Pathways to Understanding

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Creating Community Through Allyship

The Tampa Bay region of Florida is home to tens of thousands of Muslims of South Asian, Middle Eastern, Eastern European, Central Asian and North African heritage. Each of whom are of different races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, classes, nationalities, abilities, and more.

Despite the region’s diversity, many people of all regions have few relationships outside their own faith groups. This can lead to a lack of understanding and a less-unified community.

A unique collaboration between The Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education Program and Community Tampa Bay aims to create an inclusive community through its educational program – Pathway of Understanding.
 
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What Is Pathways to Understanding?

A series of four virtual community dialogues were designed to give participants the opportunity to build relationships across and within faith communities to increase understanding and inclusion. 
The facilitated small group dialogues offer the opportunity for guests to engage in team building with participants of diverse faiths to share their stories, start breaking down barriers between strangers and form relationships in a safe, constructive way. 
Each dialogue will include a facilitator whose role it is to make the engagement easier for the people involved by asking questions and inviting reflection and responses that allow for deep contemplation and genuine connection. 
In this time of deep division, our hope is that Pathways to Understanding will inspire readers to explore their identities and beliefs; cultivate greater respect for people from different cultural backgrounds, and help to create a more inclusive community for all. 
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Why Is Pathways to Understanding so Important?

As society becomes more intertwined on a global scale, countries’ demographics diversify, and our cross-cultural exchanges become more frequent. Our world is getting bigger, richer, and more culturally diverse. Understanding different cultures is more than having an appreciation for our differences but paving the way for a new world where we all stand together. 
With approximately 190 countries and 8 billion people on Earth, it is not hard to imagine that many cultures exist. Cultivating appositive, welcoming, and culturally diverse society allows us to embrace multiculturalism and reevaluate our old beliefs. We reflect on what we see as normal or abnormal and challenge ourselves to see the world from new perspectives. 
“Pathways to Understanding” is a unique collaboration initiated by The Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education Program and Community Tampa Bay raise awareness around Islam religion and increase understanding of Muslim culture to dispel the most common myths that cannot be further from the truth.

Islam In The World

  • Islam is the world’s second-largest religion, with 1.8 billion followers.
  • About one-quarter of the world’s population is Muslim.
  • The Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population.
  • Most of the world’s Muslims live in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Islam In America

There has been a Muslim presence in North America for more than four centuries. The first documented Muslim in America was Estevanico of Azamor (Mustafa Zemmouri), a North African Muslim captive who arrived with the Panfilo de Narvaez expedition in 1527.
The first American Muslims were African slaves. An estimated 10 to 40 percent of Africans – 600,000 to 1.2 million individuals – forced into slavery during the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the United States were Muslim. Although often forced to convert to Christianity, many slaves practiced their faith in secret and passed it on to their children through songs and stories. 
Currently, there are about 3.45 million Muslims in the United States. By 2050, the population is projected to grow to more than 8 million, making Islam the second-largest religion in the United States. 
American Muslims are the most racially diverse religious group in the United States. Muslims are of every race and ethnicity. It is not possible to know who is a Muslim and who isn’t just by looking at that person. 
 

Creating Community Through Allyship

The Tampa Bay region of Florida is home to tens of thousands of Muslims of South Asian, Middle Eastern, Eastern European, Central Asian and North African heritage.

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What Is Pathways To Understanding? png file

What Is Pathways To Understanding?

A series of four virtual community dialogues were designed to give participants the opportunity to build relationships across and within faith 

Read more
Why Is Pathways To Understanding So Important? png file

Why Is Pathways To Understanding So Important?

As society becomes more intertwined on a global scale, countries’ demographics diversify, and our cross-cultural exchanges become more frequent. 

Read more

Islam In The World

  • Islam is the world’s second-largest religion, with 1.8 billion followers
  • About one-quarter of the world’s population is Muslim.
Read more
Islam In America png file

Islam In America

A series of four virtual community dialogues were designed to give participants the opportunity to build relationships across and within faith

Read more
Islam In Florida png file

Islam In Florida

Florida has the sixth-largest Muslim population in the United States, behind Texas, New York, Illinois, California, and Virginia, and more mosques than every

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Dispeling Myths

Myth #1: All Muslims are Arabs

A Muslim is a follower of the Islamic religion. Muslims can be any ethnicity and nationality. Worldwide, the Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia has the 

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Myth #2: Muslim women have no rights png file

Myth #2: Muslim women have no rights

This is definitely one of the most common misconception about Muslims. It’s important to realize the difference between cultural influences and religious 

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Myth #3: Islam promotes terrorism and violence png file

Myth #3: Islam promotes terrorism and violence

Although some terrorist groups self-identified as Muslim, mainstream Muslims in the United States and around the world reject the ideology of Islamic  

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