November 3, 2015

Dear Friend,

Today, we welcomed the news that the FBI suspended its troubling online program "Don't Be a Puppet," which was designed to train students across the country on how to identify someone who may be falling prey to extremists. The New York Times, Washington Post and International Business Times are a few of the media outlets that have covered MPAC's involvement in this developing story.

MPAC, along with a few other advocacy groups, were invited to preview the program at a meeting with the FBI two weeks ago, where we raised serious concerns about how it improperly characterized American Muslims as a suspect community with its targeted focus and stereotypical depictions and how it could exasperate the problem by leading to bullying, bias, and religious profiling of students.

In a follow-up letter to the FBI, written in coalition with other advocacy groups, we also said such a program creates a dangerous precedent of FBI overreach into sectors of our society that are best managed by experts, like teachers, curriculum developers, and other educators. And instead, community-led initiatives like MPAC’s Safe Spaces Initiative would be a far more effective tool in tackling ideological extremism rather than one that is law-enforcement led.

Our efforts around this issue from beginning to end can be seen as a powerful example of how MPAC’s model toward advocacy works. At MPAC, we believe in:

• Engagement - We work to build relationships with decision-makers based on mutual understanding and serve as a trusted ally and resource. Furthermore, we believe that direct, honest and consistent engagement is crucial regardless of agreement/disagreement.
• Building Partnerships - Partnering with others around issues of common concern is critical to our collective success as it amplifies our voices and strengthens our individual work.
• Offering Solutions - Finally, in addition to offering critiques, we apply a solution-oriented approach to working with others. We work to get better decisions made by the government, media and Hollywood by providing policy analysis and recommendations. 

In order to affect change, we need to be at the table and engage others. We can’t do this without your support! Consider supporting MPAC as we strive everyday to invest in a future where American Muslims are an integral and contributing part of our nation’s pluralism.

Sincerely,

Hoda Hawa
MPAC Director of Policy & Advocacy