Next Step Hudson Valley: Uniting Against Racism & Discrimination
Next Step Hudson Valley is a beacon of light that supports women’s organizations and BIPOC communities in their fight to end racism and prejudice.
This nonprofit organization, committed to strengthening women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), is an influential force that brings communities together. To achieve their shared objective of establishing fair societies, they unite to tackle the prevalent problems of systematic racism and discrimination.
Next Step Hudson Valley is a movement and a call to action that resonates throughout the Hudson Valley and beyond. It is more than just an organization. Its central theme is one of unity, calling on people of all backgrounds to band together and fight for a society free from the chains of hate.
Born in Beacon, New York, Ali Tawfiq Muhammad created a mark on his neighborhood and is creating a significant legacy as an advocate for reform and human rights. Muhammad, though not a fan of titles, stands as the founder of Next Step Hudson Valley. His path has been one of determination, activism, and unbreakable dedication to the pursuit of justice.
Muhammad expressed, “Regardless of what I end up doing politically, I would love to leave a legacy of human rights, being on what we think is the right side of history,” when I had the pleasure of chatting with him.
“The people I work with motivate me,” Muhammad adds.
With a concentration on community empowerment, he has been involved with various movements such as Occupy, forming Melanin Unchained and Next Step Hudson Valley, and pushing for sustainable social change since 2012.
Muhammad is driven to bring real change through his projects. He organized one of his first large marching rallies in Beacon in 2014, not long after he was elected to the city council.
He advocates an organized approach to problem-solving, citing Fred Hampton as inspiration, saying, “You don’t fight fire with fire; you fight fire with water.”
A proud Muslim and Black American, Muhammad has kept pursuing justice on a larger scale with his dedication. He showed more support for the global community and the quest for justice across nations in 2021 by taking part in the Palestinian Liberation March in Newburgh and continues to do so in 2023.
Muhammad’s end goal for this movement that he has started is to establish a political action committee (PAC) to advocate for significant government issues that are overlooked. He described his approach, saying “There are angels in the intricacy, and that is what I do, I focus on those angels, I put devils in the detail.”
He believes in collective liberation, stating, “No one’s free until we’re all free. And our collective liberation motivates me. It’s not the struggle it’s not the negativity. It’s not work, it doesn’t feel like work but we call it the work.”
In the words of the Next Step Hudson Valley, “It’s time that we get organized, mobilized, and activated! We will end systemic racism and discrimination together.” It’s a powerful representation of the kind of group power that grows when communities come together with the same goal in mind — to build a society in which respect, equity, and justice are not just words but actual experiences for all people everywhere.
