The Muslim Public Affairs Council has annouced that Congressman Andre Carson (D-IN) will be a featured speaker at its 9th annual convention in December. According to the announcement:
The Muslim Public Affairs Council announced today that Congressman Andre Carson (D-IN) will be a featured speaker at its 9th annual convention on Saturday, December 5th. Centered around the theme of “With Change Come Challenges,” MPAC’s convention will bring together various thinkers, community leaders, grassroots and web organizers, and media professionals to examine and debate the historic possibilities and challenges facing our community and our country.
The following is biographical information on Congressman Carson from an online profile:
André D. Carson (born October 16, 1974) is the United States Representative for Indiana’s 7th congressional district and the grandson of his predecessor, former U.S. Representative Julia Carson (1997–2007). Carson, who is African American, describes himself as “an Orthodox, universal, secular Muslim.” He is the second Muslim to serve in the U.S. Congress, after Keith Ellison (D-MN), and is the first Muslim elected to federal office from Indiana. He is currently the youngest Democratic Member of Congress. Carson is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Indianapolis Public Schools and is a graduate of Arsenal Technical High School. Carson went on to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Management from Concordia University Wisconsin and a Master of Business Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. He was a local board officer and investigator for the Indiana State Excise Police for nine years. He also served in the Indiana Department of Homeland Security at the Intelligence Fusion Center, supervising an anti-terrorism unit. He was a marketing specialist for Cripe Architects + Engineers. He is also a Democratic Party committeeperson in Center Township of Marion County, Indiana. Carson was elected to the Indianapolis City-County Council in 2007 to replace Councillor Patrice Abdullah in the 15th Council district of Indianapolis. Abduallah resigned his seat before completing his term…Carson defeated Republican State Representative Jon Elrod and Libertarian Sean Shepard in the special election on March 11, 2008…. Carson is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. In June 2008, he announced he was joining the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Equality Caucus of the U.S. House, chaired by U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA).
It should be noted that according to a Hudson Institute report on the history of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood, Indianapolis played a key role as the home for the headquarters of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) where the organization is still currently located. Congressman Carson is currently listed as a speaker for ISNA. A previous post discussed a meeting held by the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association which feature Congressman Carson and Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, as speakers.
MPAC was established initially in 1986 as the Political Action Committee of the Islamic Center of Southern California whose key leaders likely had their origins in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Since that time, MPAC has functioned as the political lobbying arm of the U.S. Brotherhood. MPAC has opposed virtually every count-terror initiative undertaken or proposed by the U.S. government. At times this opposition was said to be on civil-rights grounds but, just as often, MPAC claimed that U.S. counter-terror efforts were aimed at the U.S. Muslim community itself. MPAC has consistently supported and facilitated terrorism by supporting terrorist organizations and, more broadly, constructing an elaborate ideology defending the use of violence by Islamists and Islamist organizations. More than any other U.S. Muslim Brotherhood organization, MPAC has developed extensive relationships with the U.S. government which have included numerous meetings with the Department of Justice and the FBI.