You don’t always make friends advocating for social justice, said Jameel Haque.
The Mankato professor, historian and Kessel Peace Institute director knows backlash comes with the territory. In 2020 people from across the political spectrum got mad at him for his push to rename Sibley Park due to Henry Sibley’s prominent role in the hanging of 38 Dakota men in 1862.
Whether his focus is local with the park or global with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, he said his goals are less about popularity and more about raising awareness of social issues.
“You have to measure your life not in popularity necessarily but in standing up for the things you believe in,” he said.
His social justice advocacy — including his role as executive producer of films exploring Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to Mankato in 1961 and legacy in Minnesota — earned him a Pathfinder Award from the Greater Mankato Diversity Council. The award, given out during a ceremony Friday, recognizes community members who exemplify the ideas of the civil rights leader.
“I felt very honored, very humbled, to be recognized for this work,” said Haque before the ceremony at Minnesota State University.
Multiple nominations came in for Haque, the coordinator of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at MSU. His work on the King films, as well as his passion for human rights, factored into his selection, said Mohamed Alsadig, executive director of the Greater Mankato Diversity Council.
“His voice and opinions are very valuable to the community in general,” he said of Haque. “He has a gentle, unique way of delivering such information and education that makes him stand out.”
Alsadig described the award as overdue because of delays partly brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the timing was notable in at least one respect. Israel’s war in Gaza recently surpassed the 100-day mark, and Haque has been outspoken in his calls to end it.
“War is always wrong,” he said. “Violence is always wrong, and we’re here not to support overwhelmingly one side but to come up with a fair and equitable solution.”
A voice on current events
In an interview with KMSU radio in November he spoke about the need to empathize with both Palestinians and Israelis as human beings, as opposed to what seemed like unequivocal support for only the Israeli side from U.S. leaders and corporations. Haque described the terrorist organization Hamas’ attack on Israelis on Oct. 7 as “horrific,” while Israel’s war in Gaza and the ensuing humanitarian crisis for Palestinians isn’t solving anything.
The sides nearly reached a fair and equitable outcome in the past, he noted, giving Palestine a state and Israel security assurances. Back then the U.S. played a key role, and Haque remains hopeful that the U.S. will act as a broker of peace now.
Hopefulness is an important quality when you direct an institute dedicated to peace. He took the helm at the Kessel Peace Institute in 2020.
“All people deserve security and human rights; that shouldn’t be a radical message,” he said. “It’s important to keep that specific view in mind and to stay optimistic that people will listen to you.”
He sees individuals playing a role by calling on their elected leaders to support ending the war, which is only perpetuating a cycle of violence.
“I’ve never seen this many people this energized to find a solution to this,” he said Friday.
The energy is tied to the ripple effect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has around the world. Haque referenced a rise in reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia nationally and locally in recent months. And as a historian, he need only go back as far as World War I for an example of a nationalistic conflict escalating far and wide.
Lived experiences
Haque, 45, grew up in Long Island, New York. His father, a physician, immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan in 1963.
This was before the U.S. opened up more immigration to non-white, non-European people, Haque said, with his father’s arrival being the result of U.S. government recruitment.
His father and mother, a German-Polish-Catholic woman, met, married and had children here. While Haque’s academic path led him into Middle Eastern and Islamic history, his brother is a professor of German literature at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.
“It’s like we picked different parts of our family to study,” Haque pointed out.
He completed his undergraduate degree at Drew University in New Jersey, followed by earning his master’s and doctorate at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
In between, he wasn’t in academia. Sitting in an office all day wasn’t satisfying, he found, which contributed to his decision to seek his doctorate and go into teaching.
His family history directly influenced his interest in Middle Eastern and Islamic history. To Haque, Islam being the second largest religion on Earth also makes it an especially important area of study.
So much of what has been presented to people in the Western world about it is mired by misconceptions, racism and Islamophobia, he said, and education serves as a way to undo the damage. Haque has a couple books in the works, one of which explores Islamophobia in history textbooks.
Social justice activism, meanwhile, came out in part from his personal experience as a Muslim after 9/11.
Islamophobia became a common sentiment in the U.S., and the harsh environment for Muslims hadn’t let up by the time the 2016 election came and went.
He recalls Republican presidential candidates saying a Muslim could never be allowed to become president. Former President Donald Trump went on to propose and enforce a “Muslim ban” in 2017, prohibiting travel and refugee resettlement from select Muslim-majority countries.
Before coming to MSU, Haque and wife, Danielle, who he described as an “academic superstar,” lived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where they worked at the American University of Central Asia. They moved back to the U.S. in early 2014 months before having their second child.
They came to Mankato because Danielle got a job teaching literature in MSU’s English department. Haque got a job teaching in the history department about a year later.
He found Mankato, with its relatively large Muslim community, to be welcoming for the family. Extending a similar warm welcome to MSU’s Muslim-student population is important to him.
“I get a lot of students that are Muslim who are not in any way interested in becoming history majors take my classes,” he said. “Part of it is a way of understanding their own histories, and part of it is seeing themselves reflected in the professor.”
The escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict leads students to seek him out for guidance. His message to them is to remain calm and a focused with an emphasis on positive messaging.
MLK to today
At Friday’s Pathfinder Awards ceremony, attendees praised Haque’s strong convictions. Whereas some people will only speak about tough issues in closed circles, Alsadig said, Haque doesn’t hesitate to do so openly.
“We need that kind of communication,” he said.
Haque is a deserving honoree, said Henry Morris, MSU’s vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. In a time marked by pushback against the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives inspired by King, he sees the award as recognizing those who continue the work in their communities.
“He has a point of view and he’s not hesitant to articulate it and champion it, which is good,” he said of Haque.
Morris specifically praised Haque’s work on the King films. The Kessel Peace Institute and True Facade Pictures collaborated on them, with the second part titled “MLK 11.12.61: The Work” having its first public showing Friday.
Ryan Sturgis, owner of True Facade and a friend of Haque’s, said he was the “bridge between reality and story for us,” helping gather interview subjects and organize research.
“He’s been the one to guide what the end result of the project is,” he said.
In his speech accepting the Pathfinder Award, Haque talked about his work bringing peace advocates, scholars and Somali musicians to Mankato. He shared how he’s led student trips to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. and helped organize Mankato’s first Juneteenth celebration.
His wife and two children, he said, are his reasons for doing such work in these troubled times.
He saw his role in social justice advocacy as being similar to his role in the MLK films. Haque doesn’t think he’s the smartest or best person involved in his projects, but more as someone whose skill lies in bringing the right people together.
Haque concluded his speech with references to King’s good neighbor sermons delivered during his Mankato visit. The sermons went into how the ultimate measure of someone is where they stand in times of challenge and controversy, not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience.
True neighbors, King said, will risk their livelihoods for the welfare of others, lifting the bruised and beaten to a higher and more noble life.
King’s words are worth reflecting on in the context of what’s happening in Gaza, Haque said.
“I think we need to ask ourselves are we good neighbors, as we watch our tax money fund endless wars,” he said.
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