Progressive Voices for Peace: An Evening with Six US Congresswomen
By Tahir Ali
Photos by Saqib Zulfiqar
Westborough MA: Rashid Shaikh had been busy preparing the Muslim Community in the Worcester County for a big fundraiser event for the 6-member congresswomen: Cori Bush (MO-1), Ilhan Omar (MN-5), Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez aka AOC (NY-14), Summer Lee (PA-12), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13). The event was supposed to be held at the Shaikhs' residence, however, due to his sudden health condition it was moved to Sarah Shamsuddin's abode (a Westboro School Committee member who was successful in advocating for getting schools to give a day off for EID).
Farooq Ansari, a former District Delegate (MA-3), mentioned the reason for the last-minute venue change as he welcomed the guests on behalf of his daughter, Sarah.
Anwar Kazmi, one of the main organizers, talked very highly of the Congresswomen, especially for their courage in standing up against those who demonize the underprivileged and the marginalized. Kazmi likened their courage to the award established in 1990 by the Kennedy family that recognizes public official(s) who demonstrate politically courageous leadership in the spirit of 'Profiles in Courage', the title of President Kennedy's book published in 1957. Kazmi appealed to the audience: "These courageous women knew it was the right thing to do, and now you have to do the right 'generous' thing today."
Sara fully agreed, "I like to echo what Anwar Kazmi said. So, dig deep into your pockets."
Rep Ayanna Presley picked up on AIPAC. She pointed out that when "Summer Lee was added to our group, AIPAC raised $100M, so Summer Lee is now the "100 Million Dollar Woman." And I just couldn't resist to add: Move over Lee Majors.
Rep Cori Anika Bush was the first black women to be elected in Congress in the State of Missouri. She was a member of the BLM movement and recalled in tears the experience the black people faced: discrimination, racial inequality and racially motivated violence against blacks. Cori mentioned how a Palestinian Delegation helped her deal with tear gas during the Ferguson riots in 2014. "Lastly, I will say this, in 2014 a delegation of Palestinians came to St Louis and sat on the ground, and they said we are going to teach you about tear gas." They were referring to daily first-hand experience dealing with tear gas during their peaceful protests in their own homeland by the Israeli forces.
Rep Summer Lee, however, was much luckier in Pennsylvania and admittedly didn't go through what Cori faced. But she realized that "racism and inequality are typical and that we are going to do something about it. We have to actually get to the root." Admittedly Lee in the beginning wasn't much inclined towards politics, but perhaps it was her destiny. She found herself drawn into politics and in 2016 actually campaigned for Bernie Sanders in the primaries. Coincidently, Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also campaigned for Bernie Sanders at the same time.
Rep Rashida Tlaib recalled her mother's amusing reaction when she told her that she is running for State Representative. Rashida is the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress. She owes her success to State Representative Steve Tobocman who recognized her potential and capability early on and encouraged her to run for the seat he was vacating. Then in the 2018 special election she filled up the seat of John Conyer's for the remaining term, then a 2-year term in the general election. Ever since she along with Rep Ilhan Abdulahi Omar of Minnesota has been fighting for the rights of the oppressed Palestinians. Rashida could not hold back her tears when she talked about the plight of the Palestinians.
The next day, another community member invited all six congresswomen to her home in Brookline. Anwar Kazmi and Tariq Siyam moderated the event. There were about 120 people present, according to Kazmi, and like in Westboro "there was a lot of energy, excitement along with emotions and tears when they talked about the plight of the Palestinians."
Tariq Siyam, in describing the format in Brookline, said that it was an auditorium style setting with the six congresswomen on a stage. Each congresswoman was given 15 minutes to introduce themselves. They talked about their early life and hardships as refugees and working as waiters, nurses. "These aspects of their life are imbedded in how they vote." In the Q&A session, AOC was asked that why she has been muting the word "genocide" when she is criticizing Israel's policy toward Palestinians. Her response was an evolution as she actually used the words: Israel, genocide and Palestinians in the same sentence.
Such meetings help because AOC last Friday (03/22/24) during a speech on the House floor, referring to the forced famine of 1.1 million people, courageously said, "If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes."
That evening more than 70 thousand dollars were raised in Westborough, which at such a short notice is quite an impressive figure.
The Brookline community also opened their hearts and wallets and reportedly raised close to 300 thousand dollars.
This too, was not a typical fundraiser, the community sincerely appreciated the congresswomen's stand for the rights of the oppressed and at the same time realizing the consequences and risk involved for their courageous stand, added Kazmi.
Both sessions ended with a cordial meet and greet plus a photo op with the congresswomen.
Some notable comments from the Audience:
Tariq Malik: Inspirational, even I read a lot but, listening firsthand gives a deeper understanding.
Humayun Kabir (Helping Hands): Good and informative, would have also liked to hear about the homeless, jobless.
Farooq Ansari: Good info for people to get up and support the right people to make changes.
Saqib Zulfiqar: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice came to mind when these congresswomen were seen collaborating to fight for the rights of the oppressed. This event became even more critical in the light of the turmoil in the Middle East.
Dr Shameem: Wonderful to see so many Congresswomen joining hands to work for the underprivileged.
Labiba Ali: I met Congresswoman Rashida at Dr Amjad Bahnassi's fundraiser last year and became friends, and it was so nice to meet her again today, though both of us couldn't hold back our tears when she talked about the plight of the Palestinians.
To view more photos visit the link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1D3Z53Ik8NNh4k0DmUgOrnbLjNhJENx-n?usp=sharing
(Tahir Aliis a former Delegate-at-Large, MA, and author of the book "The Muslim Vote Counts and Recounts" published by Wyndham Hall in 2004)
