Advocacy & Civic Engagement

Using advocacy and civic engagement to build political and community power. 

Investing in Our Political Futures 

MJF’s Advocacy work includes making demands of policymakers that are rooted in community demands. Our civic engagement work includes educating our communities about the political process and ensuring we are represented through census work, getting out the vote, and the voting process through development of voter guides. MJF also partners with other civic engagement organizations to hold educational forums on the civic engagement and voting process. 

Updates

Check here for general updates on our civic engagement work.

Featured
COMMUNITY GUIDE FOR GRASSROOTS GROUPS

This guide offers critical Know Your Rights (KYR) information and a guiding framework for grassroots groups, fiscally sponsored projects, and fiscal sponsors working on mutual aid, bail funds, and Palestine solidarity initiatives. This guide offers key recommendations on managing targeting, risk, and government scrutiny. It offers a framework groups can use to address infrastructure development, map potential oppositional threat targets, develop plans, crisis response, and financial record-keeping.

The guide is divided into three sections:

  • An overview of organizational infrastructure, with guiding questions and checklists.

  • Threat mapping and resilience planning for movement infrastructure.

  • KYR resources specific to mutual aid and donation management.

This guide draws on the expertise of organizers and lawyers with direct experience in executing large-scale mutual aid and bail fund projects within Muslim communities. Please note this document is not legal advice or exhaustive and does not replace consulting with an attorney.

Read More →
Featured
COMMUNITY GUIDE FOR GRASSROOTS GROUPS

This guide offers critical Know Your Rights (KYR) information and a guiding framework for grassroots groups, fiscally sponsored projects, and fiscal sponsors working on mutual aid, bail funds, and Palestine solidarity initiatives. This guide offers key recommendations on managing targeting, risk, and government scrutiny. It offers a framework groups can use to address infrastructure development, map potential oppositional threat targets, develop plans, crisis response, and financial record-keeping.

The guide is divided into three sections:

  • An overview of organizational infrastructure, with guiding questions and checklists.

  • Threat mapping and resilience planning for movement infrastructure.

  • KYR resources specific to mutual aid and donation management.

This guide draws on the expertise of organizers and lawyers with direct experience in executing large-scale mutual aid and bail fund projects within Muslim communities. Please note this document is not legal advice or exhaustive and does not replace consulting with an attorney.

Read More →
Defending our Future | A Guide for Communities to Resist Project 2025

Given the formidable threat posed by Project 2025, Muslims for Just Futures developed this brief with contributions from the Detention Watch Network and the Armenian-American Action Network. It provides an overview of Project 2025, emphasizing the proposed policies within the expansion of militarism, immigration enforcement, prisons, and jails. It analyzes the potential impact on BAMEMSA and SWANA communities and offers recommendations for community groups on effectively countering Project 2025 and building long-term power. The recommendations and analysis covered in this brief apply to BAMEMSA and SWANA community groups and broader movements building toward a radical democracy.

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Resources | Know Your Rights

Building Community Power Requires Strong Defense

Our rights are only as powerful as our knowledge of them. That's why Muslims for Just Futures is launching a series of "Know Your Rights" (KYR) resources tailored for community members and organizers. Our first resource focuses on general rights awareness in Chicago, especially in light of the upcoming DNC. We strongly encourage groups to download and share the full KYR guide. This resource covers: 1) Agencies that can bring criminal charges against you in Chicago; 2) What to do if you're arrested. 3) Pretrial detention procedures. 4) How to protect your privacy during searches.

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