Amy Pugsley The name Amani Al-Khatahtbeh is now synonymous with innovator, leader, hero, activist, writer, and now, podcast host. The Jordanian-American is known for using her religion and heritage to speak out against injustice and create a safe space for women of color and minorities, specifically those who are Muslim, Arab and Middle Eastern.
“People understand through empathy that hateful rhetoric targeting Muslims or other minorities – that that rhetoric doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It has real life and death consequences in our daily lives, and I think that people can only really understand it if they do access that empathy. That’s what brings me to make the stories. I think that stories are the best way for us to increase that empathy, to humanize us and make those connections happen. Really, it’s the stories that unite us, right? It’s those human experiences that we all share that really bring us together.”
When she was just seventeen years old, she founded MuslimGirl.com from the comfort of her bedroom; the website was a place to share experiences and stories of growing up Muslim in America. The New Jersey native created the hub as a place for girls and teens who lacked representation in mainstream media. Unfortunately, the launch of the website wasn’t all positive, since a tremendous influence was the Islamophobia she received growing up in a post 9/11 world. Not shy of her heritage or religion, she has been going strong for over eleven years with MuslimGirl getting millions of visits a year and Amani herself becoming a global feminist icon. “The whole idea is for us to lead the conversations that are directly impacting us, the conversations that we are at the center of. In order to do that, the most important thing is to pass the mic to the many different narratives and experiences that make up who we are,” she says. She made the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, published a memoir, branded a global holiday known as ‘Muslim Women’s Day’ on March 27th, and her star continues to rise.
The changemaker’s latest endeavor to engage Gen Zs and Millennials in the political conversation is a podcast called Antidote. Her recent run for Congress was just the tip of the iceberg; Muslims in America, especially those wearing a hijab, are politicized and Amani is taking the conversation into her own hands. Giving Muslims a loud voice in America is exactly how Al-Khatahtbeh plans to influence the next generation of influencers, activists, politicians, and everyday heroes. In an interview discussing Antidote, she said, “I’m excited and honored to host Antidote so that we can pass the mic to the voices that should be leading the conversation on issues that matter the most to young people today.”
The podcast dropped in November and is available on Spotify, Apple, and Google and the very first episode features congressional representative, Ayanna Pressley. Pressley is the first Black congresswoman from Massachusetts, and Al-Khatahtbeh speaks to her about this experience as a minority woman in the American political sphere amidst racial tensions. The second episode features Representative Rashida Tlaib, who is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants and the first Muslim woman to serve in the Michigan legislature. The podcast isn’t aimed at Muslims only but meant to be an audible news source where information and inspiration can come together to inform those who want to know how to make their voices heard. Al-Khatahtbeh adds, “This pandemic has affirmed a hard truth that the under-represented voices in our society have known for a very long time – the old white men in power don’t know what they’re doing.”
