GAMVP Insights

On Thursday March 16th, 2023, Georgia Muslim Voter Project (GAMVP) hosted Georgia Muslim Advocacy Day, in partnership with the Council on American-Islamic Relations Georgia Chapter (CAIR-GA) and Inner-City Muslim Action Network Atlanta (IMAN Atlanta). This event marked the first of its kind in several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing together over 150 Georgia Muslims from diverse communities across the state to the Georgia State Capitol building. During this event, the Georgia Muslim community had the opportunity to learn more about the legislative and advocacy process, meet with their state elected officials, and increase their transparency and accessibility to the state legislature.

As one of the primary organizers for this event, I had the privilege of planning and executing this important event from start to finish. In this reflection, I will share my insights on what it takes to organize a successful event like the Muslim Advocacy Day.

The idea for Georgia Muslim Advocacy Day came from a community member who is heavily involved in the organizing and civic engagement space. After seeing similar events led by organizations in other states, she brought her idea to the GAMVP team, and from there, this year’s iteration of Georgia Muslim Advocacy Day was born. However, we knew that in order to mobilize the whole of the Muslim community, we could not undertake this task alone, so we invited our co-organizers CAIR-GA and IMAN-Atlanta to join us in the planning of this event. Once our organizing partners were onboard, we could move forward with our planning and preparation for the event.

As we began our planning, it was important for us to define our goals and objectives for the event, identify the communities we’d want present, and create and secure the resources needed for the event. From there, we coordinated with partner organizations to divide tasks and assign responsibilities, such as securing the venue space, arranging speakers, creating training materials, facilitating marketing and outreach to the community, as well as creating a very detailed schedule of events for the day.

After a lengthy planning process, we finally arrived at the week of the event, which was incredibly important to ensuring that we had a smooth event. During this final week, we finalized our handouts, double and triple confirmed our schedule of events, and trained our incredible volunteers on how to engage with the community and what to expect from the day. Finally, on the day of the event, we had to ensure that everything went smoothly. All organizations had their staff arrive two hours prior to the start of the event to assist with setting up the venue and check-in stations, and distributing event literature such as community guides and legislative priorities documents. Once everything we could control was handled, it was important for us to stay focused and adapt quickly to deal with any unexpected issues that arose.

Georgia Muslim Advocacy Day was not just about lobbying for legislative change but also about showcasing the power of the Muslim community and increasing transparency and accessibility with our state government. During our planning, we emphasized the need to ensure that attendees felt heard and that their voices were being represented. Historically, the Muslim community has often been neglected and alienated by elected officials and those in power. These people in decision-making positions did not recognize the size, power, and impact of our community. Therefore, we wanted to showcase the strength and diversity of our community during the event, loudly stating “We are here!” and “Our communities matter too!”. Georgia Muslim Advocacy Day served as a powerful platform to advocate for legislative change and showcase the strength and diversity of the Muslim community in Georgia. By amplifying the voices of our community and highlighting the importance of accessibility and transparency in our state government, we hope to continue to make progress towards creating a more equitable and just society for all.

Organizing Georgia’s Muslim Advocacy Day was one of the most challenging but rewarding experiences of my life. It required countless hours of hard work, dedication, and attention to detail, but it was all worth it to see the impact it had on the Muslim community in Georgia. As a member of this community, it was incredibly fulfilling to be able to bring together over 150 people from diverse backgrounds and empower them to advocate for issues that matter to them. Seeing community members leave the event feeling empowered and represented was truly heartwarming, and it gave me a renewed sense of hope for a more equitable and just future. Though there were some unexpected challenges along the way, the support of the GAMVP team, co-organizers, volunteers, and community members helped us overcome them and create a truly unforgettable event. I am honored to have played a part in organizing such a powerful platform for the Muslim community in Georgia, and I look forward to continuing to advocate for positive change in the future.

In Solidarity,
Asim Javed