Yesterday’s conference really made me emotional. I am an arabic muslim woman, so I could really relate to everything Miss Naqvi said. Her message was about the law 21, and she explained how it affected her and why she is against it. Her speech affected me, but I didn’t learn anything new. The experience of her dad getting beaten up made me realise how people are ignorants.

I am born in Quebec too, and I find it really sad that the place that I’m born doesn’t even accept me. I am seen as a stranger everywhere I go, and it shouldn’t be like this. At the end of the day, we are all humans and we all deserve to do what we want in life. Muslim women are limited in their choice of carreer because of what they have on their heads, and it’s discrimination. I asked one of my friends who assisted to the conference and she has the same opinion as me and Miss Naqvi. We are supposed to evolve, and this bill makes us regress.

What touched me the most is when she said at the end that we should not let it go, and we must fight for our rights. I don’t understand why can’t we just live how we want to and respect the others among us. A veil on my head does not define who I am, because it is simply a piece of fabric and it is certainly not that which should prevent me from doing what I want in life. I would totally recommend this event to my friends because this law is something that affects us all. Mostly religious people obviously, but it creates hatred between us and it really should not be like this…

Species are dying, glaciers have shrunk, forests are burning, etc…But where is this all coming from? These are all consequences of Climate Change. It affects us, and we have to change our ways of living to help the Earth. As a woman, I am very affected by climate change because I face higher risks in the impacts of it.

Nana Firman, a Muslim woman, takes climate change at heart. She is born and raised in Indonesia. Nana takes climate change at heart because she says that in Quran, Muslims are asked by God to take care and respect our planet like it deserves. She speaks for the Muslim community, and she takes action. I chose Nana Firman for this oral presentation because I am a Muslim woman, just like her. We have the same goals, the same religion, and I can relate to her. She is also an Immigrant in the USA. Islam is not perceived as a good religion. There are many prejudices and false ideas of what Islam is, and Nana shows the true image of Islam. It’s a religion of peace and justice, contrary to what the media says. She received an award in 2015 from the White House as a ‘’Champion of Change’’. In 2016, she co-founded the Global Muslim Climate Network, which is a platform to implement the declaration on renewable energy transformation. Firman trained with Climate Reality and former vice-president Al Gore in Australia to become a Climate reality leader. She says ‘’Islam is the world’s second-largest religion, and 1.6 billion people – from the United States all the way to my home country of Indonesia – identify as Muslim. The climate fight cannot succeed without the leadership and cooperation of the Muslim community, which is why the Global Muslim Climate Network was founded last year.’’ I agree completely with her, even if we are all in this fight together, regardless of the religion, the color, and the gender.

Finally, Nana Firman is an inspiration for me because she takes climate change at heart and she fights for what she wants. Even if we are a little different, because she is a mother, and we are raised in a very different environment, she is still a little like me because she is an immigrant Muslim woman, and she spreads the good image of Islam in the world while she’s helping entire communities.

Sources: http://www.khaleafa.com/khaleafacom/tag/Nana+Firman,

First of all, everyone has a different definition of feminism. I think that Valenti and Hooks have quite the same definition, but don’t have the same way to express themselves. They both think that feminism is when a women wants to be treated right! No sexism opression, no ideals about what a women should be like, etc. Hooks says that feminism is a movement against sexism, sexism exploitation, and opression. Valenti says that feminism is all about making your life better, which is the same thing as what Hooks said but in other words.

However, Valenti talks a lot about how girls are percieved in our society, and how society wants us to think there is something wrong with us, when there isn’t. Hooks on the other side, talks more about what is feminism, about how people react to feminists, etc. Feminism is important to those authors because it’s not normal that girls still feel opressed, that they are still raped, that some jobs are still less paid to women than men, etc.

Based on what I have read, I would define feminism as the idea that women have to be treated equally to men. This definition is what feminism is and what it has always been. I agreed 100% with both of the texts. Something that struck me is when Valenti talked about the woman who insulted the feminists. It stuck with me because sadly, that woman doesn’t understand what feminism is. If she did, she wouldn’t have said what she said. I just don’t understand how you can hate an idea that’s basically made to defend you! My appreciation of their article didn’t change because of the research I did. I really liked both of the articles, so nothing could change my appreciation of the texts.