- New York City
1970s
Photocopy of speech.
Notes: The activist sisters were concerned with dawah and also the development of successful and thriving Muslim communities. This document is an example of that second concern and illustrates Chan-Malik's concept of affective insurgency. There is a familiar "the women's place is the home" in this lecture, but the home is a site of insurgency. There is also an affirmation of women's capacity and a woman's responsibility to live out her capacity as a leader. In order to be leaders, women need to be educated, and supporting women's education was a consistent theme in Umi's life, one that put her and the activist sisters at odds with other women and men who were offended by their activism — despite the activist sisters' general endorsement of more traditional gender roles. However, this never deterred Umi or the other activist sisters in their pursuit for greater justice and spiritual salvation.