Fatema Ahmad

Executive Director of Muslim Justice League

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Fatema broke down the organizing that went into stopping a CVE program targeting Somali youth in Boston.

Why do you think CVE has an invested interest in Muslim youth? What are some examples of this historically, even thinking prior to CVE? 

Fatema’s Story Offers Lessons in:

• Differentiating advocacy by incorporating community informed work into practice 

• How to engage youth and families in educational awareness around  anti-CVE work 

• Creating accessible programming in combating CVE

During Trump’s presidency many people outside of the Muslim community requested workshops on Islamophobia, but Fatema mentioned how those workshops would better be put to use when educating the Muslim community on the structural effects of islamophobia.

Though it seems intuitive, why is it that Muslim communities need more access to islamophobia workshops? How does structural islamophobia show up in the everyday lives of Muslim communities?

As informed by her background as an engineer who worked in tech, Fatema mentions how technology is not inherently bad, but that it is currently used for malicious purposes. For example, technology is used to enhance heightened surveillance and war. Fatema mentions in her abolitionist future how she wishes to repurpose these technologies for more equitable purposes.

In an exercise practicing your imagination, how would you repurpose surveillance technologies and put them to better use towards an abolitionist future?