The Georgia Muslim Voter Project (GAMVP), a nonprofit founded in 2015, aims to engage community members to be civically active. This includes drives, seminars and events to get people registered to vote within the immigrant and Muslim community.
Arsheela Hudda, a junior at the University of Georgia and organizing intern for GAMVP, said that the period in which GAMVP was formed was difficult and negatively viewed by the community.
“GAMVP [was] formed during a time of hardship within the Muslim community,” Hudda said. “During this time, there was a negative outlook in politics. GAMVP has significantly impacted the Muslim community in Georgia. By focusing on voter registration, educational workshops and advocacy, GAMVP has helped increase the number of registered voters in the community. We have activated 100,000 Muslims all across the state.”
Hudda said her main contribution to GAMVP is creating efforts to educate the Muslim community on how to become civically engaged.
“We work to educate the Muslim community by hosting education sessions, voter registration drives and community conversations,” Hudda said. “Some of the work I do focuses on education sessions. I conduct outreach to organizations, MSAs [Muslim Student Associations] and mosques to gauge their interests on what their community needs. With that information, I suggest a few of our educational sessions and then host the session. Hosting education sessions has allowed me to witness the Muslim community be civically engaged.”
United States History teacher and co-sponsor of Midtown Votes Claudia Black said she views GAMVP as an organization needed and important for the community.
“I think that if you’re working with an organization that’s specifically dealing with Muslim and other minority populations, they can answer questions about topics like citizenship naturalization that I would not necessarily be able to answer,” Black said. “Also, it may be just easier coming from somebody who doesn’t look like somebody who’s the opposition a lot of times. I’m here to help people, if I’m just coming up, I can see how somebody might be like, ‘No, don’t talk to me’ especially about politics today.”
Black believes organizations like GAMVP can help with issues that have risen among the youth population around doubts on voting.
“I continually tell people, if your vote didn’t count, then no one would tell you that,” Black said. “They just let you keep voting. That has really gotten to some of the young people, or that nothing’s going to change.”
Wisal Ibrahim, an incoming college freshman at Georgia State University and former youth ambassador to GAMVP, said her belief in the need for civic engagement led her to join the organization.
“It was my Sunday school teacher who motivated me to join,” Ibrahim said. “During our lessons, she’d always say that ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,’ and I feel like this truly exemplified why it’s so important to be civically engaged. How can we complain about the laws in place if we don’t at least attempt to make an active effort in voicing our thoughts and exercising our rights as American citizens? With that in mind, I wanted to be a youth ambassador to get the people in my community more civically engaged.”
Ibrahim said that by sharing her personal experiences during her time as a youth ambassador, she was able to encourage people to vote who were initially hesitant.
“I remember at a voter registration drive, a woman came up to us and asked what the importance of voting is,” Ibrahim said. “Me and the other youth ambassadors had conversations with the woman, where we shared our life experiences and how that impacted the way we approach voting and laws currently in place. While she approached us with hesitation, she left the conversation registered to vote.”
Ibrahim believes that having the role of a youth ambassador broadened her perspective and understanding of civil responsibility.
“I definitely feel like my understanding of civic duty and community engagement has expanded since being a youth ambassador,” Ibrahim said. “The two words weren’t even in my everyday life prior to becoming a youth ambassador. I better understand that civic duty and community engagement isn’t just something one does once every four years, but rather an active effort made each day.”
