Sunday, September 30, 2018, Washington, DC — The National Iranian American Council held its annual conference at the Hyatt Regency, Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Hamza Khan’s The Pluralism Project conducts the workshop on training the individuals to run for Public office, and it was a fantastic program. He gave a talk and then asked the participants to tell a compelling story about them in 3 minutes that fellow Americans can relate with. It included one’s origins, struggle, measured values, revelation and finally who he or she is.
He talked about Planning the political campaigns, including recruitment of volunteers, earning trusted supporters, fundraising, phone campaigns and all that is need to make an efforts to run for the public office.
This is a project that needs to be given a priority, 2020 would be a good year to run for the public office, and planning must begin now. I had offered two proposals to present in ISNA’s annual conference about “How to run for the City Council.” They turned down the proposal as they had their own priorities. I urge each one of you to run for fun for the first time, get a feel for it, and then you can run as a serious candidate. Study the stories of some of the candidates with zero experience in politics and how they made it, if they can do it, you can do it too.
It was a joy to see the Iranian Youth taking a serious interest in the training. My friend Amir Omar, an Iranian-American had run for the Congressional seat in Texas but lost in the primaries, it was a good effort. Barkat Basaria and I had kicked off Amir’s campaign in Richardson, Texas.
Hamza’s presentation resonated with me, I had started on a similar track some 13 years ago. My late wife ran for the Carrollton City council and lost by 81 votes. I was urged to run for the Mayor and probably I would have won, as I needed 2300 individuals to vote for me, and had good support from the Homeowners Association, nearly 1000 votes would have come my way, where I was the President. I was also the Neighborhood Commissioner at large with the City of Carrollton.
Glad to see so many Iranian youths taking a serious interest in running for office.
Politically I am an independent, thank God, my loyalty is to America and not a party. I was a Republican until 2012, and their rhetoric of destruction turned me off, there was no hope to stay with them. I am free to support the candidate who believes and ‘acts’ towards the goal of one nation under God and building cohesive societies. I voted for Bush once, and Obama twice voted for Ted Cruz which I regret and also John Cronyn in the Senate and Pete Sessions for the Congress. I was a Texan until 2015, and a DC resident since then.
I hope to support Hamza’s efforts as long as it is for all Americans. Hamza is a Democrat, and I will work with anyone who is committed to a cohesive America either the Democrats or the Republicans.
Hamza Khan, Mehdi Hassan and Mike Ghouse Mehdi Hassan was the keynote speaker
COMING UP: MISTAKES MUSLIMS MAKE
The book “Mistakes Muslims Make” is about to be wrapped up and hope for the release around Thanksgiving. We have to fully integrate and become one nation to build a secure future for every American. We need to reassure each other, particularly the disconnected ones, that together as Americans, we are committed to safeguarding the American way of life. No American needs to worry about losing his or her way of life. Together as Americans, we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our Constitution; a guarantor of the way of life for every American. I wish to receive requests for discussions rather than fatwas from fellow Muslims.
