A Muslim Nurse for President?

I always assumed I could not be president of this country because I have 3 strikes against me. I am a naturalized citizen, a women, and I am “just a nurse.” But recently, I discovered I have a fourth strike against me – I am also a Muslim, though a nonpracticing one. I never thought that my religion had anything to do with politics, and I never considered the religion of candidates a variable when hiring, voting, reviewing or evaluating students, faculty, administrators or politicians. Why would I, when the reason I immigrated to this country was to practice freedom, to celebrate diversity, to honor equity and to deepen my learning!

The recent dialogue regarding religion, specifically about Muslims, the generalizations uttered about who Muslims are, and what they can and cannot do, is most disturbing! What if a negative view of religion became a factor for how to care for patients, how to teach students, how to hire staff, or, how to relate to people in general? Knowing a person’s religion should be a positive force to honor different beliefs, food preferences and celebrations - but it should never, never be used as negative rhetoric for voting against an individual. Or, so I always thought, studied and acted, until these recent dialogues by those who are vying for the highest public office in this country. A true embarrassment!

Just like gender inequities drove my passion to be a voice for women, and, to work wherever I went on strategies for equity and justice, and just like seeing how women’s work was devalued, degraded, undercompensated and marginalized ignited my passion to find ways to insure that women’s work is justly valued, compensated and celebrated; perhaps all this negative press that discriminately includes all Muslims, the good, the bad and the indifferent, will drive a new passion for me to be a voice for Muslims and for Islam. Generalizations are suspect, and speaking of all Muslims and of Islam in the same breath as terrorism is dead wrong! To have this constitutionally unfounded dialogue about how we cannot have a Muslim as a president just adds to our long established prejudices that we cannot have a woman as president, a Catholic as president or a black as president.

It is time to confront and shed all of these unfounded, disrespectful and hurtful stereotypical generalizations that do nothing but derail more productive conversations about how to make all Americans work and produce up to their full capacity, based on their education and our country’s work ethics.

I know I still will not become president of this country, first and foremost based on our constitution (I am a naturalized citizen), and I also know I am not qualified because of my life experiences, preparation and talents, but not because I am a women or a Muslim. Islam has never been a strong part of my identity as an Egyptian American nurse, but, just as gender became a strong driver in my work, voice and advocacy, perhaps now Islam will as well. Becoming a voice for marginalized populations has always been one of my deep-seated passions and a major component of my identity, and recent rhetoric targeted at millions of Americans who are Muslims has positioned them as a vulnerable and marginalized population.

And by the way, the Muslim world is celebrating Eid-al-Adha. Let’s wish them/us happy and peaceful years ahead. And may the spirit and the teachings of this incredible, global Pope, who advocates for justice, equity, inclusiveness and sustainability, provide the antidote for the divisive rhetoric promulgated by some in our country.

My Residency at The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center

The Rockefeller Foundation played an instrumental role in my life and for my career. It was their scholarship support, through the University of Alexandria, that jump started my graduate education at the University of California, Los Angeles in the 60’s. And once again, I find The Rockefeller Foundation playing an important role at this juncture in my life. I just returned from a one month residency/fellowship at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy, which I received to continue working on areas for which I have a deep seated/lifelong passion, with the goal to connect all three of them: women and health and the urbanization transition and the history and structure of the discipline of nursing.  

My experiences just prior to and during the residency are an important context for my residency goals, and definitely added to its timeliness and significance. I completed the term of my deanship at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing and was in transition to focus on unfinished business, as well as to build on my scholarship. Therefore, this Rockefeller residency, during this important career transition, meant a great deal to my husband and myself. I hoped that the residency would be a period of restoration, regeneration and rediscovery. The intent was not to go back to where I was before the deanship, rather to use the time to integrate my scholarly and leadership experiences, to move to the next phase of my being, and to jump start that phase by building on my passionate interest in women' health. More specifically, to explore progress made, or lack of it, in health care for women in urban areas. I also wanted to think about the role that health care professionals, particularly nurses, can play in developing enabling urban environments that empower women, facilitate their daily lives, and enhance their health and well-being. With 20 million nurses globally, 90% of whom are women, and at the cusp of the announcement of the sustainable millennium goals, it was imperative to pause and consider a futuristic action agenda.

It will take months to sort out the impact of my residency and, to complete all that I started while in Bellagio. In future blogs I will continue to reflect on the residency, on the network that emerged and on short and long term accomplishments.