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Election 2016
A Good Country: My Life in Twelve Towns and the Ongoing Battle for a White America
Apr 03, 2021 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
Circa 1977 a the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia (Image subject to copyright)
Exciting news! The book I've been writing, researching and breathing for the past four years is finally on its way. Due out by Random House in July 2022, the book is memoir braided with little known chapters in American history.
As Trump launched his campaign in 2015, Muslim families like mine were already grieving the execution-style murders of three beautiful, bright young students in North Carolina, followed by a year of unprecedented attacks on American Muslims. When the San Bernardino shooter was identified as Muslim in late 2015, and Trump used that as an opportunity to scapegoat us all, calling for a 'complete and total shutdown' of...
Exciting news! The book I've been writing, researching and breathing for the past four years is finally on its way. Due out by Random House in July 2022, the book is memoir braided with little known chapters in American history.
As Trump launched his campaign in 2015, Muslim families like mine were already grieving the execution-style murders of three beautiful, bright young students in North Carolina, followed by a year of unprecedented attacks on American Muslims. When the San Bernardino shooter was identified as Muslim in late 2015, and Trump used that as an opportunity to scapegoat us all, calling for a 'complete and total shutdown' of...
An Emblem, An Anthem, and a Uniform: Why Red Hats Matter
Jan 25, 2019 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
The MAGA hat is a stroke of genius.
National identities are built on purpose. They are defined and described in ways that either encourage unity and engagement or simply affirm the powerful. But there are three ways, in particular, that appear in the making and celebrating of nations around the world: emblems, anthems and uniforms.
Athletes compete under their national flag at the Olympics, soldiers fight under their flag in war, emissaries plant their flag as a symbol of achievement or conquest. Anthems are played to symbolize victory, unity, and pride. Uniforms vary depending on the context, but everyone recognizes a military uniform and many associate certain colors or a specific cultural dress with a nation or a people.
Not surprisingly, when a leader...
National identities are built on purpose. They are defined and described in ways that either encourage unity and engagement or simply affirm the powerful. But there are three ways, in particular, that appear in the making and celebrating of nations around the world: emblems, anthems and uniforms.
Athletes compete under their national flag at the Olympics, soldiers fight under their flag in war, emissaries plant their flag as a symbol of achievement or conquest. Anthems are played to symbolize victory, unity, and pride. Uniforms vary depending on the context, but everyone recognizes a military uniform and many associate certain colors or a specific cultural dress with a nation or a people.
Not surprisingly, when a leader...
Dear Beloved Resistance
Feb 19, 2017 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
Dear Beloved Resistance,
We now have a President and Cabinet who almost certainly have no interest in the safety or well-being of their people. Many of us marched in the streets last weekend in an awesome show of solidarity against Trump and all that he promises and stands for. It was, by several accounts, the largest global protest in history.
But in the hours and days following the march, we began to size each other up, tear each other down, and occasionally thoughtfully critique each other's politics and intentions. Donald Trump poses an unprecedented threat to all of us. It is true that some of us are more used to being targeted by the government than others of us. Some of us...
We now have a President and Cabinet who almost certainly have no interest in the safety or well-being of their people. Many of us marched in the streets last weekend in an awesome show of solidarity against Trump and all that he promises and stands for. It was, by several accounts, the largest global protest in history.
But in the hours and days following the march, we began to size each other up, tear each other down, and occasionally thoughtfully critique each other's politics and intentions. Donald Trump poses an unprecedented threat to all of us. It is true that some of us are more used to being targeted by the government than others of us. Some of us...
Time for Discernment: A Muslim Women Calls on Her Buddhist Cousins in Faith
Dec 12, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
To read at Tricycle: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/a-time-for-discernment/
The last time I had worn a hijab, a headscarf, on the street was 11 years ago, when I was a practicing public interest attorney in Philadelphia. I’ve worn it for prayers since then, but this time I wore it to go to the grocery store near the small town on the Delaware River where I am raising my two young children. It was several days after our country elected Donald Trump, and I wanted to reassure myself that my world was still full of goodness and light. I wanted to watch others see past what I was wearing on my head. And because my local Trader Joe’s is in true-blue New Jersey, I got what I...
UNDOING TRUMP’S DAMAGE: TALKING TO OUR CHILDREN ABOUT THEIR BODIES
Oct 18, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"It’s only a matter of time before what’s on every news channel and on every Facebook feed bleeds into our children’s consciousness, or those of their classmates at school. That makes it a good time to talk to our children about their bodies, boundaries, inappropriate touching, and sexual abuse.
Many of our families and communities enforce strict taboos on speaking about anything involving sexual contact at all, ever. There is a widespread sense that to speak about sexual contact is to encourage it. Let’s be clear: sexual abuse is not sex. It is violence, and, unfortunately it happens in Muslim communities as well as outside them. The goal is to give our children tools so that they can avoid being hurt...."...
Many of our families and communities enforce strict taboos on speaking about anything involving sexual contact at all, ever. There is a widespread sense that to speak about sexual contact is to encourage it. Let’s be clear: sexual abuse is not sex. It is violence, and, unfortunately it happens in Muslim communities as well as outside them. The goal is to give our children tools so that they can avoid being hurt...."...
When Pakistan is Safer than North Carolina
Oct 18, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"Remember the clock kid, Ahmed? He was honored by President Obama for his ingenuity and scholastic achievement after he was put in handcuffs and arrested at his own school for the same. He lives with his family in Qatar now, because of safety concerns after he became a target of Richard Dawkins and other right-wing public figures.
There’s a recent story that is every bit as heartbreaking. In it, a cherub-faced first-grader named Abdul Aziz was beaten, punched in the face, kicked in the stomach and ended up with his arm in a sling. The seven-year-old was attacked by his classmates for being Muslim. They tried to force him to eat non-zabiha food, and when he refused, they made fun of...
There’s a recent story that is every bit as heartbreaking. In it, a cherub-faced first-grader named Abdul Aziz was beaten, punched in the face, kicked in the stomach and ended up with his arm in a sling. The seven-year-old was attacked by his classmates for being Muslim. They tried to force him to eat non-zabiha food, and when he refused, they made fun of...
Dear Neighbor: I Take Your Trump Sign Personally
Oct 09, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"Dear Neighbor:
I want you to know that I take your Trump sign personally. I take it personally because I have a vagina, or as your favored candidate might say, a “p***y.” My daughter has one, too. And I figure if you’re okay with a p***y-grabber for President, you might just be one yourself. I assume you vetted the guy before you put that sign on your lawn, facing my home, in our safe and quiet suburban neighborhood. The latest news, I bet, reaches you before it reaches me, since we don’t have cable television at our house. But your loud, proud sign supporting a sexual predator for President is still out there, right alongside the quiet part of the block,...
I want you to know that I take your Trump sign personally. I take it personally because I have a vagina, or as your favored candidate might say, a “p***y.” My daughter has one, too. And I figure if you’re okay with a p***y-grabber for President, you might just be one yourself. I assume you vetted the guy before you put that sign on your lawn, facing my home, in our safe and quiet suburban neighborhood. The latest news, I bet, reaches you before it reaches me, since we don’t have cable television at our house. But your loud, proud sign supporting a sexual predator for President is still out there, right alongside the quiet part of the block,...
Radio Spot on the Experiences of Muslim American Women
May 09, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
Guests: Fariha Khan, Sofia Ali-Khan, Kameelah Mumin Rashad, and Bina Shah
How do Muslim women feel about the way their religion is portrayed in the media, its place in American culture, and the ongoing presidential race? To get some answers, Radio Times producer Elizabeth Fiedler spoke with three Muslim women who live in the Philadelphia area about their lives, the surprising comments they receives about their appearance and religion, and about the term ‘forever foreigner.’ She spoke with FARIHA KHAN, associate director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, Muslim American public interest lawyer and writer SOFIA ALI-KHAN and KAMEELAH MU’MIN RASHAD, the Muslim chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania and founder of the nonprofit Muslim Wellness...
How do Muslim women feel about the way their religion is portrayed in the media, its place in American culture, and the ongoing presidential race? To get some answers, Radio Times producer Elizabeth Fiedler spoke with three Muslim women who live in the Philadelphia area about their lives, the surprising comments they receives about their appearance and religion, and about the term ‘forever foreigner.’ She spoke with FARIHA KHAN, associate director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, Muslim American public interest lawyer and writer SOFIA ALI-KHAN and KAMEELAH MU’MIN RASHAD, the Muslim chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania and founder of the nonprofit Muslim Wellness...
Is Your Passport in Order?
May 08, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"...I have always known that I would need to prepare my children, as racial and religious minorities, to handle the kind of covert racism and ignorance I experienced with my teachers, and the hypocrisy I experienced with my childhood friend. Those experiences were not easy, but they were not crises. Through them, I developed the ability to speak loudly and clearly, to carry myself with dignity, to listen carefully, and to learn. They were the inevitable challenges of taking part in the great project of pluralism. In that project we are offered the divine opportunity to reach across gender and color, across nation, language and tribe “that we might come to know one another,” as the Qur’an describes.
But today’s Republican...
But today’s Republican...
An American Muslim Mom on Faith, Parenting and the 2016 Election
Apr 27, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
My latest piece on Huffington Post:
"...This is my Islam, this is my surrender. This is what it means to me to be a person of faith: to strive to understand the nature of myself as a human, and to strive to understand the nature of the world around me. To be in humble service wherever I can. And to steward what is my part firmly, gently when possible, as best as I can. Is there a place for my faith in America today?"
Read More Here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sofia-alikhan/an-american-muslim-mom-on_b_9786870.html
"...This is my Islam, this is my surrender. This is what it means to me to be a person of faith: to strive to understand the nature of myself as a human, and to strive to understand the nature of the world around me. To be in humble service wherever I can. And to steward what is my part firmly, gently when possible, as best as I can. Is there a place for my faith in America today?"
Read More Here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sofia-alikhan/an-american-muslim-mom-on_b_9786870.html
Dear Fellow Americans (4)...
Mar 28, 2016 by SOFIA ALI-KHAN
"...rhetorically, Cruz has moved us one step closer to a fractured democracy. While his words are certainly scary for Muslims, they pose a serious threat to all Americans. The Republicans’ inflammatory rhetoric this election cycle has done something remarkable to this country in a very short period of time: It has turned this country into a tinderbox." Read the full letter here.