Voices and Votes: Why Taking Up Civic Spaces as Muslim Women Matters
“Speaking becomes both a way to engage in active self-transformation and a rite of passage where one moves from being object to being subject. Only as subjects can we speak. As objects, we remain voiceless—our beings defined and interpreted by others.”
― bell hooks, Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black
Last month, I planned and attended two advocacy events with RISE—an accountability roundtable with Senator Tina Smith and the fourth annual Muslim and Jewish Women’s Day at the Capitol. Seeing Muslim women at these events not only own their voices and experiences but articulate them with such precision and poise was truly powerful. By creating these spaces and platforms for Muslim women I believe we are breaking cycles of trauma and shame associated with taking up space as women and speaking even when we are not spoken to. Muslim women should not only be audible, but their words should also be acknowledged. The mere act of speech should not be enough—we must speak truth to power.
In 2015, the Center of American Progress wrote about the growing force that BIPOC women voters bring to the U.S. electorate. Each year since, women of color have constituted a greater share of eligible voters. Women of color, especially Black women, are frequently called on to “save democracy” by doing the heavy labor of organizing and moving their communities to action. But too often, their efforts are unacknowledged or underappreciated, and rarely are they regarded as strategists, leaders, and innovators.
At RISE I see grassroots lobbying as our faith in action, and we use this approach to engage Muslim women in our legislative priorities and leverage our collective power.
Holding events like the Day at the Capitol and accountability roundtables gives Muslim women the chance to speak to their legislators—many for the first time.
Muslim women from different sectors in Minnesota attended the accountability roundtable with Senator Smith. I listened to them talk about various issues: protecting Black lives, achieving Palestinian liberation, honoring Afghan refugees, and supporting those going through recovery. These meetings center our concept of empowerment: the attendees were able to clearly articulate their challenges, issues, and policies they wanted the Senator to pay attention to; we just provided the space.
During the meeting, a young woman from American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) very powerfully contrasted how the killings of Palestinians in the hands of Israeli police are not so different from the killings of Black people in the hands of the police here in the U.S. How can a legislator condemn police brutality here while they stand by and remain silent when Israeli forces are brutalizing and killing Palestinians on American taxpayers’ money? Rather than seeing them as beneficiaries of democracy, I saw these women who spoke up as agents of change for their own individual and collective empowerment. My goal for the work that I do is to create a process for social transformation that will ultimately shift the power from organizations to the Muslim women and girls whom I work with. Muslim women do not need a spokesperson—they have a voice, and we should give them the platform to speak.
One of my favorite parts from the Day at the Capitol was when Representative Hodan Hassan talked about the challenges she overcame as a Muslim, Black, hijabi woman to get to where she is today, influencing policies and changing the lives of her community members for the better. Aside from our ethnicity and our faith, Representative Hassan and I also share a similar professional background in mental health and clinical psychology. It’s reaffirming to see someone who looks like me and comes from my background do what I always wanted to. The main reason I switched from clinical psychology to policymaking was to influence policies that shape the needs of my community. I realized from early on that being a mental health practitioner was frustrating me, as I was addressing the symptoms of a broken system. Most of the root causes of the mental health issues I was treating were inadequate social services from the government. I felt helpless, putting a bandaid on an open tumor, as I was teaching my clients about breathing exercises and better sleep hygiene when most of them could not afford a proper meal for their families. The federal and state governments play a huge role in establishing better mental health for Americans, and I am glad to see legislators with backgrounds similar to Representative Hassan influence policies to ensure that our needs are addressed.
In the Somali language we have a saying: “ninkii tur leh asagaa oog sidu u seexdo,” which roughly translates to: “the man with the hunchback knows best how he sleeps.” Muslim women know what they need, and they know how to address these needs. We don't need to be saved, and we sure don't need spokespeople.
We need organizations to take up powerful spaces, so as to move from being seen as objects to becoming subjects who know what we need and how to get it. The epitome of representation is to elect leaders who not only look like you but who also share your lived experiences and translate them into policies that would improve lives.
Going forward from these events, my goal is to address voter apathy and politically engage Muslim women in Minnesota, especially the young Muslim women. Research show that young women of color are more likely than white women to talk about politics, participate in elections, and fight racism. However, even though young women of color are more engaged, they are also more apathetic to the effects of political change. In my home country Kenya, we had the highest-ever youth voter turnout in 2017, with young people determined to replace the incumbent president. When I volunteered and urged all of my family and friends to vote, most of them tried to persuade me to stop as I was fighting against a rigged electoral system. In a historic ruling, the Kenyan Supreme Court Nullified the rigged elections and ordered new elections to be held in 60 days. But nobody showed up to vote again as it was not enough time to overhaul and fix a broken system. Ordinary Kenyan citizens were tired, especially the young people. We were all frustrated, and I relived this feeling as I watched Bernie Sanders drop out of the U.S. presidential race in 2020.
One of the major reasons that young women of color don't vote is because they don't see candidates who represent their political needs, which can be addressed through civic education and caucus training to ensure that they are part of the election process from the very beginning. Another solution to voter apathy is addressing barriers faced by young women of color through reform. Experts recommend simplifying the voting process by pre-registering young people to vote in high school or when they get their driver’s license, as well as implementing better civic education in schools that connects government and politics with teens’ everyday lives.
It is essential to have the voices and needs of young women of color addressed in the political sphere, as the current median age in America is 38 years old. This is a country full of young people, who have a lot at stake to decide their future on various issues, from food insecurity to climate change to world wars. A true democracy is one that gives power to its people over their government, extending the ability to have a voice and to vote for everyone, regardless of age, gender, race, and faith.
Bishara Mohamed has several years of professional experience in democracy-building and policymaking and serves as Civic Engagement Manager at Reviving Sisterhood. Before moving to Minnesota, she worked with Peace Direct, a charity that supports grassroots peacebuilders across the globe. She also worked at the Green String Network, a nonprofit organization that brings together professionals and experts in peacebuilding, trauma healing, and sustainable economic development. As Civic Engagement Manager, Bishara supports our annual Muslim & Jewish Women's Day at the Capitol and co-creates RISE's legislative agenda.