Centered in Humanity with Nadeem Haider
By: Asian American Advocacy Fund
Tags: Civic Engagement, Asian American, Georgia, Mentorship

Syeda, in conversation with Nadeem Uncle. This Q&A has been edited for grammar and clarity. Photographs are from Nadeem’s personal collection.

Where is home for you? Do you feel like we’re part of a similar community and where does our connection stem from?

Home is Duluth, Georgia. When I came to this country, I was very young. And if I do a rough calculation on how many years I have passed here, I have more than two thirds of my life here in the United States, 20 years belong to Georgia. So it is fair to say that of course, Georgia is my home.

I think we have known each other through family for about 10+ years now. And mostly, I think it started by attending the Shia Community Center in Lawrenceville, called Dar-e ‘Abbas, I think one of those years you’re promoting the donation collection by selling T-shirts or hoodies. I remember that night there were no stars and moon, and in the background, the wolves were howling. That was probably our start. And that year, I think we became good friends. You’re almost the age of my daughter, so we clicked because we have the same sense of humor.

Yeah, it was a sign from the universe. Is Dar-e ‘Abbas the community that you identify with most? Where do you find your communities?

“Communities’’ is a broad term, in my opinion, because you can belong to a community without knowing that you belong to a community and there is no number associated with it. I belong to a few of the communities: Dar-e ‘Abbas, Zainabia, Muslim Association. At the same time I think I belong to the communities of people that I work with and hang out with, where we talk among ourselves, have lunch together, and share family values and care about the same issues.

At this stage of my life, I think bringing people together is on the top of everything. As elders, we don’t have to gather a whole bunch. You can be a group of 10 people and that could be a community, 10 kids? You know, we all have families, nephews and nieces, or what have you. We can start from there.

Boy Scouts Presidential Gold Medalist Recipient, Karachi, 1981.

What influenced your decision to become involved with the election in November?

I’m a person that needs to do something myself so I can understand other points of view. I’m a believer. And this particular election, there was a lot of talk about mail-in fraud. I realized that in order to understand this whole politics, how voting works, I need to get involved somehow. While I was looking on the internet how the voting machine works, a pop up window opened “Do you want to be a poll worker?” And deep down in my heart, I wanted to bring some value to the table for the community, not for myself. Yes, this alien just showed the light to me and said, “Go become a poll worker.”

It’s comforting to know that people are putting in the effort to try to figure out the root of the problem, and then getting involved to address that. What was your experience like as a poll worker, once you made the decision to become one?

I applied and no answer came and then all of a sudden, the Fulton County Election Commission lady called me and she said “You want to be a poll worker?” And I said yes. Then she asked, “Can you be a poll manager?” I said, “Yeah, bring it on.”

Working as a poll manager for the November 2020 Election

With the November 3 election, we had some challenges in getting the equipment on time. We had to set up the precinct that I was in with my team, four to 5pm the day before Election Day, and when we reached the precinct and equipment was not there. I sent my team home and stayed till nine o’clock and then I went to downtown Atlanta to check on the equipment. Even though the equipment came on the day of the election, it was fun. Right now, I can tell you that based on the two participations that I did on the special election of Georgia on January 5th and general elections on November 3rd, that I can answer any question because I totally understand how the process of voting works. I had first-hand experience.

As you know, I was running the Urdu and Hindi hotline and the thing that I kept on hearing over and over again was “This is the first time that people have reached out to me in language.” Growing up in a Pakistani household where everyone spoke English or had functional English speaking ability, I didn’t think about how that was a point of privilege for me. How did your experience deepen your understanding about the power of the people?

I think there’s a beauty in getting things done without showing your title. At the polling site, I was directing people with the knowledge I gained if they had any questions about their registration and the voting process. It was amazing.

When someone has power, they can turn things around, or turn them down. Power is a dangerous thing — if you’re sitting on a chair, whether it is a community chair, or whether you’re part of a chamber or legislative body, people know that you’re sitting there, so you have power. When I have power, I empower.

After those two elections, I wrote back to my point of contact at the Fulton County Election Commission, wanting to get more involved because I have tons of operational experience. I don’t know what I will do next, but I think there is a lot that needs to be done in terms of educating the power that each individual has.

What do you think about the impact of Asian American and Pacific Islander voters?

I was very thrilled to be part of the election process. And I think AAAF did an especially great job in walking the streets, knocking on the doors, and making people aware that you don’t have to know or be fluent in English to make your voice count. You can ask questions if you don’t understand where to get registered, where to vote, how to get to the polling site, and how to vote.

Working as a poll manager in the Senate Runoff Election January 2021

We need this Asian American & Pacific Islander base to be a strong platform. It should not be only contained to politics, because this platform can do a lot of miracles. We could make use of people who are experienced in different fields and bring young and older generations to have discussions. We need to keep igniting fire under the base. For youngsters like yourself, we need you all to get involved and understand the process, because we need your engagement for the future.

As we talk about this changing nature of Georgia and around the country, what have you learned from your own experiences and the experiences that you’ve seen with others? And how have those guided you, up until this point?

On a walk with his dog Haachi, 2019

I get my courage from a combination of experiences. But I think most of it is, what I saw in all my years, have a right kind heart and work hard, you will achieve. That’s my guiding light. In my opinion, your acts, the way you talk, how you help others when you can. And when I say “help others” it is not to distinguish differences.

Humanity is my center point. If I take that out of my life, I think I’m done. I don’t just read teachings and quotes from Imam Ali, I try as much as I can to implement humanity in my daily life. And that’s a driving force for me to move forward.

I feel like we’ve had these conversations in shorter capacities piece by piece and to see it all come together is really amazing. What do you want your generation to know and think about? And what do you wish for younger generations?

First, for my age group, I strongly believe that no matter which segment you work in, or you belong to, everybody has learned through their life, they have experiences under their belt. What we have understood in terms of what power can do, what politicians can do, how we need to get to a point so people in power will start to hear us — we have experienced that. We should not just sit behind, and let people learn on their own. I think we need to pass it on.

A good mentor plays a very important role in the early days of your education or your career building. Every young kid has a desire, you have to hold their finger and guide them. Then you need to know where you need to stop when you’re mentoring somebody. You don’t want to sound like you want to clone yourself into that person, right? We have to balance.