'Blogging for Eltahawy': Activist/Journalist speaks to OU students

Award winning columnist and Muslim/Feminist rights activist Mona Eltahawy spoke to students at the University of Oklahoma on Wednesday. Eltahawy’s presentation was entitled “Blogging for social change.” Its focus was on the effect of social media on an international level.

Eltahawy, an outspoken Muslim who was born in Egypt, believes that blogging, especially in Middle Eastern countries, has the potential to become very powerful. Eltahawy spoke of a particular instance where police beat a young man to death, which brought on a wave of blog posts and Facebook pages speaking out against police brutality. “Facebook is not just for fun. It is an essential tool… Mainstream media is controlled by the state; Facebook is a way to get a message out there.”

The presentation was put on by OU’s Women’s and Gender Studies Center for Social Justice. Stephanie Heck, program coordinator for the Center for Social Justice, was thrilled to have Eltahawy back at OU. “We had her here last year and everyone loved her so much, we knew we had to bring her back,” Heck said.

Eltahawy’s ability to focus in on the real issue while combating ignorance is what attracts her audiences.  This is what attracted the Center for Social Justice to invite her. They know that there is so much to be gained by listening to Eltahawy’s powerful messages. “I love the way she gets her point across without going to extremes and screaming and shouting, saying ‘you have to listen to me or else’, which is a skill we could all use,” Heck Said.

Eltahawy’s “Blogging for social change” is a part of three seminars that she will be putting on here at OU. With the final being this Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Union Board of Regents room. The event will be a Panel discussion entitled “My Islam, My America”, which will discuss Muslim issues and the ‘9/11 Mosque’ controversy.