New York: Linda Sarsour Is a Brooklyn Homegirl in a Hijab
Behind schedule as usual, Linda Sarsour rushed into the Times Square office of the civil rights group the Gathering for Justice
last month, 40 minutes late for a meeting with its founder, Harry
Belafonte. On the way in from Brooklyn, the Uber driver she had hired
made a wrong turn and wound up in New Jersey. Now, wearing her head
scarf and hungry from fasting for Ramadan, Ms. Sarsour scurried into an
auditorium packed with some of the city’s most prominent social-justice
warriors.
last month, 40 minutes late for a meeting with its founder, Harry
Belafonte. On the way in from Brooklyn, the Uber driver she had hired
made a wrong turn and wound up in New Jersey. Now, wearing her head
scarf and hungry from fasting for Ramadan, Ms. Sarsour scurried into an
auditorium packed with some of the city’s most prominent social-justice
warriors.
Linda Sarsour at the Arab American Association of New York’s annual Arab American Bazaar
Credit Sam Hodgson for The New York Times
Credit Sam Hodgson for The New York Times
There was just enough time for her to speed-hug
friends and take a quick selfie with “Mr. B.,” as everybody called
him, before he took the stage and told the assembled activists that
they — the younger generation — were continuing the legacy of “Malcolm
X, Fannie Lou Hamer and Dr. King.” As Mr. Belafonte sonorously spoke of
how he had devoted his life and art to activism, Ms. Sarsour, already a
half-hour tardy for her next event, was quietly bent over her phone,
scanning Uber for the nearest available car.
friends and take a quick selfie with “Mr. B.,” as everybody called
him, before he took the stage and told the assembled activists that
they — the younger generation — were continuing the legacy of “Malcolm
X, Fannie Lou Hamer and Dr. King.” As Mr. Belafonte sonorously spoke of
how he had devoted his life and art to activism, Ms. Sarsour, already a
half-hour tardy for her next event, was quietly bent over her phone,
scanning Uber for the nearest available car.
“There’s one,” she whispered, finding a driver
who could take her to the Williamsburg bar where hip young Brooklyn
liberals would be honoring her political organization, the Muslim Democratic Club of New York.
Stuffing her iPhone into her purse, she got to her feet and tiptoed
down the aisle. Quickly waggling fingers at her colleagues, off she
went.
who could take her to the Williamsburg bar where hip young Brooklyn
liberals would be honoring her political organization, the Muslim Democratic Club of New York.
Stuffing her iPhone into her purse, she got to her feet and tiptoed
down the aisle. Quickly waggling fingers at her colleagues, off she
went.
Linda Sarsour is, in every sense of the phrase, a
woman in a hurry. Only 35, she has already helped to partly dismantle
the New York Police Department’s program of spying on the city’s
Muslims and has worked with officials in City Hall to close public schools for the observance of two of Islam’s most important holy days, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. From her base at the Arab American Association of New York,
the nonprofit group in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where she is the executive
director, Ms. Sarsour has taken on such issues as immigration policy,
voter registration, mass incarceration, Islamophobia and the Police
Department’s stop-and-frisk tactic. She has emerged in the last few
years not only as one of the city’s, and the country’s, most vocal young
Muslim-American advocates, but also as a potential — and rare
Arab-American — candidate for office.
woman in a hurry. Only 35, she has already helped to partly dismantle
the New York Police Department’s program of spying on the city’s
Muslims and has worked with officials in City Hall to close public schools for the observance of two of Islam’s most important holy days, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. From her base at the Arab American Association of New York,
the nonprofit group in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where she is the executive
director, Ms. Sarsour has taken on such issues as immigration policy,
voter registration, mass incarceration, Islamophobia and the Police
Department’s stop-and-frisk tactic. She has emerged in the last few
years not only as one of the city’s, and the country’s, most vocal young
Muslim-American advocates, but also as a potential — and rare
Arab-American — candidate for office.
Ms. Sarsour of the Arab American Association of New York, in purple hijab, at a political event last month
Sam Hodgson for The New York Times
“I feel like I’ve been able to bring a voice to this community they’ve never heard before,” she said not long ago.
The voice she brings to New York’s Muslims, a
diverse group of Arabs, Southeast Asians, Africans and
African-Americans, is loud, strident and inflected with both street
smarts and the tropes of “intersectionality,” as the trending term has
it. That means Ms. Sarsour has sought to speak not only for those who
share her religion, but also for others — women, gays, prison inmates,
victims of racial profiling — facing the problems that concern her.
diverse group of Arabs, Southeast Asians, Africans and
African-Americans, is loud, strident and inflected with both street
smarts and the tropes of “intersectionality,” as the trending term has
it. That means Ms. Sarsour has sought to speak not only for those who
share her religion, but also for others — women, gays, prison inmates,
victims of racial profiling — facing the problems that concern her.
She is deeply involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, having helped to organize an April march from New York to Washington
led by a group called Justice League NYC — an offshoot of Mr.
Belafonte’s Gathering for Justice — to honor Eric Garner, Akai Gurley
and other black men killed by the police. More recently, as part of a
project she calls Respond With Love,
she has raised more than $100,000 to help rebuild black churches that
burned down, some by arson, after the church massacre in Charleston,
S.C.
led by a group called Justice League NYC — an offshoot of Mr.
Belafonte’s Gathering for Justice — to honor Eric Garner, Akai Gurley
and other black men killed by the police. More recently, as part of a
project she calls Respond With Love,
she has raised more than $100,000 to help rebuild black churches that
burned down, some by arson, after the church massacre in Charleston,
S.C.
