Category: recent news

On Saturday, June 9^th, CAIR-Columbus’ Public Affairs Coordinator Usjid Hameed spoke to the Columbus Academy of Leadership (CAL) about the importance of civic engagement.

CAL is a non-profit organization that works to improve leadership skills of high school and college age-youth as well as adults through its programs. The June 9^th event by CAL featured youth preparing gifts for underprivileged children in the community and then listening to speakers who discussed civic engagement related topics. Along with covering the importance of being engaged, Hameed registered voters, spoke about why it is vital to know who one’s elected representatives are, how to contact them, and how young people can get engaged in the political process.

CAIR-Columbus announced today the filing of a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Ohio against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Attorney General of the United States, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on behalf of a Muslim legal permanent resident from Uzbekistan whose citizenship application has been pending for an unreasonable amount of time – well over seventeen months without an interview.

From April 26th- April 28th, CAIR-Columbus Public Affairs Coordinator Usjid Hameed attended the CAIR Civil Rights Tour in Alabama, as part of a delegation of approximately 30 national leaders from CAIR chapters around the country.

The trip centered around the Equal Justice Initiative opening of its Legacy Museum, which chronicles the history of African-Americans in the United States from slavery to mass incarceration, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which is dedicated the victims of lynching.

The museum is located on the site of a former warehouse where black people were enslaved in Montgomery, Alabama and uses interactive media, sculpture, videography and exhibits to immerse visitors in the sights and sounds of the domestic slave trade, racial terrorism, the Jim Crow South, and the world’s largest prison system. The memorial is located on a six-acre site atop a rise overlooking Montgomery and is a sacred space for truth-telling and reflection about racial terror in America and its legacy.

Attendees of the Civil Rights Tour also visited Selma and walked across the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge as well as Birmingham where they toured the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

On Sunday, April 29th, CAIR-Columbus Public Affairs Coordinator Usjid Hameed spoke at the 2nd Annual Interfaith March for Peace and Justice in downtown Columbus.

The Interfaith March for Peace & Justice is a nonpartisan event meant to affirm the freedom of religion and to condemn all acts of discrimination directed at people because of their religion, race, or place of origin. The March was initiated by a small group of people in Columbus, Ohio in April 2017 and has now spread to cities across the country. Hameed spoke about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) “Visa Lifecycle Vetting” program, formerly known as the “Extreme Vetting Initiative.”

The program is ICE’s plan to monitor Twitter, Facebook, and other parts of the internet via machine learning to automatically flag people for deportation or visa denial and poses a severe threat to all immigrants. Hameed encouraged attendees to call Senator Portman, who sits on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and ask him to work to halt the implementation and funding of the program.

On Saturday, April 7th, CAIR-Columbus hosted a District 15 Congressional Candidate Forum at the Upper Arlington Public Library.

Participants included Rob Jarvis and Rick Neal. All the candidates were invited to participate. The forum lasted approximately 90 minutes and was attended by over 70 people. Questions focused on the Syrian Civil War, health care, tariffs, defense spending, DACA, and more. The forum was moderated by CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal and CAIR-Columbus Public Affairs Coordinator Usjid Hameed.

CAIR-Columbus announced today the release of its 2018 Primary Election Voting Guide and Governor’s Candidate Questionnaire. The guide contains important dates for registering to vote, the primaries and identification requirements.  The questionnaire was sent to all of the candidates to get their feedback on issues of concern to the Muslim community. The guide and questionnaire can be viewed here.

On Tuesday, March 27, CAIR-Columbus Legal Director, Romin Iqbal, appeared on WOSU’s “All Sides with Ann Fisher” to discuss issues relating to anti-Muslim bias in media’s coverage of terrorism. The conversation occurred just days following the suicide of a man from Austin, Texas after he took the lives of two innocents and injured four others.

The segment also featured Emily Davidson, who teaches media and terrorism at The Ohio State University, and Kevin E. Grisham, assistant director of research, at the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

“It is an unfortunate reality that the media continues to have a double standard when it comes to its coverage of terrorism, where only people of color are labeled as terrorists for committing acts of mass violence, while perpetrators who are not people of color are labeled as merely ‘troubled’ individuals,” Iqbal said. “This double standard legitimizes fear mongering of immigrants and Muslims. The media must act in a more even-handed manner.”

Watch the entire program here.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. The CAIR-Ohio affiliate has three chapters in Ohio – Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Their 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.

From March 17th – 18th, CAIR-Columbus Public Affairs Coordinator, Usjid Hameed, attended the Muslim Voter Engagement Convening in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Convening was hosted by the Georgia Muslim Voter Project and was attended by over 40 American-Muslim leaders, representing various Muslim-centric organizations, from across the country. Attendees learned and discussed best practices around civic and community engagement.

“The Muslim Voter Engagement Convening provided an excellent opportunity for American-Muslim organizers and advocates to network and exchange ideas to help create enduring civic engagement infrastructure in their communities,” Hameed said. “Muslim activist spaces cannot be sustained by only mobilizing in reaction to discriminatory policies by the Whitehouse. It is imperative that American-Muslims focus on building lasting power in their communities to sustain long-term, meaningful change.”

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, CAIR-Ohio does not endorse any particular candidate or political party for any office.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. The CAIR-Ohio affiliate has three chapters in Ohio – Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. 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.

On Monday, March 19th, CAIR-Columbus Public Affairs Coordinator, Usjid Hameed, spoke about Islam at the Ohio State University to undergraduate students in a social work class.

Hameed discussed the vast diversity of beliefs in Islam, dispelled myths about Muslims, shared some of his own experiences growing up as an American-Muslim, advised students how to be culturally competent when working with Muslims, and fielded questions from the class.

The instructor of the class said the following to Hameed after the presentation – “Thank you so much for your time and information today. The class was buzzing for another half hour after you left. They were very appreciative of you sharing your own stories and presenting in a way that they could relate. I really appreciated the focus on data and the impact of learning about candidates and voting.”

“Although CAIR-Columbus is known for its legal work, these presentations are just as vital in upholding the civil rights and dignity of American-Muslims as they help to mitigate the discriminatory policies we eventually combat,” Hameed said. “The class asked insightful and fair questions about Islamic norms and practices. Hopefully, we can continue to learn about one another as knowledge is a powerful cure for fear and misunderstanding.”

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. The CAIR-Ohio affiliate has three chapters in Ohio – Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Their 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.