Salaam and Winter Greetings from ASMA. The past few weeks have been exciting for MLTs who came together in show of support for All-American Muslim.

As discussed in the survey, we held our first MLT call with Reza Aslan to discuss the recent events surrounding Right-wing attacks on the show that called for advertisers to pull ads for the show. Lowe's and several other companies have been accused of pulling ads from the TV show after complaints from the Florida Family Association.

The various action points suggested during the call were:

• Petitioning against Islamophobic companies
• Blogging, writing Op-eds, going on air
• Engaging with the American Public (interfaith, politicians, celebrities)

Due to the actions of a few, the strategic action taken resulted in an overnight online movement that went viral. On December 10^th,  MLT Sami Elmansoury launched a nation-wide petition on moveon.org  gathering about 1,000 signatures an hour currently holding 25,055 signatures currently-just under 5,000 signatures to its target goal of 30,000. If you haven’t signed the petition yet, please do so and circulate it amongst your networks:

 

 

The buzz created extended over into your far reaching networks and urged celebrities, politicians and members from interfaith communities to voice their support for the show. Russell Simmons and Mia Farrow to Tweet about the issue. Russell Simmons tried to purchase the remaining advertising spots on the show, but found the slots to be SOLD OUT! We are making headway!

Patheos opened up the call for writers to submit their works to the blog recently launched dedicated to highlighting the conversations around “All American Muslim.” The link to the blog is:http://www.patheos.com/blogs/allamericanmuslim/

Commenting on the purchasing power of American Muslims, Daisy Khan was quoted in The Washington Post today saying, 

“American Muslims, a vibrant and diverse community with a global outreach, represent a significant and growing market with substantial buying power. An American Muslim market consumer study released by DinarStandard estimates that the 5.8 million to 6.7 million Muslims in America (2010) had an aggregate 2010 disposable income ranging between $107 billion to $124 billion. The study estimates that American Muslims spend $33 billion yearly on housing and housing services – including shopping at places like Walmart, Home Depot and of course Lowe’s.”

 

Read more at:

 

MLTs: Ayesha Mattu, Zeba Iqbal, Debbie Almontaser, Sheila Musaji, and Arsalan Iftikhar were among many others to write Op-eds.

 

Politicians such as Rep. Keith Ellison, Rep. John Conyers, State Sen. Ted W. Lieu, Senator Barbara Buono and Mayor Cory Booker pledged their support as they have signed the petition, tweeted about it, or publicly acknowledged support. This is a case study on how a small group of dedicated individuals can have a positive impact on the American Muslim Community. Whether Lowe’s reverses it decision remains to be seen, however, this is a great success in showing the strength within the American Muslim Community. We will not be silent in the face of Islamophobia and bigotry.

 

For those of you in the greater New York area, We would like to take the opportunity to meet and discuss the great success of this strategic campaign. The dates we have in mind are Monday December 19^th at 7pm or at Turkuaz Restaurant located on the upper West side on 100^th street and Broadway. It will be a joyous, informal gathering to end 2011 on a positive note. *Please note, we will go Dutch for dinner.

 

Turkuaz’s website: http://www.turkuazrestaurant.com/

 

Please confirm with me at nadia@asmasociety.org if you can make it to the gathering.

 

We look forward to seeing you all,

Nadia