Islamophobia-Report-The-Rise-of-American-Muslim-Changemakers
(Updated July, 2019)
Key Findings
More Mobilization, Less Persuasion
- Campaigns that focused on providing political access for traditionally marginalized populations resulted in a significant rise in voter turnout.
- This newly activated political base translated into direct political support in the form of votes, finance, or in-kind contributions.
Uphill Battle
- Most political candidates were grassroots oriented, non-institutional, and often faced opposition from established political actors.
- This lack of institutional support required intense and early ground level organizing.
- Engaging and activating new political bases required more financial and human resources than expected.
- Candidates consistently reported that mosque-based communities and traditional Muslim institutions did not play an early or significant role in mobilizing campaign resources.
Message Discipline, Narrative Control
- Candidates that made organic use of social media, digital storytelling, and video production were able to mobilize voters at community and national levels in greater degrees than those who did not.
- Candidates reported that a strong multi-platform social media presence with consistent message discipline helped control media narratives about candidates and mitigate potentially negative coverage.
Muslim, American, Human
- Although most American Muslim candidates reported that Trump-era Islamophobia motivated them to enter formal politics, they stated that their faith motivated their agenda, but did not define or limit it.
- Most candidates reported that their faith values guided their social justice orientation by prioritizing human welfare and social equity.
Key:
- FE: Former Elected Official
- FC: Former Candidate
