Between the deep echoes of afternoon jummah and  travelling smell of samosas, I was camped out at a table covered with petition papers in the middle of the masjid.  The Safe and Health Ohio ballot initiative is a campaign I have the humble pleasure of organizing in various partnership organizations like Ohio Student Association and People’s Justice Project and now with the helping hand of MFS Ohio. It is an initiative built by community voices that advocates for reclassifying nonviolent drug possession felony charges into misdemeanors and redirect funds that are going to lock people up in cages to local treatment programs such as drug and mental health rehabilitation. This form of coalition building, stretches beyond assumed boundaries of civic engagement, is what organizing looks like. Fighting for community needs demands a transcultural understanding and so here we were, shifted in our seats waiting to connect and mobilize – together.

I fidgeted in my loosely tied hijab, feeling very much out of my element. Sure, I had canvassed before and this was Week 3 of my time here supporting this community. But this was different. Communicating our goals to a new community meant finding means of connecting across cultural norms. I felt out of place and substituted tentativeness for uncertain smiles with people running into rooms before prayers fell silent.

As the speaker signalled the end of jummah, families scrambled to get their hungry hands on samosas and shwarma being sold right next to us. Soon enough, I was approached by tentative faces of jumpy kids to weathered men asking what we we were doing.