The American Muslim Podcast · El-Amin Communications

Dr. Dilara Sayeed: From the Classroom to Civic Leadership

·46 min

Imam Tariq Al-Ami interviews Dr. Dilara Sayeed about her journey from experiencing childhood bullying and othering to founding the Muslim Civic Coalition. Dr. Sayeed shares her formative experience as the only brown family in her neighborhood, being told she was 'the ugliest girl in school,' and how that trauma shaped her commitment to creating safe spaces. She became an eighth-grade teacher to provide the safety she needed, then extended that work to civic organizing. The episode explores how the Muslim Civic Coalition operates through allyship (90% of allies are non-Muslim), emphasizes that laws must be made WITH communities not just for them, and showcases concrete outcomes like the George Floyd conviction with Black American Muslim prosecutor Keith Ellison and widespread Muslim community participation in COVID vaccination efforts despite personal risk.

As heard by us

A steady, thoughtful case for public life shaped by classrooms, coalition, and care.

Dr. Dallara Saeed, president of the Muslim Civic Coalition and a Harvard-trained educator and civic leader, talks about public life through classrooms, neighborhoods, and the slow work of becoming more fully oneself.

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Why you'd press play

Listen if you want faith, civic duty, and classroom lessons in one conversation.

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