August 2022 Resource Roundup

Our monthly Shoulder to Shoulder Community & Congregational Network Call is an opportunity to convene and connect with interfaith and community organizations and leaders throughout the country who are, in some capacity, addressing anti-Muslim discrimination in the U.S. In our meetings, members share resources, problem solve, and reflect on this important work. The notes below are a selection of public resources and events shared by network members and our various partners and friends. If you’re interested in learning more about our S2S Community Network, contact us and/or check out our website.

S2S Programmatic Updates:

• Interfaith greetings at the ELCA General Assembly. Presiding Bishop Eaton’s introduction spoke about their partnership with Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and with the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign. Rabbi Esther Lederman from the URJ and Imam Catovic from the Islamic Society of North America addressed the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. All three organizations, the ELCA, the URJ, and ISNA are founding partners of the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign and members of our executive committee guiding our vision and mission. YouTube: https://youtu.be/PCf1_Kp78wI
• September 22 1pm ET Public conversation program with the Sikh Coalition and other partners on addressing the anti-Critical Race Theory (CRT) movement. Registration link coming soon.
• Wisdom from our Neighborhood (Paths to Understanding) featured Shoulder to Shoulder and Nina Fernando for a conversation on our work and this moment in our country. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvE2GrKUmjI
• Upcoming fall Jewish holidays to be aware of (i.e. to avoid planning stuff on). All go from sundown to sundown: Rosh Hashanah, Sept 25–27. Yom Kippur, Oct 4–5. Sukkot, Oct 9–16* (first two nights avoid scheduling over). Simchat Torah, Oct 17–18.
• Did you miss our July Public Conversation with Dr. Amaarah DeCuir? Dr. DeCuir walked us through how racism and religious intolerance connects to insensitive comments, harassment, school policies, bullying, and deadly violence. She shared how communities across the country are leading the work to include diverse religious holidays in the school calendar and address racism and religious intolerance before it becomes harassment and violence. Watch the recording on YouTube and Facebook.

Resources & Upcoming Opportunities

Shared and copy/pasted from various partners and friends:

Events

• Depolarizing Conversations About Race & Public Policy with Braver Angels August 27 2- 5pm ET
• On Wednesday, August 31, at 6 PM, NYC-area sangat members can join Simran Jeet Singh and Imam Khalid Latif at P&T Knitwear Book store for a discussion of how the post-9/11 era has shaped the Sikh and Muslim communities and their activism. Attendance is free, but you must RSVP at https://shop.ptknitwear.com/events/19209
• When “just getting along” isn’t enough: Is belonging possible in a world rooted in othering? on September 6, 2022 (8:00 AM — 9:00 AM PST / 11:00 AM — 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM — 6:00 PM CET) Taking the promise of getting along as an entry point into an exploration of authoritarian populism, racism, activist burnout, hope, and the hidden costs of victory, Dr. Báyò Akómoláfé and OBI Director john a. powell examine mainstream assumptions that reduce belonging to a “we-all-get-along” inclusivity: What if the very indigestibility of the other calls for new ways of framing identity and the promise of politics? Where are the thirst-quenching waters in a time of fire and fury? Democracy & Belonging Forum Global Senior Fellow Dr. Bayo Akómoláfé and OBI Director john a. powell will examine mainstream assumptions that reduce belonging to a “we-all-get-along” inclusivity. Registration is free.
• Introductory Course on Muslim-Jewish Relations. The aim of this course is to cover the long history of Muslim-Jewish relations. It will cover theology, Islamic law, relations in the medieval period and compare experiences of both communities to the onset of modernity. Students will be recruited from across mosques and Muslim-led organizations. The course is aimed at those who wish to develop a deeper understanding of the theology and history of Muslim-Jewish relations. Course cohorts will vary between 25 and 50 participants. The course leaders have chosen to work with the Woolf Institute as it is uniquely placed with experience in online education and expertise in the field of Muslim-Jewish relations. Starts Sept 15 https://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/study/online-courses/an-introductory-course-on-muslim-jewish-relations
• Christian Nationalism in America: Its History and Resurgence November 3, 12:00–1:10pm. Charles Gallagher, author of the acclaimed book Nazis of Copley Square: The Forgotten History of the Christian Front, will summarize the history of the Christian Front and other explicitly Christian nationalist groups and discuss their influence on today’s far-right movements. Event Sponsor: Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies, UST Department of Theology, Center for the Common Good, Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at Saint John’s University, Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota LEARN MORE
• The Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR) 2022–2023 annual lecture series will interrogate Race, Security and Empire through an interdisciplinary lens. Registration link.

Jobs/Fellowships

Please check them out and apply or pass them along to potential candidates:

• Defending Rights & Dissent. Communications Manager and Administrator
• Interfaith America Program Manager for Interfaith America’s Racial Equity Initiatives. If you’re passionate about #Interfaith collaboration & racial equity & love working in a fast paced environment where you’ll manage concurrent projects, this is a role for you! Apply now: https://bit.ly/3pnQbOD
• Sikh Coalition: is seeking an experienced Director or Senior Director of Development and Operations to take on fundraising, finance, and HR responsibilities. Learn more and apply today; applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis. https://sikhcoalition.recruitee.com/o/directorsenior-director-of-development-and-operations
• The Rothko Chapel (Houston, TX) is hiring a full-time Program & Volunteer Coordinator to join our staff this fall, and has just posted a job listing on our website here: http://www.rothkochapel.org/employment/
• CAIR-SFBA has several full-time and part-time openings. They span operations, legal, programs, and community outreach. https://www.applicantpro.com/openings/cacairsfba/jobs
• American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) Seeking Staff Attorney Washington, D.C. | www.adc.org | The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is seeking a Staff Attorney support the ongoing work and mission of the organization. The Staff Attorney will play an integral part in advancing the mission and goals of the ADC Legal Department.
• International Refugee Assistance Project Qualifications and salary bands are included in the postings and applications can be submitted on the respective pages. Intake and Legal Information (ILI) Caseworker (Remote US, Germany, or Lebanon), Policy Assistant (New York/DC), and Litigation Staff Attorney (New York)
• The University of Southern California is searching for an Associate Dean of Religious Life.
• BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty) is hiring. Interested in defending faith freedom full-time? Apply to be BJC’s next Communications Manager.
• CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, is looking for a person (you perhaps?) to join our research and advocacy team at our national headquarters. Generally speaking, our team’s role in CAIR is to collect information, identify trends and then run campaigns designed to either support the good trends, or alternatively, push back against the bad ones. Click here to look over the Research and Advocacy Coordinator’s job description
• The Family and Youth Institute (FYI) is seeking a highly motivated Community Outreach Manager, an Executive Assistant, and a Project Administrator. For more information, please visit www.TheFYI.org/Careers
• Over Zero — Program Director, State Resilience
• Common Ground USA — Senior Manager, State Resilience and Program Manager, State Resilience
• Color Of Change is hiring! Color of Change helps you do something real about injustice. We design campaigns powerful enough to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back, and champion solutions that move us all forward. Until justice is real.

Journal Submission

• The Journal of Democracy and Peacebuilding is a publication for the international community of conflict engagement practitioners, scholars, scholar practitioners, academics, students, and peacebuilders, with a focus on the interconnection of democracy, conflict and peacebuilding. REQUEST SUBMISSIONS from our DPACE Community (and anyone you think might be interested) for the Spring 2023 Edition of the Journal of Democracy and Peacebuilding (JDP) www.thejdp.org. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2023.

Grants

• Rise Together Fund will be making 5–10 Rapid Response grants available ranging from $5,000-$15,000 between September and November, budget permitting. The Fund is currently capped at $50,000. Deadlines: RTF will accept inquiries in potentially two waves. The first deadline for submissions is by EOD on Wednesday, August 31. Budget permitting, a second submission deadline will be extended to EOD on Thursday, September 15. Urgent requests for security needs will be reviewed immediately and as inquiries are received. Eligibility criteria, process and submissions: We’ve heard your feedback over the years and have made adjustments to our submission and approval process. To learn more about this year’s Rapid Response Fund, including detailed eligibility criteria and our step-by-step process, and to submit a project inquiry for consideration, go to: https://www.proteusfund.org/rtf-20222-rapid-response-funding/.
• Nominate a “Uniter” in your community to be recognized by the White House. Across America, Americans are working to bring their communities together across lines of racial, religious, political and other differences to prevent acts of hate-fueled violence, promote healing where such violence has had devastating consequences, and foster unity. These “Uniters” are bipartisan faith leaders and teachers, police officers and mayors, civic leaders and volunteers, and everyday members of our communities. Many of these Uniters are themselves survivors of hate-fueled violence who have turned their pain into purpose. They hold together our communities together and lift us up in the hardest times. By September 1st, 2022, we invite you to nominate an extraordinary Uniter in your community to be recognized by the White House. Please email UnitedWeStand@who.eop.gov with information on a leader in your community who inspires change by building bridges and countering hate-fueled violence. As President Biden said in Buffalo after the horrific mass shooting earlier this year, in the battle for the soul of our nation “we must all enlist in this great cause of America.” The United We Stand Summit will present an important opportunity for Americans of all walks of life to take up that cause — together.

Resources

Understanding Shia-Sunni tensions

• A Ten episode Documentary Series tracking the history of the Shia in America from the late 1800s to the present day. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7ImOU52NenbVH6JRSjy34zzB121GawXX
• Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative collected resources
• Why Most Muslims I Know Are Feeling a Growing Sense of Dread by Wajahat Ali
• Seeing Myself in “Ya Husayn” by Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer
• Statements from SRJC, AMBA, CAIR, Shia Muslim Council
• Confronting anti-Shia hate is necessary to prevent killings like Albuquerque.
• Shoulder to Shoulder statement
• Introduction to Shi’i Islam (Hartford International University) Dr. Hossein Kamaly. Synchronous Online. Mondays, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. How much do you know about Shi’i Islam? Learn about it in historical context from the holder of HIU’s Imam Ali Chair in Shi’a Studies and Dialogue among Islamic Schools of Thought, the only such chair in North America.

September 11 Resources and Events

• Messaging Tips for the 20th Commemoration of 9/11
• Teaching Beyond 9/11. Module 2 takes a look at Domestic US policies, focusing on the surveillance of Muslims and those perceived to be Muslims in the aftermath of 9/11.
• 10 things you can do to challenge Islamophobia — American Friends Service Committee
• 9/11 Teaching Resources. Recommended by the Islamic Speakers Bureau
• AmeriCorps invites you to honor 9/11 this year by serving with someone who may not share the same faith, political party, or neighborhood as you. AmeriCorps has tools and resources you can use for project ideas as well as a webinar recording, to post your volunteer opportunity so that others can find it, search for volunteer opportunities, sign up your organization as a September 11 Day of Service and Remembrance Champion, and media tools to support messaging and other outreach.
• United We Walk — Tri-Faith, Omaha, Nebraska
• Unity Walk and Pledge InterFaith Council of Metropolitan, Washington, DC
• United through Service, AmeriCorps Day of Service

Back to School Resources

• The Uplifting Black Muslim Youth: A Positive Youth Development Approach provides research summary and a meaningful framework to support thriving, while the Uplifting Black Muslim Youth Toolkit has resources to help you implement the framework at home, school, and the masjid.
• Check out one of BJC’s most popular resources that lists 5 key reminders on religious liberty in public schools: https://bjconline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Religion-in-Public-Schools-Final.pdf
• Shoulder to Shoulder collection of Educator Resources on addressing anti-Muslim discrimination in our classrooms and community

Reports

• Muslim Community Network Hate-crime Prevention Report 2022: An Analysis Of Hate Crime Incidents Experienced By The NYC Muslim Population And Policy Recommendations: https://mcnny.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MCN-Hate-Crime-Prevention-Report.pdf
• American Muslim Poll 2022: A Politics and Pandemic Status Report. Institute for Social Policy Understanding
• Illinois Muslims: Needs, Assets, And Opportunities Report. Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition, UIC Institute for Policy, and Civic Engagement and Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU)
• Equality Labs has launched Power, Platforms & Politics: Asian Americans & Disinformation, together with Asian American partners such as National Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Filipino Young Leaders Program; National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Viet Fact Check, and others. This report offers a preliminary landscape analysis of mis- and disinformation within and about Asian and Asian American diasporic communities with the aim of strengthening Asian American movement building.
• Houston Coalition Against Hate in collaboration with the University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work announces the release of our Phase 2 Report, “Building Hate Crime Capacity in Community Based Organizations (CBOs).” This research study, led by Assistant Professor Aabha Brown and team, ascertains the current capacity of community-based organizations (CBOs) in Houston to respond to hate crimes. Direct link to the report https://houstonagainsthate.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Building-Hate-Crime-Response-Capacity_Final.pdf
• Friends Committee on National Legislation: Failures of the War on Terror

Trainings and Toolkits

• Combating Christian nationalism curriculum, available from at Vote Common Good. The 3-session video and discussion guide includes 17 different video segments. Speakers include Amanda Tyler (BJC), Dr. Andrew Whitehead, Dr. Samuel Perry, Katherine Stewart, and many more familiar faces. You can access the curriculum here.
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has published a new set of guidelines for ministry in a multi-religious world. Designed for pastors, deacons and others engaging in interfaith work, the document contains a wealth of considerations and planning suggestions for organizing interreligious services such as weddings, funerals, ordinations or responses to national tragedies and crises.
• Revolutionary Love Training Course. Just pop in your earbuds and go on a journey with Valarie Kaur. Intimate, inspirational, and practical, this course is a deep immersion in the practices of revolutionary love: How do we love when it’s hard? How do we tend the wounds in ourselves, and others? How do we stay awake to the world and still find breath, pleasure, and joy in our bodies? If you are hungry for transformation that bridges the political and personal, spirituality and social justice, this is for you.
• United Religions Initiative — Interfaith Peacebuilding Guide. https://www.uri.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2017/URI_Interfaith_Peacebuilding_Guide.pdf
• Muslim-Christian Conflict or Cooperation: The Politics of Interpreting our Shared Past (Hartford International University) Dr. David D. Grafton. Asynchronous. Our resident expert in Christian-Muslim relations will survey the history, giving attention to how contemporary events shape our memories of past events and identities.

Articles/podcasts/videos

• Asma Uddin’s work on healing Muslim-Christian relations through shared vulnerability in a new conversation with Fetzer Institute.
• American Sikhs are targets of bigotry, often due to cultural ignorance by Simran Jeet Singh
• Why do Muslim-Christian bridge-building efforts often fail? In this piece for Neigborly Faith, Jordan Denari Duffner digs into social psychology to help answer this question: “For years, my colleagues and I have not fully appreciated human beings’ psychological need for reciprocity. And because we’ve overlooked this need, our bridge-building efforts have suffered.” https://www.whatwentwrong.us/speaking-up-for-the-good-others-have-done?fbclid=IwAR01v8_AkYvRi9RLw53s3vNZ0r4ugVTYUlBH5X3xJC7MoKfJa5FjmOfXMqE
• Deep Diversity: Overcoming Us vs Them by Shakil Choudhury. Recommendation by CCN member Sara Trumm “I found it super helpful at breaking down how humans all have unconscious bias and why, as well as giving practical ways of overcoming negative bias.”
• Salman Rushdie’s attack was an assault on free speech — but not a clash of civilizations. https://theconversation.com/salman-rushdies-attack-was-an-assault-on-free-speech-but-not-a-clash-of-civilisations-188709?mc_cid=09eff73ee0&mc_eid=4e1b6b25dd
• Six Techniques to cool down a heated negotiation from Frontline Negotiation. While this discusses humanitarian negotiation, the techniques can apply and are similar to what we discuss in our Faith Over Fear training when responding to disinformation and anti-Muslim discrimination. Acknowledge the emotion. Find a shared interest. Etc.
• The Riz Test: Challenging how Muslims are portrayed on screen Podcast
• Interfaith Immigration Coalition Newsletter https://mailchi.mp/interfaithimmigration/newsletter-8-24?e=f658dd84d7

Closing

Lord, Lord, Open Unto Me By Howard Thurman

Open unto me, light for my darkness

Open unto me, courage for my fear

Open unto me, hope for my despair

Open unto me, peace for my turmoil

Open unto me, joy for my sorrow

Open unto me, strength for my weakness

Open unto me, wisdom for my confusion

Open unto me, forgiveness for my sins

Open unto me, tenderness for my toughness

Open unto me, love for my hates

Open unto me, Thy Self for myself

Lord, Lord, open unto me!