*Please note: This workshop is only open to Muslims. Workshops for non-Muslim allies have been offered in the past and will continue to be available through AFSC, here*
**Childcare & transportation can be provided upon request -- please text 618.303.6231
Islamophobia is at an all time high in our communities. In the past few weeks and months alone we have seen continual hate crimes, surveillance, mosques being set on fire, the “Muslim Ban”, immigration “I.C.E.” raids, and political “talks” of what else is to come. Often, our communities don’t have time to prepare for violence and we seldom have chances to educate ourselves on the history, roots, and structures of Islamophobia.
Ramadan is an important time for rebuilding ourselves. On the 18th we are asking you to join us in the spirit of Ramadan while we dig deep to deconstruct Islamophobia and the vast, painful impact it has had on the most vulnerable in our communities--all with the intention to better collectively respond and address the violence our communities are facing.
The goal(s) of this workshop 1) Move from an individualistic understanding of Islamophobia to structural or systemic. Learning about well-known state programs that target Muslims (CVE surveillance, NSEERs 2002 original “Muslim Registry”, FBI entrapment and others)
2) Providing a history and definition of Islamophobia that goes centuries back before 9/11 Analyzing “liberal Islamophobia”, and different kinds of Islamophobia.
3) Discussing the ways we “Internalize Islamophobia”: the often unnoticed, underestimated impact that occurs when Muslims (especially youth) accept Islamophobic ideas, beliefs etc.
4) Discussing community collective responses to Islamophobia (holding open houses etc.). Learning about how to respond and how NOT to respond (Model Minority myth, Bad Muslim vs Good Muslim etc.)
5) Identifying what have been barriers in organizing and collective community responses to Islamophobia
6) Sharing tools that you can take back to your communities: Know your rights, secure tools for communication
7) Connecting on future trainings, work, campaigns that can be done.
If any of the above sounds familiar, that’s great! If it doesn’t don’t worry, inshallah we’ll do our best to go through it. The workshop will be interactive with very little lecturing.