YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

The last ten days have been truly amazing and a great learning experience. One of the main things from the “Yalla Vote” campaign has been distributing the National Petition. This petition embodies everything that Arab Americans are looking to change.  Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, foreign policy that lies so close to our hearts, whether first generation or third… and closer to home, we are concerned about civil liberties, equality, honor. That is why I believe that no convincing is needed for a person to sign, the petition speaks for itself.

I am really passionate about this petition because I believe it is one of the few things that has united the Arab American community on one issue. Yes Arabs, can never agree to disagree but the issues in the petition have brought together the community. For me, going from the coffee shop to the Halal market place , I observed how just mentioning the petition sets up a debate of how Arabs need to be more active. Hence my job as a Yalla Vote intern is fulfilled by awakening the community and having them realize it. Yes not every one feels strongly about this but when you keep on hearing the same message over and over again, it tends to sink in.

• There have been several tactics , I have used in order to get signatures from people and now i will advise my fellow Yalla Vote interns. So read, implement and watch the numbers grow.
• First off, anytime we have guests at our house, I make sure to have clip boards sitting right on the table and leave it for them to pick it up and than question what it is. This way , It wont seem like I’m soliciting my own guests and this way, once one person signs it , it will be passed all to the other guests. This is one ways I successfully was able to get signatures and not annoy the guests while their busy eating. Another tip is , if for example your at your friends house thats hosting a party, make sure to talk to people before they start eating. Once they eat, you lose their attention and they go through food comas.
• The second tip is whenever I go to a gathering I bring my lap top and have people put in their information, this way some people will sign it on paper with the clip board and others who don’t trust to give you their information(cause they might think im selling their information to companies ), would just input their information themselves.
• In addition take advantage of picking up your house phone and talking to your parents friends. Im always like ” Taunt, before I give the phone to my mom , I would like to know if you will sign this petition and than i briefly explain it!). This way, the parents really can’t say no to such a worthy cause and you tap into a resource other wise wouldn’t be available.
• Finally ( TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR FAMILY !). I asked my dad and sister to be my volunteers for friday prayer . I had them go to our local mosque and pass the petition around. They were more than willing to help, since they were already going to the mosque anyways.

So here they are , the tips that i can give to my fellow interns. Until next week until i can come up with more. Salam to my fellow bloggers

Samar

At last week’s Outlandish concert, I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah Malaika, who hosts Radio Tahrir on 99.5 FM WBAI in New York at 7:00PM on Tuesdays. She invited me to be a guest on her program, discuss the Arab American Institute, the Yalla Vote campaign, and my thoughts on Arab American political empowerment as a whole. The interview went very well, and I got the opportunity to spread the petition to the masses via the airwaves. Today WBAI, tomorrow CNN.

The experience was very exciting, and really got me thinking about the importance of involving our community in the media. Too often we are misrepresented or underrepresented, and it is long past time for the articulate voices of our community to speak for themselves. Sure, we are encouraging Arab Americans to use their figurative voice through voting, but it is also of the utmost importance that we use our literal voices to speak up for ourselves in the media. When we fail to do so, the job is left to false interlocutors who do little but create misconceptions about our community and perpetuate hostility and stereotypes. I mean come on, if there were more silky smooth voices like mine representing the Arab American community in the mass media, surely we would be better able to represent our issues, our concerns, and our cultures. Incidentally, I’m just kidding about my silky smooth voice. It’s more like velvet.

Signing off,
Matt Ellias

So five days into starting my job as a field organizer… Am I exhausted ? Yes. Sore throat from talking so much ? Yes! Need some serious hibernation ? YES!… Yet I find myself waking up at 7:30 every morning with some great idea or someone that I should contact. It’s been a while since I have loved the job I do: I love being a field organizer. This last week was extremely exhuasting, getting up early and coming home late at night just to sleep. Brookhurst has become my home, while my home back in the valley has turned into a “hotel”. The Arab American community in Anaheim is extremely interested and want to help. I guess word spreads fast in our community(surprising?) , for example I had two girls come up to me at hooka bars asking “Are you the Yalla Vote Girl and where can I sign up to volunteer? Whats this all about?” One of the nice things in this community is it is pretty organized , with many resources, and you truly feel like you’re back home . There are several blocks filled with Arab stores, restaurants, Halal grocery stores, Islamic Fashion, Mosques and anything else you can think of. For me, I was taken aback… I live in the Valley, where there are hardly any Arabic stores and if there are any, there hidden in some back alley.

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This week I have had the opportunity to meet many people who seem to be really excited about what AAI and Yalla Vote are doing. I spent a few hours on Monday going around to a few Arab American businesses in the area asking them to keep copies of the National Petition in their stores and ask their customers to sign it. With the exception of one, all of the stores were glad to do it. (So if you live in the area and have not signed the Petition…just stop by your local Arabic store or restaurant to sign it)

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It took only a few hours for yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Boumediene V. U.S. to become a political football, with partisans on each side talking past one another with accusations exaggerated and terrible.

That is sad.

Rule of law — and specifically, the notion of the executive being bound by the law, the writ of habeas corpus -– these things are in the basic DNA of the United States. (Didn’t ANYONE watch that HBO special on John Adams?) This was about civil rights in the most basic sense. No the folks at Guantanamo Bay aren’t U.S. citizens, but because they are under the control of the U.S. government they are have access to U.S. courts for the purpose of challenging their detention.

The U.S. argument in Boumediene was one we have heard before. In essence it boils down this proposition: “[X] is a bad guy, and he is where he needs to be – detained.” In other words, individuals can be detained by U.S. military order and held indefinitely, because the courts lack both the power and the expertise to second guess military judgments.

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I’m writing today about two fantastic groups of people to which my Yalla Vote travels have led me. First, I was lucky enough to attend NAAP’s Summer BBQ kickoff hafli in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. NAAP is an incredible organization that brings together Arab American professionals for networking, socializing, and of course, fun. It was approximately 200 degrees the day of the BBQ, but everyone came out in full force, with enough charcoal for both the grills and the numerous argilehs. I was able to get a whole slew of signatures, recruit some volunteers, and engage in some solid political discussion. I remember in particular talking to one man who was very impressed with the Yalla Vote campaign, and echoed the sentiment that the only way for the Arab American community to gain representation from our elected officials is to get out and vote!

One couple I was talking to was made up of a wife who was a citizen, and her husband who had his green card. I approached the wife about the petition, and she was slightly hesitant to sign, but immediately her husband spoke up and said that she had to vote because it is the most important right that citizens of this country possess. In fact, he was envious of her ability to participate in the voting process whereas he could

not. It’s good to know that even the members of the Arab American community who are not eligible to vote understand the seriousness of our project, and are eager to get involved. I’m trying to get my hands on some pictures of the event, but here’s beautiful Prospect Park to but the NAAP event in context for you.

The second event I want to tell you about, was a meeting of Fort Hamilton High School’s Muslim Students.

I attended their end of year meeting, and was blown away by the enthusiasm for Yalla Vote that these kids had. Firstly, they are extremely organized, serious about helping their community, and serious about their faith. All good things. Ironically, I was around on a day when they were doing some self-examination about ways they could remain productive during the summer months. Heh. Little did they know that I had PLENTY of volunteer work to keep them thoroughly occupied. We had pizza, laughed at how bad my Arabic is, and I recruited some wonderful volunteers from the Bay Ridge community. Yet another indicator that there is a large, active, intelligent group of Arab Americans waiting to be tapped in New York. I can feel momentum starting to build. Every connection that I make, contact I add to my growing database, volunteer I recruit, and signature I get is taking our community one step closer to realizing its own hidden strength, and cooperating in a way heretofore unheard of. Game time, baby.

I have a big weekend ahead, dj’ing parties as my non-AAI alias, and then back to Yalla Vote on Sunday for the big New York Outlandish concert at the New Balance Track Center. In fact, I think I have a volunteer or two to join me. Does it get any better? I submit that it does not. If you’re there, find me for T-shirts and buttons and scintillating conversation. You may even end up on the blog with your smiling face next to mine. Til’ then…

-Matt

At least in Orlando…

Hours and hours of internet research, driving around, and talking with Arab Americans in the community have led me to produce “THE MAP.” THE MAP features Arab American businesses, Mosques, Churches, Halal grocery stores, and Hookah spots. As you can see from the image below, we’re EVERYWHERE!

And thus continues the daunting task of visiting them all, and finding more along the way.

-Mia

No, Outlandish isn’t relocating the states. The presence of the Danish trio, however, has gone from dream to reality in six U.S. cities thanks to MAS (Muslim American Society) “Youth for Change”.

MAS Youth organized a six city tour called “Voices for Change” for the Muslim hip hop group. Tampa, Florida was the first stop on the tour, and I had the opportunity to attend. The concert was held at the Sun Dome at the University of South Florida.

The opening acts for the show were hand selected by MAS, and included groups that addressed social issues and moral living. One of the groups that opened was D-Clique, a Muslim-American rap duo from Tampa. The other was Raef Band, a more rock ‘n roll style band from Germantown, Maryland.

Raef will be opening for Outlandish at all of the other shows on the tour. Each city also has it’s own local talent opening. The best news is, AAI’s Yalla Vote teams will have tables at the events in Michigan and California, so if you go to one of the concerts, please stop by, say hello, get some bumper stickers and buttons, and sign the petition.

If you live in Tampa or Chicago, you’ve already missed it. But, Outlandish will be performing in four more cities this month. They include Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas.

In addition to hearing some great music from progressive artists, I had the opportunity to talk with MAS organizers and representatives about Yalla Vote during the intermission, and I look forward to building a relationship with the Muslim American Society of Tampa.

Outlandish, an award-winning European hip-hop trio consisting of three longtime friends - two Muslims and one Christian - will debut in the U.S. headlining the MAS Youth concert tours in six cities across the United States including Tampa, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

AAI’s Yalla Vote campaign will be tabling at the Michigan, New York, and California concerts, so make sure you stop by, sign the National Petition, and say hello to our volunteers.

The concert is part of the `Voices For Change’ tour and you can find a schedule of the tour and more details here.

Outlandish’s hip-hop/R&B/soul music sound takes influences from their various backgrounds (Moroccan/Arab/Amazigh, Pakistani/Punjabi and Latin American), and although their songs are primarily in English, they usually feature lyrics in Spanish, Urdu/Punjabi, Danish, and Arabic.

You can check out some of their most popular music videos on YouTube, including ‘Aicha’. You can also watch Outlandish speak with Riz Khan on the June 5th episode of his show (be sure to watch Part 1 and Part 2).

Tickets for the `Voice For Change’ Concert Tour in are available online at http://www.masyouth.net/voicesforchange/

I grew up in a household where the majority of the dinner table conversation revolved around the politics of the day. In fact, to my family, politics is second only to religion. One of my dad’s favorite sayings is that, “Decisions are made by those who get involved.” Which is true. Those individuals who take the time to vote, get active in a campaign, or in any other way get involved in the political process ultimately determine who represents us not only in our cities and states but also our country. These elected officials in turn make policy decisions that affect every one of us. And if these elected officials want to get reelected they will be more than willing to listen to what his or her constituents want.

While it may seem that those who are currently in these offices do not listen to the concerns of our community or even care about what we want, part of the blame lies with us. We can’t just expect them to know what we want. We have to tell them what we want. We have to tell them that we want our Constitutional freedoms protected. That we want a United States foreign policy that is fair and just and that promotes human rights. While there is no guarantee that a particular candidate will win or that our concerns will ultimately be addressed it is much more likely to happen if we take the time to get involved. As one of my dad’s bumper stickers says, “Get involved…the world is run by those who show up.”

This year is our chance to have our voices heard. Many of the issues that are important to our community are important issues in the election (i.e. the War in Iraq, United States image abroad, and civil liberties). So vote, sign our National Petition, and even more importantly… get involved!

Yalla Vote!!

-Nadia

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.