The spread of . . .

The Oldest Progressive Muslim Organization in America

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Life Goes On

The spread of COVID-19 is creating a lot of fear, havoc and
bringing out the worst of human nature with prejudice of Asians —
all Asians as people do not seem to know the difference between a
Thai, a Korean, Japanese, or Chinese.

As preventive measures, CSW and all its side-events got canceled
and the Human Rights Council is not faring that much better. Due
to the last minute cancelations of all side-events at the HRC,
MPV’s #imamsForShe Africa Director Imam Khalfan was already en
route when our event was cancelled. That side event “Safeguarding
Freedom of Religion or Belief & Gender Equality” got moved to the
EU Headquarters. To view that discussion, you can watch it on the
EU FB page here ( [link removed] ).

The President of Kenya banned ( [link removed] ) all international conferences which therefore affected the
conference we were in the midst of organizing in Mombasa
“Charting a Course for Muslim Advocates for Freedom of Religion
or Belief and Women’s Rights.”

Meanwhile, life goes on . . . I am excited to share with you our
2019 Annual Report, ( [link removed] )which I encourage you to read through and share.
And in Los Angeles, we have a physical space from which our
activities will now be operating out of! More details to come.

Wishing everyone good health. Stay safe as you go forward with
life.

Onward and upward…

Ani Zonneveld
President

In This Issue:
* President's Letter
* U.N. Updates
* Chapter Updates

Quick links:
MPV Website ( [link removed] )
About MPV ( [link removed] )
Our Communities ( [link removed] )
#ImamsForShe ( [link removed] )
Donate to MPV ( [link removed] )

U.N. Updates

MPV, our partner organizations, and UN Women have been planning
two side-events for many months. Unfortunately, as of Monday
March 2 all side-events at CSW will be cancelled as a precaution
against COVID-19.

Chapter Updates

MPV-New York

On February 28, MPV-NY hosted its first Friday Prayers of the
year. After praying Isha’a, a discussion was held regarding
anti-black racism as it is seen in local and global Muslim
communities, and what actions can be taken to address it.
MPV-NY’s next Friday Prayers will be on March 20 at 6:30 p.m.

To participate and get more information, please stay tuned and
sign up either through the MPV-NY event page ( [link removed] ) or
MPV-NY Meetup ( [link removed] ).

MPV-L.A.

In Los Angeles, we continued to ramp up our FGM/C Taskforce
activities with an educational forum at the Los Angeles Community
College.

March 8: Ani Zonneveld will be in a conversation with Cathleen
Falsani and with audience participation after the screening of
“Same God,” an award-winning movie which explored the controversy
over an ex-Wheaton College professor who wore a hijab to support
Muslims.

MPV-Boston

On February 9, MPV-Boston hosted an Interfaith community prayer
in collaboration with Community Church of Boston. This service
welcomed people from all faiths; it started off with Kandeel
Javid, our co-director, highlighting the mission and vision of
MPV-Boston and it’s progressive work in collaboration with the
church in the greater Boston area.

Hayat Imam is offering a four-part Course called Understanding
Islam: A Muslim Woman’s Perspective on the Essence of Islam, the
Diversity of the Muslim World, and its Relationship with the West
( [link removed] ). Imam is an American-Muslim of Bangladeshi origin, who is
committed to building global social justice movements. Former
Executive Director of the Boston Women’s Fund, she has written
and organized extensively on women’s economic opportunities. As
former Chair of the Board of Grassroots International, she led
efforts to organize for human rights to land, water, and food.
She is active in the Boston Peace Movement and a member of
Muslims for Progressive Values.

March 6: MPV-Boston will host Abdi Iftin, the author of “Call me
American. ( [link removed] )” “Abdi Iftin is a proud Somali American. Please join us to hear
his experience seeing the shift from moderate and peaceful
Muslims nation to Alshabab. While he saw this shift living in
Somali, he experienced a shift in America from warm and welcoming
to Trump's Travel Ban in Somalia”. March 15: MPV-Boston will
hold an open awareness call and audio recording in collaboration
with Desi Rainbow Parents and Allies: Accepting Muslim LGBTA*
siblings ( [link removed] ). April 3: MPV-Boston will have a book review for The Rumi’s
Prescription ( [link removed] )
by an Iranian American author, Melody Moezzi at Harvard book
store who is a contributing member of the MPV-Boston community.
April 10: MPV- Boston will host “Muslims Love for All ( [link removed] )." This event is to educate people about the harsh
marginalization of Ahmadiyya Muslims by embellishing the light of
love in the practice.

MPV-D.C.

March 8: MPV-DC will be hosting a brunch.
March 15: MPV-DC members will gather for a prayer and halaqa.

To participate and get more information, please stay tuned and
sign up through the MPV-DC Meetup Page ( [link removed] ).

MPV-Atlanta

Monthly: MPV-Atlanta will host a potluck Saturday, March 21 from
5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. The location will be posted to Meetup, the
private FB group, and the WhatsApp group.

Fridays: MPV-Atlanta meets weekly from 1:30-3:00 p.m. for juma.
The khutbah starts at 2:00 p.m. with prayer starting at 2:15 p.m.
Contact [email protected] for more details and location.

MPV-Atlanta is currently planning for Ramadan and for an
intra-faith panel to be held in the fall. Those interested in
either or both can contact [email protected]. May 1-3:
MPV-Atlanta will host its annual Ramadan Retreat in the North
Georgia mountains. This is a weekend to relax and be in community
at the beginning of Ramadan. Details will be posted to Meetup,
the private FB group, and the WhatsApp group. RSVPs will be
required to attend.

MPV-San Francisco

On February 9, MPV-SF had our monthly meeting and Dhuhr prayer at
the new Sunday morning time, 11:00 a.m. (There seems to be a
preference for this time among people who are coming from further
away.) On February 22, we made the trip down to the Santa Cruz
Resource Center for Non-Violence to attend a presentation by Arab
women activists on their experiences that featured one of our
members.

March 15: MPV-SF will have the next Sunday morning meeting at
11:00 a.m. (details here ( [link removed] )). It will be preceded by a 9:45 - 10:45 am pre-meeting
educational group. For this first time, we will offer a session
on Islamic Arabic. For future months we will follow with other
topics according to member interest. Please click here for
more information ( [link removed] ).

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MPV · 1626 N. Wilcox Ave., Suite 702 · Los Angeles ·
California · 90028

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