2021 year in review
With just a handful of weeks remaining in 2021, Vigilant Love is asking you to join us as an annual sustainer and help us grow our capacity to resist surveillance, gendered Islamophobia and white supremacy, as well as provide community with healing-and-arts based, solidarity-and-racial justice programming.
As we strengthen our shared leadership model, expand our base locally and nationally, and refine our work to meet the multiple, emergent needs of our communities, we need your mutual investment! We hope you will partner with us through a monthly donation.
January 2021
In January 2021, we launched our third cohort of the Solidarity Arts Fellowship with 18 incredible young leaders interested in arts, activism, and healing justice.
The Vigilant Love Solidarity Arts Fellowship is an arts, activism, and storytelling-based program for college-aged Japanese & Muslim American youth to explore cross-communal solidarity, critical anti-Islamophobia, and the value of community-engaged arts as a medium for powerful transformation.
We’re currently in the process of interviewing candidates for our 4th cohort, which will begin in January 2022.
January 2021
In January 2021, we launched a report with Justice for Muslims Collective and Heart entitled “What is Gendered Islamophobia.” Vigilant Love, Justice for Muslims Collective, and Heart comprise a coalition called the “Partnership to End Gendered Islamophobia” which is at the intersection of Gender-Based Violence and the Anti-Terror Industrial Complex fields.
Gendered Islamophobia is a framework that acknowledges the interconnected ways the state utilized gendered forms of violence to oppress, monitor, punish, maim, and control Muslim bodies. Gendered Islamophobia exists at the intersection of heteropatriarchy, institutional Islamophobia, and interlocking systems of oppression.
January 2021
In January 2021, we responded to the January 6 Capitol attacks by organizing to shift the narrative around the language of “domestic terrorist.”
VL shared our research and analysis around how labeling white supremacists terrorists empowers the state to redirect more money & resources to policing and surveillance. Policing & surveillance largely criminalize muslim, black, & brown communities – and a country built from and sustained by white supremacy will never adequately hold white supremacists accountable.
February 2021
In February 2021, we published a grassroots policy agenda called “Abolishing the War on Terror, Building Communities of Care.” Vigilant Love co-created this powerful policy agenda in partnership with Justice for Muslims Collective, Project South, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, HEART, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, and the Palestinian Youth Movement.
As the Biden Administration & a new Congress set the course for the next four years, we called for abolishing the War on Terror and reinvesting resources into structures of community care. This is a grassroots policy agenda came from those directly impacted. It was a labor of love, a product of lived expertise, and a model for community care.
February 2021
In February 2021, Vigilant Love’s Yazan Zahzah and VL steering committee member Nicole Nguyen spoke with Young People For’s Andrea Sosa about how white surpremacy is baked into U.S. history and democracy – and why we need to rethink our strategies for combatting it.
Nicole, Yazan, and Andrea responded to the conversation around the January 6 Capitol attacks, discussed the pitfalls of using language like “domestic terrorism” to describe white supremacist violence, shared about the history of radicalized surveillance programs in the U.S. and beyond such as CVE (Countering Violent Extremism) and TVTP (Targeted Violence & Terrorism Prevention), and more.
March 2021
In March 2021, we mourned the lives of 8 people who were killed in Atlanta, Georgia which included 6 Asian women.
We made it clear that the attacks were motivated by white supremacy, misogyny, and anti-Asian sentiment. We made it clear that we were here to resist “yellow peril” and any form of xenophobia that criminalizes and demonizes our communities. We made it clear that we were here to hold space for grief, fear, pain, remembrance, and everything beyond and between.
March 2021
In March 2021, we hosted a virtual vigil with over 100 participants to contextualize the Atlanta, GA shooting, process, mourn, and hold space together.
We created the space the grieve those who have lost their lives to anti-Asian violence, misogyny, and white supremacy – in Georgia and beyond – and to hold space for our community members who are impacted by these violences.
March 2021
In March 2021, we hosted a second virtual vigil with 40+ participants as violence continued against our communities after Atlanta – in Boulder, CO; Washington, DC; and New York.
During this vigil, we offered political framing and analysis for the violence we were seeing in the news and discussed anti-Asian racism, white supremacy, Islamophobia, surveillance, and the criminalization of mental health and poverty. The program included grounding, an arts healing activity, and group shares & processing.
April 2021
In April 2021, VL’s co-director traci ishigo spoke with NowThis News about how the U.S. government upholds anti-Asian violence and how anti-Asian violence is connected to a longer history of white supremacy.
traci also spoke about and how the opportunistic police state uses horrific shootings, like the one that took place in Atlanta, to further the expansion of surveillance, policing, and the terror industrial complex.
April 2021
In April 2021, we shared analysis about how the U.S. government is the architect of ongoing anti-Asian violence – but still uses anti-Asian violence as an excuse to criminalize our communities.
One week after the Atlanta massacre, and only one day after the Boulder shooting, the Department of Homeland Security announced that they would be releasing an additional $20 million dollars for Targeted Violence Terrorism Prevention “to help communities across our country develop innovative capabilities to combat terrorism and targeted violence.” In the midst of these community traumas, we knew that DHS would request to increase their budget for surveillance and community policing, and Congress doubled the Department’s funding. It’s abundantly clear – the state uses anti-Asian violence as a political opportunity to push for more systems of policing and surveillance. We deserve so much more. Transformative justice practices remind us that we don’t need the state to keep us safe – together, we will keep each other safe. Solidarity is our strategy for collective safety and power. If we protect each other, our relationships remind us that we are not alone.
April 2021
In April 2021, we hosted our 6th annual Bridging Communities Iftar and our 2nd virtual Iftar!
Our theme this year was “journey through the night,” inspired deeply by a physical and spiritual journey the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) took to the farthest mosque and then the heavens. As we reflected on this theme, we he;d the complexity of our own journeys during 2020, 2021, and beyond — journeys that included grief & hardship, resilience & care. No matter the obstacles we face, we affirm how radically special our Bridging Communities Iftar has become!
June 2021
In June 2021, on the last day of pride month, Vigilant Love’s Yazan Zahzah shared their reflections on the isolation they felt as a trans Palestinian as silence about violence in Palestine continued.
They wrote, “…in Israel and the U.S., progressive ideologies are imbued with deceptive layers, often called “pinkwashing.” They have used feminist and LGBTQ narratives to invade Gaza and Afghanistan. I am not “proud” when progress is quantified by Zionist militarization…As a queer Arab, I drown between ads beckoning me to purchase gay sodas while swallowing domestic Zionist repression masked as progress. This correlation is not a contradiction: Their “Pride” is built upon the repression and exploitation of others. And so I find place in the placelessness, the movements we have paved to liberate our lands and ourselves.”
July 2021
In July 2021, we got an incredible opportunity to produce a short video about our work!
This spring, we produced a short video about our current work and ongoing #ServicesNotSurveillance campaign to de-securitize mental health, as well as share our vision for community. In the video, we talked about our history and got to hear from community members about why VL’s work resisting Islamophobia, surveillance, and state violence matters. It was so exciting to partner on this video with our 2020 Solidarity Arts Fellowship alum, Seiji Igei, who animated, edited, and produced the video!
September 2021
In September 2021, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Vigilant Love joined with Justice for Muslims Collective, HEART, Queer Crescent, Survived and Punished, Muslim Wellness Foundation, African Communities Together, and several other organizations across the U.S. resisting the War on Terror to co-create "Muslim Abolitionist Futures.”
Muslim Abolitionist Futures is an interactive platform to learn and engage with the stories of resistance against the War on Terror.
September 11th, 2021 marked 20 years of the “War on Terror” we reflected on the past twenty years of state violence and the use of national security as an excuse to cover civil rights abuses and justify mass violence against Muslim and Muslim adjacent communities with impunity. Muslim Abolitionist Futures centers the lived experiences of those who have fought for the past two decades in organizing spaces and the organizations who are leading with an abolitionist vision for our Muslim communities.
September 2021
In September 2021, we launched a redesigned version of our “Unpacking Anti-Blackness in Our Non-Black Families & Communities” workshop series entitled “Liberatory Lineages: Unpacking & Resisting Anti-Blackness”
Co-created in partnership with Nikkei Progressives, Palestinian Youth Movement, National Young Farmers Coalition, Seeds & Song, and SoCal Grantmakers, “Liberatory Lineages” was designed for everyone committed to disrupting anti-Blackness on interpersonal, communal, and systemic levels. With over 150 registrants, “Liberatory Lineages” offered participants politically radical curriculum; grassroots teach-ins from Black and Non-Black POC organizers, community leaders, scholars, artists, and landworkers; intentional and empowering reflection space; and collaborative resource guides.
October 2021
In October 2021, our beloved co-director and Vigilant Love’s co-founder Sahar Pirzada transitioned out of staff and onto Vigilant Love’s steering committee!
…And the Vigilant Love team wrote her a #VigilantLove letter! “Sahar, we are so incredibly proud of everything you’ve helped build and accomplish during your time at Vigilant Love. Whether it was leading efforts to organize a 1,000 person #NoBanNoWall vigil when the Muslim Ban first went into effect, organizing to block surveillance grants that would criminalize Muslim + BIPOC Angelenos, helping to co-create the #ServicesNotSurveillance campaign to ensure our communities can access safe mental health services, or sharing your own stories of passion, joy, grief, and loss, your work and spirit will forever be woven into the fabric of our movement. We’re proud of you during the more quiet moments too – when you masterfully take on the behind-the-scenes Zoom troubleshooting, stay up late at night working on grant proposals, normalize making space in staff meetings for healing conversations even when it’s hard – it’s all felt so deeply.”
November 2021
In November 2021, we announced that we’re growing our shared leadership and welcomed two new co-directors onto the VL team!
Our organization has grown & transformed over the last 6 years, and one thing VL continues to hold close is its commitment to healing justice, solidarity, and transforming oppressive systems to reflect our values. Thus, VL was so excited to announce the expansion of our shared leadership model by welcoming two new co-directors, Yazan Za3za3 (they/them), Director of Organizing & Mehak (they/she), Director of Communications & Development. Plus, traci ishigo (they/she), stepped into the new role of Director of Programs & Healing Justice! Yazan and Mehak stepped into leadership roles after 2+ years of learning, working, and building with VL as staff members and traci decided to hone in in on the org’s programmatic and healing justice work after spending 6 years doing a whole lot of everything!
December 2021
In December 2021, we completed our four-part “Liberatory Lineages: Unpacking and Resisting Anti-Blackness” workshop series with an incredible group of participants!
One of the participants shared this reflection about the community workshop series: “I am just deeply grateful for all of the work that the organizers and participants put in! The level of intentionality and compassion in the organizing really showed through and made it such a generative and kind space. I feel so motivated and energized toward leveraging relational organizing to combat anti-Blackness and other forms of oppression.”
December 2021
In December 2021, we helped to uplift the calls of the Arab American Action Network and #StopCVE Chicago to STOP CVE on UIC campus and hold Professor Stevan Weine accountable for his problematic research on Muslim communities.
Professor Stevan Weine abused his power as a researcher to exploit various Muslim communities for personal gain. By expanding on social science theories that undergird CVE programming, Weine has fortified anti-Black racist, Islamophobic, xenophobic, classist, and ableist narratives that criminalize Muslim communities for their responses to the state violence inflicted upon them.
