Yearly Archives: 2011

Dear Mr. Hafner:

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Let me first say that Kayak.com is bookmarked on my computer.  I think it’s the best travel site out there.  I’ve used Kayak for every single flight I have ever booked since 2005.  And I travel a lot — at least 50,000 miles a year.  You provide a tool I use all the time.

So when I read your blog post yesterday,… Continue Reading

All-American Muslim is TLC’s bold new reality TV show that follows Muslim American families in Dearborn, MI. It has all the features of reality television – funny, dramatic, sensational, addictive – but it also tackles real-world struggles: family and marriage, racism, religious conflict, and how life changed after 9/11. It made me excited – the first truly mainstream portrait of Muslims in America.

Last week, fringe anti-Muslim groups pressured American companies to pull their advertising… Continue Reading

For the last decade, we have heard demands for mainstream Muslims to come out of the shadows, to speak out against terrorism, and reclaim their faith.  What better way to tell one’s stories than though film and television?  And what is more quintessentially American these days than telling one’s story through reality TV?

This fall’s new TLC show All-American Muslim takes on the daring project of depicting Muslim families as real people.  Anti-Muslim groups… Continue Reading

BY VALARIE KAUR AND JESSICA JENKINS

Reposted from the Huffington Post

It is a basic fact of the moral universe that children should not be sold for sexual exploitation.  However, in America, girls and boys are regularly manipulated, coerced, and forced into sex for money.  Most are trafficked from within the United States, not far-off foreign lands. Many are as young as eleven or twelve. And many are sold on prominent Web sites such as… Continue Reading

I’ve been speaking about a rising generation ready to emerge from the shadows of the last decade and enter a new era of social change.

Now we are seeing something emerge — a grassroots campaign has caught fire, turning out thousands of people, young and old, to create a free democratic space called Liberty Square on Wall Street.

All kinds of people are protesting that Wall Street has been rescued but there has… Continue Reading

My letter to the editor of the New York Times, defending the moral vision of the Millennial generation, was published today. I’m thrilled to be given this chance to speak out for all of us working so hard toward our vision of a more just world.

You can find the letter on the NYT website, and read it below.

Re “If It Feels Right…” (column,… Continue Reading

I’m writing tonight from Mesa, Arizona, where a family friend was murdered ten years ago.  His name was Balbir Singh Sodhi.He was a turbaned Sikh man who owned his own gas station and was well-loved for his generosity and broad smile.

On Sept. 15, 2001, he visited Costco to buy flowers and emptied his pocket to make a donation to the 9/11 relief efforts in the check out line.  A few hours later, he was

… Continue Reading

On Sunday night, when I got off the train near Ground Zero to attend a 9/11 multifaith ceremony, I walked right into an anti-Muslim protest.

Two hundred people cheered on speakers who warned of sharia law and the Muslim invasion.  Their signs read: “Mohammad was a terrorist.”

A moment later, their eyes were on us — we looked like their enemies — and my throat caught.  I cried, and walked away.

But when I finally… Continue Reading

We have been collecting Ribbons of Hope from across the country and around the world to mark the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. Our partners at Prepare New York are weaving these ribbons into a colorful tapestry that to me, represents a groundswell of people ready to overcome fear and divisiveness on this anniversary.  Send your Ribbon of Hope to Ground Zero today (easy and free).  Continue Reading

On Tuesday night, hundreds of people gathered together at Groundswell’s kick-off teach-in in NYC and imagined how a movement based on compassion and community could emerge from the shadows this tenth anniversary of 9/11.

I can still feel the electricity in the room — and the excitement about what we could build. We envisioned a movement that’s not about a single issue, political party or particular tradition — but a shared moral vision of… Continue Reading