Chelby Marie Daigle is Muslim Link’s Editor in Chief and Coordinator. Under her direction, Muslim Link adopted its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy so that the website strives to reflect the complexity of Muslim communities in Canada. She knows that she fails to do justice to this complexity every day but she will continue to try to improve as she recognizes the frustration of being both marginalized in the mainstream and also marginalized in Muslim communities. As Coordinator, she works to build relationships with Muslim and mainstream organizations and manages the website's social media, event listings, and directories. She organizes regular Muslim Link gatherings. She also works closely with the Publisher to find ways to keep Muslim Link sustainable. Find her on Twitter @ChelbyDaigle
Dr. Habib Khoury is a Palestinian Canadian practicing dentistry at Centrum Dental Care in Kanata. In 2015, he came up with the idea of finding an innovative way to raise funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)’s Community Mental Health Program which supports Palestinians, particularly children, who are coping with mental health issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He spearheaded the annual Ottawa Run for Palestine, now in its third year.
It takes place this Sunday, September 24. This year the run has a new route from Ottawa City Hall to Dows Lake. a 2K Family Walk and a 5K and 10K professional run. The run is followed by a Family BBQ with multiple activities for children, as well as cultural activities such as Dabke.
This year, the Ottawa Run for Palestine is also fundraising for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)'s youth mental health program.
Muslim Link connected with Dr. Khoury to learn more about why the run is partnering with CHEO this year.
Next Monday, Pakistani Canadian Aatif Baskanderi will be starting a trip across Newfoundland sharing his personal story as a Muslim growing up in the province. Aatif will be travelling over 2000km across Newfoundland visit 7 towns over 11 days. Many of these communities have sponsored Syrian refugees. He will be speaking at high schools, libraries and the provincial university. He is currently crowdfunding on LaunchGood to cover the cost of making the documentary “Salaam B'y - A Story of a Muslim Newfoundlander”, based on this trip in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Amar Wala, best known for his work The Secret Trial 5 (2014).
In light of the current humanitarian crisis and violence being experienced by the Rohingya community in Myanmar/Burma and Bangladesh, Muslim Link is sharing the stories of Rohingya refugees who have made a home in Canada.
Yasmine Ullah is a Rohingya refugee living in Vancouver, BC. She is part of a Rohingya women-led initiative, spearheaded by her mother, who are crowfunding on LaunchGood to help support Rohingya community members who are staying in Burma amid the current violence.
Yasmine has been speaking publicly about the plight of the Rohingya, including the dire situation faced by her own family members currently in Burma, at local mosques and to mainstream media such as CBC.
Muslim Canadians are rallying across the country to support the Rohingya in Myanmar/Burma and Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh.
On September 13th, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar. "The Prime Minister conveyed his deep concerns over the situation in Rakhine State for Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities. He stressed the particular importance of the State Counsellor as a moral and political leader. The Prime Minister also emphasised the urgent need for Myanmar's military and civilian leaders to take a strong stand in ending the violence, promoting the protection of civilians and promoting unimpeded access for the UN and international humanitarian actors. The Prime Minister and the State Counsellor discussed the need to defend and protect the rights of all minorities. The Prime Minister offered Canada’s support to help build a peaceful and stable society in Myanmar that is respectful of the rights of all ethnic minorities. The State Counsellor expressed appreciation for Canada’s contribution to humanitarian efforts."
CityNews Toronto reporter Ginella Massa will be speaking at the season premiere of the Women of Influence Evening Series on Wednesday September 6 in Toronto. She will be exploring the topic of Breaking Barriers: How to Defy Expectations and Develop the Career of Your Dreams.
Muslim Link interviewed Ginella about becoming a role model for so many Muslim women and how her experience as an “outsider” within Muslim Canadian communities is an advantage when it comes to doing a better job of covering new stories that explore the complexity of the Muslim Canadian experience.
Muslim Link caught up with Event Director Tariq Syed about MuslimFest's successes this year, and what we may look forward to in 2018, which will be Mississauga's Muslim arts and cultural festival's 15th year!
Assunnah Muslim Association's Masjid ar Rahmah in Ottawa will be hosting a Sisters Eid Party on Saturday, September 9th.
Muslim Link interviewed Assunnah staff and volunteers about what people could look forward to at this events.
Pakistani Canadian Abubakar Khan, who has gained national recognition in Canada’s Muslim communities for his interfaith initiative to open up a Vancouver mosque as an emergency homeless shelter last winter, runs his own podcast called The Chosen Khan.
"I just want a young Black Muslimah to look at my art and not feel alone or die of starvation for representation." – Somali Canadian artist Riya Jama
"When people show you who they are, believe them the first time." – Black American writer Maya Angelou
Recently, some non-Black Muslims have expressed their outrage to me over the fact that there are currently no Black Muslim Canadians nominated for the Muslim Awards of Excellence (MAX Gala) taking place this fall in Toronto.
I was even asked to come up with a list of accomplished Black Muslim Canadians in order to shame MAX organizers.
Calgary
Ottawa
Edmonton
Regina
Halifax
Saskatoon
Hamilton
Toronto GTA
Kingston
Vancouver
Kitchener
London
Windsor
Montreal
Winnipeg
