Coalition to the Classroom

[00:00:00] Imam Tariq: May the peace that only God can give be upon you. Welcome to the American Muslim Podcast. I'm your host, Imam Tariq El-Amin. If you haven't already subscribed, please do so and if you find value in these conversations, please share them. You can keep up with us on social media, Instagram and Facebook at the American Muslim Podcast, and with me at Imam Tariq El-Amin. this week's guest.

[00:00:27] Imam Tariq: Is Dr. Dr. Dilara Sayeed, president of the Muslim Civic Coalition, a Harvard trained educator and civic leader whose work is driven by a commitment to equity, access, and civic justice for all. So, without any further ado, here's our conversation to, uh, to get to where you are today. Is there a formative experience, a mentor, a book, or something that you point back to and say, this is where it all started at for me.[00:01:00]

[00:01:01] Dr. Dilara: I think in different phases, you have different moments that just shine a light on who you are at that time and then propel you to do better and go on to the next space. And so I would say I'm a Chicago kid and I remember seventh grade. In the recess field, and I was a quiet kid. I was just shy kid. I was the only, we were the only brown family in the neighborhood.

[00:01:35] Dr. Dilara: Um, we had just moved in from a very black and brown neighborhood, and so I didn't know where I'd fit in. And in seventh grade, Louis said to me on the playground, you're the ugliest girl in school.

[00:01:54] Dr. Dilara: Wow.

[00:01:57] Dr. Dilara: And I didn't know what [00:02:00] he meant because I wasn't aiming to be any pret or anything else. I was just aiming to be me.

[00:02:05] Dr. Dilara: My parents talked about being smart, being hardworking. Um, you know, owning being American and being Muslim. So these are the conversations we'd have at home being strong. Right. You know, but then on that field, uh, on, in, in the playground, when Louis said, you're the ugliest girl in the school, it just stuck.

[00:02:30] Dr. Dilara: And I remember a few years ago, my husband, he is like my life partner and amazing. And you know, he said something like, you are just as beautiful the day I met you.

[00:02:44] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:02:46] Dr. Dilara: And you know what came to my mind, Louis on the playground telling me I'm the ugliest girl at school.

[00:02:53] Imam Tariq: Hmm.

[00:02:55] Dr. Dilara: And I think why that's important.

[00:02:57] Dr. Dilara: 'cause it wasn't about being pretty or ugly, [00:03:00] it was about how formative years in our lives and the experiences of those moments. Drive us to do the work we do. I actually became an eighth grade teacher. One of the reasons was because of the bullying that I'd had as a kid. I wanted to create safe spaces for children as an adult, and I knew that the safest spa times in my uh, childhood were the times when teachers have safe classrooms for me to feel a part of.

[00:03:31] Dr. Dilara: Then I thrived. I worked hard. I, I was unapologetically, you know, smart. Um, all of those things come out right? Like I was kind, I was good, all of those things. But when it didn't feel safe, I couldn't be those things. I felt so afraid. I spent more time trying to feel, you know, safe than I did, trying to be my best and learn.

[00:03:58] Dr. Dilara: And so [00:04:00] that's the world we live in. Um, when people ask, what do you do? In the end, the first thing we do in the end and in the beginning is help people feel safe.

[00:04:10] Imam Tariq: Mm mm

[00:04:12] Dr. Dilara: So early experience where I didn't feel safe leads to a lifetime of trying to make sure the people that I am with, regardless of their age, regardless of their faith, regardless of their background, are safe.

[00:04:33] Dr. Dilara: Look at the world we live in. So many people are unsafe.

[00:04:38] Imam Tariq: Hmm.

[00:04:41] Dr. Dilara: So the work you and I do is endless.

[00:04:44] Imam Tariq: You mentioned that we sort of find ourselves in phases. What was the next thing that you would look back at and say, okay, I've gone through a Lewis, right? I've gone through. I was, I was this happy kid. And [00:05:00] then here comes Louis.

[00:05:00] Imam Tariq: I'm in a different environment and I see the importance of teachers in creating those safe spaces. What was the next thing that you would look at and say, okay, this is,

[00:05:12] Dr. Dilara: it was actually my spiritual teachers. Right? Uh, some of my spiritual teachers early on, uh, in my probably teens and twenties, where people like Imam Seth Ibraheem.

[00:05:23] Dr. Dilara: Uh, looking at Muhammad Ali and, and, and knowing that he was a Chicagoan at some time and, and, and, and people like that. Actually, really the first experience, our family came to America in the 1950s. Mm-hmm. Um, plop in the middle of the civil rights movement. And when, uh, you know, in the seventies, the people who taught me to be fully American in Chicago.

[00:05:50] Dr. Dilara: We're black Muslim leaders.

[00:05:52] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:05:52] Dr. Dilara: Because they were, they were so fully American and so fully Muslim and [00:06:00] so fully black. And I was like, that's amazing that you can even be all those things. I'm just figuring out what I am and they're like three or four or five things and fully those things. Right. So like I've never lost that understanding of, um.

[00:06:19] Dr. Dilara: Of the roots of my faith in this land because they also helped me find myself in this land. And, and then I was 30 and because I found my beloved use of early in life, we had three kids.

[00:06:38] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:06:39] Dr. Dilara: Um, and I was going to school for my master's and he was like trying to make his career work right. And I was like doing and feeling like I was doing nothing.

[00:06:49] Dr. Dilara: Right. Hmm. And I went to this class and someone said, go to this news teacher. He's back in America. He's amazing. His name is, you know, um, former [00:07:00] for Abdullah. Mm-hmm. And, uh, you know, you're gonna learn a lot from him. So go to this class. I'm about as low as I can be, you know, as an adult because I'm just feeling overwhelmed, you know?

[00:07:12] Dr. Dilara: And. It was the attributes of God. Uh, and he taught it in, uh, uh, you know, at Benedictine University. And what he said is, God, your creator loves you. God has mercy on you. Why don't you have mercy on yourselves?

[00:07:36] Imam Tariq: Hmm. Mm,

[00:07:39] Dr. Dilara: I don't know. In that classroom, I started weeping. I started weeping because that's really what it is.

[00:07:46] Dr. Dilara: Those of us who want to serve so much to achieve so much, to give so much, have so much, uh, be so much to everybody. [00:08:00] I don't think sometimes we have mercy in ourselves. Uh, and so these were pivotal moments. Heavy, heavy moments, but yeah, they each make us who we are today.

[00:08:16] Imam Tariq: Dr. Delara, you mentioned that it was black Muslims who were instrumental in helping you to negotiate and, and reconcile multiple identities within the context mm-hmm.

[00:08:29] Imam Tariq: Of your Americanness. What was it for you that you saw? Shift

[00:08:37] Dr. Dilara: feeling the other? I was always the other. I was a little brown girl. I wore pigtails, which my mom put oil on the night before school. Like, who does that? I think now. And I'm like, what was she thinking? Of course, if I was a bully, I'd wanna bully me, but I was the other in so many ways [00:09:00] that I didn't even realize.

[00:09:02] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:09:03] Dr. Dilara: Um, you know, I, I spoke Urdu at home and English at school. Um, I. Sometimes the right word in English wouldn't come out, and I'd say it in Urdu and nobody would knew what the heck I was saying. Sometimes the idioms were wrong, right? Mm-hmm. Uh. And I remember my husband would tease me 'cause I would say, close the light and he says, you don't closely light, turn it off.

[00:09:30] Dr. Dilara: Whatever.

[00:09:32] Imam Tariq: That's nice. Yeah.

[00:09:36] Dr. Dilara: Um, I, I would, so I was always the other, and I'm giving you, you know, the, the, the funny ways that I'm the other, but then you can imagine all the deeper ways you feel the other Right. With Louis' examples and others. And so. Many people who feel like this, uh, new Americans feel like this.

[00:09:58] Dr. Dilara: People who are different in any [00:10:00] way feel like this. And that's just the reality. Until we find someone who. Embodies for us that we don't have to be the other, that we can actually own everything we are. Don't let them break us. Be stronger so they, so that we are then models for others to be strong as well, right?

[00:10:21] Dr. Dilara: Mm-hmm. But look at the world today. Look at America today. We're trying to do exactly, uh, to others. What Lewis did to me. Try to break them, try to make them feel other, not even give them a chance to belong.

[00:10:35] Imam Tariq: Yeah.

[00:10:36] Dr. Dilara: Whether it's little black and brown kids, whether it's little tan kids, whether it's poor kids.

[00:10:42] Dr. Dilara: Uh, it's like we have this perfection in our heads, and if somebody doesn't belong to that, then we must be superior to them. I think superiority is the, is the, the bane of humanity.

[00:10:55] Imam Tariq: Hmm. When you founded the [00:11:00] Muslim Civic Coalition, anybody who has been around you is familiar with the work. There are certain talking points that you can just rattle off.

[00:11:09] Imam Tariq: We know that outside of the Hodge. The United States, we have the greatest representation of diversity as it relates to Muslims. Illinois has the largest per capita presence of Muslims in the nation. Chicago land over 400,000 Muslims. What's been an important thing for you and mm-hmm. Being able to bring people together?

[00:11:29] Dr. Dilara: Allyship, allyship asked me where I was this morning. I was at City Hall. There's a senior bill of rights that we wanna pass in the city and in and in the state because our elders are suffering, they're struggling, and with new policies that are marginalizing them even more.

[00:11:52] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:11:52] Dr. Dilara: It will be harder for them to get everything from healthcare to housing.

[00:11:58] Dr. Dilara: Our new Americans are [00:12:00] struggling because sanctuary cities and spaces of safety. Are being attacked. Um, and, and, and they're being taken away from jobs and homes where they're just trying to make a living. Um, all of this is not being done because they're Muslim. The people who were at City Hall this morning, 90% of them didn't identify as Muslim.

[00:12:21] Dr. Dilara: It wasn't done because I was related to them, or I knew them. 90% of them I'm not, I mean, none of them know I related to them, and 90% of them I didn't know.

[00:12:30] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:30] Dr. Dilara: It was done because they're allies. We are neighbors living in a city that is struggling, um, for communities like ours and for all communities.

[00:12:42] Dr. Dilara: Um, so what we say at the Muslim Civic Coalition is we have to build our civic power

[00:12:48] Imam Tariq: mm-hmm.

[00:12:49] Dr. Dilara: With allyship and allies and partners of course. Um, and we do that when, you know, civic power is built when. Laws [00:13:00] made for us are actually made with us. And that's what we were trying to do today in City Hall, right?

[00:13:06] Dr. Dilara: When public officials understand us and they actually, more of them begin to look like us. And that's what we're doing when we build relationships. When, when I am down there and, you know, three aldermen recognized me, asked me how I'm doing, and asked me what issue I'm there for. It's because we have a relationship and they wanna know what I'm supporting so they can support it too.

[00:13:30] Dr. Dilara: And then lastly, when, when our stories drive change, when the data about us drive change. So you talked about some of the data, why it's important for us to have civic power because we are here, we are fully American. We are the largest per capita Muslim population in the nation. We must be heard. We must be seen.

[00:13:52] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:53] Dr. Dilara: We must be part of the city's landscape and diaspora and not just our city, our, our suburbs, our [00:14:00] state, and our nation. So. This is our work when we founded the Muslim Civic Coalition. And I say when we, 'cause you were part of it. Mm-hmm. And so were many, many, many others we had built, I could go from New York City Imam to California in my car and probably pray in the masala for every prayer along the way.

[00:14:23] Dr. Dilara: What. I don't think we stopped to say the gratitude for that.

[00:14:27] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:28] Dr. Dilara: We have built Muslim schools in every major city and state in the nation. We have built social service organizations. I'm so proud of twa. The service that you are doing. I'm so proud of Icna Relief. I'm so proud of so many organizations doing great work, but we have yet to build civic power.

[00:14:49] Imam Tariq: Hmm.

[00:14:50] Dr. Dilara: We have yet to be seen and heard at policy tables.

[00:14:54] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:55] Dr. Dilara: And at public tables and at power tables. [00:15:00] And that's our next edge. And that's why we build this coalition. That's why we built the Muslim Civic Coalition to do this with our allies and our partners on issues we all care about.

[00:15:16] Imam Tariq: So the teacher as an authority, figure, as a provider of care, one who recognizes the potential of those in their care.

[00:15:25] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:15:26] Imam Tariq: Do you reach back to that and think about that in the community work, the work that you're doing with the coalition? Is it a real extension of that? Yeah.

[00:15:35] Dr. Dilara: You know, people say, wait, you are an eighth grade US history and government teacher and you are running a Muslim civic coalition.

[00:15:43] Dr. Dilara: Like how does that work? And. It's such an easy extension. Mm-hmm. The right extension of the next phase of my work. Right. And so at its core, the Muslim Civic Coalition is a education and community [00:16:00] organizing entity. We are an advocacy group for all people to be able to build a life. What do teachers do in classrooms?

[00:16:10] Dr. Dilara: You know, we are teachers and learners, right? And so the, the, you know, we use the word teacher a lot. I actually, I became a teacher because I wanted to learn, and I specifically taught US history and government because I wanted to learn my story in the American story. I wanted to learn how my government changed.

[00:16:36] Dr. Dilara: Because when I didn't see my story in the American story, how do I make sure my story is in the American story?

[00:16:42] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:16:42] Dr. Dilara: Right. Like when I was first teaching, the first few years I was astounded. Like I was never in the American story. I taught for, for a year, right? From the 16 hundreds to two thousands in the US and the history of it and the government of it, and I was never in it.

[00:16:59] Dr. Dilara: I was [00:17:00] never in that story. Nothing in the curriculum about me. You. Stereotypical, every single time you were, you were in that story, it was a stereotype and sometimes it was a downright caricature.

[00:17:11] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:11] Dr. Dilara: And so then I was like, okay, well this has gotta shift. And then I actually was on the social science curriculum of my district and we shifted some of that curriculum and then other districts started taking some of that curriculum.

[00:17:26] Dr. Dilara: And I think we shifted curriculum in the US for it to be more inclusive of all our stories. And then remember when I moved to the Civic Coalition, what was the other part of what I learned? US History and Government, how do people work within the government? Change the government. And that quote is not wrong.

[00:17:48] Dr. Dilara: Never underestimate the power of a few good people with a vision of justice and peace. This is how we change to government every single time. Hmm. And so [00:18:00] the Muslim Civic Coalition is that it's us and our allies. A few good people being injustice and making a concerted effort to change it to justice, working collaboratively and in coalition building.

[00:18:15] Dr. Dilara: Um, and we're getting it done, I think of when we, um, walked and protested and worked towards the conviction of the murderer of George Floyd.

[00:18:26] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:18:27] Dr. Dilara: In the last five years, look at how much has changed. Right?

[00:18:30] Imam Tariq: Yeah.

[00:18:31] Dr. Dilara: How much pride did we have that the chief prosecutor of the murderer of George Ply was a black American Muslim.

[00:18:40] Imam Tariq: That's right.

[00:18:42] Dr. Dilara: Right, that's

[00:18:42] Imam Tariq: right.

[00:18:43] Dr. Dilara: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, our dear brother and friend.

[00:18:46] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:18:48] Dr. Dilara: When it was time to, you know, work on COVID, how many of us worked in neighborhoods? Where we were in danger were, um, [00:19:00] in, in terms of our health to ensure that people were getting vaccinated, they were getting education about COVID, they were getting true information and not misinformation.

[00:19:09] Dr. Dilara: Mm-hmm.

[00:19:10] Dr. Dilara: This is what civic organizations as allies, we all did. When we saw injustice, uh, in, in, in, and again and again and again, school shootings and shootings on the south side of Chicago, the west side of Chicago, in neighborhoods and hoods in Philadelphia, in Detroit, of the mass incarceration of black men or the shootings of black men.

[00:19:32] Dr. Dilara: How we again and again, again, come together for coalitions. That's a problem that we have not solved.

[00:19:38] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:19:39] Dr. Dilara: And until we solve it, we do not have a better America for all. And then lastly, look at the world right now and the injustice of a genocide happening in front of our eyes again and again. You open you.

[00:19:56] Dr. Dilara: You look at your phone, I promise you saying the idiom wrong there. But you open your phone, you [00:20:00] pick up your phone, you look at your phone in the morning, and you cannot help but see the images of children begging for water and being shot 2025. In a world where there is enough food, enough water, and enough money for all human beings to live and live comfortably, we have this kind of a scarcity mindset.

[00:20:27] Dr. Dilara: This is what teachers good teachers do. They learn about this, and they attempt to create classrooms where students care for one another. Learn together and push each other to get to be better, so that when they leave these classrooms, those are the lessons they take and that the world doesn't change them.

[00:20:50] Imam Tariq: Hmm hmm. So the challenge really becomes. Replicating that environment, that [00:21:00] classroom environment in the public square, replicating that, that same environment, a healthy

[00:21:05] Dr. Dilara: classroom environment. Yeah, and I and, and, and, and I wanna be honest, Imam, in no way, like I said to you at the very beginning, I did not feel safe in every classroom.

[00:21:13] Dr. Dilara: I do not assume every classroom and every environment is safe. Mm-hmm. We have the research and we have the common sense, and we have the faith that tells us what good teachers are like. Sure. And what good safe classrooms and environments are. Like. We have the prophet mohamad salam, our prophet, and all of the prophets in our faith who taught us what good teachers are.

[00:21:38] Dr. Dilara: All the prophets were actually carpenters or teachers,

[00:21:41] Imam Tariq: or shepherds in some way. Right. Or

[00:21:43] Dr. Dilara: shepherds in some way. And this is all related.

[00:21:46] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:21:47] Dr. Dilara: Building for a community, loving a community, nurturing a community.

[00:21:52] Imam Tariq: Hmm.

[00:21:53] Dr. Dilara: We're not prophets, but we can certainly try to follow their model,

[00:21:58] Imam Tariq: their model. Talk to us a bit [00:22:00] about what has it meant for you to lead such an important.

[00:22:04] Imam Tariq: And a visionary effort, what is it taken from you to do that?

[00:22:09] Dr. Dilara: You know, I used the word leader two or three times, and I, I, I, I feel like a, a partner in this work. I really do. I feel like a partner in this work, and I feel like the follower of profits and the message, so I'm just doing what I know I have to do, right?

[00:22:31] Dr. Dilara: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:31] Dr. Dilara: And, and I'm doing it. With priorities that are actually above service to community. So , I do wanna talk a little bit about that. 'cause , I love the premise of this podcast. You know, what's the story behind what we see this moment? And I think people see like. This morning I was at City Hall This afternoon I was at Shy Care's, uh, mobile Medical Launch, which is amazing social service, you know, now, uh, having a mobile unit that will go to areas that need, um, medical [00:23:00] support and healthcare access.

[00:23:01] Dr. Dilara: Then I had, uh, lunch with Brightpoint Leaders, which is an education organization, uh, working with many diverse and underrepresented families across the city and state. You know, then I came home, prayed, and then I'm on this podcast with you. Right. So, but all of these happen because they fit into a, uh, a category of, of, of priorities for me.

[00:23:27] Dr. Dilara: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:28] Dr. Dilara: The first priority, and it's all relationships. Right. The first priority is always my relationship with God, with my creator and I, and I think even God is not a word that I use as often as I use my creator. 'cause imagine somebody who. Fashions you with his hands. Who dreams about your potential in his mind, and who gives you love through his heart?

[00:23:53] Dr. Dilara: Mm,

[00:23:56] Dr. Dilara: my relationship with my creator from the minute I wake up [00:24:00] to the minute I go to sleep. Um, praying for another day, uh, is the number one priority. Um, so I did all these in the day, but I started with fudge prayer, which in the summer is so early. My God,

[00:24:13] Imam Tariq: yeah.

[00:24:15] Dr. Dilara: Kicks my butt in the morning. But, um, so with my relationship with my creator is my number one thing and number two and number three.

[00:24:22] Dr. Dilara: Often I get a mixed up, but I, what I would want it to be is, number two, is my relationship with myself. I have to be able to look in the mirror. And see someone that I can respect so that others can respect her, see someone that I can love so others can love her. See someone that is kind so that others think she is kind.

[00:24:47] Dr. Dilara: Um, and see someone who's hardworking and all of the other things. So the relationship with myself, someone who's healthy. Right. Someone who's taking care of her body that her creator gave her someone who's taking care of her heart and her mind that her creator [00:25:00] gave us. So I think sometimes we forget that that should be the second priority, because we're often focused on the third priority, which is our relationship with our family.

[00:25:08] Dr. Dilara: Hmm.

[00:25:09] Dr. Dilara: When I'm at home, it has to have peace, right? There has to be love at home, there has to be peace at home, there has to be belonging at home, and so our relationship with our family is something the prophet has said. The best of you are those who are best to their families.

[00:25:27] Imam Tariq: That's right.

[00:25:27] Dr. Dilara: And he said he is best to his family.

[00:25:30] Dr. Dilara: So he's a model for us to be good to our families. So number two and number three, best to yourself. Relationship with yourself and relationship with your family. And then when you have those three priorities, you know, chugging along. You can do number four, which is relationship with your community, your Oma and your world, because then you're bringing your best self to them.

[00:25:52] Dr. Dilara: You're bringing your patient self to them and you, and I know working with our community takes a lot of patience, my friend. [00:26:00]

[00:26:00] Imam Tariq: That's right.

[00:26:01] Dr. Dilara: And, and like, and, and I'm like, yeah, what do you do? I run an advocacy education entity. What the heck is that? Like our community, we just, 50% of our community doesn't know what it is.

[00:26:11] Imam Tariq: Yeah.

[00:26:12] Dr. Dilara: The rest of them don't think that's so important.

[00:26:14] Imam Tariq: Hmm.

[00:26:15] Dr. Dilara: Until we have situations like this where we have, you know, , a man or a woman, , shot in our streets where we have these challenges, then suddenly it's why is this happening? Why can't we make a change? Well, you can't make a change unless you have relationships with public officials until, unless you're at policy and power tables.

[00:26:34] Dr. Dilara: And that's what advocacy , and education is. Those are the priorities. Our creator, ourselves, our family, our neighbors.

[00:26:42] Dr. Dilara: Hmm.

[00:26:44] Imam Tariq: I want to, uh, examine this a little bit. Uh, do you, do you avoid the, the label of leader.

[00:26:57] Dr. Dilara: No.[00:27:00]

[00:27:00] Dr. Dilara: No.

[00:27:01] Imam Tariq: Okay.

[00:27:01] Dr. Dilara: But I wanna make sure that I'm constantly, when I'm looking in the mirror, earning that label.

[00:27:07] Imam Tariq: Hmm hmm. So it's leadership through partnership, through vision?

[00:27:12] Dr. Dilara: A hundred percent.

[00:27:14] Imam Tariq: Yeah.

[00:27:14] Dr. Dilara: Through partnership. Through coalition building.

[00:27:16] Imam Tariq: Yeah.

[00:27:17] Dr. Dilara: Again, I go back to my classroom. Um. Teachers who just think they're the teacher and not part of the learning community in their classroom.

[00:27:27] Dr. Dilara: Hmm. Do not, do not enhance the learning in their classroom. Teachers are part of the learning community in their classroom, so if you take that and extrapolate it to leaders

[00:27:42] Imam Tariq: mm-hmm.

[00:27:43] Dr. Dilara: Leaders don't just lead. They are part of a community. But they may also have a vision and strategy and the organization to then help lead when [00:28:00] that is necessary.

[00:28:02] Dr. Dilara: And they're unafraid to step up in those spaces. And I am unafraid. I, you know, uh, gender plays a role. You know, being a woman plays a role. Being, uh, you know, of a certain age group plays a role. Being a certain background plays a role, but we also have to be unafraid if we have the skill sets to take the leadership too.

[00:28:22] Imam Tariq: Right. If you were to distill your leadership philosophy down to, I don't know, a few points, what would it be?

[00:28:31] Dr. Dilara: Know the priorities in life. Know that service is a privilege.

[00:28:39] Imam Tariq: Hmm.

[00:28:40] Dr. Dilara: So do it well and be all in. Be authentic because it shows when you're not.

[00:28:52] Imam Tariq: Mm-hmm.

[00:28:56] Dr. Dilara: And, uh, be consistent. [00:29:00] Too many leaders think this is hard, and then they're like, forget this, and then they go onto something else.

[00:29:07] Imam Tariq: Yeah. And

[00:29:08] Dr. Dilara: sometimes I, I'm jealous of that, but be consistent.

[00:29:13] Imam Tariq: Yeah.

[00:29:14] Dr. Dilara: Um, it is, it is every day. Uh, and you, you know, you suffer the slings and arrows. Um. But you know, sometimes, uh, almost all the time actually when someone is angry, it isn't about us, Imam, it's, it's what they're carrying themselves,

[00:29:36] Imam Tariq: right?

[00:29:36] Dr. Dilara: It's the trauma they're carrying, the anger they're carrying, the frustrations they're carrying, and they don't know what to do with it. And so they lay it on you and they blame you, and they want change so badly. That they, they say you gotta do it. Um. That's a privilege that someone thinks you have that kind of power you, so [00:30:00] were like, I dunno what the hell I'm doing either.

[00:30:02] Dr. Dilara: Just give my language. No, that's fine. Is Muslim podcast?

[00:30:06] Imam Tariq: It's It's the American Muslim.

[00:30:09] Dr. Dilara: Yeah, Muslim. There you go. That little city girl as you just came out.

[00:30:17] Imam Tariq: Oh man.

[00:30:18] Dr. Dilara: Um, but, but yeah, like we are part of the community, so we're. Struggling with the same things, but like people see us as able to absorb their pain and then reflect goodness in shaah from it.

[00:30:35] Dr. Dilara: Uh, and I'm not always there. I'm not always there. Sometimes I reflect the pain too. Um, and I'm praying I get better. And, um, you know what? I don't see thic, uh, a world getting that's getting better. I, you tell me. I'm actually, for the first time in my life, I'm a half full person. Like the cup has [00:31:00] gotta be half full.

[00:31:00] Dr. Dilara: 'cause you know what? Ham, we have life. We have a home, we have love, we have food on the table. What are we complaining about? Let's get to work. So others have this too. Right? Right. That's my attitude. Like, get to work so others have this too. And for the first time, I myself inside, deep down inside, I'm afraid.

[00:31:20] Imam Tariq: Hmm. Hmm.

[00:31:25] Imam Tariq: You know, I, I think this is where history matters. History matters. And because I know that we've gone through so much worse than this moment, there's a hope in there. And our faith teaches us that Allah, God does not place. A burden on any soul greater than its capacity to bear. And I believe that's true for the individual, and I believe it's true for the community as well.

[00:31:54] Imam Tariq: Hmm.

[00:31:54] Imam Tariq: And what we have to bear right now, it is extremely uncomfortable. [00:32:00] But going back to how you have prioritized your talents and your ability and coalition building and advocacy, this is something that can only be responded to by a community. What has it meant for you to see this coalition model, the Muslim Civic Coalition model, to see other states looking at it as a model of, okay, this is what we need to do.

[00:32:29] Imam Tariq: What has that meant for you?

[00:32:32] Dr. Dilara: It's been affirming, um. And it has been, uh, just humbling. Uh, we've been getting calls from all over the nation, different states that have been, , watching us, , pass laws and to, uh, in, in our state, um, increase their education and engagement in our state. Um, have amazing relationships with public officials so that.

[00:32:59] Dr. Dilara: [00:33:00] Even when our governor is, uh, questioned by, uh, in Congress, you know, you gave money to the Muslim Civic Coalition. They protested the US backed, uh, war on za. Um, what, what are their values and, and, and do you support them? And our governor who has aspirations of course, to uh, be governor, if not president, could have said any.

[00:33:27] Dr. Dilara: Most people disavow themselves of you. You see what the universities are doing, et cetera, right? Mm-hmm. And our governor instead who has known us, and we've built a relationship over years said, in Illinois, we believe in freedom of expression and free speech. Hmm. Don't you, congressman? So he didn't back us completely, but he didn't throw us under the bus.

[00:33:53] Dr. Dilara: And that's the relationship building, right? So when, uh, and, and, and after my, my phone blew up. I got texts, are [00:34:00] you okay? And I was like, actually, I'm worried about my team. Uh, what happens is people read into that message. Go look us up. See who's on our team. You know, wanna dox us, uh, attack us, et cetera.

[00:34:13] Dr. Dilara: And I, I wanna make sure that my team is safe, and then I wanna make sure that, that our work is, uh, ongoing. And, and then I got really angry at like, what he said, and just like wrote a email to the, to all our listeners saying, how dare he say that here's what we stand for, justice and peace for everyone.

[00:34:32] Imam Tariq: Right?

[00:34:32] Dr. Dilara: Um, and so. Uh, we received actually two years ago, a small grant by an organization who'd watched us do this work, and, and they said, uh, we know you're at capacity. We know you're working hard, and so what we wanna give you is a little bit of money. To be able to then make time through staffing to help other states, uh, build their infrastructure, build their systems, uh, build their [00:35:00] capacity to do the work that you're doing.

[00:35:02] Dr. Dilara: That was huge. Now that grant ended and we continue to do it, and it's been a very difficult year for funding this year. Very difficult year. People are afraid to fund demo democracy. People are afraid to fund civic organizations or they don't want to fund a name that is Muslim in it. Um, so it's been really hard to get grants.

[00:35:24] Dr. Dilara: We need our community to step up, but regardless of that, you know, Elham, we're gonna do the work we're gonna do, and God will find a way. Uh, to make it something that we can continue doing. We now work with over a dozen state organizations, helping them build their capacity. We learn from each other. For example, I'll give you an example.

[00:35:45] Dr. Dilara: Uh, we are working on a bill tracking system because so many bills are pa, uh, are introduced into law. Mm-hmm. Bills like, um, uh, you know, anti BDS bills, uh, bills that, uh, uh. Put [00:36:00] black and brown people in boxes and actually they pass by us and we can't catch 'em. 'cause there's thousands of bills across the states that are introduced every year.

[00:36:08] Dr. Dilara: So we got a bill tracker, a bill tracker where you can put tracking, uh, tag words and then you know, every bill in every state that has those buzzwords in it. They might be good bills and we use 'em as models. They might be bad bills for our communities and then we know how to fight them 'cause we know where they are.

[00:36:26] Dr. Dilara: That was a, uh, a, a tool that was gonna cost, um, a significant amount of money. We worked across three or four states and we all decided we're gonna get that bill together, get that tool together. And now it costs so little and all these states now can look at this tool. So ways that we are collaborating across the states when we find good tools so that we could share both the benefits of the tools and the costs of those tools.

[00:36:54] Dr. Dilara: Um, ways that, like if we've built a template of a bill. So we pass a Muhammad Ali day bill. [00:37:00] We are the first state in the union to pass that bill. A dozen other states said We wanna pass that bill too. And we said, it's a very easy resolution. Who doesn't love the champ? Right? Rural, urban, suburban, black, white, brown, tan city folks, and you know, rednecks and.

[00:37:17] Dr. Dilara: Everybody, right? Like everybody loves Li the Champs. So, um, we're working with about, uh, you know, a few other states, a half a dozen states to pass a Muhammad Ali Day bill, and we're working with his grandson, Jacob Heimer Ali and his daughter Mario Ali, to do it as well. So what a great coalition of different states.

[00:37:37] Dr. Dilara: The, the legacy and the children and grandchildren of Muhammad Ali and now we're gonna pass this bill and shall let together in many other states, God willing. So these are the ways, like tools. We work together on bills we work together on. If we have a great voter graphic, somebody else just co-brands, it puts their logo on it, then they don't have to spend time building it.

[00:37:58] Dr. Dilara: And I remember a state said [00:38:00] to, to me after we'd like, we'd had multiple, um, consulting time with them, and they were like, you haven't asked us for a penny. Why do you do this? And I said, first of all, when you have a penny, you're welcome to give it to us. Second of all, we ramped up. We were a baby organization seven, eight years ago.

[00:38:22] Dr. Dilara: You know this. We were all in this together. Mm-hmm. We ramped up over seven, eight years through the first, from 2016 to today, 2018 to today. That kind of time today, we don't even have. No, we don't have. So if we can give you the lessons we've learned, the mistakes we've made, and you don't have to make them, and the templates and the successes and the systems we've created, and you can just adapt them, you ramp up faster.

[00:38:48] Dr. Dilara: Guess who wins? All of us.

[00:38:50] Imam Tariq: Right?

[00:38:51] Dr. Dilara: All of us swim. You ramp up faster. We all win you. I tell you the mistakes we made, you don't make 'em. We all win. You do something new [00:39:00] that we hadn't thought of because you're new to this game. We do it too. We all win. And so the point here is collective growth, collective impact, collective success of our American Muslim community and of all communities that are our allies.

[00:39:16] Dr. Dilara: That's not gonna happen if we're gatekeeping. That's not gonna happen. If we're like staying, everybody figure it out themselves. That's not gonna happen when we're not sharing both the brains, the, the, the lessons and the funding ourselves. So we micro grant to others. We don't even have enough money probably for our operations.

[00:39:34] Dr. Dilara: We're this tiny little organization here and yet we'll do micro grants if for young, especially young adult organizations that are starting. Happy to subgrant to, uh, Muslim Muslims in public policy, a group of young Muslim women who are working in public policy and facing challenges and successes. Happy to subgrant and sponsor to, um, so many of the basketball tournaments where young men are finding [00:40:00] great outlets of playing basketball.

[00:40:02] Dr. Dilara: We make sure they're all registered to vote before they leave the court, and so that's right. Look, those, those are the kinds of ways that, you know, we can support other organizations. We're happy to do it. Um. May I do another humble brag, please? You and I are, are part of this partnership. Mm-hmm. Uh, 90 people applied between the ages of 18 and 30 to a fellowship.

[00:40:24] Dr. Dilara: We got a small grant for this year, 90 people, which says how desperate young people want to learn more about how to do civic leadership work. We could only accept 45. We accepted 45. They're from about a dozen different states across the union. Mm-hmm. This week is the first module. The first module is on Thursday, and it will be about owning our American Muslim story, understanding how supremacy threatens us all in America, and what young people can do to ensure that they are leading through this and navigating through this, [00:41:00] uh, collectively.

[00:41:01] Dr. Dilara: And then on Friday we are taking the Chicago Black Muslim History tour with you. That's right. So again, as I said, you cannot fully own your American identity unless you understand the foundations of the American Muslim identity, which came through our Black brothers and sisters, uh, and our young adult, uh, co-leads on this.

[00:41:22] Dr. Dilara: Yaminah El-Amin.

[00:41:24] Dr. Dilara: Yes,

[00:41:24] Dr. Dilara: Mohammad Attiya and Alima. , Our amazing young people and the 45 people that we will meet this week, I'm so excited for their future, their leadership and, and, and their presence with us. So what a great way to end this on. Right. Like I, I absolutely just did the, the, the hope of a generation

[00:41:50] Imam Tariq: Yeah.

[00:41:50] Dr. Dilara: That is ready to take on and actually is taking on.

[00:41:54] Dr. Dilara: Mm-hmm.

[00:41:54] Dr. Dilara: They are leaders today. We're simply strengthening, nurturing, and giving them some tools, but they [00:42:00] are leaders today in the dozen states that they all come from.

[00:42:03] Imam Tariq: And I have to say this, my youngest Yaminah is one of the co-leads and I was talking to her last night and she was so, excited and so appreciative.

[00:42:20] Imam Tariq: She's just talking about the experience and how. Being able to have these relationships with folks that she might not otherwise be able to, and to be able to share space and to share a mission and a vision that is collective, , it is benefiting the community. , Yeah, she was just, she was just all smiles and I just couldn't, be more appreciative.

[00:42:45] Imam Tariq: The work of making a place. For our young people, our elders, all of our people. It's tremendously important. I don't want us to leave without you mentioning the civic, , [00:43:00] pulse, , the, the podcast.

[00:43:01] Dr. Dilara: Yeah. Yeah. So the Civic Polls podcast, , was actually inspired by, , con when he was Congressman Keith Ellison, who said, this work has to be shared.

[00:43:11] Dr. Dilara: Mm-hmm.

[00:43:12] Dr. Dilara: , You have to have a podcast. Whose audience is all people, and they have to understand that Muslims do civic work and Muslims do coalition building work, and you should have people who is, who aren't part of an echo chamber on there. And so we've had, uh, this podcast, it's been eight sessions.

[00:43:29] Dr. Dilara: It's been amazing. , So please, , if you go on, , the Civic Pulse Podcast at Spotify or, , iTunes or anywhere that you listen to your podcast, please listen to them. , Please go on www.muslimciviccoalition.org. , Sign up to stay updated. , As I said, we are a community organizing an education and an advocacy entity.

[00:43:54] Dr. Dilara: , And so what you will get from us is a lot of great information, a lot of really important [00:44:00] information, , to take ownership, , and to keep that ownership and to strengthen that ownership of being fully American, fully. Whatever faith you follow fully, whatever ethnic and racial background you are, , fully you.

[00:44:15] Imam Tariq: Okay.

[00:44:15] Dr. Dilara: As I am trying to be fully me,

[00:44:18] Imam Tariq: Ameen, Ameen, , I should have said

[00:44:19] Imam Tariq: that was my penultimate question. Final, if you would, Dr. Dilara, uh, finish this sentence. The one lesson I keep learning is

[00:44:31] Dr. Dilara: how to be a better me in a world that keeps changing so that I can serve my creator and my neighbors better every single day.

[00:44:45] Imam Tariq: Hmm, Hmm.

[00:44:47] Dr. Dilara: How do I be a better me? And when we stop trying for that, what's left.

[00:44:54] Imam Tariq: Right, right. Well, doc, I really appreciate you taking the [00:45:00] time now. Thank you for joining us for this episode of the American Muslim Podcast. We will be back next week in Sharla with another conversation. Where voice, vision and values come together.

[00:45:11] Imam Tariq: Keep up with the Muslim Civic Coalition at www.muslimciviccoalition.org. We thank you again for listening. I leave you as I greeted, you ask that I moreum made the peace that only God can give be upon you.