The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) announced today that they will present the "Excellence in Advocacy Award" to Mustafa Abdullah, program associate at the ACLU of Missouri. The award will be given at the annual Civil Rights Luncheon on Friday, June 12, as part of the 35th Anniversary ADC National Convention in Washington, DC.
The ADC stated that Mustafa Abdullah has demonstrated a strong commitment to civil engagement through advocacy, interfaith work, and community organizing. He is a co-founder of Muslims for Ferguson, an organization of American Muslims who are committed to seeking justice for Michael Brown and supporting relevant important campaigns in Ferguson.
When the law enforcement cracked down on protesters in Ferguson last summer following the death of Michael Brown, Mustafa organized the Muslim community to act in solidarity with the issues facing the African-American community in Ferguson.
“In seeking justice in Ferguson, I was motivated by the verses in the Qur’an that say if one part of the body is in pain, then the whole body wakes up in a fevered state," said Mustafa Abdullah. "Muslims for Ferguson rallied to acknowledge the pain of the Brown family and the entire community to support them in their grief and frustration.”
Past recipients of the Excellence in Advocacy Award include Hilary Shelton of the NAACP, Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and advocates from the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).