Zainab Al-Suwaij, American Islamic Congress Artwork

Hardwired: On the Frontlines of Freedom

Despite being hardwired for freedom, nine out of ten people around the world live in places where basic human rights and fundamental freedoms aren’t a reality. Join Founder and President of Hardwired Global, Tina Ramirez, every Wednesday as she interviews human rights champions who are fighting on the frontlines for the dignity and freedom of others in countries where freedom is most fragile. Each guest shares their personal and sometimes heart wrenching story in their pursuit to ensure freedom of belief and conscience for the most vulnerable. Prepare to delve into the complexities of human rights and pluralism in countries plagued with instability and conflict. If you haven’t already, you may even begin to question the promise of freedom in your own country. Visit our YouTube channel to view the video recordings of this interview series: bit.ly/HWchannel

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Hardwired: On the Frontlines of Freedom

Zainab Al-Suwaij, American Islamic Congress

December 15, 2021 • Hardwired Global • Season 1 • Episode 13

“And that was a moment that I’ll never forget. So many people had been living in the political prison for years in very inhuman conditions. The smell, the filthiness, there was no sun.”

This interview is with Zainab Al-Suwaij, the co-founder and Executive Director of the American Islamic Congress, whose courageous advocacy for human rights began at a very early age. As the granddaughter of a leading Shi’a religious leader, Zainab had a frontline view of the brutality of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.

In this conversation Zainab describes the atrocities inflicted on Hussein’s opponents and the climate of fear they felt in and outside of the prisons. During the 1992 uprising against Hussein, she was one of the few females who dared to stand up to the dictator.

As a Muslim woman, she has courageously trained and mobilized young people in the Middle East, many of whom joined movements like the Arab Spring and the Egyptian revolution and helped bring an end to other long-standing dictatorships. Zainab continues today to teach the concept of freedom, democracy, and human rights to youth, including on college campuses across the U.S.

Watch the interview on Hardwired's YouTube channel here: youtu.be/ZJ31WJwD3g4

Zainab Al-Suwaij is a co-founder of the American Islamic Congress (AIC) and has been its Executive Director since its inception in 2001. In the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, Zainab left her teaching position at Yale to launch AIC with the mission of building interfaith and interethnic understanding and to represent the diversity of American Muslim life.

Zainab’s leadership has expanded AIC into an international organization with six bureaus worldwide, including the U.S., Egypt, Iraq, and newest location, Tunisia. Her vision for acceptance and understanding in the U.S. is being realized through AIC’s growing campus initiative, Project Nur, as well as its Interfaith Councils and groundbreaking Witness Series. Zainab is an outspoken advocate for women’s equality, civil rights, and interfaith understanding.

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