Originally Published in Patheos In 2016, we witnessed an unprecedented level of violence against citizens. Men and women who have sworn to defend the community during day and night as well as adverse weather conditions tragically lost their lives in the line of duty. At unprecedented rates, civilians with no training or possession of firearms lost their lives at the hands of some law enforcement...
Originally published in Baltimore Sun The recent killing of two New York City Police officers is tragic, but it should not be used as an excuse to ignore the issues that have led to it (“Hundreds of Maryland police attend NYPD officer’s funeral Dec. 27). Our country faces a rising problem of police abuse of power, much of which is racially skewed. Consequently, protests have...
Originally published in The Dallas Morning News Michael Jackson once sang, “It don’t matter if you’re black or white,” but apparently it does matter as is evident by the racial tension across America the past few months, starting with the Ferguson case and the subsequent protests. Then came the brutal murders of two New York City police officers. As a member of the Ahmadi Muslim Youth...
Originally Published in Chattanooga Times Free Press – The protests in Baltimore have brought the racial divide in America back into the spotlight. But unlike the protests in the 1960s, these protests center mostly on police brutality, specifically towards African-Americans. However, even such circumstances don’t warrant violent rioting. Just like in the ’60s, this problem will...
Originally Published in the Star Tribune Generally, everything that happens to us for the first time becomes a lasting memory. On a recent weekend, having spent only a couple of months in the United States, I was still in discovery mode. The beautiful time my husband and I spent with friends in Duluth came to an end on our way home when our car’s exhaust pipe began dragging on the ground. Just...
Originally Published in The Columbus Dispatch I am a Muslim-American, and the Chardon High School shooting spree last week makes me wonder whether law-enforcement agencies are focusing on the right problem. Authorities such as the New York Police Department have spent millions of dollars on controversial security surveillance programs focused on Muslims, when the underpinnings of youth violence...