Ask The Global Field: Ways to Celebrate Muslim Women’s Day during Women’s History Month
The Global Field answers pressing questions from our grantees, addressing their in-the-field challenges. We guide and offer support to our partners and stakeholders. We further help navigate common community organizational issues.
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Your Question:
Our team is looking for significant ways to celebrate and share Muslim Women’s Day and Women’s History Month with our network.
Our Response:
On March 27, we honor Muslim women as part of Women’s History Month. Amani AI-Khatahtbeh created Muslim Women’s Day on March 27, 2017, to celebrate, honor, and amplify the voices of Muslim women. Seven years later, Muslim Women’s Day is still going strong, creating space for Muslim women worldwide.
What is Muslim Women’s Day?
Muslim Women’s Day began with only an idea when 17-year-old AI-Khatahtbeh created the website MuslimGirl.com to create a safe space for young Muslim women. AI-Khatahtbeh openly speaks about her identity issues growing up in America and how moving back to her father’s homeland of Jordan at 13 years old changed her life. After moving to Jordan, AI-Khatahtbeh grew to embrace her heritage and Muslim identity, inspiring her drive to change the narrative and misrepresentation of Muslim women in the news.
Taking steps to celebrate throughout the month will signal to your network the understanding you have that all the communities you serve need to know that they are appreciated, seen, cared about, listened to, and represented.
Ways To Celebrate Muslim Women’s Day & Women’s History Month
Support Muslim women in politics
The 2022 midterms were iconic for Muslim women’s representation. According to 19thnews, there were a record-breaking 153 Muslim candidates on the general ballot that election year. Of the Muslim candidates, 61% of Muslim women won, including Nabeela Syed, who is a part of Gen Z. Muslim women are making their voices heard in local government, too, like Bushra Amiwala, the first Gen Z woman to hold public office in the United States. By making a contribution to their campaigns, sharing their posts online, and voting, you can show support for them.
Repost and share content under #MuslimWomensDay
One of the easiest ways to celebrate Muslim women is to share educational content from and/or about Muslim women. Utilizing social media as a place to create space for Muslim women is effective within our digital world, though it’s not the only way you should be showing your support. It can help amplify the voices of the Muslim women within our communities. A few Muslim women activists doing great work that you should follow are @malihaness, @blairimani, @yassmin_a, and @lsarsour.
Encourage your network to visit Women’s History sites in their communities:
The National Women’s History Museum – Founded in 1996, the National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) is an innovative online museum dedicated to uncovering, interpreting, and celebrating women’s diverse contributions to society. A renowned leader in women’s history education, the Museum brings to life the countless untold stories of women throughout history, and serves as a space for all to inspire, experience, collaborate, and amplify women’s impact—past, present, and future. The Wyoming House for Historic Women in Laramie, an institute commemorating the territory’s early adoption of suffrage in its constitution, way back in 1869.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett House – Chicago, Illinois
The fascinating story of American hero Ida Bell Wells is yours to absorb in her home in the Douglas neighborhood of south Chicago. Born into slavery in Mississippi in 1862, she was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation as an infant. By her adult years, she’d worked as an investigative journalist, educator, and an early leader in the civil rights movement; and in 1909, co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In Chicago, you can visit the Ida B. Wells-Barnett House she shared with husband Ferdinand Barnett, now a National Historic Landmark located at 3624 S. Martin Luther King Drive.
The National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites
The National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites advocates for historic sites that center the preservation and interpretation of the important role of women and gender non-conforming individuals as core to the American story.
The Center for Women’s History
The first of its kind in the nation within the walls of a major museum, the Center for Women’s History unearths the lives and legacies of women who have shaped and continue to shape the American experience. Currently showing is We Rise: A Film from the Center for Women’s History, narrated by Meryl Streep and featuring the song “We Are Here” written and composed by Alicia Keyes, We Rise is an inspiring 17-minute film that highlights some of the remarkable women whose advocacy for change had lasting effects on New York and the nation.
Harriet Tubman Home – Auburn, New York
New York State has long been home progressive thinkers, many of whom formed a safe haven for former slaves and outspoken abolitionists. Among its most extraordinary residents was Harriet Tubman, who escaped from slavery in Maryland in 1849. She spent the next 64 years helping to liberate hundreds more from slavery, including her family.
Dignity: Of Earth & Sky – near Chamberlain, South Dakota
Installed in 2016, the 50-foot tall Dignity sculpture of a Native American woman honors the cultures of the Lakota and Dakota people. The sculpture was designed by sculptor Dale Lamphere. Representing the rich Native American culture of South Dakota, the 50-foot Native American woman gracefully wears a dress patterned after a two-hide dress of the 1850s. She holds outstretched a quilt featuring 128 stainless steel blue diamond shapes designed to flutter in the wind. During the day, her star quilt – a representation of respect, honor and admiration in Native American culture – glitters in the sun with color-changing pieces that move with the wind. At night, LED lights cause the diamond shapes to glow in the night sky, casting a peaceful presence easily visible from the Interstate.
The Vietnam Women’s Memorial, National Mall
The memorial was dedicated in 1993 and portrays three women caring for a fallen soldier. During the Vietnam War, women served in many different roles. Many women served as nurses and physicians while others acted as air traffic controllers, communication specialists, and intelligence officers. The Vietnam Women’s Memorial was established to honor the women who risked their lives to serve their country. The names of the eight women who died in Vietnam are included on the list of over 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Ask a ranger to find a name on the wall and learn more about the people who served our country.
Shop Muslim-woman-owned businesses
What better way to show support to a community than to buy from their business? Muslim Girl has your back with a list of 21 Muslim-owned companies to shop from this Muslim Women’s Day. Let this be your sign to have a guilt-free shopping spree!
Listen to Muslim women artists
According to Vogue Arabia, the history of Muslim women emcees began with Miss Undastood. For almost two decades, Miss Undastood has been known as the sound of NYC’s Islamic underground rap scene. With the help of her work, today there are artists like Neelam Hakeem, who has gained an Instagram following of 457k, and the attention of cultural icons like Will Smith and Erykah Badu. Hakeem’s song “We got em like” has 115k views on Youtube and was featured on her Anomalous EP, which dropped last year. In the music world, Muslim women are making an impact. Aint Afraid, Mona Haydar, Boshia Rae-Jean, and Yuna are among the Muslim women artists making strides that you should keep on your radar.
Dignity of Earth and Sky designed by sculptor Dale Lamphere