SB Hopper
  • Blog
  • Essays
  • About
Subscribe
Civic Action

Kids 4 Peace Challenge Islamophobia

Scott Baerst

Jan 19, 2017 • 3 min read
Kids 4 Peace Challenge Islamophobia


k4p-mlk-workshop-15.jpg

On Sunday 15 January 2017, Kids4Peace, the American Muslim Empowerment Network (links to Muslim Association of Puget Sound, founder of MAPS-AMEN), and volunteers organized an MLK Day youth advocacy workshop at Seattle University that focused on confronting Islamophobia through activism, community engagement, and the willingness to challenge stereotypes. The workshop, which lasted four hours, opened with a video created by University of Washington Bothell students (links to the youtube video) that used the choreography of a mannequin challenge to depict the interaction and tension between the West and followers of Islam. From there, students and volunteers broke into smaller groups to discuss how we perceive the “other”, personal accounts from Muslim youth about how they are perceived in America and the challenges they face in trying to belong, and the concrete steps that citizens can take to peacefully address misperceptions, bias, and unfair treatment.
k4p-mlk-workshop-10

The organizers and adult volunteers employed a soft touch and acted as guides. The young adults did the heavy lifting as they worked with one another to explore timely, weighty, and deeply personal issues.

k4p-mlk-workshop

After the opening video and some small group ice-breaking sessions, the organizers introduced David Baker, a young man who recently waded into the public forum to confront an attempt in his community to prohibit the construction of a mosque. Mr. Baker got up in front of his peers and eloquently explained how he went from concern to civic action by writing a letter to a newspaper explaining his belief that opposition to the construction of a mosque was misguided and jeopardized diversity. Sarah Stuteville described Mr. Baker’s efforts in a 6 January 2017 article in the Seattle Globalist.

k4p-mlk-workshop-4

k4p-mlk-workshop-11

k4p-mlk-workshop-3

k4p-mlk-workshop-8

k4p-mlk-workshop-14

k4p-mlk-workshop-13

k4p-mlk-workshop-12

k4p-mlk-workshop-6

k4p-mlk-workshop-7

k4p-mlk-workshop-2

k4p-mlk-workshop-9

Sign up for more like this.

Enter your email
Subscribe

Out damn spot...

It turns out I did sign up for Apple+. I blame (and thank) Chuck for the Severance recommendation. I am doing my best to spread the contagion. It's a great show. Tonight I started watching The Tragedy of MacBeth. I think MacBeth and Hamlet are neck and neck for the

Scott Baerst Apr 12, 2022 • 1 min read

Odds and Ends

The finale of Severance was intense. (No Spoilers here.) I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Our main characters had a window, of unknown length, to reflect and gain awareness about their circumstances. A window that could close at any moment. Some of their actions confused

Scott Baerst Apr 8, 2022 • 1 min read

Of two minds

Try not to take your work home with you. What if you couldn't, no matter how hard you tried? That's the premise of Severance, but it's drastically oversimplified. I'm really enjoying the show. Thanks for recommending it, Chuck. It's got everything. And, as a sometimes blogger who claims he likes

Scott Baerst Apr 6, 2022 • 2 min read
SB Hopper © 2022
Powered by Ghost