New York Times Bestselling Author Irshad Manji Joins Let Grow to Promote “Unwoke Diversity” in Schools

Mar 3, 2020

NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Let Grow, the nonprofit organization ensuring kids grow up less coddled and more resilient, is pleased to announce the appointment of Irshad Manji as its Director for Courage, Curiosity, and Character.

"We're thrilled to welcome Irshad on board," said Lenore Skenazy, Let Grow's president. "She has a track record of inspiring students around the country to engage deeply, even when they disagree with each other, and to challenge a culture ready to censor any idea or discussion that could conceivably cause discomfort."

Irshad Manji

Let Grow believes that young people are not fragile. If they learn to grapple with different viewpoints, including some they dislike, they will be prepared for a complex world of diverse people and viewpoints. And yet, intolerance of intellectual diversity is on the rise in America's schools. Students are increasingly afraid to discuss (and are being taught to fear) ideas, literature and speakers their teachers or peers might find "problematic."

This fear is enforced by "call-out culture," in which students denounce others they deem offensive, as well as "cancel culture," in which literature and plays are removed from schools' curricula, and controversial speakers are disinvited. In this atmosphere, many students fear that anything they say could result in social ostracism, academic discipline, or worse. Many teens now profess to feeling unsafe when they are merely uncomfortable with someone's opinions.

To help students become more resilient and discover the value of free thought, Manji will lead Moral Courage College. This experiential program, founded by Manji, will be Let Grow's signature course for students and teachers throughout middle and high schools, whether public or private. In a college-like atmosphere of Socratic dialogue, students learn to discuss tough topics without worry of censorship, scorn, or being cancelled.

"Let Grow's programs aspire to transform our culture of over-protecting young people into a culture that urges questions, thoughtful risk-taking, and personal responsibility, kid by kid by kid," said Manji. "Ours is an urgent mission to reverse the trends that promote groupthink, polarization, and the collective anxiety now coursing through America."

Born in Uganda, Manji fled that country in the early '70s when Idi Amin expelled non-black Africans, including her parents, who are of Egyptian and Indian heritage. She has taught moral courage at New York University as well as the University of Southern California and currently lectures in Oxford University's Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights.

After writing her 2004 and 2011 bestsellers critiquing fundamentalism in her faith of Islam, Manji became concerned about another form of intolerance: intolerance of differing viewpoints on high school and college campuses in America. In response, she wrote Don't Label Me (St. Martin's Press, 2019), the book described by Chris Rock as "genius" and by Newsweek as "a radical prescription for her fellow progressives: stop shaming and start listening."

In Don't Label Me, Manji says that "listening isn't about being nice or even being civil for the sake of civility. Rather, listening serves your enlightened self-interest because it taps into the iron-clad law of human psychology: If you want to be heard, you must first be willing to hear. We're teaching a new generation to take disagreement as invitation to engagement."

Having won numerous awards for her teaching, Manji points out that "the job of a good educator isn't to help students feel safe. It's to help students feel safe in their discomfort. That's how they'll learn to handle a world diverse not just in demographics, but also in opinions. And let's be honest — it's the only way for a pluralistic country to make lasting progress."

ABOUT LET GROW:

Let Grow is a non-partisan, non-profit organization promoting childhood independence to ensure kids grow up less coddled, more resilient, and ready to become civil, engaged citizens in a free society.

For more information, please visit LetGrow.org, on Twitter @LetGrowOrg, or write to [email protected].

Press Contact:
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646 734 8426

SOURCE Let Grow, Inc.