Reza Jalali addressed Mid-Coast Forum on Foreign Relations about Iran. Jalali is an Iranian Kurd, a human rights and refugee activist who has lived in Maine since 1985. He is a member of Amnesty International USA Board of Directors.
Mr. Jalali teaches Islam at the Bangor Theological Seminary and is the Muslim Chaplain at Bates College. Reza is employed at the University of Southern Maine in Portland, Maine.
He was prominently recognized in Making it in America: A Sourcebook on Eminent Ethnic Americans. His essays, short stories, and commentaries have appeared in the local and international newspapers. As a member of Amnesty International USA Board of Directors, Jalali led delegations to different refugee camps in Turkey and Bosnia. He has participated in numerous United Nations-sponsored international conferences in Korea, Japan and Austria.
In 1992, he visited the White House as part of a national delegation to discuss the plight of Kurdish refugees fleeing Iraq. Jalali is one of the contributing writers to Child Labor: A Global View, the multimedia production Middle East Suitcase Project, and The World of Child Labor: An Historical and Regional Survey. Jalali wrote the Foreword to New Mainers, a book on immigrant’s experiences in Maine. His first children's book, Moon Watchers, was published by Tilbury House, Publishers in June 2010. Jalali’s forthcoming book, God Speaks in Many Accents, is about the religions that Maine’s immigrants have brought with them to their new home in the U.S. Jalali has been included in “50 In 52 Journey”, a national project to name “Americans who are problem-solvers, idea-generators in their communities, in their cities, and in their States and are moving America forward.
This talk was recorded November 15, 2010 at Point Lookout in Northport.