Muslim American Leadership Alliance – National Home Front Project

In December 2018, the Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA) launched an initiative to spotlight Muslim Americans as part of “The Greatest Generation.” Publishing these memories on the MALA website elevates public dialogue on Muslim-American identity in the twenty-first century while preserving the history that is our common American legacy.

MALA is a 501(c)3 civic and community organization committed to promoting individual freedom and diversity, and to celebrating Muslim American heritage. MALA is dedicated to leadership through integrity, and as such provides a platform for people to share their individual stories and to speak for themselves. MALA nurtures emerging community leaders, and unites Americans of all backgrounds to advance constructive solutions to extremism and human rights abuses. MALA is open to choice and creed, and embraces free expression, gender equality, and pluralism as cherished universal ideals. Learn more at www.MALAnational.org.

Call for Stories: Muslim American Veterans of All Wars and Heroes of the WWII Homefront

Since the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars, Muslim Americans have proudly served in the United States military. The Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA) is privileged to launch two new initiatives to collect, spotlight, and archive the voices of men and women who have served. There are so many Muslim American veterans living today, each with a unique story to tell: we want to hear them all.

MALA and the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress

The purpose of the Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress is to collect, preserve and make accessible the personal accounts of America’s wartime veterans, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand their selfless service. MALA is working to expand the stories of Muslim American veterans in this collection, and we invite you to share your story as a veteran, or nominate a veteran you love for this project.

MALA and the World War II Homefront

In collaboration with Washington College and its Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, MALA is partnering with the National Home Front Project to record, preserve, and share audio interviews with Muslim Americans born in or before 1940. Histories of World War II too often omit the experiences of “home front heroes:”: the men, women, and children who bought bonds, built planes, endured sacrifices, and kept families together while loved ones served on the front lines. MALA is honored to spotlight Muslim American civilians who contributed to the war effort or whose family members served in World War II as part of “The Greatest Generation.”

All of us at Washington College are delighted to embark on this new partnership with the Muslim American Leadership Alliance, building together on the impressive oral history work that MALA has already done in other spheres. Oral history connects generations, amplifies voices that were at risk of going unheard, and ensures that future historians will portray the American experience in all its diversity and complexity. Muslim voices and Muslim memories have often been omitted from depictions of World War II. By including them in the National Home Front Project archive, we hope to broaden our understanding of the ‘Greatest Generation,” including its home front heroes. We can’t wait to hear those stories. — Adam Goodheart, Director of the Starr Center

Project Coordinator

Zainab Zeb Khan is the President of MALA: Muslim American Leadership Alliance (www.MALAnational.org). She coordinates the “Muslim American Journeys” oral history project with NPR’s StoryCorps. To date, over 450 stories of Muslim Americans have been produced and archived to depict their diversity, individuality, and innovative contributions to mainstream American society as proud citizens. MALA’s oral history project was featured on the Oral History Association blog, and the American Folkife Center at the Library of Congress recently featured the project’s diversity in thematic elements to illuminate the personal experiences of Muslims in the United States for generations to come.
Zainab is a therapist, painter, and human rights advocate. Zainab also co-curated the International Museum of Women’s exhibition “Muslimah: Muslim Women’s Arts and Voices” and served as a United Nations Association delegate to the 59th Commission on the Status of Women. The YWCA Chicago gave her its 2014 Racial & Social Justice Award. Zainab has written about gender-based violence for No Ceilings; was featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine; and gave a notable TEDx talk, “How to Fight Injustice Without Saying a Word.”
Zainab is honored as a “Global Hero” for Safe Magazine’s 2015 issue. She was honored by Aga Khan University’s Muslim Woman of Peace for 2015. She was also a featured speaker at the Conference of World Affairs 2016. Zainab is the recipient of UNICEF’s Inaugural Humanitarian Award for 2016. Most recently, she contributed a chapter to the book Can Art Aid in Resolving Conflicts (Amsterdam: FRAME Publishers, 2018).