I watched the documentary on tv today and was blown away by your voice and passion! Time and again, Saraswati echoed far-right moderators concerns and requests to hear Muslims condemn terrorist attacks, and urged her fellow dissident Muslims to speak out against radicalization and gender violence. Salam alaykum,I was impressed until I looked closer and saw that some of the sites you prmote are againest Islam i.e Muslims againest Sharia !!! A. UPDATE 2: "Raquel Saraswati" aka Rachel Elizabeth Seidel just deleted her statement and went private. Perone shared with The Intercept that her daughter converted to Islam in high school and felt compelled to present a different ethnic identity for some reason. Raquel Evita Saraswati studied at Simmons University in Boston and eventually settled in Massachusetts after marrying her girlfriend, Anh Dao Kolbe, in 2005. In my mind it was, Great, a person of color, a queer person of color, who happens to be a Muslim, its a woman, all these things, and someone who seemed to get it, Castro told the news organization, going on to say that he felt duped by Saraswatis lies. Through tears and laughter, theyve processed and attempted to heal together over the last month, piecing together who the person they thought was their best friend actually was. These things are in every aspect of who I am, how I live, how I speak, how I feel, how I love, and how I persist. AFSC was founded in 1917 to create alternatives to military service during World War I. Saraswatis media appearances ranged from Fox News to Newsmax to the Clarion Project, all far-right platforms known for their anti-Muslim bigotry. Another world is not only possible, shes on the way. Saraswati had told Muhammad she was Arab. You are fabulous~ keep the insight and perspective coming. LGBTQ&A: Raquel Evita Saraswati - Philadelphia Magazine Being critical to some bad practices committed by some Muslims (practices which is not approved by Islam) and then mixing this with your own views that has nothing to do with Islam. We have another Rachel Dozeal a white activist pretending to be an ethnic minority. You confuse me. Saraswati maintains that the information published about her history and family over the last month is inaccurate but that it will take time to fully address questions around what her identity actually is. Ive been blessed to be published both domestically and internationally, and to have had the opportunity to lecture in North America and Europe on issues like gender-based violence and minority rights. How did this happen?. We hope that this will catalyze further truth-telling and accountability, the letter reportedly states, calling for the AFSC to investigate whether there are external entities with whom Saraswati is collaborating., A top AFSC official told the Intercept that people are concerned, adding that theres a fear that she could be an agent, because she started her career right-wing. Hope your breath refreshens the world for a very very long time. Saraswati said in an email that I hear that people feel hurt and confused, but maintains that she has not misrepresented herself, pointing to the advocacy work she has accomplished in Philadelphia as a Muslim woman. So, the goalyour goal should be to distinguish Islam from the practice of honor killings. Open Letter Saraswati.pdf. The woman, who goes by the name Raquel Saraswati, was the chief inclusion officer of Philadelphia-based American Friends Service Committee and had been lauded for her racial and LGBTQ+ equity. This search result is here to prevent scraping, Jason Kelce Grills His Brother Travis About Taylor Swift. They connected on multiple fronts: being Muslim, being queer and being people of color. Then their friend went on to say that employees at Saraswatis workplace published an open letter claiming Saraswati was white. He said he was disappointed to learn about Saraswatis misrepresentation, but that the Raquel described in the media is not the one I know., As a self-described Muslim queer woman, she provided one among a number of strong voices in occasional programs at William Way addressing religious pluralism and compassionate response to community trauma, he wrote in an email to The Inquirer. Support responsible news and fact-based information today! You are doing such great work! Raquel Saraswati: Race Faker Dubbed 'Raquel Dolezal' Quits Social A white woman, who converted to Islam and allegedly posed as a person of color for years, has resigned from her position in a social justice organization founded by Quakers after being exposed for race faking. She is one of our 2019 Women of the Year! The Inquirer also quoted Saraswati in 2019, when she served as chair of the Mayors Commission on LGBT Affairs. She works to eradicate crimes honor and gender-based violence (including female genital mutilation), end forced and child marriages, and protect the separation of religion and state. That will be the next-to-the-last thought hed think. It is important to note, however, that the Office of LGBT Affairs does not interrogate our community members for proof of their identities as a matter of practice.. The Clarion Project, a D.C.-based nonprofit that claims to expose violent extremism, was even spotlighted for its bigotry by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Raquel also assures us that she remains loyal to AFSCs mission, which we firmly believe., He added that AFSC does not require any employee to prove their heritage as a condition of their employment, or in order to be valued as a member of our team.. Alice Walker must be credited for the term, and she and others (bell hooks, Audre Lorde, etc.) You do rock you are a rock. Raquel Evita Saraswati, 39, who was born Rachel Elizabeth Seidel,is the chief equity, inclusion and culture officer of the American Friends Service Committee, which fights violence, inequality and oppression, the Intercept reported. On March 20, the Inquirer published Mikatis story, titled Raquel Evita Saraswati pretended to be a woman of color. And we didnt on our desk in particular didnt want to approach it in that way at all.. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. http://www.islamicintros.com. Unclear, however, is her intention in the process, and why she halted roughly five years of such appearances and discourse after a final Newsmax appearance in 2015. I didnt know anything about her, but I had heard about her peripherally, so I wanted to make sure that whatever reporting I did wasnt going to further harm an already marginalized community, she said. The Feb. 10 letter raised concerns about the recent hiring of Saraswati as chief equity, inclusion, and culture officer for the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that works for peace and social justice. Raquel Saraswati: 'White Woman' Faked Being Person Of Color - NewsOne Raquel focuses primarily on issues related to the status of women and girls in the Muslim world and in Islamic communities in the West. Mikati praised The Intercepts reporting, which included nuanced details about Saraswatis claims and relationships, as well as her history of media appearances and association with right-wing groups. She's having a meltdown because her relatives confirmed she's white. You can view The Poynter Institutes most-recent public financial disclosure form 990, Poynter ACES Introductory Certificate in Editing, Raquel Evita Saraswati pretended to be a woman of color. Feminine bodies are treated as prey, and feminine attributes are pursued as desirable yet dismissed as frivolous. Please reach out to your commissioners. Be true to the cause always and keep blogging! Raquel Evita Saraswati was a name well-known to well-meaning people in Philadelphia. You are absolutely beautiful and I love what you stand for! Raquel Saraswati | Sam's Alfresco Coffee When marginalized due to lack of any skills, you wanna have some exposure in media to sell books and talks! I knew that there was more nuance and that there was more context to this story that was missing, and that we needed to make sure to get in order for the story to tell the full picture.. Its an honor that you will wear the IDILVICE Wonder Woman Tunic Dress! However, Twitter user @/davenewworld_2 claimed that Saraswati deleted her statement before going private on social media. Keep it up! The womans impression of Saraswati was that she was kind and generous, but always positioned herself as a person of authority on matters of oppression or injustice. According to an anonymous letter posted on Medium, Saraswati allegedly appeared on right-wing TV shows, and described herself as a moderate Muslim who is critical of Islamic extremism. The EIN for the organization is 59-1630423. Get the Poynter newsletter that's right for you. Facebook / Raquel. And,on a quiet day, if you listen very carefully you can hear her breathe., ***********************************************************************************, Tags: Raquel Evita Saraswati Biography | Who is Raquel Evita Saraswati | Raquel Saraswati | Raquel Evita | Raquel Saraswati Islam | Raquel Evita Islam | Raquel Saraswati Muslim | Muslim Feminists | Human Rights. I agree that part of the strategy necessary to fight these practices is to continue to stress the fact that they are not native to Islam. Perone even shared photos that allegedly showed Saraswati having a much lighter complexion when she was a child. Saraswati had been mentioned as someone the journalist should connect with. The situation was the same for other people, particularly queer Muslims, whom Saraswati befriended. Ive been active for awhile; but just started blogging. Muslim Latina inclusion activist's mom says she's lying about ethnicity Experiencing Thomas Kelly in Free Verse My husband has always said Men need to cherish women, fight for women, protect women, and love women; We women are all queens. Learn your deen. But Saraswatis media appearances dont require much digging, particularly around the time she was appointed to the Mayors commission in 2017 which raises skepticism about how much vetting was actually done by Philly-based organizations, and concerns about the level of awareness around what anti-Muslim rhetoric looks like. I definitely feel conned. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.. As for the commission, a city spokesperson said it has a standard vetting process that includes the review of publicly accessible social media activity. I personally feel Obama should be doing a lot more on this issue then on idiotic issues like Russia or Ukraine. Saraswatis case is reminiscent of that of notorious race faker Rachel Dolezal, a former NAACP chapter president in Spokane, Washington, who falsely posed as a black woman in 2015. Thank u for your courage & kindness. She deeply connected to the experience of people who are oppressed around their gender, their sexuality and religious background, Muhammad said. Raquel Evita Saraswati at an event in 2019. I find it very curious that those who have said things that are explicitly anti-Islam, or who indulge in very harsh commentary about Muslims at large and to this day are not in the position I am in as someone who has been very clear that Islam is opposed to injustice and commands that we work against oppression.. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, VP Harris backed AP HS course about slaves skills before Florida controversy, NYC health department joins the virtue-signaling and calls for reparations, West Virginia woman who is blind runs 5K race: This is just the beginning, Gerrymandering bid from NY Democrats now in top courts hands. Raquel Evita Saraswati, the senior inclusion officer of Philadelphia-based social justice group the American Friends Service Committee, has been accused of lying about her heritage for several years. We were very, very aware that this could have been a very salacious, clickbaity sort of story. Mikati, a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, noticed that the sender was anonymous. ago She looks kind of dumb in the face When the journalist saw the email, the name rang a bell. What she did will further marginalize people, because now no one is going to be willing to gather that space because of the concern of people lying like this.. Im so moved by you, and your wonderful representation of how beautiful I believe Islam to be. There can not be such a thing. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has confirmed that Muslim activist Raquel Evita Saraswati, who had claimed to be of Latino, Arab and South Asian descent before being purportedly revealed as white earlier this month, has resigned from her position at the organization. Shes also received nasty emails from more conservative people who had a bone to pick with progressives and leftists., I think that I answered all the main questions that I did have, and that I could have had at the beginning, Mikati said. This is a complicated situation and AFSC leadership is working through it in a thoughtful and humane way, taking in many perspectives, Graham wrote in an email to The Inquirer. Raquel Evita Saraswati , 39, who was outed by The Intercept for pretending to be of Latin, South Asian and Arab descent, spoke to Boston.com in 2004 about her upcoming wedding, saying she. I also hope to aid in the creation of more spaces focused on addressing intimate partner violence and abuse. You wear fashionable hidjab like the new breed of Sharia-Babes that has appeared these last couple of years in western countries. Family members of race-faking white Muslim reveal life before LIES Philly diversity exec, former FOX pundit, resigns amid claims she lied You have a plot to try to distort peoples view of Islam. Asalamu alykum wa rahmatullah, Youre work is inspiring to say the least =), Another world is not only possible, shes on the way. Btw, once again, nice to know you. Yall heard someone was named Raquel Evita Saraswati and believed it was a real? Watch your own soul. For me, femme is not about my relationships with others so much as it is about my coming to embrace and celebrate my natural, undeniable, and inescapable existence as a feminine person. Muhammad (pbuh) clearly said that Homosexuals are cursed. That is indeed something I do on a regular basis. For example, one of my most recent assignments for MEMINI was to write the memorial of a Sikh girl who was brutally killed by her father. AFSC rep Layne Mullett told the outlet that the organization has received documentation alleging that our Chief Equity, Inclusion, and Culture Officer, Raquel Saraswati, has been misrepresenting her identity., Mullett said Saraswati stands by her identity. The Saraswati Affair causes all of us as leaders to examine our shared role providing authentic services and in determining the integrity of our programs.. And now its just waiting to see what develops and what comes to this, because theres going to be more and more fallout.. Raquel Saraswati resigns after allegedly faking racial identity Perone said her daughter converted to Islam in high school and for some reason felt compelled to present a different ethnic identity. The name Raquel Evita Saraswati is the name equivalent of three toddlers in a trenchcoat she closed her eyes nd picked randomly, Rachel Seidel changed her name to Raquel Evita Saraswati. Please logout and login again. Race Race Faker Dubbed 'Raquel Dolezal' Quits Philly-Based Social Justice Charity 'CULTURAL VULTURISM' Raquel Saraswati, a white woman born Rachel Seidel, has been caught posing as Latina,. Her Caucasian parents presented her birth certificate and a stack of blond, green-eyed childhood photos as proof of her true racial identity. It is very acceptable for Hamas to struggle military if we heard about what happened on the Sabra and Shatila massacre 1982. Race Faker Dubbed 'Raquel Dolezal' Quits Philly-Based Social Justice 'She's white as driven snow', says mother of diversity officer who Even though Im athiest I think people like your self show what real islam is all about and you speak out against whats wrong. You can continue your project to confuse people about Islam. ultimate bliss bliss bliss for you. What a beautiful AND enlightened sister. But I think the bigger story here is how someone with her particular and recent background of being involved with far-right and right-wing organizations and platforms was able to successfully become a part of a very progressive local movement, as well as a very progressive organizations such as AFSC.. Raquel Evita Saraswati made a name for herself in a number of Philadelphias community and advocacy circles. Definitely a weird last name for a Muslim activist 133 FruitsAndVaishtables 5 mo. Muslim activist who claimed she was of Latin, South Asian and Arab Thank you. Saraswati also worked for the Islamic Forum for Democracy, an organization that claims to combat the causes of Islamic radicalization, but perpetuates anti-Muslim tropes and allies itself with other right-wing groups, including the Clarion Project. The anonymous authors of the letter identify . Diversity executive, former FOX pundit, resigns amid claims she lied Im a muslimah from Jakarta, Indonesia. Raquel Saraswati: 'Multiethnic' activist outed by own mum as: 'white as In an email sent to USA Today before Saraswati's resignation, AFSC spokesperson Layne Mullett confirmed that . We opted to do a very considered look at this by talking to community members and seeing what the level of harms that were created by this might be, she said. The queer, Muslim woman held iftars during Ramadan, creating a space and providing mentorship for other queer Muslims in the community. Salam and Peace- Muslimfishing? Clickhere to follow her on Twitter, and email her at raquelevita@raquelevita.com. If you're a scraper, please click the link below :-) I really appreciate your effort, but the only thing that kinda disappointing is that youre anti-Hamas. She was a bronze-hued, Jersey-born spokesperson for Muslim and LGBTQ causes in fashionable hijabs, an. I challenge you to provide me with a direct and complete quote of me blaming Islam. The woman was a queer Muslim, and Saraswatis presence compelled her to reach out. Misogyny, xenophobia, racism, and ableism are all issues within our community, which prevent people both from being safe and from thriving within it. More recently, Republican Long Island Rep. George Santos has been caught in a web of lies, including claiming that he is Jewish later insisting that he meant he was Jew-ish., Media commentator Sana Saeed first brought up Saraswatis identity 2015, when she tweeted: Can we talk about Raquel Dolezal in the Muslim community. And now all of a sudden, its a white woman with a right-wing history. Raquel is a vocal advocate for religious reform, freedom of speech, and equal rights for women and girls. Her presence has allowed us to report on breaking news stories affecting Quaker communities, like the controversy surrounding Raquel Saraswati's brief time at AFSC and the killing of Carol Clark, clerk of Philadelphia's Unity Meeting. .You say Somalia is a place where random funny men are killed outa the blue for no reason ,and i could only imagine what you gots to say about Burma . We both believe more men need to get involved in womens rights, and speak up about the abuse and torture. "Raquel Saraswati, . How we get more men to speak up and fight for our women, and children is still a mystery to my husband, and I. Ive been interviewed by networks like the BBC, France24, Voice of the Cape (South Africas Muslim radio network), Al-Jazeera and others, and in publications like The Root, International Business Times, and Salon. Race Faker Dubbed 'Raquel Dolezal' Quits Philly-Based - Yahoo Prior to their marriage, the couple were featured in the Boston Globe, where Saraswati used the name Seidel and said she was of Arab and Latin descent. I think your readers will find the information very useful. We approached it very cautiously initially, said Vourvoulias, who is Mikatis editor. As Amber Hikes, the newly appointed director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, has repeatedly said: The communitys frustrations, struggles, and hurts have been heard. you are more dynamic and artist in influence May peace continue to be on you and continue to do what you do , Dear Raquel, When they do that, they are making it clear that they are not our allies, they are actively creating unsafe spaces, and they are not listening. Raquel Saraswati, hired by a Philadelphia-based Quaker group as their Chief Equity, Inclusion and Culture Officer, has claimed to be of Arab, Latina and South Asian descent. We all of us are present in this battle for universal human rights, even if we arent especially eager to fight. She was a token Muslim voice in that milieu. You are an amazing woman who humbles herself with the grace that God has given you.You were created for a purpose and as a Muslim woman have a powerful voice.THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSPIRATION! The article asserts that Raquel Evita Saraswati, who began working with AFSC in June 2021, presented herself as Latina, Arab, and South Asian. Mikati also wondered about the motivation the AFSC members had to put out this detailed report about Saraswatis life and history. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa baraktuhu, Im another amatuer blogger here (Jannahdreams.blogspot.com) and Ive just stumbled across your blog. Saraswati was reportedly born as Rachel Elizabeth Seidel and is currently 39 years old. I am a co-founder and co-chair of a new interfaith group called Sacred Justice, and we believe that the greatest of divinity lies on the margins created by man. Her deception traumatized the communities., A century-old publication goes dark in West Virginia, Multimedia journalists have a workflow guide thanks to one MMJs video project, Beyonc is not a defendant in a human trafficking case. Even most examples of gender neutral or androgynous in our society (like clothing) arent actually neutral. How a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter found nuance in a local 'Rachel Let no one stop you Raquel. But I dont know that we can say that its intentional. We will never need to stop resisting. In some cases, their own governments and religious leaders enable them. Transcultural? Assalaamu alaykum. You inspire me to help you create a more peaceful world. 1 Open Letter on Raquel Evita Saraswati / Rachel Elizabeth Seidel Concern is rising among the community of American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) staff, volunteers, and supporters regarding the controversy surrounding the recent hiring of Raquel Saraswati to AFSC's senior leadership. ago American Muslim but with a Hindu last name lol 5 mo. Raquel Evita Saraswati, the senior inclusion officer of Philadelphia-based social justice group the American Friends Service Committee, has been accused of lying about her heritage for. You are a wonderful, intelligent, sweet woman, and we both wish you well. This is Lalomi Atwa following up on my request to submit a press release for your review and publishing. Willie Daniely, a broadcast journalist, put together a short video primer on best practices for multimedia journalism. Assalamualaikum It wasnt just that she used her identities to somehow feel a sense of belonging she also used it for purposes of being in positions of power, Muhammad said. BOOoooo ! And I say that based on her wider reputation for genuinely doing good work, and wanting to contribute to progressive spaces..

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