Assalaamu Alaikum,
My name is Sameena Usman, and while I know many of you, I have yet to meet others of you. I serve as the Government Relations Coordinator at CAIR-SFBA. In this role, I am tasked with connecting community members with their local elected officials and advocating for legislation that will protect all Californians.
I am writing today to share some of this year’s successes in our efforts to build power in and mobilize the Muslim community.
In April, nearly 300 Bay Area Muslim community members spent the day at the State Capitol as part of the eighth annual Muslim Day at the Capitol. Our participants took part in more than two dozen meetings with elected officials, advocating for legislation, including the California Act to Save Lives, which will make clear that police officers should only use deadly force when necessary. Alhumdulillah, this and several other bills on CAIR-CA’s 2019 Legislative Agenda were signed into law by the Governor this Fall.
In June, one year after the U.S. Supreme Court permitted the Muslim Ban to go forward, we worked with our partners and members of Congress to introduce the No Ban Act in Congress. This legislation would terminate the Muslim Ban to better protect individuals from being denied entry based on their faith and limit the ability of future Presidents to impose similar bans. Today, it has over 200 co-sponsors.
Later this year, we worked to successfully pass facial recognition bans in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. Facial recognition technology’s unreliability is one of several concerns motivating the bans. The American Muslim community already lives with fear of surveillance, and government use of facial recognition technology would only serve to further chill our First Amendment rights.
An additional major achievement I am thrilled to inform you about is the record number of Bay Area cities and counties which recognized the state designation of August as American Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month. Local elected officials presented the Muslim community with proclamations in Alameda County, Dublin, Foster City, Fremont, Milpitas, New Haven Unified School District, Oakland, Pleasanton, Redwood City, San Jose, San Ramon, Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz, and Union City, totaling 15 proclamations.
Your contributions and active participation make this work possible. We are now planning for 2020, which will be an important year for the Muslim community. With the Census and Election, we need your support to sustain and grow our efforts.
Your donation of $5,000, $1,000, $500, $250, $100 or any other amount will help us build civic power and increase civic engagement.
You can donate by:
- Visiting our website, PayPal, or by mailing a check to CAIR-SFBA at 3160 DeLaCruz Blvd., Ste. 110, Santa Clara, CA 95054.
- Becoming a Champion of Justice by signing up to donate a fixed monthly amount, so we can spend more time working and less time fundraising.
- Doubling your donation for free through your employer’s matching program.
- Contributing stock to CAIR-SFBA. Email info@sfba.cair.com for account details.
Can you please make a contribution before the year ends?
Thank you,
Sameena Usman
Government Relation Coordinator
P.S. If you would like to join me in meetings with elected officials or to learn more about our campaigns, please email me at susman@cair.com.