Wright Mahdi Bray (born "Wright Bray" January 9, 1950 – October 9, 2024), was a Muslim American civil and human rights activist, the National Director of the American Muslim Alliance, and formerly served as executive director of the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation (MAS Freedom) based in Washington, DC.Official Biography at Muslim American Society website, April 6, 2009. The foundation supported Muslim activists and religious leaders who have been arrested.Let Freedom Ring: A Collection of Documents from the Movements to Free U.S. Political Prisoners , p. 830, Matt Meyer, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Lynne Stewart, Ashanti Alston, PM Press, 2008, , accessed December 11, 2009
Political activism Bray used to be political director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).MPAC Hosts White House Office and National Interfaith Leaders , Muslim-American Activism section of Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July, 2001, page 82.Delinda C. Hanley, Freeze on Jewish Defense League Assets Called for After JDL Bomb Plot Foiled , Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January/February 2002, page 16.
In 2001 Bray served as a liaison with United States President George W. Bush's White House Faith-Based Initiative Program, which he later opposed.Renowned Religious Leaders to Call for Dismantling of White House Faith Based Office, Interfaith Alliance Press release, April 25, 2006. After the September 11 attacks, he and other Muslim leaders met with then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.Terry Frieden, Ashcroft meets with Muslim, Arab leaders , CNN, October 16, 2001. He also served as a congressional affairs representative on behalf of the Muslim community.
Bray served on the board of directors of the Interfaith Alliance and the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, and is a National Co-convener of Religions for Peace-USA. He is a Washington, DC, television and radio talk show host, and has appeared on CBS News, Fox, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Aljazeera, and many TV and radio talk shows. Bray also organized protests against the U.S. war in Afghanistan,Religion and Ethics Episode no. 509 , Public Broadcasting Service, November 2, 2001. the Iraq war, and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.Activists Arrested Outside White House Protesting Bush-Sharon Meeting, Muslim American Society website, April 15, 2004.Petula Dvorak, Protest to Encircle White House, Opponents of 'U.S.-Israeli War' Plan Large Rally Tomorrow , Washington Post, August 11, 2006.
References
External links Mahdi Bray's personal website
Shadow World: Resurgent Russia, the Global New Left, and Radical Islam, Muslim Public Affairs Council, pp. 499–500, Robert Chandler, Regnery Publishing, 2008,