It is difficult to believe the horrors our communities have witnessed in the past week. The recent murders of Imam Maulana Akonjee and Thara Uddin in Queens, New York and Khalid Jabara in Tulsa, Oklahoma are a grave tragedy for the Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities. These violent attacks fueled by hate against people’s ethnicity, religion, or perceived religion are on the rise. They are wounding our communities. We cannot stay silent and passive; we must take action.

When your community faces continuous discrimination and acts of violence, it affects you to your core. None of us are unaffected by oppression or above the collective trauma faced by communities of color. For help with processing the recent hate crimes, below are some useful resources on healing practices.

Title: 
NNAAC Transformative Leaders Fellowship

Organization: 
TAKE ON HATE in metro Detroit

Description:

The Campaign to TAKE ON HATE—led by the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), an ACCESS institution—challenges hate and bigotry toward all, and addresses the growing discrimination and persistent misconception of Arab and Muslim Americans, including refugees. TAKE ON HATE aims to achieve meaningful social change not only through public education, media and coalition building, but also by providing a platform for all communities to speak up and inspire real change that challenges institutional discrimination and protects the rights of our communities. 

As a representative of TAKE ON HATE, your primary role as our fellow is to support the local TAKE ON HATE projects under the supervision of the Advocacy and Engagement Specialist. This fellowship offers a stipend of $3,500 over nine months, and opportunity for college credits. 

Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism are not new phenomena. During this political season alone, we’ve seen negative campaigning based on tactics that are anti-immigrant, -refugee, -Arab and -Muslim, and otherwise racist rhetoric that spreads hate. This is not the time to be apathetic. We are at risk of losing our rights, our voice and our sense of community. This is the time to #TakeOnHateWithYourVote and become advocates for change. 

With the goal of providing a healing and forward-looking space, this workshop explored the powerful ways in which colorism has affected communities of color and looked to ways in which we can heal from the psychological harm.