Dear President Obama,
With my greetings of Salam, Peace, to you and your family,
On the eve of your second term as our President of the United States…
As a democratically chosen representative of the people, for the people and by the people of these United States….
I respectfully ask for a few moments of your time, from one of your constituents from the loving city of Tucson, the beautiful state of Arizona…
I am currently in our nations capital for the inauguration of my first grandchild, a grandson. As you can well imagine, he has brought his family much joy and love, with our hopes for a safer and more loving, caring world for everyone.
The birth of my grandson, Rafi Binyamin, has given me more determination than ever to pursue the goals of a better world for each and every one of us, from the wide spectrum of humanity in our nation as well as the world, to the wide spectrum of the wonders of nature, our cherished earth.
As of now, I have three requests to make of you to consider as you delve into your second term as our president.
The first request needs some brief explanation from a personal perspective:
I am a member of a small community of American Muslims in Tucson Arizona. In 2012 a group of us decided to join the Southern Arizona Komen Race for the Cure to help the good fight against breast cancer. Thankfully, we were successful in having our first team that year with much enthusiasm and community building amongst our small group as well as the outreach to the greater community of Tucson. From that first team we have mesquite branched out to various other projects to assist the community, from donations to Pima Meals on Wheels to a back to school back pack donation drive.
I wanted to be a part of this team to support family friends who have suffered from breast cancer and have been on the list of survivors.
I wanted to be a part of this team to help build the ties of community service within my American Muslim community along with the neighborly connections to our fellow Tucsonans.
There was another reason why I wanted to be part of this team that I have not gone public with until now.
I wanted to be a part of this team in loving memory of Gabe Zimmerman, a victim of the January 8th shooting in Tucson. He was a friend and class mate of my son’s, my grandson’s father. While I had only a few opportunities to meet Gabe, he was always ready to listen, gracious in his community service, and a true friend and inspiration to my son over the years. Because of our community loss on January 8th in Tucson, I felt a strong desire to give back even more so than before to my beloved Tucson.
With this, I respectfully request you to join our team! I’m serious! Of course we’ll be very happy to have you as a ‘Sleep in for the Cure’ member. And you must know our team name to register and in case anyone gives you a hard time to again, accuse you of being ‘Muslim.’
Everyone is welcome to join and donate to our team, “Muslims Care Too!”
My second request is personal also. I would like you to please review every nook and cranny, every avenue possible in finding another solution to replace the current policy of using drones in Pakistan and other parts of the world. My extended family lives under this policy with apprehension and emotional turmoil. Thankfully they are all safe, but we know that often times these drones are off target resulting in the loss of many innocent lives.
When I think of those in Pakistan and other parts of the world who have become victims of drones, I cannot help but reflect on the possibilities of community building in place of community harm as exemplified by the gracious examples that Gabe Zimmerman left us.
My third request is, of course, personal too. In building our communities to strengthen our future bonds of compassion, empathy, and understanding I would like to ask you to grant a personal interview with a young man I have known since his early childhood. Mr. Amer Taleb is currently an intern at Scripps Howard Foundation in Washington DC this semester as a journalism major from the University of Arizona. He will be covering your second inauguration during his internship. It would be so wonderful to give him this opportunity at this stage of his budding career in journalism.
Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Please give my respects and salams to your family along with my kindest regards to your mother in law….I am now a member of her club, a grandparent, a club I am very happy to be a part of.
With my sincere respects,
Your constituent,
Mrs. Maryam Mir
Tucson, Arizona
