“Being a Bystander is not an Option”
Faith Communities and the Moral, Social and Economic Imperative for Civic Engagement*
By Aliya Latif, Manager of Immigrants Affairs and Muslim and South Asian Relations for the NYC Comptroller Scott M. Stringer
My activism didn’t begin the moment my hijaab was ripped off my head but it definitely took a different turn. That day, I stood in the middle of the street in broad daylight as pedestrians walked passed me trying to make sense of it all. Not one person said anything to me even after the perp hit me in the head and left me to stand alone in a sea of people. The light changed and all I remember thinking was what if it had been my mother. As I placed the black chiffon cloth back on my head, it was as if I was choosing again to wear hijaab but this time as a sign of resistance.
My story is not an anomaly. Admittedly, it is filled with privilege even as a brown Muslim woman. In the years that followed, it has been shaped by those whose voices unfortunately amounted to nothing more than a headline or statistic if even that. There was the Yemeni father who asked me over and over again how he could possibly explain to his son why his classmates locked him in the classroom, told him to go back to his country while his teacher reportedly did nothing. The Pakistani mother who told me that she wouldn’t wish even on her worst enemy the sleepless nights she experienced since she learned her son was being chased by the FBI in what his lawyer best described as a fishing expedition. The Queens student who shared at a press conference that she had been stopped and frisked on her way home from school and when asked by a reporter why she thought that was the case she pointed to the color of her skin. The then 21-year-old plaintiff in a landmark case against Muslim surveillance choking up as he recounted his family refusing to take pictures with him and then his lawyer, the hundreds who stood with him and even the journalist getting emotional as they heard the impact of warrantless surveillance on every aspect of Muslim community life.
I carried these courageous voices and countless others with me when I transitioned into the role of community liaison for the NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer. Following the thirty-minute interview with the chief fiscal officer of our city, I committed myself to working with him to ensure that Muslim, Arab and South Asian (MASA) communities were not merely subjects of conversation but decision-makers with seats at the proverbial table on their terms. For the past two years as his lead advisor on MASA relations and now as Manager of Immigrant Affairs, I have witnessed first-hand how conversations with Comptroller Stringer and community organizers, faith leaders and advocates play in informing decisions at our office for the betterment of our communities and city.
In our office, we’ve fought back – with substance. As President Trump embraces draconian criminal justice and immigration policies, Comptroller Stringer and City Pension Funds liquidated roughly $48 million in private prison company stocks and bonds, making our city the first major public pension system in the nation to fully divest from private prison companies that profit from mass incarceration and mass deportation. Our office sent a letter signed by 80 immigrant advocates, faith leaders and community organization heads, calling for the city to create a fund to help cover the rising cost of citizenship and ease the pathway towards naturalization. We made it a priority to combat wage theft across the city to send the message that we will protect New Yorkers irrespective of their immigration status. Notably, the Comptroller passed the mic to my colleague Anayeli Gomez, who was given the opportunity to work at our office through DACA, to help center the voices of those impacted by the cruel and inhumane announcement by the administration calling for it to end.
Indeed, we have a moral, social and economic imperative to act here. And each of us has a role. Some will go down in history for organizing bodega strikes and mass protests against Muslim bans. Others will make their mark inspiring congregants to leverage faith based values from the pulpit and provide sanctuary to the Amanda Morales of the world. A number of us like Anayeli Gomez will share our stories unapologetically and unafraid while working with one of the highest ranking city officials.
Being a bystander wasn’t an option for the generations before us nor the ones that will come after us. Resistance is our heritage. Let’s make it our collective legacy.
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Aliya Latif if is a New York City community organizer, forever student of the civil rights movement and believer in the power of the people. Professionally, Aliya is the Manager of Immigrants Affairs and Muslim and South Asian Relations for the NYC Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. She is a founding member and currently sits on the board of the Muslim Democratic Club of NY. She also sits on the leadership team of the Islamic Center at NYU’s Professional Group and is a proud CORO Immigrant Civic Leadership Program alum. You can follow her on twitter at @aliyaplatif.
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* If you are a faith leader inspired by Aliya Latif or already working to lead your community in the cause of social justice, The Interfaith Center of New York encourages you to apply for our upcoming free “Interfaith Civic Leadership Academy.” Participants in this academy will receive extensive training in civic engagement, legal literacy, and community organizing workshops delivered by experts. Each participant will receive a $1,000 stipend, plus seed funding for community projects. Applications are due by October 2.
Click here for more info & to apply to the Interfaith Civic Leadership Academy.
Or contact Iman Boukadoum at 212.870.3515 or iman@interfaithcenter.org.