Muslims in America and Islamophobia

By:Rebecca Muller

The American Friends Service Committee was very pleased to present the program “Muslims in America and Islamophobia”, featuring the Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Nihad Awad.

Before the program began, AFSC convened a meal with a few local leaders and advocates to fellowship and network together. Mojeeb Nazeri, a student at Wake Forest University, presented a “digital story” about his experience moving from his home in Afghanistan to the United States a month before September 11 and the prejudices against Muslims that he encountered. Nazeri used his experience facing this ignorance and prejudice as an opportunity for an interfaith dialogue with people in his community, extending to the wider community.

Todd Drake, creator of the Muslim Self Portrait project, facilitated the evening program, and presented a powerful multimedia spoken-word video on hate crimes committed against Muslims in the US. We also learned that while Muslims make up only 2% of the US population, around 25% of workplace harassment complaints are filed by Muslims. Todd introduced two local residents who shared their experiences as Muslims in America with the diverse crowd of around 75 people: Halona Robinson and Amro Ahmed.

Robinson gave an emotional account of her experience facing intense discrimination at a local college in Greensboro. Ahmed spoke about the struggles that he faced having been discriminated within corporate America, saying that he found it a struggle to educate others on his culture. Although he was overqualified for jobs and had had more schooling than people who would get jobs, he was not able to be promoted.

Khalilah Sabra, of NC’s Muslim American Society, presented keynote speaker Nihad Awad, who is the national executive of CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) in Washington DC. Mr. Awad opened by sharing basic information about Islam, which itself comes from the Arabic word for Peace. His engaging style and the humility and centeredness from which he spoke reached people and opened their minds to different perspectives on Islam that those offered in the mainstream media.

At the end of the discussion, there was a question and answer session in which the audience shared their concerns with treatment toward Muslims in the U.S. as well as their dreams for coexistence for all oppressed peoples in the U.S. One member of the audience stated “We’re all fighting the same war, but on different fronts...what would it look like if persons from different ethnicities came together to decide ‘okay this is a national issue’...how do we get people who are oppressed to actually come together and fight the oppression?”

To view pictures of the Muslims in America event click here

The Cost of War

AFSC national staff Peter Lems speaks at Guilford College on the war in Afghanistan and non-violent movements working for peace

By AFSC intern Rebecca Muller

It is often hard to fathom that the war in Afghanistan has been going on for almost a decade. The United States has increased military spending 81 percent since 2001 and by May 20, 2010 the combined cost passed 1 trillion dollars. Since Hamid Karzai was elected in 2005 the level of deaths in Afghanistan has only increased.

In the midst of this war, the plight of the Afghan people is sometimes forgotten. This violence deeply affects Afghans, no matter who instigates it.

Peter Lems, the National Program Director for Education and Advocacy on Iraq and Afghanistan for the American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, PA, addressed some of these issues in his presentation on April 15 at the Guilford College library on the Economic Cost of War. The presentation was intentionally held on Tax Day, to emphasize the use of national resources on war spending, rather than on domestic needs.

Lems emphasized the fact that there are many Afghans who have chosen to respond to the war in a non-violent way. “We often … don’t hear about Afghans and their work that we need to support”, Lems said.

One of these non-violent movements, called “Our Journey to Smile”, was the idea of young people from Afghanistan. These Afghans seek to increase dialogue globally while working towards peace and reconciliation; they are committed to non-violence and the well-being of all people. Lems showed a video created by these young people about their work. To watch videos from these inspiring young Afghans http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/.

Afghan New Year Day, March 21, 2011 was celebrated in Kabul with a “Day of Peace”. Lems highlighted and told the stories of two political figures that are important to the peace movement, Ramazan Bashardost and Malalai Joya.

Bashardost ran as an independent candidate in the 2009 presidential election. He challenged the status quo by traveling with no armed guards; many refer to him as the “Afghan Gandhi”.
Malalai Joya was a female Parliamentarian in the National Assembly of Afghanistan from 2005 until early 2007. She was dismissed for publicly denouncing the presence of warlords in the Afghan parliament. She has since been named by many as the “bravest woman in Afghanistan.”

In addition to emphasizing the growing non-violent movement for peace in Afghanistan, Lems featured actions taken by young people in the US around the Cost of War. He shared short videos from the AFSC and National Priorities Project video contest If I had a trillion dollars. This project asked young people across the US to create a video capturing how they would use the trillion dollars that has been spent on war in Iraq and Afghanistan. To watch these videos http://www.youtube.com/user/IHTDVideos.

Afghanistan is thousands of miles away. Thus, it becomes both easy and tempting to forget that there is a war being fought there. Peter Lems reminds us to continue keeping the people of Afghanistan, who suffer from the violence of war daily, in the forefronts of our minds and society. At what cost, be it human, economic or otherwise, is this war being fought at and who are the ones paying?

This program was held in conjunction with the national, traveling mural exhibition Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan, currently on display in Guilford College’s Library Atrium through May 7 1pm.

To view photos of the event click here

Info on the "Economic Cost of War" Program

NATIONAL PEACE ACTIVIST TO SPEAK IN GREENSBORO ON TAX DAY ON THE ECONOMIC COST OF WAR
Local residents gather to learn about and discuss the effects of the US presence in Afghanistan


Greensboro, NC- The program “The Economic Cost of War in Afghanistan” will take place on Friday April 15th at 7 PM in the Atrium of the Guilford College Library (5800 W. Friendly Ave. Greensboro, NC 27410). The event will feature Peter Lems, the Program Director for Education and Advocacy on Iraq and Afghanistan for the American Friends Service Committee.

The free program is sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization dedicated to peace and nonviolence. Local co-sponsors to the exhibition include Guilford College’s Center for Principled Problem Solving, New Garden Friends Meeting Social Concerns, and NC Peace Action.

Symbolically held on tax day, this event will call attention to how our taxpayer dollars are disproportionately spent on war at a time when drastic cuts are being made to social programs.

Featured speaker Peter Lems has visited the Middle East several times, including Afghanistan and Syria, and has led multiple delegations of Quakers to Iraq. Since 1988, he has worked for a variety of organizations focused on the Arab world. Peter helps coordinate and implement national educational and advocacy campaigns around Iraq, Afghanistan and U.S. foreign policy for the American Friends Service Committee, headquartered in Philadelphia.

This program is part of a series of events connected with the national, traveling mural exhibition Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan. The exhibition is a collaboration of more than 40 artists from around the world. Forty-five, 4-foot by 6-foot panels, each uniquely designed by an artist or group of artists, comprise one large display memorializing Afghan civilian casualties. Guilford College students designed four of the murals, which were painted during a “Community Paint-for-Peace” day in April 2010.Windows and Mirrors will run through May 8th, 2011 and then continue on Chicago, IL. For a full schedule and frequent updates, please visit www.afsc.org/greensboro.

Through the series of events associated with the exhibition, AFSC hopes to raise attention about the human and financial cost of the Afghanistan war. Ann Lennon, Coordinator of AFSC’s Area Office of the Carolinas, states, “Every minute the US spends $2.1 million on the military. Imagine what just one minute’s worth of that spending could do if it were used for peace.”

For more on AFSC’s programs for peace, visit www.afsc.org or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

###
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

American Friends Service Committee Area Office of the Carolinas
529-D College Road Greensboro, NC 27410 | 336-854-0633 | www.afsc.org/greensboro

Christianity and War

By: Rebecca Muller

Has our country evolved into a military machine?
--Rebecca Muller, AFSC-NC intern

This was one of many important questions/topics, posed by West Point graduate Mark Heller, who participated in the April 5th panel discussion “Christianity and War”, held in the Guilford College Gallery in Founders Hall.

The panel, sponsored by Guilford College Friends Center and American Friends Service Committee, was part of a series of events accompanying the Windows and Mirrors travelling mural exhibition reflecting on the human cost of war in Afghanistan.

There were four panelists participating: Heller, who describes himself as “disillusioned with the military”, Kevin Matthews, Eric Handy, William Berry, and Frank Massey.

Matthews believes that war has to do with anger leading to retaliation and stated that Jesus would not fight in a war. He believes that no Christian has to justify not going to war. “If Christians had remained Christians then World War II would not have happened”, Matthews said. He thinks that the authority to go to war has to be legitimate and there must be a just cause to back up the decision.

Heller, who attends Sandy Springs Friends Meeting, stated that the human brain is not fully formed until age 25 so the soldiers who enter the military at 18 are getting in something that they don’t understand. He also believes that the previous administration did not understand the seriousness or effects of war. “What if Bush, Cheney, or Rumsfeld had had to stay in Iraq for the duration of the war?” Heller asked.

Eric Handy, the son of a Methodist Minister and part of the ROTC program at A&T State University, believes that there is a need to have military officers with knowledge of what it means to be a Christian. He also believes that war should always be the last result and that military leaders are responsible for having clear-cut standards of war. “According to the news, the marker of success is the number of dead soldiers”, Handy said

Frank Massey, who was born and raised a Quaker, recalled that although his great-grandfather was selected to fight he knew that “war was not the answer.” He believes that the military is a social experiment including different views and genders. Citing the number of soldiers coming from poor and minority communities Massey asked, “Is there an economic draft?”

William Berry, a Peace and Conflict Studies major at Guilford College who participated in the discussion reflected on the “Lambs War:” “There is a war that protects life and Christians fight this war.” Berry referred to this as a grassroots, non-violent social movement that Christians engage in for a spiritual and peaceful world.

Opinions varied during the evening, but the discussion was rich throughout.

To view picture of the Christianity and War program click here

NCIntern Reflections on Windows and Mirrors Planning

Three weeks. The astounding murals that comprise Windows and Mirrors have been here in Greensboro, NC for three weeks now. Time just sails right on by, especially when you have been as busy as we all have been. We’ve been bouncing from one event to the next, one tour after another. With all this hustle, the countless emails, phone calls and visits, it doesn’t surprise me how much the logistics of the exhibit have consumed me. What does surprise me was that it took me this long to have a true look at the exhibit myself.

My mother drove down from Ohio last weekend. I guess she had listened to me blab long enough about this extraordinary art exhibit and had to see it herself (It also probably doesn’t hurt that she likes sweet tea and it’s impossible to get the good stuff above the Mason-Dixon). She and I visited the Guilford College library together to view the murals. Her response was a wake-up call to me. My encounters with WAM have been so one-sided, so clouded by logistics that I could tell you the exact measurements between each mural but I couldn’t tell you how each one made me feel, how I personally connected with the exhibit. My mother’s tears were an instant reminder of what WAM is all about. These murals are about humanity, they are about the common threads that weave us all together, they are about the differences that allow us to learn from one another, and they are about the resilience of hope and the human spirit. Somehow, somewhere I had forgotten that.

I thanked my mother that day. Her fresh set of eyes prompted me to take a step back and have another look. I was reminded that for many who view this exhibit, these murals are the first encounter with this difficult topic of real people being affected by war. And for those folks who work on issues of war and social justice on a daily basis, sometimes we need a powerful image or a reflective moment to revive our passion and zest for that which we struggle for everyday. I encourage everyone to take a break from the emails and particulars of your day, set aside the Blackberry and think about what is truly important. Just give yourself a moment to remember what you do, why you do it and who you do it for.

AFSC Interns travel to Raleigh, NC to Lobby Legislatures

On March 17th I lobbied in Raleigh, North Carolina with the Adelante Education Coalition, to legislators whose priority is education. Adelante works to expand educational opportunities and access for Latino/Hispanic and migrant youth and their families. On my visit with them they gave me the tools I needed to talk to legislators about HB11 and HB343. Both of these bills block access to higher educational success for undocumented persons. I was privileged to talk to Democratic Representative Jeffus of Guilford County about her stance on the bills. She assured me and the other youth in my group that she would appose both bills and work to gain better access to higher education for undocumented persons. Some of the other youth who lobbied to other representatives were met with opposition and ignorance toward the details of both bills (even though they support both bills).

I am grateful for the opportunity to talk to my representatives. I learned the importance of having dialogue with representatives especially those who have different views than mine. Because Rep. Jeffus was “on our side” we were able to get names of other representatives that would oppose the bills and she was able to give us an idea of how likely it is that the bills would pass. The youth that talked to republican representatives that were for passing the HB11 and HB343 had the opportunity to hear the reasons why they supported the bill. Some of their reasons stemmed from prejudices and misinformation. Vice Chair of Education Linda P. Johnson explained to the Latina high school youth that this bill was simply a “Get back” bill. She then explained that community colleges make rules and legislators make laws. When the community colleges ruled to allow undocumented immigrants into the schools that was out of their jurisdiction of authority. “Don’t worry” Johnson said. She went on to say that the bill was only to prove a point to community college that they are not the law and should seek Legislators approval on decisions like what “type” of person should be allowed to go to college.

At the end of the day all the youth with Adelante shared the events of their day lobbying. Adelante Coalition took note of their reasons for supporting the bill and now knows that what they need to do is have more dialogue with certain representatives in order to educate them so that they can make decisions based on facts rather than negative assumptions. I look forward to going back to Raleigh to talk to representatives. I feel like face to face discussions are more effective than mass emails. If you ever have the opportunity to talk to your legislators take advantage of it.