and relatively white so i was trying to fit in but then i kept hearing that i was arab and then i would sort of look at tv and see what was being pr

najla said is an actress, playwright, and author exploring her identity as a palestinian american anda quintessential manhattanite. fashion designer rami kashou charmed america as a finalist on "project runway." his designs continue to wow the fashion world. hanan alattar loves her career. she performs with opera companies all over the world. life on the road can be grueling, but her family is never far from her thoughts. >> [singing operatically] >> ha ha ha! i'm sure she's out there. you just have to find her. [orchestra playing] [singing in german] i'm hanan alattar. i was born in houston, texas. my dad was born in baghdad. my mom was born in nablus. they met at the university of houston, and they stayed in the states. [singing in german] i am currently in austin, texas, where i went to undergrad, and i am working on a show "the magic flute." i am singing pamina, the princess, the daughter of the queen of the night, who is naughty and spicy, and i'm innocent at least in this show. we need to be quiet as a mouse. i got interested in opera. i went to a catholic girls school in housto