Instead of being a vehicle for empowerment and change, Emgage has become a tool to undermine and suffocate American Muslim political power.
FULL ARTICLE HERE BY Olivia Cantu, Former Emgage Florida Director
Emgage USA PAC, leaders have recently been dubbed as “the pro-Israel Muslims backing Joe Biden.” Meanwhile, Emgage bills itself as “a family of institutions that seeks to empower Muslim Americans through political literacy and civic engagement.” As a former Emgage employee, I have witnessed first hand how Emgage becomes a roadblock to progress between the interests of the broader Muslim community and the political establishment. Instead of being a vehicle for empowerment and change, it has become a tool to undermine and suffocate American Muslim political power.
Many Muslim leaders are sitting around and holding their breath wondering if Emgage can represent our communities. This concern about this “family of institutions,” which constitutes Emgage, is deeply problematic. Emgage is notoriously shunned in many communities and has yet to show its ability to make any real difference in a presidential race like other PACS spending millions of dollars.
Emgage has failed to effectively mobilize Muslim voters, because it lacks legitimacy in the Muslim community. The organization misrepresents its power through sham data, because it reaches out to non-Muslims for voter registration when it is turned away from Muslim spaces. Emgage cannot deliver on its promises to the Democratic Party. All it has been able to do is thwart the work of actual Muslim leaders and organizers, turning them away from various Democratic Party campaigns, including the Victory 2020 team for Joe Biden. I have seen all this with my own eyes and watched in horror. If Emgage did not exist, the only people who would be harmed are the careerists who would lose out on administration jobs and access to power.
CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE HERE