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| AIC Awards $10,000 in Civil Rights Essay Contest Prizes |
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“Trapped in Orwell’s 1984” Theme of Young Iranian Top Prize Winner
BOSTON - The American Islamic Congress (AIC) today announced $10,000 in cash prizes for winners of the third annual “Dream Deferred Essay Contest on Civil Rights in the Middle East.”
“These essays provide a look beyond newspaper headlines into the personal lives of young people struggling for their rights in Middle Eastern societies,” said Nasser Weddady, AIC’s Civil Rights Outreach Director. “The challenge now is to help them achieve their deferred dreams.”
Top essays included the vivid memoir of a young Iranian who discovers he is a character trapped inside George Orwell’s novel 1984 and comes to the realization that civil rights repression cannot continue. “With new eyes I saw new things,” wrote the first prize winner, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Inspired by the 1951 Langston Hughes poem, the contest attracted 1,300 essays from young Middle Easterners struggling for basic rights and young Americans ready to use their own freedom to help.
10 cash-prize winners and 50 book prize winners were selected by an international celebrity judging panel, which included an MTV star, leading American and Middle Eastern activists, and best-selling author Azar Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran).
“Young Middle Easterners have few incentives for openly expressing classical liberal ideas,” explained Weddady. “The essay contest encourages young thinkers to articulate positive ways to lift up their societies. At the same time, we inspire young Americans to consider how they can help their counterparts in the region secure basic civil rights.”
A young Mauritanian prize winner, shared an intimate confession of her first failed foray into activism, which resulted in her blog getting shot down and her marriage blocked. “But every evening,” wrote the second prize winner, “I go to bed with a clear conscious for having at least tried to fight with my weapons - my words - for the rights of women.”
The American Islamic Congress is a civil-rights organization promoting tolerance and the exchange of ideas among Muslims and between other peoples. With the motto “passionate about moderation,” the organization leads initiatives around the world from offices in Washington, Boston, Egypt, and Iraq. To interview winning essayists or contest organizers, call 1.617.266.0080. Top essays are at http://www.hamsaweb.org/essay.
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