When Sarah Zouak was a graduate student in France, an adviser told her that the phrase “Muslim feminist” was a contradiction in terms. Not only did she pursue a thesis on Muslim feminism, she went on to co-found French Muslim feminist group, Lallab.
This video was produced by Kim Lawton as part of “Spiritual Exemplars: A Global Project on Engaged Spirituality” at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, with support from the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton Religion Trust.
The Rev. Dr. Najuma Smith-Pollard hosted a conversation with Ida Puliwa, a social entrepreneur and community organizer from Malawi and a “Spiritual Exemplar,” profiled as part of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture's global project on engaged spirituality. They will discuss women's leadership and Ida's innovative model for transforming communities.
Home for Lara Aharonian is this capital city whose architecture still bears the heavy stamp of Soviet days. But when her work on behalf of women living on the margins of society becomes too risky, she heads 20 miles west to find solace in Armenia’s spiritual capital, Echmiadzin.
Throughout adulthood, the pro-choice/pro-life binary gave me a comfortable foothold in the abortion debate and a prefabricated enemy to address. That changed when I met Sister Teresa Forcades, a former medical doctor, theologian and Catholic nun who supports abortion rights.
New Yorkers of a certain age remember Ruth Messinger as a city councilwoman and later Manhattan borough president whose political achievements were, by dint of the time, feminist, including her 1997 attempt to deprive then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani of a second term and become New York’s first female chief executive — a glass ceiling that has yet to be broken.
Among Black Americans, support for reproductive rights is connected with their concern for broader civil rights, the New York Times reports. The article frames CRCC's Rev. Dr. Najuma Smith-Pollard as helping shape Vice President Kamala Harris' civil rights-based rhetoric on abortion after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Our mission is to advance the understanding of religion and society, and support faith and community leaders in becoming full partners in the work of positive social change.
The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture is independently funded by grants, contracts and gifts. We welcome your partnership and financial support.
Make a tax-deductible contribution to support our mission.
Center for Religion and Civic Culture
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0520
