Shahana in the News
by Zainab Iqbal, in BKLYNER
“Coming into this space, I am bringing in the legacy of Bangladeshi women leading our city and the labor of Bangladeshis really bolstering our economy,” she said. “It is the legacy of my father having moved at a very young age from Bangladesh as a ship jumper and settling in Crown Heights completely alone. I carry those legacies with me as I come into this work.”
by Adriana Carranca, in the New York Times
Ms. Ellman-Larsen then used her phone to post a message on Facebook: “I need a female Bengali advocate now.” The message reached Shahana Hanif, a Bangladeshi-American Muslim feminist and the director of organizing for the Democratic councilman Brad Lander. Ms. Hanif, who contacted the women immediately, struggled for hours to find Ms. Zahan a place to stay before remembering a local mosque that had just opened a safe house for Muslim immigrant women. They checked Ms. Zahan in at about 2 a.m.
by Tanaïs, in Teen Vogue
“I haven't lost hope,” Shahana Hanif wrote to me in an email, just after New York had shut down to suppress the coronavirus. “I feel reenergized…. With lupus, 12 years in, I've built up strong discipline on hope, change, and presence. Disability justice activists and healers have set up abundant ways to get through this.”
by Courtney Connley, on CNBC Make It
Her hope, Hanif says, is that “Kamala’s win further shows women and girls of color that there is both space for them in elected office — and more, that their voice is needed to better our democracy.”
by Shahana Hanif & Liat Olenick, on Gotham Gazette
As we think about how our city and school system can begin to recover from this ongoing crisis, one thing is clear: We need to both elect more women and systematically encourage women to lead.
by Ben Verde, in Brooklyn Paper
“The City Council has long been dominated by men, and despite significant gains in equality, the 51-member legislative body currently has twice as many male members than female members… Among those endorsing Hanif are community organizers, parent advocates, small business owners, and safer streets activists.”
by Aisha Gani, for AJ+
“We cannot return to the status quo. We can't return to the city that was pre-pandemic.” Shahana Hanif crowdfunded over $40,000 for vulnerable neighbors in New York City during the coronavirus outbreak. There are 90,000 Bangladeshis in New York City, a community disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Now, Shahana is running as a candidate for the New York City Council. If she wins she would become the first Bangladeshi and Muslim woman in that role.
by Zainab Iqbal, in BKLYNER
Shahana and Sabia Hanif are two Bangladeshi-American sisters who call Kensington their home. A few weeks ago, they launched the COVID-19 Survival Fund for Undocumented Bangladeshis in Brooklyn, to help the community they love so dearly.
by Afia Eama, on Gotham Gazette
Among these workers are many undocumented Bangladeshis who are ineligible for unemployment and other government assistance programs. Hanif, along with her sister, Sabia Hanif, started a fundraiser for vulnerable undocumented Bangladeshis. “With no clear timeline of when they can return to work, guarantee that they'll have a job, and savings to survive the upcoming waves of the pandemic, they are disproportionately overburdened by the impacts of COVID-19,” the sisters wrote on their Launch Good Campaign. So far, they have raised over $40,000 as of July 9. “We need representation and policy changes to shift the way we care about our family members who work in Dunkin Donuts,” said Shahana Hanif.
by Kay Wicker, on ThinkProgress
Despite reports that the Metropolitan Detention Center are operating business as usual, organizers say otherwise. Shahana Hanif, a Brooklyn native and community organizer, who has been on the scene since Friday told ThinkProgress that the heat still seems to be irregular throughout the facility.
A contractor affiliated with the facility was there Sunday night, and it appeared to those gathered, including Hanif, that essential parts were missing. Even though he didn’t provide amazing news, she says his presence still felt like a good sign. “It seems like there’s a rush on this now, but that urgency is the result of the protesters who are on the ground. Otherwise it seems like the weekend would have just passed and this would have been something that was just on the back burner,” said Hanif.
by Zainab Iqbal, in BKLYNER
According to Shahana Hanif, distance learning is a huge transition, “especially for students from working-class families, living without privacy, or a separate study space.” “Since the start of social distancing, many Bangladeshi students and parents expressed anxiety to me around missing assignments because they had no device (iPad or laptop) or adequate access to internet to begin remote learning,” she said.
by Sonja Sharp, in VICE
Facing a choice between holding a press conference to condemn the attack and immediately moving to prepare know-your-rights trainings, local mosque leaders largely chose the latter, according to 26-year-old Kensington native and community organizer Shahana Hanif. "We know right now, with the Trump administration, everyone is vulnerable to getting deported or outed for their immigration status," she said. "Given the way prejudice and profiling works in the US, we need to be prepared. We want to make sure people aren't in panic mode."
by Ben Verde, in Brooklyn Paper
“We keep hearing that there is no money to do this work, that there aren’t any resources to keep our families safe,” said Shahana Hanif. “We need to make sure that our neighborhoods — every single neighborhood where Black and brown communities are dying — are safe.”
by Eliza Relman, in New Women New Yorkers
“She has a big personality that opens people up and draws them in,” says former CAAAV volunteer, Kevin Park. “Shahana’s very good at knowing how to care for folks. She would follow up with tenants about health issues, which was not something CAAAV could directly address.” In return, Hanif was often invited to family dinners and holidays and some tenants came to think of her like a daughter.
by Sarah Spellings, in The Cut
As a young woman of color, she’s intentional about what she wears — because of comments she gets from veteran New York politicians, because she is a lupus survivor, and because each outfit is a chance to expand the definition of what “professional dress” looks like in progressive politics. We spoke with her about what she wears canvassing, shalwar kameez, and how she campaigns while managing a chronic illness.
by Liz H. Strong, for Brooklyn Public Library
”Recognizing that the needs of undocumented women, especially older women who want to work but don't have the language capacity, educational capacity, and just other mediums that make them undesirable workers, also have these needs of support and tenderness -- wherein I feel like I have a role. I don't want to get paid for this. This is just kind of like -- this is a responsibility.”
by Shahana Hanif, in Bklyner
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve heard from my Bangladeshi Kensington neighbors about how their families are adjusting to remote learning and engaging in the fight over reopening schools this Fall. These conversations make it clear: the Department of Education has failed to deliberately center immigrant families and students in its planning.
by Shahana Hanif
I stand with education equity leaders in their demands to 1) suspend admissions screenings across middle and high schools and 2) suspend high stakes exams for G&T programs and specialized high schools.
শিক্ষা-সমতা প্রতিষ্ঠার লড়াইয়ে নিয়োজিত নেতৃবৃন্দ ১) মিডল স্কুল ও হাইস্কুলে ভর্তি ব্যবস্থায় বাছাই পদ্ধতি (স্ক্রিনিং) স্থগিত করা ও ২) জিএন্ডটি প্রোগ্রামে এবং বিশেষায়িত হাইস্কুলে কঠিন রকমের পরীক্ষা পদ্ধতি বাতিল করার দাবি করে আসছেন। আমি তাদের এ দাবি আদায়ে সাথে আছি।
by Shahana Hanif
Earlier today, Chancellor Carranza announced school closures due to a 3% average of positive COVID test rates.
Our city government had the opportunity to keep the positivity rate below 3% & not trigger school closures. They could have centered wellness, education, and support. Quality education and transparency has been the priority for our families, our students, and our educators during this pandemic. Today’s decision to close schools is a clear indictment of the city government and its failures during one of the most difficult periods in our City’s history.
We’ve seen decades of disinvestment in our public schools and crumbling school infrastructure to the point where teachers are forced to crowdfund for basic supplies. We’ve seen a system that segregates students, reinforces the school to prison pipeline, and abandons limited English proficient students and parents as well as those with learning and physical disabilities. During this pandemic, we’ve seen a devastating failure to provide proactive support to our public schools.
Remote learning devices have not reached the students who need them the most – particularly those in limited English proficient households and lower-income communities. Policy around school reopenings has been developed without consulting and updating teachers, students, and parents. The result is a chaotic and frustrating last-minute rollout of school reopenings earlier this fall and now again, schools closings.
I’m disappointed in our leadership, angry that teachers and young people are being treated this way, and frustrated hearing from parents in my district who are also being treated with disregard. Our city government has failed us and our public education system, despite getting elected on platforms of supporting our schools.
I’m deeply grateful to each and every one of the students, parents, teachers, principals, and school administrators I know. To those of you who are devoting your heart and soul to continuing to educate and learn through this pandemic - I’m here for you and I will always be here for you. And I will continue to invest all my energy to advocate and organize on your behalf.