Building a More Inclusive and
Equitable America

Responding to 'Draw Muhammad Day' 5/20/10

In response to Comedy Central’s decision to censor an episode of a recent “South Park” featuring a cartoon depiction of the Prophet Muhammad after receiving threats from Muslim extremists, May 20th has been designated “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” on a Facebook page with the same name. Since then, even the proponent of the original idea, Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris who first suggested the day last month now says the campaign “has lost its anti-censorship focus and is now being used to bash ordinary Muslims.” She also told the Washington Post that “the Facebook protest had become ‘vitriolic and worse, offensive to Muslims who had nothing to do with the censorship issue I was inspired to draw about in the first place.’” Additionally, Jon Wellington, who set up the Facebook page, has quit the site, saying, “I did not create this event to encourage people to be deliberately offensive, by equating the silliness of those zealots with the entire Islamic faith and its bazillions of adherents, a few of whom I am lucky to count among my friends.” Read More

ING President Meets with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

The Honorable Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education Arne Duncan. 06/25/10- ING President Maha Elgenaidi participated in a meeting this week hosted by the U.S. Department of Education in Washington D.C. Leaders of secular and faith-based organizations were invited for a briefing and dialogue on the President’s education agenda and the critical role of community based organizations in American education. Moderated by Peter Groff, Director of the Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the meeting had among its speakers and discussants Arne Duncan, the honorable U.S. Secretary of Education; Martha Kanter, Under Secretary; Jim Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary; Joshua DuBois, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships; and, Paul Monteiro, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. The discussion centered around the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which you can learn more about on the Department’s website. Read More

Preventing Bullying & Harassment, Back to School and Park51 NYC Mosque; 8/30/10

Over 55 million young people will be going back to K-12 schools this fall. While school is generally a place of learning and friendship, one of three students will experience bullying. That is over 18 million students. Many of them will include Muslim, Sikh, Arab and other children from minority religious and ethnic communities. Students who are bullied have both their grades and health suffer. Read More