MCC Lecture Series Takes on Hate Feb. 2

Rashida Tlaib

Rashida Tlaib

Rashida Tlaib (pronounced ta-LEEB), the first Muslim woman elected to the Michigan Legislature, will deliver the next MCC 2016-17 Lecture Series talk, entitled “Take on Hate: Silence is Not an Option,” on Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. in Stevenson Center Room 1100. The event is free and open to the public.

Tlaib is an advisor to the Campaign to TAKE ON HATE, a racial justice movement to prevent the increase of hate crimes. Led by the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), a project of ACCESS, TAKE ON HATE challenges our country’s growing and accepted discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans by inspiring a positive perception of Arab and Muslim Americans, including Arab and Muslim refugees, creating systematic policy changes at the national and local levels, and building greater capacity for this community as a whole.

Currently, Tlaib is the community partnerships and development director at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice.

In 2009, she became the first Muslim-American woman to serve in the Michigan Legislature and only the second Muslim woman in history to be elected to any state legislature in America. Politically, her legacy is largely her accomplishments fighting budget battles and shaping legislation on numerous social justice issues. For Tlaib’s constituents, her legacy centers on her creation of a neighborhood service center, which provided direct advocacy on issues and anti-poverty services to thousands of people.

The first to attend college in her family, Tlaib received her bachelor’s in political science from Wayne State University and her law degree from Thomas Cooley Law School. She lives in Southwest Detroit with her family.

For more information on the event, contact Andy Wible, MCC philosophy instructor and coordinator of the MCC Lecture Series, at (231) 777-0626.