(COLUMBUS, OH, 12/11/2019) – On Friday, November 22, CAIR-Columbus Government Affairs and Development Coordinator Usjid Hameed spoke at the Annual Benefit Dinner of The Muslim Students’ Association at Ohio State.
Author: Usjid Hameed
(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 9/25/19) – On Sunday, September 22, CAIR-Columbus participated in the 3rd Annual Interfaith March for Peace and Justice in downtown Columbus.
The Interfaith March for Peace & Justice is a nonpartisan event meant to affirm freedom of religion and to condemn all acts of discrimination directed at people because of their identity. It was initiated by a small group of people in Columbus, Ohio in April 2017 and has now spread to cities across the country.
The march, which began at Genoa Park and ended at Bicentennial Park, featured speakers from a multitude of faith traditions and backgrounds. CAIR-Columbus was represented by Government Affairs and Development Coordinator Usjid Hameed, who registered voters and spoke about the importance of voting to protect the rights of marginalized communities.
(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 9/25/19) – On Tuesday, September 17, more than 100 Ohio Muslims took part in over 30 legislative meetings with lawmakers and their staff during CAIR-Ohio’s 3rd Annual Muslim Advocacy Day event at the Ohio Statehouse.
SEE PHOTOS HERE
“This event is about empowering our community and urging Ohio lawmakers to pass policies which would institute paid family and medical leave, address the gender-based pay gap, and break down barriers to the ballot box through automated voter registration,” said CAIR-Columbus Government Affairs and Development Coordinator Usjid Hameed. “As Muslims, we recognize that it is our duty to make our state of Ohio more equitable.”
Hameed delivered opening remarks and conducted the advocacy training for attendees. Following the training, award winning civil rights activist Linda Sarsour delivered the keynote address, which focused on the importance of American-Muslim activism.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 8/29/19) – On Wednesday, August 28, CAIR-Columbus participated in a Big Table conversation hosted by the Grange Insurance Audubon Center.
The conversation, which featured participants from a wide array of backgrounds and organizations, focused on how central Ohio can become a stronger, more well-connected, and equitable community. The Big Table, organized by the Columbus Foundation, is a day of community-focused conversations that take place all across the central Ohio region.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. The CAIR-Ohio Affiliate has three chapters – Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 8/29/19) – On Friday, August 23, CAIR-Columbus Government Affairs and Development Coordinator Usjid Hameed presented about the “The History of Muslims in America” at Noor Islamic Cultural Center (NICC).
The event was organized in collaboration with NICC’s education committee and sought to connect the struggles of American-Muslims in the past to their struggles today. The presentation explored the American-Muslim experience from colonial America to the present, touching on topics such as slavery, discriminatory immigration and naturalization laws, the Great Migration, black nationalism, foreign affairs, and much more.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 8/15/19) – On Tuesday, August 13, CAIR-Columbus participated in the Ohio Diversity Council’s “2019 Columbus Multicultural Roundtable.”
The event aimed to create awareness about the impact a non-inclusive environment can have on individuals, as well as highlight the ways in which organizations and individuals can work together to promote the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and community.
The roundtable brought together multiple leaders from diverse backgrounds to share their personal stories and experiences that relate to facing adversity in society. CAIR-Columbus Government Affairs and Development Coordinator Usjid Hameed spoke about the challenges facing American-Muslims in central Ohio, the work of CAIR-Columbus, and how workplaces can ensure that their practices are inclusive of American-Muslims.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim Civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. The CAIR-Ohio Affiliate has three chapters – Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 8/14/19) – On Friday, August 9, CAIR-Columbus organized a rally to protest India’s siege of Kashmir and to urge the U.S. State Department to pressure India to end its aggression.
Roughly 200 people attended the event, which took place on Friday evening at the Ohio Statehouse. Click here to view photos from the rally.
The government of India has not only revoked the protected status of the Kashmir Valley, but has also put the entire Valley under a draconian 24-hour curfew since Saturday, August 3, 2019. The Indian government has also imposed a communication blackout on the Valley by suspending internet and phone services. Local Ohioans who have families in Kashmir have been unable to speak to their loved ones and are extremely worried about the safety of their families held captive in their own homes.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim Civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. The CAIR-Ohio Affiliate has three chapters – Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
(COLUMBUS, OHIO 8/7/19) – The Columbus Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Ohio (CAIR-OHIO), Ohio’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today urged all Americans who support human rights and democracy to demand that the State Department put pressure on the Indian government to lift the siege on millions of people in the Kashmir valley inhabited almost entirely by Muslims.
CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION
On Monday, the Indian government illegally revoked Article 370 of the constitution, taking away the protected status of the Indian-controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir. The legal maneuvering which led to the revocation of Article 370 has been widely panned by legal experts as unconstitutional and a complaint has already been filed in the Indian Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the revocation.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 7/26/19) – On Tuesday, July 23, CAIR-Columbus hosted a Telephone Town Hall to educate community members on their rights while traveling for Hajj. Listeners from across Ohio participated in the call.
CAIR-Columbus Executive Director Romin Iqbal covered various topics including a traveler’s right to not answer certain questions from Customs and Border Patrol agents, the proper course of action to take if they are mistreated, and how they can protect their digital content. Afterwards, Iqbal took listeners questions. CAIR-Columbus’ complete Hajj Travel Guide can be found here.
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Hajj Travel Guide
In just a short time, many Muslims around the world will set out to make the annual sacred pilgrimage to Makkah — Hajj. The CAIR-Columbus team has put together a guide that contains important information regarding travelers’ rights, airport security, and re-entry to the United States.
If you or someone you know are planning on going for Hajj, please check out the Hajj Travel Guide below, or download it here.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 6/27/19) – On Thursday, June 27, CAIR-Columbus visited the central Ohio offices of multiple members of Congress to deliver 950+ letters urging the legislative body to pressure the Chinese government to end its Uyghur concentration camps where up to 3 million people are being held arbitrarily.
Detainees are separated from their families, forced to eat pork, drink alcohol, and tortured until they renounce their faith. According to some reports, Uyghurs have also been victims of organ harvesting and must endure a homestay program, a policy which involves Chinese Communist Party members living in Uyghur households.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 6/26/19) – On Wednesday, June 19, CAIR-Columbus was in Washington, D.C. for the Capitol Hill Advocacy Day to urge Congress to take action against the oppression of the Uyghurs, the Rohingya, and other minorities. Government Affairs and Development Coordinator Usjid Hameed represented CAIR-Columbus in four congressional meetings.
The event, which was organized by Burma Task Force and the Faith Coalition to Stop Genocide in Burma, drew attendees from around the country.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 5/9/19) – On Tuesday, April 30, CAIR-Columbus Government Affairs and Development Coordinator Usjid Hameed spoke about Islam and the challenges faced by American-Muslims to high school seniors at Thomas Worthington High School (TWHS).
The students were enrolled in an elective course titled “American Political Thought and Radicalism,” which features a diverse array of speakers. Hameed dispelled myths about Islam and Muslims, spoke about the impact that the rise in white supremacist violence has had on American-Muslims, and more. He also took questions from the class.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 05/03/19) – On Sunday, April 28 and Monday, April 29, CAIR-Columbus organized three active shooter mosque trainings. The trainings, which were attended by 150 people over the two-day period, were conducted by Nezar Hamze, a Deputy Sheriff in Broward County, Florida and former Operations Director for CAIR-Florida.
Hamze covered a wide array of topics including how to use self-defense weapons, such as pepper spray, and what steps mosques can take to deter active shooters. Hamze also conducted individual security assessments of various mosques in central Ohio.