American Muslims at the DNC
By Asma Hasan
Colorado, US
The first-ever American Muslim Democratic Caucus met yesterday at the DNC. Muslim Congressmen Keith Ellison (D-Michigan) and Andre Carson (D-Indiana) were there, hugging fellow Muslims and working the crowd like no Congressmen I've ever seen! Andre's friend, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, dropped by for a surprise visit, and Joshua DuBois, the National Director of Religious Affairs for the Obama campaign, said that it was "not a smear to be called a Muslim."
Here's my photo album:
Me with a MUSLIM SUPERDELEGATE! 23-year-old Awais Khaleel, outgoing VP of the College Democrats, says that his YouTube campaign asking college students who he should pledge to garner more than 200,000 responses from fellow college students. I can't believe that one of that all-important group of superdelegates is an American Muslim!
Here are many of the Muslim delegates, just some of a group of 50 total. Many of them are what I would call "uncles" (men my parents' age). I chuckled listening to them debate each other in Urdu throughout the luncheon.
This delegate, Fatema Biviji, 32, made her own Democratic-themed Islamic dress and hijab, including fabric from Jo-Ann's and Wal-Mart!
Among the youngest delegates, from left: Arshiya Saiyed, 20, a student who is also an aide to Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, and who is pledged to Hillary. In the middle is Nabeela Baig, 24, campaign manager to Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Congressional Candidate. On the right is Sunshine Ludder, 32, a community organizer. When I asked Nabeela how it feels to be a Muslim delegate, she said: "I never thought about the fact that I was Muslim. It's a big part of my identity, but it's not a statement. I want to work for progressive change overall."
Many of the Muslims gathered out of the 100-plus crowd were local volunteers helping out at the event, including Andrea Mikulin (above left), 39, a teacher, and Mariama Sannoh (above right), 22, a student in Health Administration. Andrea told me: "The next generation, you are going to see a lot more Muslims, especially women, being active in politics and media."
The group was determined to look past the labels and fear associated with being Muslim and be proud of their identities as politically involved American Muslims. Everyone's goal was for the group to be twice its size in four years.
Are you, like I, overjoyed to see American Muslims be so involved in this most contested election? Or do you think that groups' organizing by religion are preventing greater common ground from being developed? For me, as a student of the American Muslim community, it was a proud moment. Editor's Note: Reprinted from Glamour.com with permission of the author. Please read the original blog posting at: www.glamour.com/
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