Muslims in Public Service: September 5, 2014
A full-day conference featuring Muslims in various aspects and levels of government discussing their experiences, challenges, advice and vision for the future. Keynote address to be delivered by Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).
Since 9/11, the place of Islam and Muslims in American society has become a major national preoccupation. From no-fly lists to secret surveillance of mosques to legislative campaigns against shari’a law, Muslims have frequently come under suspicion regarding their socio-political roles and aspirations in the United States. Some have even questioned whether Muslims are entitled to constitutional protections that are recognized as the birthright of all other Americans, arguing that “Islam is different.”
Yet lost in all of this controversy is the fact that Muslims continue to function as public servants at virtually every level of American government, from elected officials to advisors and political appointees, from congresspersons to judges to Homeland Security personnel. “American Muslims in Public Service,” a one-day conference that will be held on 5 September 2014 at the University of Southern California’s Tudor Conference Center, will bring together a broad cross-section of American Muslims in public service to share their experiences, perspectives, fears, hopes, advice and prognostications. The conference will be inter-active, inviting questions and perspectives from the audience, along with responses from the participants. It will be capped by a special keynote address that evening by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota).
PROGRAM
DATE: Friday, September 5, 2014
TIME: 8:00 AM – 7:30 PM
LOCATION: Panels – USC Tudor Campus Center, Room 450; Keynote – USC Bovard Auditorium
Continental breakfast provided at 8:00 AM (free)
Lunch provided at 12:00 PM (free)
Reception to follow keynote (free)
MORNING
REGISTRATION/BREAKFAST: 8:00 AM
OPENING ADDRESS: 8:30 AM
Dr. Sherman Jackson
PANEL 1: 9:00 AM, Advisors, Aides, and Hopefuls
MODERATOR: Lori Meeks
Suhail A. Khan, Conservative Activist and former Bush Appointee
Rahmat Khan, Candidate, Torrance (CA) City Council
Ilhaam Jaffer, White House Advance Associate
Asim Ghafoor, Former Legislative Assistant
PANEL 2: 10:30 AM, Law Enforcement and the Courts
MODERATOR: Nomi Stolzenberg
Sylvester Johnson, Police Commissioner, Philadelphia
Mona Youssef, Jurist, Third Judicial Circuit of Michigan-Juvenile Division
Hassan A. El-Amin, Associate Judge for the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Maryland
AFTERNOON
PANEL 3: 2:00 PM, Muslims in Public Service in Los Angeles and California
MODERATOR: Nayan Shah
Halim Dhanidina, Judge, Los Angeles County Superior Court
Farrah N. Khan, Community Services Commissioner, City of Irvine
Belal Dalati, Commissioner, City of Anaheim
Haroon Azar, Department of Homeland Security Regional Director for Strategic Engagement
PANEL 4: 3:30 PM, Federal, State and International
MODERATOR: Varun Soni
Saud Anwar, Mayor of South Windsor, Connecticut
Larry Shaw, Senator, North Carolina
Shaarik Zafar, Special Representative to Muslim Communities, U.S. Department of State
KEYNOTE: Congressman Keith Ellison
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Congressman Keith Ellison represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Fifth District includes the City of Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs and is one of the most vibrant and ethnically diverse districts in Minnesota. Rep. Ellison’s guiding philosophy is based on “generosity and inclusion,” and his priorities in Congress are building prosperity for working families, promoting peace, pursuing environmental sustainability and advancing civil and human rights. As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, the congressman helps oversee the nation’s financial services and housing industries, as well as Wall Street. In response to the foreclosure crisis that began in 2008, Rep. Ellison wrote the Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act, which requires banks and other new owners to provide at least 90 days’ notice of eviction to renters occupying foreclosed homes.
For the 113th Congress, Rep. Ellison was elected co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which promotes the progressive promise of fairness for all. He is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, founded the Congressional Consumer Justice Caucus and belongs to more than a dozen other caucuses that focus on issues ranging from social inclusion to environmental protection. Before being elected to Congress, Rep. Ellison was a noted community activist and ran a thriving civil rights, employment and criminal defense law practice in Minneapolis. Born and raised in Detroit, he has lived in Minnesota since earning his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1990. He is the proud father of four children.
Co-Sponsored by:
USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture
USC Office of Religious Life
USC School of Religion
USC Center for Law, History and Culture
USC Department of American Studies and Ethnicity
USC Muslim Student Union
Religion Democracy and the Arab Awakening: April 25, 2014
A full-day conference on the present and future of democracy in the Arab Middle East and the manner in which various groups and movements relate to the unfolding situation. Keynote speaker: Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Oxford University. Click here to see the flyer for the RDAA conference.