Taskeen, 10 and Yousuf,5 dressed for bed at the Sleep Out for the Homeless

AMWA and DUPAGES’ HOMELESS

November 3rd, 2007 Taskeen, 10 and Yousuf, 5 and mom Naazish participated in
Sleep Out Saturday sponsored by Bridge Communities, Inc. They were amongst hundreds, including tons of other kids, who slept out in the open in tents or cars and card board boxes to raise pledges. Brrrrrr.. it was cold ( and remember there aren’t any washrooms around when you’re homeless and its cold and you need to go…)

The trio raised funds while they trick or treated in their neighborhood, the ICNA Ladies Neighbor Net at MSI Masjid contributed generously too, as did some others who heard about Taskeen and Yousuf and Naazish via various list serves. Still others wanted to join them next year.

The sleep out was intended to raise awareness about homelessness in DuPage County and to raise money to support homeless families.

Over 75 groups participated around DuPage - more than 1,500 people total!

Why Bridge Communities you ask? “Well,” says Naazish, “they provide two years worth of free rent to a family that qualifies, rescuing them from homelessness, then gets them GED trained or whatever they need help with academically, financial management training, drug rehab. It’s not only a hand out, it’s a hand up. And when you improve the lives of those around you, there is a ripple effect. What comes around, goes around,” says Naazish.

Will the kids be doing it again next year! You bet!!!!!

You can still contribute at
http://www.bridgecommunities.org/sos/pledge.cfm

AMWA Meeting Minutes

Where: Panera Bread, Lombard
When: 11/3/2007
Who: Sadia Ashraf, Ruby Khan, Kiran Ansari, Ayesha Khan, Amina Rahman

1) CAI
- Sadia distributed new Pennies for Peace pamphlets
- We discussed some possible speaking engagements for Greg Mortenson at Aqsa School (in combination with Universal, and perhaps an other combined event on the same day at CPSA/Foundation). Sadia & Ayesha are in touch with Principals at both schools.

2) Hamdard
- Ruby told us about the Rug sale held 2 weeks ago.
- There are 3 job opening were sent out on the AMWA mailing list, contact Ruby for
more info.
-Women's Breast Cancer Awareness Group: Hamdard is trying to encourage women to join this group as a means of increasing their awareness about preventing breast cancer, as well as a way of introducing to them the services and resources available to them in their communities as well as from Hamdard.
- Afterschool program: there are currently 25 students participating in this program, Hamdard partnered with a local community group and opened this to children from any backgrounds. There are Hispanic, Bosnian, Indo-Pakistani and African American children participating.

3) AMWA membership:
-Facebook: Sadia suggested that we should form a group on facebook as a way of posting current messages, that way the facebook account can be kept current and the blog can be more of an archive. Amina will create the facebook group. Doing this will also allow more women to get involved with AMWA even if its just be keeping in touch and being more aware of the activities.

4) ANDREA ELIOTT
- She is the NY times writer on Muslims/Islam and will be coming to Chicago in December. She has been presenting a tempered and humanizing view on Muslims. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/national/series/muslimsinamerica/index.html
- It was suggested that we should partner with organizations so we can increase the size of the venue and audience insha-Allaah (eg: DePaul, ISP, Dr. Aminah McCloud, Dupage United)`
- suggested venues: DePaul, Naperville North Auditorium
-Ruby will discuss this with Andrea Eliott
-Kiran and Samana can help with press releases, we should also post on Metromix and Community Builders.

5) AMWA Blog
- Kiran will manage the Blog and make sure it is updated

6) Varia
- Contact with police in Naperville related to South Asian issues: Sadia was contacted by a woman named Betty when recently a Hindu woman in Naperville died in a fire, it was ruled a murder/suicide. It seems that she had gone to the police previously but they did not understand the issues she was dealing with. Ruby pointed out that Hamdard can receive referrals from the police. Sadia will pass on Hamdard’s contact info to Betty and she will inform Naperville police.
- Focusing AMWA’s goals: Ayesha suggested that perhaps we should focus our goals for AMWA so we can be more effective in achieving things.
- Used Toys/Clothes: Muslim Thrift Store in Downers Grove closed down. Ruby said that Hamdard can use women’s clothing, toys, car seats, and fancy clothes (which they make pillows out of and re-sell). Sadia said she wil willing to store some donations in her basement, Saba Akhter has said she can collect a lot of donations.

Goodsearch.com

Salam everyone,

I recently heard about this search engine that donates 1 cent to the charity/school of your choice for every search you conduct. It's powered by Yahoo! so it's pretty good and with the number of searches we do everyday, we could be contributing to a good cause at the same time.

Look for your favorite charity in their list or perhaps we could reach a consensus and add a local, Muslim organization.

Kiran

Call for Essays

Zahra and her friend Maria are putting together a collection of essays by Muslim American women to be published in a book. Each essay must be written by a practicing Muslim American woman, either born and/or predominantly raised in the U.S. They are looking for contributors between the ages of 22 and 35 who are born into a Muslim family and claim Islam as their faith.

Please write articulately about a personal aspect of your life with regards to being a Muslim American woman. The essay should express in some way how your Muslim-ness and American-ness affect your life. This need not be overt but the essay should come from that perspective.

Essays should be no longer than 1000 words and will be edited for clarity. All submissions may not be accepted, but every submission will be considered. Please include name, age, birthplace, sect of Islam, profession/field, and anything else about yourself that might be useful for us to know (short bios are fine).

This is a project that, Inshallah, will appear across a variety of platforms, both national and international.

Please send all queries about this project and/or entries via email to: muslimabook@gmail.com

GREG MORTENSON FUNDRAISER, SPONSORED BY CAMP AND AMWA

Buy Tickets Now!

Venue: Monty's Banquet's, Bensenville IL

Date: April 21, 2007

Time: 6:00 P.M.

TicketsL $50.

http://campnet.net/chicago-il/CA_Fundraising_07.htm

or www.ikat.org/chicago.html

630 926-1564

Driving Lessons for Refugees

march 12, 2007

Asalmalaikum,
I am soooo thrilled to let you know that AMWA just scored another little victory! Sr. Amena Tahera and I worked together to accomplish a plan to help the refugees learn to drive. Zakat Foundation is providing the funding and MSI is taking care of the paperwork. Mashallah, we've gotten funding for 10 learners to begin with. Please do dua that this initiative grows bigger and better. Zakat Foundation is paying refugees to teach each other ( we've got a liability-free contract singed by the students) and while this isn't the best of plans, it is a beginning. This took all of two days to organize but a whole lot of persistence and follow up to get the job done. I can't thank Muslim Society Inc. enough for their complete dedication. They have always been accessible even with a few hours notice, and very receptive to getting programs underway, alhamdollilah.

Next on the big picture agenda is having a meeting with District 4's Peter Roskam and the Illinois Dept. of Transport to see if they can make some sort of program available to low income people, to learn to drive, given how essential it is. Anyone interested in initiating this - making the calls to Roskam and IDOT to get a meeting date?

Jazak Allah for your duas. Here's doing growing wider, stronger wings!

Salam
Naazish

Action Item 1

Amina attended the Dupage County Water Commission meeting on 3/8/07 as part of the group from Dupage United. Essentially, DU is concerned that tax money is being misused and diverted away from the general fund which benefits programs for the elderly, the needy and the youth of Dupage county. The main issues are summed up in this except from a report entitled MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN by Debbie Fulks and Fr. Paul Hottinger DuPage United ( http://www.dupageunited.org/page33/page33.html)... see pink section below for a mini-excerpt ;)...

ALSO, there was an article about this in the Daily Herald today:http://www.dailyherald.com/news/dupagestory.asp?id=246540&cc=d&tc=wdr&t=woodridge

AMWA - Action Item 1, March 2007

AMWA
ACTION ITEM 1- March 8, 2007

REMINDER: It's Today!
Water Commission Meeting

Thursday, March 8, 2007

7:30 PM – 8:15 PM

Dupage Water Commission
600 E. Butterfield Rd
Elmhurst

PLEASE RSVP TO AMY LAWLESS amylawless1@yahoo.com, only if attending.

Attendance is crucial. Send anyone to it! Every face counts. It is time for the Water Commission and the charter members to stop playing games with taxpayer’s money. While the Water Commission is awash in cash, DuPage County is in desperate need of additional revenue to restore programs that benefit the uninsured, the elderly, and our youth. The county has already failed to get legislative approval for a cigarette sales tax. Rather than the county again seeking legislative approval for a cigarette tax or another increase in sales tax, DuPage United proposes that the Water Commission transfer the ¼ cent sales tax to the county general fund. This is an appropriate and fiscally responsible use for a tax that is no longer needed by the Water Commission.

Our Sunday March 4th Meeting

We had a lot on our agenda this week ladies :

• Consensus on name (AMWA) or (WAMA) or (MAWA)
• Intro of members, skills and interests
• What are individual cause celebres
• The April 21st fundraiser

Sister Amina was kind enough to write up on the meeting we had March 4th (thank you!)

Here are the minutes: After salaams & duas,

1) Introduction of our members, our goals objectives

2) Discussion of purpose / goals of these meetings

These meetings are meant to be a forum for Muslim Women to build momentum behind issues they feel dearly about, further our work on these issues, broaden our resources and strengthen our voice. It is also allows us to voice our perspectives and those of the communities we are a part of, while networking with other activists.

3) Central Asia Institute (CAI) fundraiser – April 21st (www.ikat.org)

Sadia told us more about Greg Mortenson (http://www.gregmortenson.com/) and his efforts to build schools in Pakistan. He co-authored a book (http://www.threecupsoftea.com/) which tells the story of how and why he did this. The CAI fundraiser will be Saturday, April 21, 2007 at Monty Banquet Hall, Bensenville. Sadia will compile a list of tasks which Samana will delegate to those who want to help. Sadia also has postcards to pass out which will be ready in a few days (a meeting date/location will be determined to pickup them up for distribution.) We are co-sponsoring this event so it would be great to have help.

4) Dupage United – (www.dupageunited.org) Naazish told us about the work being done with this social and economic change organization. They are currently campaigning against the budgetary slashes for social services for Dupage County’s needy. She mentioned that there is almost no representation from the Muslim community at these meetings. Also, being a part of DuPage United ( or its sister organizations Lake County United, United for Peace and Justice in Cook County) may help us build the skills and contacts for future projects. Check out www.ciogc.org for an upcoming week long training, in April, being given by Industrial Area Foundation and Mike Gecan. Luminaries in the field. If you're part of a masjid, even informally, then you're a member of CIOGC and will qualify for the member rate of $300 for the training.

5) Action items for the Month of April and March

On March 20th there is a huge rally expected on Immigration Rights. CIOCG is a participant and we need to get as many muslims involved as possible. March 20, 2007 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Ogden Elementary School parking lot (25 E. Walton Street), Chicago, IL

Contact: CCAWR [Email this contact] Sponsor(s): CCAWR, M20 coalition Michigan Avenue Mass Protest against the Iraq War

Thursday, March 8, 2007 DuPage United will be addressing the Water Commission on their use of the ¼ cent sales tax. Naazish also reminds us: Water Commission Meeting Thursday, March 8, 2007 7:30 PM – 8:15 PM Dupage Water CommissionElmhurst 600 E. Butterfield Rd.

Attendance is crucial. Every face counts.

It is time for the Water Commission and the charter members to stop playing games with taxpayer’s money. While the Water Commission is awash in cash, DuPage County is in desperate need of additional revenue to restore programs that benefit the uninsured, the elderly, and our youth. The county has already failed to get legislative approval for a cigarette sales tax. Rather than the county again seeking legislative approval for a cigarette tax or another increase in sales tax, DuPage United proposes that the Water Commission transfer the ¼ cent sales tax to the county general fund. This is an appropriate and fiscally responsible use for a tax that is no longer needed by the Water Commission.

Next Meeting: Date and Venue: TBD

Inception - Welcome to American Muslim Women Activists

March 6, 2007

AMWA (American Muslim Women Activists)

WE ARE A MUSLIM WOMENS GROUP WHO ARE ACTIVIST MINDED AND HAVE CREATED A COMMUNITY PLATFORM FOR DISCOURSE, DEBATE AND PHILANTHROPIC GRASSROOT MOVEMENTS!

AMWA’s dynamic group of women comprises of journalists, activists, community leaders, TV commentators, think tank members and writers. I think, to get such a diverse group of talents together, is an exceptional networking and meeting opportunity.

Objectives we have for the group:

1. Naazish and Samana felt that we need to ask for Allah’s blessings and to begin and end the session with a dua. Our meetings will become part of our ibadath if we begin it with the intention that we are serving Allah and want his guidance, and end it with thanks and ask for mercy, courage and the ability to pursue our work in His way.

2 Samana feels that our mission is to give confidence to Muslim women, providing a forum where Muslim women can learn and share ideas, strengthen the bonds of sisterhood and offer a platform for activism.

3 Ruby is concerned was that there is inadequate representation of women in the Muslim community, on local and national levels. It is important that we meet regularly and that we affect change via women’s voices and families.

4. Sadia feels that we need to address Muslim misrepresentation in the media, and that we need to focus on outreach amongst non-Muslims and try to figure out how we can use our journalist access to reach the mainstream media. The group needs to focus on turning negatives into positives, as well as being involved in humanitarian, political and social activism.

We welcome all sister’s concerns and causes in our group, for AMWA is a democratic forum of discussion.

Other Goals:

· Set up a website that features a blog and consolidating our writing in one website.

· We need to develop a "terms of use" for the group

· Every month we all focus on one action undertaking. This month we are focusing on our Greg Mortenson fundraiser. Next month we can focus on the community based projects; the refugee aid, Naazish can give us some more information about. Faakiha wants some help with promoting the important work ISPU is doing. Ruby wants some assistance with the September fundraiser of Hamdard.

· Also, if we each could suggest some online petitions that we can sign up for, we'll be making sure that at least our signatures are contributing to strengthening a cause. Some of our suggestions: Amnesty International, http://www.environmentillinois.org/ and league of conservation voters and http://www.thepetitionsite.com/

· Naazish suggests we have one action item, per month besides the bigger project we are working on. Who ever can participate… would be great. None of this is obligatory and everyone can offer an idea for all of us to consider. These action items could be anything you make up or something that is already going on in the community, be it Clean Up Forest Preserve Day, Seeing A Play on Human Rights, Going to a reading by an activist, Or Open House for the Block (muslims and non muslims invited) or whatever.

For suggested events: http://www.afsc.org/calendar/calendar.php?calendar=22

· Samana feels we can reach out to other sisters and give seminars of information exchange interactive meetings. Topics to address: divorce and infidelity in the Muslim community; health and nutrition, developing a food pyramid that takes into account the kinds of foods traditionally Muslims eat ( i.e. South Asian, Middle Eastern, African, etc.). Hold a campaign to have healthier foods at Muslim restaurants.