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Celebrating Community and Success: Inside USAMCC’s 2025 Iftar Event

talib@abe.legal (Talib Karim) — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 12:18:03 GMT

Celebrating Community and Success: Inside USAMCC’s 2025 Iftar Event

On a beautiful evening filled with warmth, faith, and inspiration, the USAMCC (United States American Muslim Chamber of Commerce) hosted its highly anticipated Iftar 2025 — a gathering that brought together Muslim business leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals, and community changemakers from across the country.

Held with the spirit of Ramadan at its heart, the event was more than just a dinner — it was a celebration of unity, purpose, and progress. Attendees shared stories of business success, social impact, and the shared journey of balancing professional excellence with spiritual values.

A Night of Connection and Inspiration

From the moment guests arrived, the atmosphere was vibrant. Conversations flowed as new connections were made and long-standing friendships rekindled. The event featured keynote speakers, successful entrepreneurs, and community leaders who shared their stories and the importance of faith-driven leadership.

The Iftar meal, served at sunset, provided a moment of reflection and gratitude — a powerful reminder of the strength found in community and shared values.

Empowering Muslim Business Leaders

USAMCC continues to be a cornerstone for Muslim professionals in the United States, offering resources, mentorship, and a strong network for those striving to “do good and do well.” Events like the Iftar are a testament to the organization’s commitment to creating spaces where both business growth and spiritual fulfillment thrive.

Looking Ahead

As the night came to a close, the message was clear: Muslim business leaders are not just building companies — they’re building communities. And with organizations like USAMCC leading the way, the future looks brighter than ever

Join us on this journey of faith, leadership, and impact at usamcc.com .

Dems & Republicans: Stop Playing Politics, Act Now to Approve $600 Unemployment Checks, Other Benefits to Help Families, Businesses Survive

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 17:56:50 GMT

Voices across the country are clear. In red and blue states alike, the message is: “Congress, White House, stop playing games, reach a deal, approve new funding for families and businesses now...or else.

So what’s blocking a new round of stimulus money to help millions of Americans and small businesses struggling to survive the pandemic? Can you spell “P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S”!

The Political Game

Team Dem : On the one hand, you have Democrats who control the House of Representatives and a sizable amount of the vote in the Senate. While often looked upon as the heroes for workers and small businesses, they have refused offers from the White House for a short term extension of the $600 unemployment benefits. Instead, they are holding out for Republicans to agree to more of the ideas for stimulating the economy detailed in an over 1800 page bill passed by the House, the HEROES Act .

While applauding many of the Democrats’ recommendations, some experts criticize ideas in the bill to:

Team Rs : The Republicans and White House have their eye on the polls in November. To be reelected, they want to reach a deal with Democrats to avoid being blamed for both COVID and the economic suffering of over 30 million Americans and businesses. Note, the number of unemployed equal more than half the number of votes that the President won in 2016.

The White House can apparently live with a few of the Democrats’ proposals like:

another round of $1200 stimulus checks,

expanding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and

funding for testing, vaccines and COVID-19 research.

Liability Shield for Businesses is a Bad Idea

The White House is also adamant about including in the stimulus deal a business liability shield to protect businesses, including hospitals and schools, from coronavirus-related liability. Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the idea to lower the standard for businesses and shield them from COVID lawsuits so long as their actions were not grossly negligent as “ unfair. ”

And she’s right.

As a platform helping connect individuals and businesses with legal services, Abe Legal understands that the scales of justice are already tipped in favor of businesses. However, the liability shield would impose a $50,000 fine on anyone who sues a business for injuries they suffered but is unable to prove his or her case. Such a shield would not only hurt those injured, but it would cause businesses to get lax in their efforts to protect their customers and employees.

Facts vs. Fiction on $600 Unemployment Benefits

And about that argument that the $600 weekly unemployment is hurting the economy and encouraging workers not to return to work...this claim is way off. Here are the facts

Fact 1 : It’s true that $600 a week is like paying a worker at a full time (40 hours/week) job at $15/hr. So if workers were making less than $15/hr, then of course, most of them would decide to stay home.

Yet,its the pandemic keeping workers from returning to work, not the benefits. Specifically, over 30 million workers are out of work collecting unemployment benefits. However, there are only (at max( 5.4 million job openings. That means that there are about 6 unemployed people for every job opening.

Fact 2: If the unemployment benefits are not immediately renewed, it could not only impact those currently unemployed but the reduced spending could cause 5.1 million Americans to lose their jobs over the next year .

Fact 3: Its true that normal unemployment benefits from the states pay an average of 50% of an unemployed worker's salary up to six months . However, at least 13 million workers who rely upon the additional $600 unemployment benefits, are self-employed or “gig” workers. These workers who also have families, often older and more at risk of COVID, do not qualify for normal benefits .

Fact 4: A study from Yale found that workers on unemployment receiving the $600 boost are not likely to stay home even when the jobs return. Researchers found that workers getting the extra unemployment benefits returned to work at the same rate as those not receiving the unemployment boost.

Why? Because, if you are getting $600 a week, that comes out to just over $26,000. However, the cost of living in even the most inexpensive state, Mississippi is double kathat, $49,970 .

So, in order for a worker to put food on the table for their family, they would have to work three full time ($15/hour) jobs.

Impact of White House Executive Order: Political insiders credited the President for the White House Executive order providing $300-$400 additional unemployment benefits and limited assistance to those facing evictions or unable to pay student loans. While some criticized the move as being symbolic, other analysts viewed it as a move to force both sides back to the negotiation table.

List of States who Have Begun Issuing Unemployment Benefits Via White House Executive Order: Unemployment Checks, Find My State

Bottom Line: If a deal isn’t reached for the $600 weekly checks and other stimulus money immidiately, workers may not only take out their anger by saying you’re fired to their elected representatives in November, but they may began to collectively boycott large tech companies like Amazon whose 00s in their bank accounts give them the ability to quickly green light things like a multi trillion dollar stimulus bill needed to save American people and businesses alike.

Background on Abe Legal : Abe Legal is a platform assisting families and businesses to survive the pandemic by offering them access to legal services remotely, from the safety of their home or business.

For Updates on this Blog Post : Abe for President YouTube Series

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To Open or Not to Open: The Trillion Dollar Question for Schools, Universities in Protecting Students, Staff from COVID-19 this Fall

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 17:02:57 GMT

Imagine that you’re a legal advisor to a state Governor, Superintendent of Schools, or College President. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage. The school year is scheduled to start in the next 30 days. Your job is to come up with a major recommendation. Should schools reopen their doors to in-person classes or remain closed and continue online education?

As a lawyer, you’re concerned about getting sued.

To get a sense of how other states and colleges are addressing the same problem, you do a survey. Here’s what you will find:

And so, it's up to you to analyze the legal risks on both sides.

C onsiderations for Schools that Decide to Reopen

Reopening schools during a pandemic could be equivalent to a very expensive legal bill. Here are some issues you may consider:

Will reopening schools risk the health of students, teachers, and staff? How about the families of those entering your campuses?
If you reopen, what are the costs that you face if schools must close again if COVID-19 and Flu cause sickness, hospitalizations and deaths to spike?
What training, protective equipment, and new protocols are needed to keep staff and students safe?
Will masks be mandatory?

I n June, Senator Lamar Alexander , chairman of the Senate education committee met with college and university presidents. The meeting was called for these education leaders to press Alexander for a federal law to prevent them from getting sued if students or staff got sick from COVID-19. Alexander, himself the former president of the University of Tennessee, told reporters it was important to protect colleges from being sued if they acted responsibly.

B ut what determines if a school is acting reasonably?

G ood question. Especially since federal authorities like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been declined to provide set specific standards for how campuses should reopen.

W hile federal lawsuit protections may be a distant hope, schools are getting a break from state leaders. In July, Louisiana's Gov. John Bel Edwards , a Democrat, signed a law giving K-12 schools and colleges in his state a “get out of jail free” card. Specifically, the law shielded these schools from most civil lawsuits due to student or teacher illnesses from COVID-19

But even with a legal shield, are the other costs still too high to recommend a reopening?

T hen an idea comes to you. How about taking the middle road and recommending a hybrid approach? Under this plan, some staff and students would remain home and others would be required to return to schools.

I f so, issues you may face are:

H ow do you decide what staff are allowed to work at home and who returns? How about the students?
For those students who return, will they be taught in classes with some of their classmates or even the teacher participating remotely?

S o what are the costs of keeping education remote. You’ve already done it for one full semester, why not continue?

F irst, there may be a cost in the way of a reduction in federal funding. Recently, President Trump and Secretary DeVos threatened to pull federal funding for schools that don't “fully reopen” in the fall. The President’s Press Secretary asserted that schools should not let the “science” to get in the way of reopening.

Many school districts are facing possible lawsuits for failure to fulfill the requirements under the Individual with Disability Education Act .

B ottom Line

This is a tough assignment. A good lawyer would advise that there are liabilities no matter what decision you face. You may get sued whatever choice you recommend.

H owever , if you are going to get sued, it appears that it would be better to be sued for providing inadequate services rather than causing the death of students, staff, and/or their families.

Recommendations for Schools that Choose to Re-Open

Group students with staff for the purpose of instruction, meals, bus, physical education to diminish risk.
Adjust student transportation to meet social distancing requirements.
Use outdoor space to help meet social distancing needs.

10 Venture Capitals Committed to Black-Owned Businesses

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 20:25:43 GMT

Black Angel Tech Fund

Black Angel Tech Fund is an angel/venture fund which focuses primarily on early stage technology companies. The fund is Committed to supporting black entrepreneurs starting their companies.

How to Apply : Email info@blackangeltechfund.com .
Deadline : No deadline specified.
Cleo Capital

Cleo Capital is an early stage venture capital fund that invests in pre-seed and seed stage tech and tech enabled investments. It was founded by Sarah Kunst is a prominent African-American venture capitalist who is encouraging other black entrepreneurs to apply.

How to Apply : Submit your pitch through https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2BsWgcWg4ov9jjyH_TZtqkBHbt4Lgx0SPpRsv2dlSJ9YVXw/viewform .
Deadline : Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
DiverseCity Ventures

DiverseCity Ventures is an impact-oriented venture capital firm that invests primarily in early-stage technology-driven companies. They are committed to addressing inequalities in technology and entrepreneurship.

How to Apply : Submit your pitch at Submit pitch at https://www.diversecityv.com/ .
Deadline : No deadline specified.
Eniac Ventures

Eniac Ventures is a seed-stage investment firm that has committed to offering free 15-minute meetings to black entrepreneurs for the entire summer.

How to Apply : Schedule 15-minute meeting at https://superpeer.com/nihal?s=d .
Deadline : Meetings are available for summer 2020.
Harlem Capital Partners

Harlem Capital Partners is a diversity focused VC fund that invests in minority entrepreneurs in tech-related fields.

How to Apply : Email pitch deck to jarrid@harlem.capital .
Deadline : No deadline specified.
Hustle Fund

Hustle Fund is a venture capital fund investing in fast-executing teams at the pre-seed and seed stages. The fund is encouraging black entrepreneurs to submit their pitches and willing to invest to reduce inequalities.

How to Apply : Submit pitch and deck at https://hustlefund.typeform.com/to/UGTnIt .
Deadline : No deadline specified.
Impact America Fund

Impact America Fund is an investment company that funds market opportunities which use technology to enhance the lives of all Americans. The fund is committed to black businesses that have potential to impact society.

How to Apply : Submit your pitch at https://airtable.com/shrVVu1zJWx0HpSv2 .
Deadline : No deadline specified.
MaC Venture Capital

MaC Venture Capital is a Seed stage venture capital firm that is making a concerted effort to invest in black businesses.

How to Apply : Submit your application at https://macventurecapital.com/startup/ .
Deadline : No deadline specified.
Spero Ventures

Spero Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm. It is offering free meetings to black/latinx founders, willing to invest to make change.

How to Apply : Email ha@spero.vc to schedule meeting.
Deadline : No deadline specified.
Work-Bench

Work-Bench is an enterprise technology venture capital fund. It has been taking steps to encourage black entrepreneurship in response to current racial unrest.

How to Apply : Email hello@work-bench.com .
Deadline : No deadline specified.

July 4th Is No Reason To Celebrate For 99% of Workers And Small Businesses At Least Not For The Same Reasons As Billionaires

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 19:31:51 GMT

July 4th commemorates the birth of our nation. It's the day, way back in 1776, when representatives of 13 British colonies in America declared they were going to break their allegiance to the British monarchy.

As you may know, under a monarchy, the land as well as the lives of the people, are the property of the King or Queen. So, by definition, people living in a monarchy are not citizens but instead “subjects”, chattel property, aka slaves.

Our history books teach that since 1776, July 4th has become a symbol of our freedom. Yet, are we actually...free?

Well, let’s look at the numbers. See the graphs below.

This is what they tell us:

Some researchers say that the top 1% own the vast majority of the wealth, from 50%-80%+
The cost of living is so high in many states that most of us --- the 99%-- are largely in debt and can barely afford to enjoy our lives.
Given the expense of housing, education, and other living essentials, most have to work long hours.
Our work schedules deprive our children and family of the time they need to realize their full potential.
Since we cannot invest in our children, they experience difficulties that set them back and continue a cycle of debt and servitude.
While African Americans are at the lower scale of this economic system, its clear that people of all races share in this servitude or what I’ve called the “American Caste system.

These statistics were reported even before the COVID pandemic caused 27 million people to lose their income. And while unemployment has broken records, COVID has caused the fortunes of the 1% to soar!

COVID-19 gifted U.S. billionaires as much as $434 billion during the nation’s lockdown between mid-March and mid-May.
Leading the list of COVID-19 bonuses were Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg .
Bezos added $34.6 billion to his wealth and Zuckerberg picked up $25 billion.

So what can we do?

If you believe in capitalism, then you have a few options to negotiate with the 1% for a fairer share of the wealth we are creating . This includes:

Strengthening unions
Increasing political participation by all citizens
Guaranteeing a basic standard of living for all including free quality housing, food, child care, education,and health care
Dismantling the courts, prosecutors, and jails --- the entire justice system--- and rebuilding it in a manner that respects all people no matter their race, ethnicity, or economic status.

Or we can work to scrap our current system of neo-liberal capitalism all together. In its place, we could build a new system built on a moral, righteous code. A system in which the wealthy and working classes live side by side in the collective service to our common Creator and to each other.

While I prefer the latter approach personally, the achievement of either would be cause of celebration.

And so what is there to celebrate, in the meantime?

Well, how about we take a page from our nation’s “Founding Fathers” and make our own declarations. Let’s declare our independence from the current system that keeps the vast majority of workers and small business owners divided and economically enslaved.

Such a declaration, followed by the work to bring about real change or a new system altogether, are certainly causes for us all to celebrate.