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| American Islamic Congress: Milestones |
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The American Islamic Congress is a civil rights organization promoting tolerance and the exchange of ideas among Muslims and between other people. Our efforts to mobilize a coalition of people "passionate about moderation" have yielded the following achievements:
Building a Network
- Recruiting over 3,000 young thinkers to enter our annual civil-rights essay contest and awarding $20,000 in stipends and 100 book-prizes to outstanding essayists.
- Launching Project Nur: new initiative to support progressive Muslim students on US campus, opening four chapters and serving 600 students in first semester.
- Mobilizing 8,000 supporters to write letters as part of the successful “Free Haleh” online campaign to release Haleh Esfandiari, a prominent scholar detained in Iran.
- Training more than 100 young Middle Eastern activists at regional seminars (despite restrictions) in civil rights, nonviolence, and interfaith understanding.
- Operating a $100,000 local micro-grant program supporting 200 women civic leaders in southern Iraq – without military protection.
- Becoming the first Muslim-American civil-rights organization to open a branch in Egypt, bringing AIC’s message of tolerance to the heart of the Muslim world.
Enhancing Public Awareness
- Publishing editorials in America’s largest newspapers: USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and many more.
- Leading a monthly Capitol Hill Distinguished Speakers Series on the Muslim world, sponsored by Congress’ Religious Freedom and Anti-Terror caucuses.
- Educating members of law enforcement on minority concerns, including serving on the Connecticut Hate Crimes Commission.
- Charting responsible “two-way” interfaith understanding in A New Guide to Muslim Interfaith Dialogue and Responding to Hate Speech: A Citizen’s Guide.
- Offering perspective on Muslims in America to international audiences, including appearances on Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, BBC Arabic and other media outlets.
- Educating thousands of readers worldwide via an edgy bi-weekly civil rights e-alert, The CRIME Report, in Arabic and English.
- Providing sensitivity training on the Muslim community to members of the Armed Forces, including marines at Camp Pendleton and soldiers at Ft. Hood.
- Producing a new Arabic translation of a fifty-year-old comic book on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Montgomery Bus Boycott and nonviolent activism.
Taking a Stand
- Denouncing genocide in Darfur alongside George Clooney and Barack Obama before 15,000 people rallying on the Washington Mall.
- Counseling civil-rights lawyers at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on workplace religious diversity cases.
- Initiating Eid Al-Adha campaign against suicide bombing and honor killing, stressing holiday’s unequivocal denunciation of child sacrifice.
- Mobilizing rapid-response advocacy network to assist young reformers under fire in the Middle East who pay the price for daring to “think different”
- Spearheading the successful campaign to secure a 25% quota for Iraqi women in government positions, including publishing a related New York Times editorial.
- Serving as special advisors to Freedom House’s internationally-recognized report analyzing hate speech in Saudi Arabia’s public school curricula.
- Receiving Dialogue on Diversity’s Liberty Award, the National Liberty Museum’s Interfaith Bridging Award, and a Los Angeles County Commendation.
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