YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

On Saturday Night, June 28th, the Moroccan Congress of USA held their “Unite Tonight” for Obama event at Shiraz Grill in Orlando. The event was spearheaded by Jamila “Mimi” Chami, who is the director of the Moroccan Congress in Florida.

There was great Iranian food, live music, and of course, sheesha. The Moroccan Congress event at Shiraz was a great time to talk to the community about their political interests and get them to sign the National Declaration.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Moroccan Congress, click here to visit their website. Or, send me an e-mail and I’ll get you hooked up with the right people (after recruiting you as a volunteer of course :)).

And, for those of you who are SO sad that you missed this event, don’t worry… I’ll be having a meet and greet event on July 19th. Details to come soon! Yalla VOTE!!

P.S…. Let’s hear from the REPUBLICAN side of the aisle soon, ok? If you’re a Republican organizing in Florida, I’d love to hear from you and help you get out the vote!

-Mia

As we head into July, with changes at the AAI’s Midwest office and community events happening each week, things are heating up! Sunday night Amir joined Hassan and Midwest Director Valerie Smith for the closing gala dinner event of the second symposium of the National Association of Yemeni-Americans at the Dearborn Hyatt, at which Valerie spoke about the Yalla Vote campaign. The conference brought together members of various Arab American community organizations as well as visiting Yemeni citizens, including the Yemeni Ambassador to the U.N., to discuss the importance of education in addressing the concerns and realizing the goals of our community.

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This past weekend, AAI Michigan staff and volunteers took part in the Dearborn Arab International Festival, an annual event attended by over 100,000 visitors. The Yalla Vote campaign was visible throughout the festival, as volunteers wearing Yalla Vote t-shirts were a constant presence, registering hundreds of people to sign AAI’s National Petition. Our AAI booth was well stocked with buttons and signs that were quite popular with festival attendees, and several local dignitaries stopped by to thank AAI for doing “good work”, including Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly and 19th Circuit Court Judge Mark Somers.

Overall, this past weekend was the highlight of my experience as a field organizer with the Yalla Vote campaign, as I got to connect with dozens of community members on an individual level, and discuss the importance of voting and the community’s involvement in the political system. What was particularly rewarding for me was to meet the many out of state visitors to the festival, including many Arab-Americans from Chicago, Ohio and Indiana, who made the trek out to Dearborn to take part in the largest gathering of Arab-Americans in the country. There was a great sense of camaraderie and community that I felt being at the festival, and seeing the diversity of the Arab American community, and the great desire for political change that was in the air.

AAI Intern Sandra Jaward adds her reflections on this past weekend in Dearborn:

This past weekend I had the opportunity to work at the Yalla Vote booth at the Arab Festival. I had the chance to interact with the hundreds of people that passed by inquiring about the AAI and the Yalla Vote campaign which was a nice experience. I recruited a few volunteers who were enthusiastic about helping the AAI so together we provided people passing the booth with informational packets about candidates, elections, and Arab Americans. We also encouraged anyone who passed by to register to vote, sign up as a volunteer, and sign our petition. I anticipate that if we attend more events like this in the future than we can gather more petition signatures as well as inform the wider public about the AAI and get them involved in politics.

On June 21st, Outlandish made their appearance after crowds anxiously awaited all week for them. The show was even more anticipated because initially it was supposed to be at the Anaheim Forum , but problems came up and they scrambled to get it at an ampitheatre in a park. Needless to say, the show was great, outdoors with the nice breeze of the Anaheim winds. Outlandish performed and the crowd was pumped with energy.

Of course, I showed up to the concert with the “Yalla Vote” gear ready to take over the place. Even though I didn’t end up getting a table, or any materials to pass out, I was equipped with the National Petition and hit the crowds. I sometimes sneaked behind tables and had customers sign my petition, and I even recruited a volunteer to get signatures while I watched the show. Overall, I must say that as a field organizer the concert was a complete success! I conversed with people, got volunteers and introduced the youth to the campaign!

Last week I had an opportunity to attend the New York leg of the Voices for Change Tour sponsored by MAS Youth, which featured hip-hop trio Outlandish. Composed of two Muslims and a Christian (sounds like the setup for a bad joke) Outlandish’s unique brand of socially and morally conscious hip-hop has struck a chord with many members of the Arab American community. There was a great turnout, and of course Yalla Vote was there recruiting volunteers, talking up the petition, and generally schmoozing. I even had one attendee say, “Hey aren’t you the Yalla Vote guy? You were at the NAAP BBQ… you’re everywhere these days!” Yes my fellow Arab American… Yes I am.

Everywhere present and filling all things (just kidding),
-Matt Ellias

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.

My first week as a Field Organizer in Cleveland is almost over and I’ve already learned so much about the Arab American community here from the local businesses to the organizations that bring the community together. I’m looking forward to meeting with some of these organizations next week and working with them throughout the election season and beyond to get the Arab American community politically active. All of the people that I have spoken to seem really excited about what we’re going to be doing.

Last night I had the opportunity to go the the monthly meeting of the Lakewood Democratic Club. (Lakewood is a Cleveland area city that has a very high population of Arab Americans and is therefore a great place to get Arab Americans involved.) This particular meeting was for their bi-annual elections but they did give me the opportunity to speak to the group. I explained that the Institute is working to bring Arab Americans into both parties coordinated campaigns so that they can become politically active and empowered. At the end of the meeting several people came up to me to say that they are really excited about what the Arab American Institute is doing and that they look forward to having more Arab Americans in the community become involved in their efforts. I even met two local Arab Americans who are already involved in the group and who informed me about events in the community this summer. In about a week I plan to attend the monthly meeting of the Brooklyn Republican Club Meeting (another area city that has a high population of Arab Americans) and I hope that they will be just as excited about what we’re doing and that members of the community are interested in getting involved.

-Nadia

AAI is proud to introduce the Yalla Vote Field Organizers. For information about these amazing young men and women, and how to contact them, please visit the Field Organizers page here at Yalla Vote.
Hassan, our Field Organizer in Michigan, gives us an update:

Yesterday, the staff here at the AAI Michigan Field Office had the great honor of meeting with a delegation of visiting Arab and Turkish community leaders and activists from Germany. The German guests were visiting our community on a tour with the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The IVLP is an exchange program run designed to build professional connections between communities in the U.S. and leaders abroad. Past alumni of the IVLP program include over 200 past and current heads of state, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

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President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas spoke last night at the Arab American Institute’s tenth annual Kahlil Gibran ‘Spirit of Humanity’ Awards in Washington, D.C. To see him there and hear him speak was a great honor.

C-SPAN captured the entire segment–you may view the video here.