On the night of November 7, I attended the Parent’s Banquet for the Nur Allah Islamic Center. I helped with a few tasks that night. At the beginning of the night, I helped seat guests when they came in. I was able to meet a few of the members of the Islamic Center that I have not met from the weekend school. I was also able to be meet the two guest speakers. During the banquet I helped serve food and other tasks they asked me to do.
The banquet was a way to honor parents of Nut Allah. There were two honorees for the parent of the year award. The Nur Allah Islamic Center has a close relationship with the Catholic organization, Focolare Movement. The first awardees were a couple from this group. The other awardee was a member of Nur Allah. There were two other awards given that night. The second award was Pioneer of the Year. This person was awarded for there work and service in the Nur Allah community. The final awardee was given as a justice award. This year the award was given to Najah Aqeel who fought for her right to wear her hijab during a high school volley ball game. Because of her actions, the rules were amended to allow religious headwear. She was also given an award by Congressman Andre Carson. After the award presentation, the two guest speakers spoke. Imam Ali Aqeel from Nashville and Rev. Danny Q. Davis from the Christians United Church in Indianapolis.
The major themes of the night were parents and their importance in the community and the importance of people of different faiths working together. I learned about more about poorer minorities and the struggles they have in their families and the rest of the community. The two keynote speakers argued that parents and religious beliefs are very important for these communities to improve their standing. I felt the speakers made some good points. They spoke of the importance of different people working together and setting aside their beliefs. I felt that this is very important, especially today. I was reminded of readings from the Islam and China units and the readings about families and their values.
I think this experience helped me empathize with minorities and some of the discrimination they felt. Most speakers told some sort of story about discrimination, I found it very helpful to hear these stories first hand. Reading in classes or the news about discrimination only helps so much. Listening to people I have gotten to know tell stories was very helpful. In addition the high school student fighting the religious discrimination, one other story stood out. Rev. Davis talked about his grandparents being threatened for wearing their army uniforms after the Korean War.
Thank you so much for sharing this experience!