Media Coverage of People’s Power Lab and Muslims for Social Justice

In 2025, members of the People’s Power Lab and Muslims for Social Justice spoke out against the injustice they face through letters to the editor, press conferences, and news coverage in North Carolina media. These stories come straight from people living the realities of injustice and fighting these injustices—not from outside observers or abstract analysis.

The media is one tool in a larger organizing strategy. We share these narratives with change makers, social justice partners, and community members to strengthen collective action, deepen public accountability, and build the long-term power needed for lasting social change.

Check out our media coverage below.

Education Justice

Muhammad Arafat’s (Rohingya refugee) letter-to-the-editor in the News and Observer on July 18, 2025. (LINK)

Except:
“As a Rohingya refugee who benefited from public education, I’ve seen how lack of education pushes many low-income Black, brown and refugee communities into poverty. I was shocked that funding will be taken from public schools and given to vouchers for private schools, which are often attended by affluent students. This will make it harder for working-class students to access quality education. We need to come together and support efforts that expand educational access and improve well-being for marginalized communities.”

Arif Sharif’s letter-to-the-editor in The Charlotte Observer on October 12, 2025 (LINK)

Excerpt:

“The article “Charter schools vs. CMS performance in Charlotte 2025 ” highlights the growing attention toward charter schools. As a father of four school-going immigrant children who came to the U.S. with the dream of an equitable life, I fear this shift in funding will erode not only our traditional public schools but the culture of unity they built through decades of struggle.

As resources move toward charter schools, rural, low-income and immigrant students will be left further behind. The gap between privilege and disadvantage will only deepen. Let us strengthen, not divide, the system that binds us together.”

Immigrant and refugee rights

Check the coverage of our organizers and partners working for immigrant rights

News Story: Raleigh Joins Nationwide Wave of Pro-Immigrant Protests

Published in IndyWeek. June 10, 2025 (LINK)

Excerpt:

“ICE was created against Muslims, but it’s expanded to everybody,” said Manzoor Cheema, an organizer with Muslims for Social Justice. “In the labor union we say, an injury to one is an injury to all.”

Check out Arif Sharif letter-to-the-editor published in The Fayetteville Observer on Dec 07, 2025. (LINK 1, LINK 2)

Excerpt:

“When children witness fear in their classrooms and in their homes, that fear multiplies. We must support our schools and safeguard these young minds so their days are shaped by learning — not by the dread of enforcement.”

Organizing Against Islamophobia and Wars

Press conference. Triangle-based Social Justice organizations “Stop the War on Black, Brown and Muslim Communities”. Published in IndyWeek. June 26, 2025. (LINK)

Excerpt:

“We feel that these are attacks that emerge from U.S. policies, at home and abroad,” says Manzoor Cheema, an organizer with the grassroots groups Muslims for Social Justice and People’s Power Lab. “The way the USA conducts wars against our people, and then the way the U.S. implements those policies against us, like the Muslim [travel] ban, or an anti-Sharia law that was passed even in North Carolina In 2013.”

“Cheema says these policies, and the attacks on people that come out of them, are rooted in “the original sin of this country,” slavery and anti-Black racism. One of his group’s goals, he says, is to educate people, through the media, that Islamophobia is a form of racism.

To that end, Muslims for Social Justice works with a coalition of groups who are organizing to address issues ranging from educating people about their 4th Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure, fighting against surveillance and overpolicing, and pushing back against racism and Islamophobia. The coalition—composed of churches, Jewish, Muslim, and atheist organizations, labor unions, and queer groups—comprises what’s collectively known as the People’s Power Lab. 

“We have to organize the taxicab drivers, the low-paid, unemployed, people lacking healthcare, people whose family members are incarcerated, those are people we prioritize,” Cheema says.”

Press Conference - Activists demands an end to attacks on marginalized communities. Published in NC Newsline. June 27, 2025 (LINK)

Excerpt:

“Community organizers gathered in Raleigh Thursday for a press conference to raise awareness about what they described as attacks on marginalized communities.

The press conference brought together several local organizations from the Triangle region, including Muslims for Social Justice, People’s Power Lab, Refund Raleigh and Education Justice.

Manzoor Cheema, an organizer with Muslims for Social Justice and People’s Power Lab, said post-9/11 policies, that initially targeted Muslims have since expanded to affect immigrants of all backgrounds.

“Black, brown and Muslim community members are victims of frequent state-based injustices,” said Cheema, who has been active in the Triangle area for 25 years. “If you see an attack against one community member, you have to speak up, because next time it will be replicated to other people.” 

The organizations also call for ending U.S. military actions abroad, providing full funding for public services like schools, healthcare and housing.

Speakers also called out recent actions by the Trump administration, which has revoked the visas of more than a dozen international students across North Carolina.” 

Healthcare Justice

Letter to the editor by Arif Sharif in the News and Observer on December 7, 2025. (LINK)

Excerpt:

“Cutting these services would push them back into silence and leave families in despair. Policymakers must not balance budgets at the expense of vulnerable children. Restoring funding is essential to protect their right to thrive.”

Letter-to-the-Editor by Javed Cheema in the News and Observer on September 7, 2025. (LINK)

Excerpt:
“I strongly oppose the new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services program implementing an AI-driven authorization system for traditional Medicare. This model gives private companies a financial incentive to deny claims, which will only worsen health disparities. This is a step backward that puts our most vulnerable citizens at greater risk.”

Inequality, Housing/Transportation Justice

Letter-to-the-Editor by Manzoor Cheema in the News and Observer. September 21, 2025 (LINK)

Excerpt:
“State leaders celebrate North Carolina as a hub for business and professional opportunity. True progress is not measured by corporate growth, but by people’s access to affordable housing, reliable transportation, quality healthcare, education and jobs paying a livable wage.”

Civic Campaigns

Manzoor’s LTE in the Robesonian on November 25, 2025. (LINK)

Excerpt:

“Unfortunately, I have observed that the core mechanism for electoral transparency — the pre-canvass and canvass meetings of the Robeson County Board of Elections — is not consistently accessible to the public. During both the 2024 and 2025 elections I monitored, canvass meetings either failed to occur at their scheduled times or lacked an online participation option.

To strengthen public confidence in our elections, all canvass sessions should be broadcast online with reliable audio and video, and any cancellations or postponements must be communicated promptly. These measures are essential to upholding public participation and ensuring that elections are administered with openness and integrity.”

Manzoor’s LTE in the News and Observer on July 6, 2025. (LINK)

Excerpt:

“We at Muslims for Social Justice have witnessed heightened attacks on Muslims and Muslim-appearing people as a result of anti-Muslim bigotry. This includes the murder of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill in 2015. The roots of anti-Muslim bigotry are in the U.S. wars abroad and discriminatory polices at home. We should organize to end militarism and wars, and divert resources to education, healthcare, affordable housing and other needs of our people.”