Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997, pp. 67-68
Muslim American Activism
THE AMERICAN MUSLIM Alliance, an organization dedicated to building grass-roots political activism in the American-Muslim community, held a day-long statewide meeting for its New York chapters on Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury. Local and state officials who attended the meeting personally included Nassau County Legislators Roger Corbin and Judith Jacobs, and state Assemblymen Philip Boyle and Michael Balboni. Those who sent representatives included state Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy and Governor George Pataki.
Dr. Faroque Khan, chairman of the AMA’s New York State Council, delivered opening remarks that emphasized the goals of the meeting: to introduce the AMA to the New York state political leadership, to educate AMA members on methods of acquiring political empowerment, and to identify candidates for appropriate political positions. After each of the AMA’s six chapters in New York State, from Ithaca to Queens and Long Island to Albany (the eventual goal is to have an AMA chapter in each congressional district) made a report of its internal progress, AMA National Chairman Dr. Agha Saeed, a professor of political science in the University of California system, inspired the participants and drew praise from the political officials attending by presenting AMA’s quest against the backdrop of the general American political experience.
Helping to further educate the members on effective integration into American politics, Pulitzer Prize-winning Newsday reporter Bob Keeler covered the basics of handling the press. Mr. Keeler not only offered practical tips to the AMA membership, but also gave a behind-the-scenes view of a newspaper’s internal workings. This helped illuminate the process by which news story grows from an idea presented to a correspondent to a published article in a paper. With anecdotes, humorous analogies, and examples, Mr. Keeler depicted the press in a manner that made it seem more easily accessible to the AMA membership.
The most satisfying portion of the day came with the summary of recent AMA success stories as moderated by Dr. Saeed. Mrs. Rabia Aziz, the secretary of the Brookhaven Democratic Committee, and Mr. Najeeb Ahmad, a member of the Huntington School Board, told of their personal experiences in politics and their successful elections into their positions. Their stories provided inspiration and demonstrated to all AMA members that political goals could be met with perseverance and dedication. The afternoon was dedicated to workshops. Khizar Sheikh led a particularly helpful and inspiring workshop on volunteering in the political process today in order to create future political leaders tomorrow. Dr. Saeed noted that some of AMA’s successes are attributable to the competency, intellect and contributions provided by its youth in the development of the organization. James O’Connor, the first vice president of the Westbury Republican Committee, who gave the workshop on voter and delegate participation, invited AMA members to meet with the Republican leadership in his jurisdiction. Impressed with the turnout at the meeting, the topics of discussion, and the general enthusiasm of the members, Mr. O’Connor began the very process of furthering a relationship between political leaders and groups that the event itself sought to teach.
All in all, the day was a success for AMA leaders, the New York state members, and the political officials represented as they all found common ground. And on another level, the event brought a palpable sense of adventure and accomplishment to participating AMA members.
—Dr. Faroque Khan
