Life is always work in progress.
Free Uyghur Now: University Tour
For the past year, I have been going to different university campuses across North America to educate people about the “Uyghur Plight: What, Why and How we can help” . With months of research, critique from different organizations, and feedback from academics I was happy and with the presentation materials. Focussing on history, geopolitics and the most importantly a dedicated section on advocacy that people from all movements can benefit from.
Since last year we had managed to visit many prestigious Universities across North America with plans on continuing our efforts. Some of the schools I have spoken at include: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, NYU, Georgetown, George Washington, Northeastern, UCLA, UCI, Cal Poly, UMD, UMBC, NY Law School, UBC, SFU and CUNY Brooklyn. If you are interested in organizing something with your community, feel free to reach out to me anytime 🙂
#Score4Rights
The # Score for rights campaign was about fulfilling the Olympic values which are unity and solidarity. We called on Olympians to raise their hands during the games. We also encouraged everyone around the world do the same to stand in solidarity with those who are oppressed by China
PSA: Prayer Space Awareness
In 2021, with the help of a small community grant and an amazing team, we were able to produce this short film. We were honoured to win “Best Cinematography” at the Muslim International Film Festival in Toronto.
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International Human Rights Campaign
I remember receiving an email from a high-school student in Chicago in November of 2020. She reached out telling me that she had been volunteering for the Amnesty International in her school, and how she wanted to do something regarding to the Uyghur Genocide. Upon our conversation, an idea popped into my head of creating a webinar for International Human Rights day on December 10th. After scouring my contact list and searching the web, I managed to confirm speakers on the various issues you see above. The recordings for the webinar can be found in the Videos section of the menu.
Hear Me Now
In the summer of 2016 I got the Opportunity to work at Muslim Foodbank and Community Services. I was put in charge of the youth programs and was given the task of engaging the youth with the local community. With the help of the team at MFBCS we were able to create a digital story telling program which allowed youth ages 13- 18 to express themselves in video format. When the program was coming to an end and the videos being submitted, we realized that we stumbled upon something significant. A Syrian refugee student had told her escape story, a very powerful motion-picture. We had to do more for these kids. The idea of a film festival was brought into attention and Hear Me Now was born. With the help of the community we were able to showcase the art of local youth and make the children feel famous. An entire festival dedicated to the stories of the youth. The photos in the slideshow above showcase the 2017 cohort.
Kabir Qurban 