Savvy Women

After watching this CNN video on Gamma Gamma Chi, America’s first “Islamic-based” sorority, I had a look at the group’s website,  read about the organization’s history, and learned that it was founded, in 2005, by Dr. Althia F. Ali and Imani Canty. This “mother-daughter team” started the honor society as a way to “help improve the image of Muslim women and Islam in general.” Since its inception, the group has flowered and now has chapters located in several towns and cities throughout the United States.

I really enjoyed listening to Dr. Ali talk about Gamma Gamma Chi’s mission in the CNN piece. She came across as a great spokeswoman, especially as she discussed the ways the sorority could help “defy stereotypes” and then argued that this mission was needed because so few Americans have the opportunity to meet Muslims and interact with them. Toward the end of the video, Ali made it clear that the sorors were hoping to be as inclusive a group as possible and would welcome non-Muslims to either join the sorority or partner with it as it conducted various community-service projects.

I was drawn to this video because I’m an American who currently lives in Egypt and has spent most of the last twelve years living in the Middle East–firstly, in the United Arab Emirates and then later, in Turkey, before moving to Cairo. One of the reasons I continue to reside in this part of the world is related to something that Ali said. She pointed out that Muslim women should engage with non-Muslims and not shut themselves off. Actually, her point is an extremely important one. All of us should actively seek to meet as many different kinds of people as possible.

It’s only through interacting with others who are “different” that we learn and become (hopefully) tolerant of diversity. I have understood this ever since I joined the Peace Corps and was sent to live among Eastern Europeans. That experience helped me realize that I have a duty (to myself and to others) to learn as much as I can about the world and those who inhabit it, especially about those who live in places that are so often misunderstood by so many Americans. After educating myself about other places, peoples, and cultures, I can then do my part to educate those who have not had the opportunity to live in as many different countries as I have.

I hope I don’t sound too preachy here. That’s the last thing I want to sound like. I just very strongly believe that borders and boundaries (of all types) separate people, so we should do what we can to tear those walls down.

I have to beg your pardon this week. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I like to feature videos. The drill goes something like this: I find a clip I like, something that needs to be written about and is appropriate for my audience, and then I put together some sort of commentary.

And this, my friends, is PLAN B.

I found this brief CNN video that profiles Rosena Sammi. In the clip, Sammi, once a corporate lawyer but now a jewelry designer, discusses her career change and why she gave up such lucrative work to start her own business. According to the now-ex-attorney, making jewelry, which she considers “wearable” artwork, provides her with a “creative outlet” that was lacking in her former job. Though she’s made a dramatic change in her work life, she believes that the skills she gained as a lawyer are helping her succeed as an artist and designer.

The whole subject of changing careers is one that I’m interested in because I sometimes think (more like fantasize) about what it would be like if I could get out of teaching and do something entirely different. (Actually, a few years ago, I did just that and worked, for a time, as the director of a nonprofit museum.) Anyway, all this writing about leaving one type of life behind for another prompted me to go online to see if I could find out how many people are truly happy with their occupations. My feeling, before even looking at what the stats showed, was that many feel that the work they do is not the sort that is conducive to self-actualization.

That’s my two cents.