MPAC Organizes Series of Non-partisan Democracy Forums
By M. Faiyaz Hussain

In advance of the upcoming November 2022 elections, MPAC organized a series of non-partisan  Democracy Forums  in key cities across the nation. The Democracy Forums began earlier this summer and concluded in late September.

These panel discussions were meant to elicit bi-partisan solutions in response to the unprecedented January 6 attack on our US Capitol building and the ongoing continued assault on our American democracy. 

During a time in which partisan gridlock and disinformation has significantly eroded the public perception and trust in the American democracy,  MPAC’s mission has been to demonstrate the viability, value, and vulnerability of our precious democratic ideals and institutions that have survived for almost 250 years but are now facing a clear and present danger of being irreparably damaged.

The Forums were held in Washington, DC, Chicago, Sacramento, Atlanta and Houston and  featured prominent legislators from federal, state and city levels of government from the states of California, Illinois and the key battleground states of Georgia and Texas. The forums also featured influential policy makers based out of some of the world’s leading institutions and academics of diverse backgrounds and notable scholarship. The Atlanta forum was conducted in partnership with the city’s local Crescent Club – a private/public sector partnership whose members consist of a very ethnically and socio-economically diverse community of influential private sector corporate executives, public sector policy makers and grass-roots community organizers.

The panelists engaged in various dynamic and solutions-oriented discussions on an exhaustive list of topics impacting our democracy, including, but not limited to, the following:

• The alarming rise of political extremism and its underlying roots based in hatred of the other and divisiveness. And,  the critical importance of resisting the urge to sit back and passively letting things happen around us versus fighting to protect our democracy and our shared values of freedom and equal justice for all;
• The toxic rise of White Nationalism and the so-called Great Replacement Theory – a conspiratorial idea that claims indigenous European culture is being uprooted by foreign immigrants moving to the US, and the threat it poses to not only American Muslims but all immigrant and minority communities in the United States. T he panelists urged American Muslims to combat this hateful ideology by building coalitions across religious and political affiliations to prevent these irrational fears from being mainstreamed and normalized; 
• The ever-increasing role social-media companies are playing in our daily lives and the effects they are having on the public's confidence in our democratic system of government. And  the critical need of making sure we create the proper guardrails on how to navigate the complexities of these new technologies to reduce the ill-effects being caused by both foreign and domestic bad actors on their platforms;
• The need for all American Muslims, and particularly our youth, to get engaged politically or, no matter what their chosen profession, to be part of the next generation of leaders   who will help serve in ways that will solve our country’s and the world’s most pressing existential threats;
• The tools to guard against the nefarious tactics being deployed by MAGA-influenced legislators and other bad-actors and their renewed assault on the rights of Black citizens all over the country since the advent of the Big Lie including our shared solidarity with all marginalized communities across the country to keep access to the ballot box free from political and economic intimidation; and 
• The importance of candidates of good-conscience winning local and state legislative elections   including the crucial Secretary of State positions across the country – given the unique roles the positions hold in ultimately controlling election results in each state.

All of the panelists also commended MPAC on its  Democracy Forum series  which they noted was a critically important first step in ensuring that our Democracy not only survives but remains a nation where the Rule of Law reigns supreme. Going into next year, MPAC will redouble its efforts to ensure that voters’ rights and their ability to equally participate in our democracy remains free and clear. Further, we need to ensure that meaningful reform to protect America’s cherished tradition of a peaceful transfer of presidential power, beginning with the Electoral Count Reform Act, is passed and implemented. We look forward to sharing our future efforts with you in the near future.

Following our Democracy Forums,  MPAC is proud to announce the release of “The Great Enrichment Counter Narrative: Debunking the Great Replacement Theory,” a report that seeks to disprove its logic by indicating the flaws in the arguments used by adherents of this problematic theory. This conspiracy theory has been a key motivator for many involved in the January 6th attack on our Capitol, and behind many other hate-fueled attacks; both domestic and globally. America's history is not one of population replacement, but rather one of a “Great Enrichment" achieved through each wave of immigration to the United States and the countless contributions made by its other minority communities, regardless of creed or race, contributing positively to the socio-economic makeup of this nation.  The full report may be viewed here.
(M. Faiyaz Hussain is Senior Advisor for Strategy & Policy, MPAC)