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Fellow Advocates,
In the last month since the takeover by the Taliban in Afghanistan, we have seen a concerted effort by human rights defenders all over the world along with Afghan women to push back against the Taliban’s “Islam," their imposition of the burka, and the many new rules that have undermined women and girls’ rights.
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On October 2nd, I will be speaking at the Women’s March in Los Angeles in support of a woman’s right to her bodily autonomy. This march was organized in response to the American Taliban’s effort to curtail women’s reproductive rights.
#MarchForReproductiveRights #BootsOffOurWombs @wmnsmarchLA @WMAction
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Our Indonesian friends, the Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN), an umbrella organization of activists in South East Asia, have organized an open mic virtual forum where they have compiled video messages from women’s rights activists to send to Indonesian President Joko, appealing for him to speak up for women and girls rights in Afghanistan. I was invited to contribute and you can see my two-minute message here.
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If you missed the livestream of Ani Zonneveld's sermon that she delivered on September 12, 2021 at the All Saints Church, Pasadena, you can watch it here starting at 26:00.
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Women's March for Reproductive Rights |
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Announcing: Ani Zonneveld as a speaker at the Los Angeles Women's March for Reproductive Rights on October 2nd.
Join Ani Zonneveld, the Women's March Foundation, Women's March Action, and 90+ other organizations as they rise up on October 2 to #MarchForReproductiveRights.
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Want to stay updated on MPV events? |
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October 2, 10am PST: Women’s March for Reproductive Rights. Meet us at 9:30 am in front of the Los Angeles Times building on 1st Street.
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October 9, 4:00 to 6:00pm PST, In Person: Monthly Progressive Quran Reading Group: The Quran is the central text of Muslim religious tradition and deeply poetic and beautiful. Yet it has been and continues to be used to justify oppression like misogyny and violence. Approaching the text can be difficult, but it's crucial for us to reclaim our heritage. Let's get together to struggle with, connect to, and grow from the Quran while exploring contextualist/progressive approaches to the text. Everyone's welcome -- no level of familiarity or knowledge of Arabic required.
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Oct 23, 10am PST, Virtual: Monthly Progressive Quran Reading Group - We'll continue our discussion of the esoteric narrative of Surah Kahf, the "Cave," with verses 18:83-110, on the story of "Dhul Qarnayn'' until the end. |
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October 16, 1:00pm EST: MPV-DC members will be meeting at Busboys and Poets for lunch. |
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September 19: MPV SF Bay’s September 2021 meeting continued with our hybrid format with an in-person meeting at the offices of the Bay Area Communication Access (BACA) and on zoom. This month’s meeting focused on Afghanistan, birthplace of Maulana Rumi and covering the historical regions of Balkh, Turan, and Khurasan. The Bay Area is home to a large community and we had a local activist passionately report on current feelings and efforts. This was followed up with a robust Q&A and discussion. |
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September 21: Members attended and participated in a lecture by USF professor Stephen Zunes at Manny’s, an event venue in San Francisco.
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October 10: Members will be taking a field trip to Peri Park in Fairfax, California, to watch the Riffat Sultana Band perform their brand of Sufi Funk. For more details, please visit here.
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October 17: MPV SF Bay will be having it’s monthly meeting in the usual hybrid format. This month we will be having a round table discussion on how we navigate our involvement with the mainstream Muslim communities and families we are part of. Watch out for details on our Meetup group.
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