Salaam Friend,
My name is Asiyah Jones! I am the Advocacy Projects Director and have had the pleasure of running CAIR-Philadelphia’s youth programs for the past three years. I’ve been working tirelessly to provide mentorship programs, leadership workshops, and advocacy initiatives for Muslim youth from Center City to the suburbs. It fills my heart with joy to see young Muslims meet each other and develop leadership skills in a space where they can be themselves. These young people are our future. As the saying goes:
“Youth are the future of this Ummah, they are the torchbearers of Islam who will carry the legacy forward.”
In Philadelphia, with a population of over 300,000 Muslims, what others take for granted in public schools is not guaranteed for Muslim students. I host listening sessions with middle and high schoolers where we converse with Muslim students about their rights as Muslims in the school system. At the end of one of these listening sessions, a high school student approached me and wanted to share a personal dilemma. His Advanced Placement (AP) exam was scheduled on the same day as Eid and he was stuck between missing an exam he prepped the past year for or missing Eid. On behalf of CAIR-Philadelphia, I reached out to the Pennsylvania Board of Education and College Board with the calendar of Eid for the next ten years, and they agreed to respect these Eid dates when scheduling future tests.
Young Muslims are facing structural inequalities at school, on the streets, and in the community. Sometimes they hide their struggles, saying they are just shy or embarrassed to express challenges that they uniquely face. Often, they are the only Muslim at school or at work. Their teachers are ignorant of their unique needs, and many of these students report bullying. CAIR Philadelphia is both reactive and proactive. When Muslim students are facing an issue, they reach out to us, and we act on their behalf as advocates as with the above case. We are also proactive, training the next generation of young Muslims to be advocates amongst their peers.
I want to share the story of George. When I first met George despite his quiet and reserved appearance, after having the chance to speak with him I could quickly see he would be a great leader. I invited him to participate in our Muslim Youth Leadership Summit, which we designed as a space for Muslim middle and high school students to build confidence and leadership skills as Muslim Americans. He learned how to organize in the community, how to understand his own experience in the historical context of civil rights, and how to create an effective social media campaign. He spoke up, shared his experience and learned from the others.
A year later, he took part in our summer internship program and organized his own panel discussion with Meredith Elizalde, Tone Trump, and Rickey Duncan of the NoMo Foundation for a conversation on the gun violence epidemic within the city and the Muslim community’s response and role. Recently, George has joined City Hall’s Youth Engagement Commission. I have realized that when you take the time to connect with, uplift and cultivate young people like George, you get to see firsthand how they continue to grow into thoughtful strong adults and that is my favorite part of the job.
We must keep training and empowering youth leaders who will stand up for our people in the years ahead. Stand with us today and invest in Muslim youth, leadership and safety.
Sincerely,
Asiyah Jones, Advocacy Director, CAIR-Philadelphia
