I was blessed to be invited to a conference at the Vatican on Laudato Si, the Papal Encyclical on creation care. Called Our Common Home, I presented a reflection on Laudato Si using the teachings of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (AS). The conference ended with an audience with the Pope.
Working the Love Rally of 2016 | The Huffington Post.
At this love rally, I met man whose name I do not know. At this love rally, I met this man who makes me wonder what love looks like for him. At this love rally, I met this man who wanted someone to show him a little bit of love, a little bit of kindness, as we all talked about love.
The loud discourse on Islam in the United States today marks Muslims as a threat, embroiled in pre-modern sensibilities, and unable to participate in democratic societies. These articulations are often made by recycling colonial and oriental images of Muslim women as oppressed and Muslim men as violent, with objects such as the hijab and the figure of the terrorist at the center. This rise of Islamophobic commentary has resulted in myriad incidences of bullying, teasing, and direct violence against teachers and students who identify, or are read by others, as Muslims. All this points to the lack of understanding about Islam and Muslims in the United States. This panel will argue for the urgent need for religious literacy and introduce the Cultural Studies method to understand Islam and Muslims.
Panelists:
Dr. Ali Asani, Professor of Indo-Muslim Religion and Cultures; Director of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, Harvard University
Dr. Diane Moore, Director, Religious Literacy Project; Senior Lecturer on Religious Studies and Education; Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University
Dr. Hussein Rashid, Founder of islamicate, L3C, a consultancy focusing on religious literacy and cultural competency
Shenila Khoja-Moolji, Research Fellow, Teachers College; Education Affiliate, Religious Literacy Project, Harvard University
Date: April 21, 2016
Time: 7 to 9pm
Everette Lounge
Teachers College, Columbia University
Sponsors:
Vice President's Office for Diversity & Community Affairs
Teachers College Student Senate
“Body Politics” :: Jan 17 @middlechurch from Middle Collegiate Church on Vimeo.
Friday, April 15 – Sunday, April 17 in New York City
Our nation is in a crisis. Though there is only one race — the human race — racism is a construct with lethal consequences. People die while in its custody. Racism has annihilated the souls of citizens and ripped out the heart of our nation. Recent surveys show that 60% of the people in our nation think race relations are in a significant decline, that our dream for justice and equality is dying on the vine.
At the 10th annual Leading Edge Conference and the 6th annual Transform Network Gathering, we will learn and teach each other the best practical wisdom for movement-making, mingled with theoretical underpinnings and theological reflection. Join thought leaders like Chris Crass, Melissa Harris-Perry, Jim Wallis, Jacqui Lewis, Huseein Rashid, and Miguel De La Torre; and activists like Linda Sarsour, Micky ScottBey Jones and Valarie Kaur. In plenaries, short talks, and small group conversations surrounded by music and art, we will create strategies for change.
Activists, analysts, preachers, poets, prophets, teachers, trainers, writers, queer, and straight folk of all faiths ready to make a change: Come and bring your hopes, disappointments, and dreams. We must disrupt the narrative of white supremacy if we are to be free. We need tools, tactics, and truth-telling to dismantle racism.
Ours is #PropheticGrief. Even in our anger and tears, we are ready to do something, to organize. This is a multi-faith, multi-racial movement. Those of us who are disgusted with the status quo are called to join the movement if we are to save our nation, save our world, and save our souls.
Powered by the Middle Project, Transform Network, The Unitarian Universalist Association, and Auburn Seminary
To register, visit middleproject.org.
elumenati is the company that did a wonderful immersive architectural experience for the Children’s Museum of Manhattan‘s America to Zanzibar exhibit. They have posted a promo video that only hints at how great the experience is.
Here is a Newsday article on the exhibit America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far, at The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, for which I was the lead academic advisor. It’s a good chance to shout out my friends from high school.
“Our goal is to have children deal with differences in a healthy, positive way and encourage them to be inquisitive while exploring the world instead of running away from its differences,” Rashid said, an experience not so different from his years growing up in Elmont.
For the last few years, I got paid to play with toys. I was able to put a philosophy of Star Trek’s Vulcans into practice, and live as a Jedi. Comics littered my work space, and Dr. Who’s TARDIS traveled with me through space and time. All I was missing was a Buffy or Firefly fix. All of this was possible because I was working on religious literacy and global citizenship.
I am proud to announce the opening of the exhibit America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. I served as the lead academic advisor the exhibit, and it is stunning. Below is a link to my Flickr album of the space, which I will continue update as the exhibit goes on for the year.
In January 2016, I was blessed to be invited to share the pulpit at two Collegiate churches in New York City.
The first was Marble Collegiate Church, as part of their annual Trialogue amongst the Abrahamic traditions.
January 10, 2016 Three Faiths, One Family from Marble Collegiate Church on Vimeo.
Hosted by Dr. Michael B. Brown
Rabbi Ayelet Cohen, Rev. Robert Chase and Dr. Hussein Rashid
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I was hosted by Middle Collegiate Church, where I spoke about Islamophobia and #BlackLivesMatter
“Body Politics” :: Jan 17 @middlechurch from Middle Collegiate Church on Vimeo.
“Body Politics”
Jacqui Lewis and Hussein Rashid
McGinley Chair Fall Lecture | McGinley Chair Fall Lecture | Fordham.
McGinley Chair Fall Lecture Fall 2015 Lecture
Rejecting Hatred: Fifty Years of Catholic Dialogue with Jews and Muslims since Nostra Aetate
Hussein