2019 POLICY FOCUSES

Last year we ensured that countering institutionalized white supremacy, the fight against the Muslim Ban and the move to protect our houses of worship remained priorities for policymakers. See how we accomplished:

We were the first Muslims to be heard on this issue. We want more American Muslim voices to be heard and we won’t stop until we see actionable change.

We released our white paper: “The White Supremacist Threat to America” to highlight the history and effects of this threat for policy makers.

We partnered with Rep. Adam Schiff, interfaith partners, experts and community leaders on how to address and counter white supremacy in our country. 

We’ve actively worked with partners in tech, like Facebook, YouTube and Google, to ensure that online bigotry is being seen as a threat, and is being monitored. After two years of highlighting the threat of white nationalism to tech companies, both Facebook and Youtube took our policy recommendations.

With our partners at NILC, the ACLU and Oxfam, we hosted the Muslim Ban Congressional Reception at Capitol Hill in January. Nearly a dozen Members of Congress who are actively working against this bigoted policy were in attendance.

We worked with members of Congress to draft legislation which would end Trump’s Muslim Ban and prohibit future such ban. After many months of work, the NO BAN Act was introduced.

In May, we held a Congressional Briefing at Capitol Hill on the Muslim Ban visa waivers with Rep. Zoe Lofgren.

Congress held a Muslim Ban Oversight Hearing after our many months of calling for it.

We’ve been working with civil society partners and the DHS to protect houses of worship. Our goal is to make more public resources available for American Muslim institutions. We were invited to join and co-chair a special Department of Homeland Security task force as well as participate in a local LA city task force. Our goals were to explicitly to find methods to protect houses of worship.

Since 2013, the MPAC Empowering Voices Awards have honored political and cultural leaders working to perfect American pluralism by championing the civic and political empowerment of American Muslims.

We bring together the nation's most influential advocates to celebrate causes and individuals who have worked with us to champion the American and Islamic values of freedom, justice, and equality for all.

Our honorees go beyond simply acknowledging others as communities of faith, ethnicities, and race. They empower communities' civic and political engagement to ensure that America grows as an inclusive and pluralistic society.

They increase understanding and improve policies so that our vision of an America enriched by the vital contributions of American Muslims becomes a reality.

Past honorees include DNC Chair and then Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, California Attorney, General Xavier Becerra, UNICEF Ambassador and model Halima Aden, and civil rights icon, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), among many others.

Attendees include government officials, media professionals, civic leaders, community activists, and young leaders.

It takes a small amount of work from a large amount of people to something good accomplished. That’s why we’ve made it easy for you to do something big, with a click of a button. From fighting oppression in China and Kashmir to ensuring safety and security in our own backyards, we are tackling the issues that matter to you.

PANELS & EVENTS

This year we brought new conversations with and about American Muslims to the forefront of the nation's attention. From hosting Presidential Candidates at Mosques and Muslim gatherings to having conversations about Muslims in critical conversations we covered a lot of ground. Take a look: