July 5, 2012

On June 30th, MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati and Young Leaders Program Coordinator Yasmin Hussein conducted four speaking engagements during the weekend, the highlight of which was the “I Am Change” civic Leadership Workshop at the Islamic Society of Central New York (ISCNY) in Syracuse, New York.

The “I Am Change” workshop is one of MPAC’s unique programs that is directed towards the empowerment of Muslim Americans into becoming active citizens in their local communities, state legislatures and in Congress to shape better policies. Media training was also provided to the participants at the workshop. The workshop was coordinated with the help of MPAC’s 2011 young government summit alum Yusuf Abdul-Qadir.

“The work that MPAC is doing nationally is needed to address the growing need for tools of engagement for enhancing the capacity of local communities. When we each work collaboratively towards the common goal of American plurality, we achieve the very ideals set forth in the Constitution of the United States and that vision of America. We are finding that American Muslims are an added value to the American tapestry when engaged properly and MPAC has done a tremendous service in helping to push the work we do at ISCNY to an all new level,” said Abdul-Qadir.

On Friday, Al-Marayati gave a khutba at the ISCNY to a congregation of over 500, whereby he talked about the importance of serving humanity as a means of upholding our covenant with God. Only with changing ourselves can we change the community.

Later in the afternoon, Hussein held a discussion that was attended by young women from the local community titled “Real Talk: Real Women, Real Issues”. Hussein said, “It is important for young American Muslim women to have discussions with each other about their trials and successes within the community in order to find solutions and create networks with other young women to support each other in the work that they do.”

This was followed by an evening talk by both Al-Marayati and Hussein about the different platform issues MPAC works on and how local communities can contribute to the different dialogues surrounding our platform issues.

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Alia Abdelrahman (alia@mpac.org)
Government Relations Intern