by MIKE ANTON
Speakers from community groups, the LAPD and State Department said that by knowing and exercising their rights, American Muslim women could become a force against religious and political extremism.
The sounds of Helen Reddy’s 1972 anthem to the women’s liberation movement, “I Am Woman,” filled the Irvine hotel ballroom where several hundred participants gathered Saturday for the American Muslim Women’s Empowerment Conference.
The song selection was fitting because the message speakers gave was basically the same as it was four decades ago: Know your rights, and exercise them.
But there was an added twist: By standing up for their rights inside and outside the home, American Muslim women can be a force against religious and political extremism.
While Muslim women in some other parts of the world face forced marriages, honor killings and a lack of political power, those in the United States sometimes struggle against more subtle forms of discrimination — often from within their own male-dominated communities.
“The American Muslim woman is empowered because she is an American,” said author, educator and Irvine community activist Anila Ali.
LA Times for more
(Thanks to reader)