A #HijabiFlashMob - at least that's what we were calling it even though there was no actual dancing involved. In it's literal interpretation, it's a sudden mob of women in hijabs. The idea started this summer in response to street harassment that a group of hijabi women experienced by right-wing bloggers in Minneapolis. So in response, two days later we gathered Muslimas and allies, handed out scarves, wore them as hijabs and stood ground where the right-wing bloggers were meeting. The idea being that the hijab is such an icon of fear for the right that the mere presence of many women in hijab all together would scare the bejeezies out of them.
For this weekend's #HiajbiFlashMob, we held our action at the Lowe's in San Francisco, to support Lowe's boycott and send a message to corporate that we were upset that over the pulling of ads from the reality show "All-American Muslims." Though many companies had pulled out their ads from the show, Lowe's was the only one who admitted to pulling out because - "We based our decision to pull the advertising on this research after hearing the concerns we received through emails, calls, through social media and in news reports." The right wing fringe Christian group that Lowe's was responding to? Why that was a Florida based group that didn't like All-American Muslims because it portrayed Muslims as normal people and not as terrorists. It went against their beliefs of what the facts on Muslim Americans were. So we boycott.
It was a rapidly planned action - it was decided Thursday night at a local South Asians for Justice meeting and was planned for Saturday morning. We gathered Muslims and allies alike, sending - women dressed in hijab and men in kurtas and the allies dressed like the average American shopper. The plan was, instead of dancing, we would send in the allies first. They would fill up their shopping carts and kick it near the registers. Ten minutes later, a mob in "Muslim garb "would show up. We'd have a spokesperson speak loudly about the ills of Lowe's and the mob would split up, to hand out flyers to the customers. Our "plants" would react shocked, engaging the manager and other customers in conversations. It was more guerilla theatre than anything else.
We gathered a block away from Lowe's Saturday morning. There were about 20 of us and about half of us were "brown". We hung out for about an hour, getting on message and waiting for people. At 11:50 we sent in our group of shoppers. It was then that I had a moment...
Up until that moment we were a multi-culti group of civil disobedient activists on the sidewalk. But when the allies left, all that was left on the sidewalk was the group of South Asian, Muslim clothes wearing "mob". My heart started to beat faster. I felt the cars that were driving by were glaring at us. Our allies provided a sense of safety and when they left, I was left with a feeling of vulnerability. In my head I knew that they didn't abandon us, they were doing part one of the action. But I still was shaken up by how it felt like a target was on our backs as soon as they left.
The "Muslim Mob" followed in 10 minutes later, our allies disguised as shoppers waiting by the registers. The action went off without a hitch - almost too easily. We handed out our fliers. Conversations with normal customers were had. The manager on camera said that Lowe's wasn't racist and that they hire people of all race (which is my favorite worst argument for being not racist). Cops were not called. It was in some ways too easy to occupy the space in Loewe's. It made me think we could have pushed a lot more and done a wilder action. It made me also think if it was this simple to OccupyLowes then maybe, we should Occupying other places too.
It is clear to me now more than ever how important it is to have allies support Muslim and racial justice action oriented spaces. They don't just provide a legitimacy to the campaign, the solidarity felt is important for everyone's minds and hearts too. As Muslim/South Asian Americans, we are often other-ized by the mainstream press and community and in identity driven organizing we often seek solidarity in identity based empowerment. But it's important to reach out and build with our allies to, because they'll have our backs when we most need them to.
It is also clear to me now more than ever that we need to act. Whether it's on a frivolous issue like a reality television show or whether something more serious like the stabbing of a Sikh man at the Fresno airport, it is clear that islamophobic and xenophobic hate speeches are having an effect on the average American's behavior. This needs to stop. . And if it means occupying space with a fun hashtag or if it means consciously buying your goods from a locally sourced store, so be it. Be vigilant, build community around love and act with solidarity.
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