Page 18 - Pakistan Link - November 19, 2021

P18 – PAKISTAN LINK – NOVEMBER 19, 2021 COMMUNITY
Bergen’s Shama Haider Makes
History as First Muslim Neighborhood Council Leaders Unite behind
Elected to NJ Legislature Faisal Gill for City Attorney

Los Angeles, CA: Demonstraing his gresswoman Karen Bass, Los An-
wide-ranging support from grass- geles County Supervisor Holly
roots leaders throughout Los Ange- Mitchell, Congressman Ro Khanna,
les, Faisal Gill, a civil rights attorney State Senator Sydney Kamlager, and
running for Los Angeles City At- the California College Democrats,
torney, announced he received the among scores of others.
endorsements of five neighborhood Previously, Gill formally
council leaders representing diverse launched his campaign for Los An-
communities throughout the city. geles City Attorney by releasing a
They are: video ad titled “Do Better”.
• Michael Ebenkamp, North To view “Do Better”, click here
Hills East Neighborhood Council or on the screenshot below:
President Faisal Gill is an immigrant, civil
• Mustafaa Tajuddin, former rights attorney, husband, and father
PICO Neighborhood Council Presi- who lives in Los Angeles, California.
dent As a civil rights attorney, Faisal has
• Mansoor Khan, Echo Park esteemed Los Angeles religious lead- healthier and safer. I thank our local taken on clients who faced discrimi-
n By Hannan Adely Neighborhood Council President ers. leaders for their endorsements, and nation from the federal government,
• Furkan Yalcin, North In a statement reflecting on the we’ll work together to make this a state governments, immigration en-
Westwood Neighborhood Council announced endorsements, Gill com- city that delivers for everyone.” forcement, police departments, and
ew Jersey’s Muslim com- President mented: Recently, Gill released a new their employers. He hopes to bring
munity has made strides • Daymond Johnson, Em- “I’m humbled to gain the confi- digital ad titled “Progressive Ap- his perspective as an immigrant and
Nin local politics in recent powerment Congress Central Presi- dence and support of these respected proach.” The ad highlights the fail- civil rights attorney to the office of
years, winning seats across the dent neighborhood council presidents ures of LA’s approach in criminaliz- LA City Attorney and restore trust
state as mayors, council members This comes on the heels of Gill’s and leaders throughout the city. Our ing homelessness as well as his plans and transparency in local govern-
and school board commissioners. campaign last week announcing neighborhood councils are the back- to help fix the broken system. ment.
Despite their growing political the powerful support of Assembly- bone of our communities and power Notably, Gill has also earned For more information, please
power, no Muslim has ever served in member Isaac Bryan and a trio of Los Angeles to make our city better, key endorsements from US Con- visit gillforla.com.
the state Legislature.
That changed on Election Day, ‘It’s Time to Flip the Script’: Riz Pakistani Digital
however, when former Tenafly coun-
cilwoman Shama Haider won the Ahmed Talks about Poor Muslim Bookkeeping App
race for state Assembly in the 37th
District in Bergen County. Raises $6m in
“I am extraordinarily proud of Representation in the Film Industry
our campaign,” Haider, a Democrat, Seed Funding
said Wednesday morning. “I’m grate-
ful to my historic running mates, ritish-Pakistani actor Riz Udhaar Book, a digital book-
who have been an immense support Ahmed recently slammed keeping app for small businesses in
through these months, and I am im- Bthe depiction of Muslims Pakistan, has raised $6 million in seed
measurably grateful to all the people in the global media, tracing the funding, it emerged on Monday.
who worked and volunteered to make structure of minority representa- The round saw the participa-
this victory possible.” tion in the film industry and high- tion of multiple investors including
Haider was part of a ground- lighting how powerful the painted Fatima Gobi Ventures (FGV), Plaid
breaking Democratic ticket in the picture can be. co-founder William Hockey’s Muir
37th, which covers eastern Bergen “The stories we tell about com- Capital, Tinder co-founder Justin
County. Voters also chose Gordon munities affect the laws that get Mateen’s JAM Fund, Commerce Ven-
Johnson to be the first African- passed, the people that get attacked, tures, Liberty City Ventures, Atlas
American state senator from New the countries that get invaded,” he Ventures, Integra Partners, Omri Da-
Jersey’s most populous county and said in an interview to Muslim, a han of Marqeta and Immad Akhund
Ellen Park as what’s believed to be the YouTube channel and media outlet of Mercury Bank.
first Korean American woman in the that makes content for young Mus- According to a press release, the
Assembly. lims to connect with and empower funds will be used to build the app’s
While acknowledging the his- each other, amplify their faith, and ecosystem, which now enables small
toric nature of her victory as a Mus- share their lifestyles and views. businesses to conduct digital book-
lim woman, Haider also said that He pointed out the very real and keeping, manage inventory, invoic-
should not define her. damaging effects a certain portrayal reotype to the last and ideal stage graphically, we need more women, ing, staff attendance and payroll.
“I don’t want to be this token of a community can have, rightfully where a Muslim guy is “just a guy — different sexualities, abilities.” Udhaar Book was launched last
Muslim woman in the Assembly,” she calling it “dangerous” seeing as hate not about any agendas we’ve set or He ended the interview with an year to help small businesses keep a
said. “No, I want to be known as an crimes are often based on misunder- are forced to respond to.” example of minorities bending over track of sales, expenses and credit and
effective legislator.” standings and stereotypes. The Till- The activist also highlighted a backwards to make acceptance easier crossed over a million installs a few
Haider, 72, has been active in lo- man Story (2010), a film on war in very skewed ratio and said under 2% — Muslims altering their names not months ago.
cal politics for over two decades, serv- Afghanistan, is an example of a pure- of speaking roles in the top 200 films out of choice but to fit in because The brainchild of Fahad Kamr,
ing on the Tenafly Borough Council ly American narrative used to glorify in the last few years have been played people struggle with pronounc- Shah Warraich, and Myra Ali, the app
twice in terms beginning in 2001 and their side while reducing the other to by Muslims despite them being a ing their names. Some examples of has since graduated from Y Combi-
in 2015. While the events of the Sept. nothing but violence. “quarter of the world’s population”. brown people who’ve had to morph nator’s accelerator program and ex-
11 attacks spurred many Muslims to Ahmed went on to define the He said we’ve “got to bridge that gap”. their names to make it easier for peo- panded its solutions to become a su-
get involved in politics and reach out image that Muslims are assigned, Ahmed shared his own experi- ple to pronounce are Mindy Kaling, per app for small businesses.
to their communities, Haider said, establishing its two poles — “We’re ences with discrimination and said, whose full name is Vera Mindy Cho- Kamr, Udhaar Book’s founder
she had already been deeply involved either invisible or villainized.” “Individual experiences of success kalingam, and Hasan Minhaj, who and CEO, said that a majority of small
in local issues at the time. The Sound of Metal star spoke don’t change how an entire commu- now uses the pronunciation hass- business owners in Pakistan continue
Her activism dates back to her about the lack of depth a Muslim nity is viewed.” Examples of Muslims ahn rather than hass-un because it’s to do their accounts on paper and
youth in Pakistan when she was a character has on screen and said they who have succeeded in the West are easier for American people to under- process payments in cash which is
college student protesting against are often shown in an Islamophobic Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul stand. There’s also Kumail Nanjiani kept in a “wooden cash drawer”.
military dictatorship as part of the light. He asserted that such a depic- Jabbar, two athletes whose names at the opposite end of the spectrum, “So small business owners typi-
progressive Pakistan People’s Party. tion must be met with the same level are known the world over. However, who commendably continues to use cally work 16-hour days to monitor
Later, she became secretary to the of disgust as films featuring blackface these success stories are just a frac- his full name and refuses to change it this drawer and minimize theft. Solv-
first lady of Pakistan, Begum Nusrat and discrimination against indig- tion of true Muslim representation. for the comfort of other people. ing this problem requires digitizing
Bhutto. enous people. Tropic Thunder star- For the most part, the Islamophobic “I ask myself the same question all manual elements of the business,
Haider came to the US in 1977, ring Robert Downey Jr has been crit- lens prevails. — I have kind of censored my own while making the transition as seam-
settling in Bergen County. She is a icized many times for its depiction of Ahmed is also the first Muslim name,” Ahmed said. He uses Riz in- less as possible for the already busy
former fundraiser for a nonprofit that blackface and Disney has faced back- to be nominated for a Best Actor stead of Rizwan. business owner,” he said.
supports arts in schools and is the lash for its misconstructed and toxic award at the Oscars and while it’s a He concluded with a statement “Udhaar Book has now evolved
chairwoman of the Tenafly Demo- portrayal of indigenous people. great achievement, the fact that it quoting a Sweatshirt Boys’ lyric say- into a super app, essentially an oper-
cratic party. Over the years she has He also critiqued scenes from only happened in 2021 is sad. ing instead of editing the self, we ating system for small businesses. We
also served on county and borough American Sniper and his own movie In general, we need to change must get the others to stretch and free up the small merchant’s time so
commissions focused on women, hu- Mogul Mowgli and categorized mi- the way Muslims are viewed in the shared his step forward declaring he can spend it with his family and
man services, the environment and nority community representation global media. We can do this by, he’s begun introducing himself as develop the full potential of his busi-
business development. – northjersey. into several groups . The range goes as Ahmed said, “showing a diverse Rizwan. ness,” he added.
com from the very common terrorist ste- Muslim community — racially, geo- FUNDING, P28
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