You might ask why “Shia Sentinel?”
For many years, I was an injured and heartbroken child who ran away from his motherland, in hopes of starting a new journey. My goal since I got to the United States was to study, create my own company, and earn top money.
However, the more I progressed in my education and interacted with people of different worlds, I came to realize that, in fact, I was not the only person who had spent a healthy portion of their life under terror. There were others like me, except, some had never received the chance to escape the violent conditions I too had experienced. I was blessed with opportunity, and they were left to bear the injustice that continued.
With the unleashed chaos of the Arab Spring, all that I had created a new life upon was turned upside down. Seeing and hearing what the media showed and what social media depicted enticed flashbacks to my child. All that fear and turmoil I had turned back to was now flashing across my mind. Yet again, I was the heartbroken child awakened by the sound of gunshots below our apartment window. Except this time, what was being said on the news was not what I knew to be true. The violence depicted as consequence of religion was not what I was raised to believe. Lies were being used as shrouds to cover the crimes of leaders, unworthy of their positions. It was a though media was handed a lens which showed only what was politically beneficial. People of minority status were being used as shields for corruption and abuse. Thousands were killed, raped, tortured, and yet, there was no mention of them in the news.
At the time, I was working as a journalist for Freemuslim Association, inc, and with all that I had witness, I took an oath to do whatever I can to protect the most innocent religion in the world.
Since I start working for Shia Rights I realized there is a lot to get done. That’s why I decided to dedicate my life toward being a watchdog for all the inhumane action against Shia Muslims. I may not have initially set out to do the job, but deep inside me there is something told me: You can do it; You have to.
And so, years later, I have dedicated my life, my “american dream” for the sake of the world's “democratic dream”.