Bernie Sanders Picks This Muslim Civil Rights Lawyer to Lead Presidential Elections Campaign 2020.

Just by the sound of the title, you might be feeling excited…right? And just why would you not be proud, because after all it’s a first and yes, it’s a big deal indeed! A few days back, immediately after US Senator Bernie Sanders officially announced his new run for the 2020 American presidency, he named Faiz Shakir, a prominent Muslim civil rights lawyer, to lead his effort, in a first for a major American presidential bid. This was reported by Anadolu Agency. 

Shakir was named a campaign manager by the independent senator. The appointment makes Shakir the first Muslim and the first Pakistani-American to manage a US presidential campaign. He’s a Harvard University graduate and former national political director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Before the ACLU, the 39-year-old Pakistani origin was a senior adviser to the then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and also advised Nancy Pelosi, who is the current House majority leader. 

During seven years at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based liberal think tank, he spearheaded an anti-Islamophobia campaign which produced a report, “Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America.” 

Shakir was also the Editor and Founding Member of ThinkProgress website during the Bush and Obama administrations. He is known for having a firm argument that court debt shouldn’t lead to the result of people becoming unemployed. 

Sanders, a strong spoiler ahead of Hillary Clinton’s Democratic nomination for president in 2016, joins a crowded field of hopefuls for the 2020 Democratic nod for the Elections. Though an independent, progressive Sanders caucuses with the Democrats. His second Presidential campaign has got thousands vouching for him, just as Washington Post reports. 

The 2020 American presidential election, scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, 2020, will be the 59th quadrennial vote. Americans will select presidential electors who in turn will either elect a new president and vice president through the Electoral College or reelect the incumbents. 

The series of presidential primary elections and caucuses are likely to be held during the first six months of 2020. This nominating process is also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots selecting a slate of delegates to a political party’s nominating convention, who then, in turn, elect their party’s presidential nominee. The current President Donald Trump, who was elected in 2016, is seeking reelection to a second term. The winner of the 2020 presidential election is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20, 2021. 

Isn’t it great? Our very own fellow Muslim making it to this position today. Despite this rising sentiment of Islamophobia, such information unfolded just gives a tinge of hope for things to get better with time. May Allah (SWT) give more successes to the Muslim Ummah!
See also: Duas for Thanking Allah (SWT)