Ali, Anila

Metadata

Abstract

An oral history interview with Anila Ali, a teacher, activist, and politician. The purpose of this interview was to gather information about her activism in human rights and politics within the Democratic Party in Orange County. This interview was conducted as part of the Women, Activism, and Politics Project for Dr. Natalie Fousekis’ Oral History class at California State University, Fullerton. The interview covers Anila’s childhood from her birth in Karachi, Pakistan, moving to London at age ten and traveling between the UK and Pakistan every summer; her discussion of dealing with classmates who had racist attitudes toward her as a child; her help in operating the All Pakistan Women’s Association at a young age; she describes his political ideology; why she felt a need to break out of Pakistani tradition; mentions what prompted her to immigrate to the United States in the mid-1990s; her story behind meeting and marrying her husband with a little background on him; she considers human rights her biggest passion behind being an activist, especially on issues of empowerment for women and ethnic minorities; her involvement with the American Muslim Women’s Empowerment Council; chairing the International Leadership Foundation; founded the Irvine Pakistani Parents Association; formerly served on the advisory of Irvine Children, Youth and Families; serving on the boards of the Olive Tree Initiative of UCI and the Irvine Public School Foundation; dealing with the domestic violence issue in Irvine; her work with the Democrats of Greater Irvine organization; how she first associated herself with the Democratic Party and why it suited her better than the Republican Party; she retells the story of being greatly inspired by then-Senator Obama after meeting him, reading one of his books, and started campaigning for him in 2007; a characterization of her leadership style; her mention of editing some of her father’s past articles and writing for the Orange County Register; she explains her reason for wanting to run for the California State Assembly in District 74 and her greatest successes while campaigning even though she lost; makes mention of wanting to run for that seat again in 2016; challenges of being a Democrat in Orange County; her description of differences in how men and women lead; points to issues she believes are more important to women than men; provides her personal definition of a feminist and the extent to which she considers herself one; highlights what she enjoys most about being active in the political process and her proudest achievement as a politician and activist.