By Guest BloggerHere in Canada, we are home to the Maple leaf. When fall comes around, this prominent leaf starts to gradually change its colors. It goes from its natural colors to a bright yellow, to a warm orange and then to a fierce red. It’s almost as if all the trees are on fire. It takes…
By HalimahA coalition of Black and pro-Palestine organizations collaborated to produce a poignant and profound video to promote trans-organizational solidarity between two communities that know, and too often, experience institutionalized oppression within the mold of their respective and varied histories. The video, titled “When I See Them I See Us,” features many prominent Black and Palestinian figures…
By Sahra MaganThe longstanding practice of ritualized sexual violence against young boys — bacha bazi (literally, “boy play”) — was slowly reinstated after the fall of the Taliban, which had taken a hardline stance against the practice by banning it in the parts of the country that they controlled. The practice has been long condemned by human…
By Shannon“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” This happy little ditty is what my grade school teacher used to help us remember the year that Christopher Columbus discovered the United States of America. It wasn’t until I got to college and took a class in Latin American history that I learned a different, more accurate…
By ShannonLucero Alcaraz. Treven Taylor Anspach. Rebecka Ann Carnes. Quinn Glen Cooper. Kim Saltmarsh Dietz. Lucas Eibel. Jason Dale Johnson. Lawrence Levine. Sarena Dawn Moore. These are the names of the nine victims, shot to death in Oregon at Umpqua Community College. Oregon joins an ever growing list of places in which mass school shootings have…
By Jenan MatariBecause we’re still having an issue understanding the magnitude of the Syrian humanitarian crisis, (although I still can’t comprehend where the misunderstandings are — people are dying and need our help, so let’s help them) the beautiful Queen Rania of Jordan had a one-on-one interview with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts on Oct. 2, 2015,…
By Guest BloggerI attended a mock-government conference two years ago that changed my life. After spending months crafting legislation, running for the office of senator in a mock election, and preparing myself to represent Maryland at the Girls Nation civic program, I found myself standing before a group of empowered young women who had decided that I…
By Sabha AbourRepublican presidential candidate Ben Carson recently said, “The United States should not elect a Muslim for president.” We’d like to add to that statement that America should not accept Muslims who invent things like, oh — I don’t know, clocks? Because honestly, what do we really know about these alleged clocks, am I right? Are…
By Sabha AbourThe world wouldn’t be what it is today if young inquiring minds didn’t question, challenge or think outside of mainstream dogma. But young Muslims now may be at risk of being labeled a security threat for vocalizing their opinions, according to a fairly new program set out by the United States Department of Justice. On…
By sanazaheerAfter nearly 35 years of tension between the United States and Iran, we’ve finally reached a turning point. The highly debated Iran Nuclear Deal will be the first step to ending Iran’s isolation from several world leaders and building ties with the U.S. and the rest of the West. But just like everyone else, we…
By Salma ElkhaoudiAhmed Mohamed’s face has been the highlight of social media over the last couple of days. This 14-year-old boy went from being racially profiled and falsely arrested, to being invited to the White House by the President himself. And aside from the fact that Ahmed has set an example for a country that’s become riddled…
By Guest BloggerMy family and I immigrated to the suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth, TX nearly 16 years ago. Since then, not a day passes that we aren’t reminded just how Muslim we are. I’m not even talking about the incessant staring in Walmarts or TSA assaults at the DFW airport or Islamophobic remarks at Six Flags — nope….
By HabeebaThey thought the clock the robotics-loving Muslim teen created was a bomb. Typical. Fourteen-year-old Ahmed Mohamed from Texas woke up Tuesday morning excited to take his latest creation to his new high school. He built a clock over the weekend and wanted to show his engineering teacher what he could do. But Ahmed’s teacher wasn’t…
By Salma ElkhaoudiResidents of New York have three core nicknames with which to identify New York’s most vicious gang, the NYPD: “Pigs,” “The Boys,” and “Officer, what are you talking about I’m not resisting.” While to anyone else these may seem rude and anti-police, the names make sense when you look at the statistics and videos confirming…
By Jenan MatariToday is September 11th 2015 – 14 years since the tragic attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center. Today not only changed the lives of every American citizen – whether or not they were personally affected by losing a loved one – but it changed the life of every Muslim around the world. We asked…
