Mustafa Abdullah
Template:TOCnestleft Mustafa Abdullah is Lead Organizer at ACLU of Missouri. Worked at Wake Forest University. From Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"We Too Sing America"
Deepa Iyer, Activist & Author of "We Too Sing America" profiled activists such as Drost Kokoye in Nashville. Ahmad Abuznaid in Miami. Faiza Ali in New York City. Mustafa Abdullah in St. Louis. Rahul Dubey in Milwaukee, Yves Gomes in Maryland.
- These are some of the young South Asian, Muslim, Arab and Sikh activists profiled in We Too Sing America.[1]
Sarsour connection
“My first memory of her (Linda Sarsour) was of her talking about how much she loved Brooklyn,” said Mustafa Abdullah, an organizer with the St. Louis chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who met Ms. Sarsour when she flew to Ferguson, Mo., after Michael Brown was killed a year ago. “She came right up to me and said, ‘My name’s Linda. I’m from Brooklyn. Don’t mess with Brooklyn.’ That stuck with me.”
When Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson. “I was sitting here in Brooklyn,” Ms. Sarsour said, “and heard he’d gotten shot and was lying in the street for four and a half hours. I was like, ‘Wait a minute. This happened in the United States of America? You hear about that happening in Palestine.’ ”
Two days later, she called Mr. Abdullah, the A.C.L.U. organizer in St. Louis.
“Linda’s first question was: ‘Mustafa, where is the Muslim community on this?’ ” Mr. Abdullah recalled. “It was actually a call to conscience, a prophetic question.”
And, he added, it was a question that led to the formation of a group called Muslims for Ferguson, which eventually held a series of national conference calls encouraging Muslims to engage in conversations about police practices. When Ms. Sarsour traveled to Ferguson in October, two months after Mr. Brown was killed, she met many of the city’s black residents, some of whom, she said, had never seen a woman wearing a hijab before.[2]
Twitter event
The official autopsy report for Michael Brown came out on October 22 — the same day the Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation has observed a National Day of Protest since 1996. To mark this important day, hundreds of Muslims took to Twitter to show their solidarity using the hashtag #Muslims4Ferguson.
Organized by the Muslims for Ferguson Facebook group, which launched on August 21, the Twitter event invited Muslims everywhere to join in conversation with Imam Omar Suleiman, Imam Dawud Walid, Imam Suhaib Webb and civil rights activists Linda Sarsour and Mustafa Abdullah.
The group wrote on its Facebook page:
Too many lives have been lost in communities of color because of the criminalization of black and brown bodies — who are being killed and imprisoned and abused because of their dark skin...
- We are coming together to say no more Mike Browns, no more John Crawfords, no more Ramarley Grahams, no more Eric Garners, no more Renisha McBrides, no more Trayvon Martins. As Eric Garner said before he was murdered, “It ends today.”[3]
Change:Unstuck
- Come hear engaging and thought-provoking stories by Muslim civic leaders at the forefront of advancing policy issues, caring for those in need, and working in partnership with others to foster a robust American democracy. Fellows will provide insights into how Muslim communities can become unstuck. Please join us afterwards for a reception with graduating AMCLI fellows and alumni.
xCHange will take place on April 7, 2013 at 11:30.
Presenters:
- Tamim Chowdhury, Democratic Muslim Caucus in Virginia
- Maggie Siddiqi, Islamic Society of North America
- Khizer Husain, American Muslim Health Professionals
- Aisha Rahman, KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights
- Atif Moon, Center for Global Understanding
- Naveen Malik, Department of Defense
- Mustafa Abdullah, ACLU of Eastern Missouri
Young Muslims Build Leadership Skills
The 2nd annual Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS) in St. Louis was a resounding success. Over 25 future Muslim leaders attended the one day workshop held inside the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis (IFGSTL) Dar-Al-Islam Masjid. Throughout the day the students participated in various workshops and listened to five different speakers. The speakers covered topics such as:
- Building an Islamic identity: Imam Djilali Kacem
- A lifetime of advocacy: John Chasnoff
- From Ferguson to Palestine: Sandra Tamari
- Pursuing a Law Degree: Azra Ahmed
- Race, Injustice, and Muslims for Ferguson: Mustafa Abdullah
Call for Justice
Call for Justice: Joint Letter on American Muslim Solidarity Against Police Brutality, January 26, 2015;
We are contacting you on behalf of the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC)(1) and Muslims for Ferguson(2) to ask for your solidarity in the struggle and call for justice concerning the tragic and unnecessary police and federal law enforcement killings of Black men, women, and children in the United States.
From the time of our Noble Prophet ﷺ, anti-Black and anti-African racism has plagued Muslim societies and communities. The first martyr in the early days of Islam was Sumayyah (RA), who had black skin and was a victim of violence at the hands of the governing authorities of Makkah. Other companions with black skin, such as Ammar bin Yassir (RA) and Bilal (RA), were also victims of ridicule and torture by the same authorities. State violence against marginalized communities is not a new development. History has proven time and again that Muslims are not immune to these forms of oppression.
Indeed, these oppressive behaviors and practices go against the messages that are at the heart of our Holy Qur’an and Prophetic traditions.
Signatories included Muhammed Malik , co-founder Muslims for Ferguson.
CAIR-STL: Ferguson Panel Discussion
Ferguson Panel Discussion CAIR STLLast DateSunday, 29th March 2015 13:30
Join us for a panel discussion on the lessons from Ferguson told from activists, organizers, and citizen journalists who worked on the ground.
What: Ferguson Panel Discussion
Where: Iqra Library, 517 Wiedman Rd, Ballwin MO 63011
Panel Members:
- Umar Lee: activist, free lance writer, and novelist.
- Mustafa Abdullah: Muslims4Ferguson Co-Founder.
- Bassem Masri: Citizen journalist and live streamer[4]
Missouri comrades
Alison Dreith March 13, 2015:
With John Chasnoff, Jasmin Maurer, Kirstin Palovick, Sandra Tolbert-Abron, Lauren May, Mike Kinman, Michael McPhearson, Deborah Jacobs, Mustafa Abdullah, Denise Lieberman and Jennifer Knopf Bernstein at Missouri State Capitol.
Revolutionary Strategies to Beat the Rising Right Wing
Revolutionary Strategies to Beat the Rising Right Wing, was a nationwide conference call organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Sunday October 30, 2016.
- What's the nature of this right-wing threat? What has this election cycle changed about the political terrain we're fighting on? How do we need to prepare for whats coming after the election? Hear about these crucial questions from our panel of top political strategists, including Nelini Stamp, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Linda Burnham, and Sendolo Diaminah.
Those indicating interest in attending, on Facebook included Mustafa Abdullah.[5]