Just Some Musings
As a 40-um-something ENFP, I internalize the injustices in the world and then idealize the outcomes. This is what drives my blogging and activism whether it’s tweeting or rallies or the #MyJihad campaign. I know I’m just a drop in the ocean, but every storm has its first rain drop. I will never stop being an idealist who sees the possibilities in #Palestine, #Syria, #Yemen and in our great country of the United States. My birthplace. The place that welcomed my orphaned, war torn mother and that welcomed my stubborn father who absolutely refused to live in a culture that demanded he be silenced. God bless, America. This is my home. And when I speak out against policies that defy the values this country was founded on, it is out of love for my country. When I speak out against our involvement in foreign affairs that snuff out innocent lives and that cost American taxpayers billions of dollars, it is out of love for my country. When I die, my kids have to carry on in this nation. What are we leaving for them? What kind of problems do my kids have to solve when I am gone? Will my grandchildren be able to go to college? Will they be able to fulfill their career dreams to their highest potential? I have no idea. And not knowing is a very scary thing.
As a high school senior, I was accepted into the NIU nursing program. (I didn’t end up going to NIU or into nursing.) What I WANTED more than anything was to attend Chicago’s Columbia College and study journalism. Do some radio and writing. Back then, there were no Muslim writers. I thought I was wasting my time. Why would I invest 4 years studying journalism if I would never be allowed to write about topics so dear to me? As an 18 year old young lady, I wanted to be a Broadcaster on ABC news. 🙂 My dad said he could picture me doing that and couldn’t wait for it to happen. But then I figured, I would not be able to parrot words coming from the teleprompter that defied my values. HOPELESS! I felt hopeless. In my mind, my dreams of journalism were simply a joke- not to be taken seriously- as they would never work any which way you cut it. Muslim women didn’t belong in journalism at that time, or so I told myself. So I spent the next 2 decades in Human Resources and selling HR software. I loved every minute of my career, but my desire to write never wavered. So I wrote for my company’s newsletter and I wrote for Payroll publications. I wrote for my company’s customer magazine and I wrote a book on breastfeeding that got a million rejection letters.
Today, social media has opened the flood gates for Muslim writers and citizens at large to say their piece. Liberal publications allow someone like me to get stuff published that goes against the grain. This is amazing therapy for my soul. The media is still controlled by corporate interests and the war industry which has a stake in making the general public hate Muslims. Hating Muslims helps sell tanks and ammunition. Hating Muslims helps further immoral causes in Muslim-majority countries that could not go down with a public in furor. Normalizing the hatred of Muslims helps the bad elements in our world further their bad causes. It’s drowned out with the Kartrashian Klan and Queen Bey and ridiculous “reality” television.
I have a driving need to correct misconceptions about Muslims in the media. And I will always do that. My blog is a drop in the bucket. But as a Muslim, I know it is not the outcome of my efforts that I will be judged on come Judgement Day, rather – my intentions. It doesn’t mean that I have to fight #Islamophobia with my jihad of the pen with the belief that it will never make a difference or that it will never change. Because that is not how it works either. And the reality is, I DO believe it makes a difference. I DO believe things will change. I DO believe in grass roots movements and inspiring others. People are SPONGES for inspiration. People reject negativity. There is enough of that. We must continue to inspire each other. Get to know each other. Educate each other about ourselves. Demand fairness in the media. Demand retractions of lies. We must call out injustices for what they are and speak loudly and respectfully.
We also have to leave some type of inspiration and hope for our kids. Every once in a blue moon, something comes out of my kids mouths about an injustice … or they hear something that doesn’t jive with their common sense and they speak out. And this Momma is like, “Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!” Haha – I cannot tell you the friggin’ joy that I feel in my soul when I watch my kids critically think and open their mouths and correct adults in the world who are trying to pull the wool over their eyes. It works! Kids mirror the adults in their lives. We MUST lead by example. We must take a break from baseball games on television and busy work schedules and other adult duties to remember that EVERYTHING we do or say in front of a child leaves a permanent imprint.
Some of those imprints involve random singing and dancing. 🙂 My kids are now in junior high, and those young days are over. I am going through a pseudo empty-nest-syndrome-disorder-sort-of-thingy as of late. But thankfully, the internet preserves things like this video that my kids and I used to sing and dance to – amongst others. 🙂
So …. I have rambled. Not sure why. 🙂 And this is not a normal blog post for me. Most of my posts are specific articles aimed at a specific topic in our culture or media that I am trying to address. But I just felt like writing this – to give my readers a little glimpse into who I am. For as much as I talk and write, I conceal a lot of my inner workings inside my heart and soul for only those nearest and dearest to me. And sometimes, I let the outside world take a peak. If you have read this far — I thank you.
Who will you inspire today?
A dorky selfie of Yasmina Reality that is now on the internet. But who cares? I like being dorky once in awhile. 🙂
About the Author
About the Author: I'm a Writer, Speaker and Muslim Activist. I'm a former Board Member of the #MyJihad Public Education Campaign.
Follow my blog at yasminareality.com or follow me on Twitter: @yasmina_reality. I'm also now on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YasminaReality
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