FAISAL KUTTY
Faisal Kutty, J.D., LL.M., is a lawyer, writer, academic, human rights activist, commentator and public intellectual. He is counsel and co-founder of KSM Law. Faisal is currently an Associate Professor at Valparaiso University School of Law in Indiana and an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. He was a co-founder and legal counsel to CAIR-CAN, has published extensively and is regularly invited as a public speaker. For the past six consecutive years, Faisal has been included in The Muslim 500: The World’s Most Influential Muslims. Follow him on Twitter @FaisalKutty.
NCCM Events

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UNLEARN, RELEARN, CHALLENGE: ISLAM & THE MEDIA
March 19, 2016 @ 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
The conference aims to challenge and dispel preconceived notions of Islam as seen in the media. We believe that together we can dismantle Islamophobia, hate and racism, individually and as a community. (Please note that the conference is now sold out.)
GUEST SPEAKERS
AMIRA ELGHAWABY
Amira Elghawaby is the Communications Director for the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), overseeing their media relations, public engagement and strategic communications. She has an honours degree in Journalims and Law from Carleton University and has worked as both a full-time and freelance journalist, writing and producing stories for a variety of media including CBC Radio, the Ottawa Citizen, the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. Before becoming the NCCM Communications Director in 2015, she served as their Human Rights Coordinator, advocating for the human rights and civil liberties of diverse communities.
REZA ASLAN
Reza Aslan is the author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth—a momentous work of popular scholarship that rocketed to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. On top of receiving near universal acclaim, Aslan attained hero status for calmly, and brilliantly, answering questions during interviews for CNN and Fox that both quickly went viral.
In addition to speaking on the history of the man we know as Jesus, Reza Aslan also addresses topics of Islam, the Middle East, and Muslim Americans with authority, wit, and infectious optimism. Aslan speaks for a young generation of Muslims—socially conscious, politically active, and technologically savvy—who fight for democratic reform. Whether he’s talking about the legacy of the Arab Spring or Islamophobia, audiences listen.
Click here to find out more about Reza and watch him rebut CNN’s arguments on violence in Islamic.
PERFORMERS
MOHAMMAD ALI
Equally at home spitting raps on park benches or picket lines, MC Mohammad Ali blends the raw energy that made hip-hop the global cultural force that it is, with a rock solid commitment to grassroots social justice activism. With his upcoming second album, Labour of Love, due for release on May 1, Mohammad ups the bar on protest music with a hard-hitting selection of workers’ anthems, spoken word poems and gritty frontline labour narratives designed to instil new energy in the movement for workers’ rights. Moving labour struggles beyond the acoustic guitar and onto the beats heard in the kinds of workplaces Mohammad and others of his generation have found themselves navigating, the Socialist Vocalist is poised to drop the definitive labour album of his generation this fall.
Big Moe was featured on the main stage at the 2015 Halal Food Fest. He is a frequent performer at Toronto’s hottest comedy club, Absolute Comedy, and his social media campaign combating Islamophobia, “Wear the Scare”, caught the attention of City News.
He was born in the heart of Toronto and raised in its arteries and capillaries. He came out of his mother 11 pounds, nine ounces…that’s the lightest he’s ever been! If you think he’s big, his jokes are even bigger. Big Moe stands out on the stand-up scene, thanks to his often out-of-this-world and occasionally offbeat observations of current events. His authentic exploration of topics like love, family, politics, pop culture, the media and, of course, Islamophobia, will leave you wondering whether fact is really fiction.
AGENDA
10AM | Registration |
10:30AM | Book signing, networking & appetizers |
11AM | Welcome |
11:15AM | Amira Elghawaby |
11:50AM | Faisal Kutty |
12:25PM | Lunch (featuring entertainment by Mohammad Ali and Mohamed “Big Moe” Saleh) |
1:15PM | Reza Aslan |
2:20PM | Break (prayer facility available) |
2:45PM | Panel Discussion |
3:45PM | Conference debrief, discussion & networking |
4:30PM | Conference conclusion / Meet the speakers |