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Linda Sarsour is unequivocal. Whether addressing a crowd at a Bernie rally or explaining the salient points of Kingian nonviolence in an interview backstage, her purposeful energy—and thick Brooklyn accent— reflect her years of experience as a local organizer. Sarsour might be best known as one of the co-chairs of the 2017 Women’s March, the largest single-day protest in the history of the United States. But her organizing is rooted in two decades of community-based work in Brooklyn. From 2005 to 2017, Sarsour served as the executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, a civil rights and social services organization. She helped fight against the biased policing of Muslim communities and successfully campaigned for the recognition of Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr in the city’s public schools. In recent years, she has organized in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and is currently the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s travel ban. Sarsour was recently in Providence for a panel on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement hosted by student organizers at Brown University. On January 28th, she returned as the keynote speaker at a rally hosted by Rhode Island Students for Bernie. (Anchita Dasgupta and Peder Schaefer’s report on the event appeared in the College Hill Independent last week.) Before the event began, the Independent sat down with Sarsour in the dressing room of Columbus Theatre. We spoke to her about the Sanders campaign, her vision of solidarity, and the potentials and limitations of electoral politics.
presidential elections in particular—fit into the broader rally that he did with AOC in Queens, New York. He work that you’ve done? What are the potentials and got up and was basically like, Are you willing to fight limitations of electoral politics as a strategy? for someone? Are you willing to fight for someone that is just not you? And that is what solidarity means to me. Sarsour: Electoral politics for me is only a very small Solidarity is not about words. Solidarity is when you part of my larger theory of change. Remember that are willing to risk and sacrifice something for someone there are many people in our country who are shut out else to live better and have access to something you of our democracy: undocumented people, incarcer- have access to. ated people, formerly incarcerated people. Any time that you engage in a tactic or a theory of change about The Independent: Why do you think socialism is how we’re going to bring about transformative change an important political framework right now? What and there are some people who can’t participate, then aspects of that word or vision are useful to you? And that tactic is not enough. So electoral organizing in and why do you think it’s appealing to so many people right of itself is not enough. For me, it’s a tool in our toolbox. now? And it allows us to alleviate some suffering—harm reduction—and it allows us to create space, especially Sarsour: In our country, wealth should not be concenwhen we elect people who actually align with our prin- trated in the top one percent of the one percent while ciples and values. We give ourselves just some room to there are people living in utter poverty. And socialism continue to build power. really is about closing the gaps; it’s about investing So for me, movement building is not electoral and giving people the opportunity not to just survive organizing. And electoral organizing in and of itself is in America but to thrive in America. So when we think not movement building. For me, I still organize around about the policies that Senator Sanders is putting issues. I organize with people who are unable to partic- forth, it isn’t in fact real socialism. Some of these poliipate in our democratic process because I believe that cies are “socialist” policies, just like the fire department or the libraries, you know. The librarian doesn’t ask you whether you are a billionaire or whether you are a working-class college student. We all get access to libraries. You know, God forbid, your household’s on fire: you pick up the everyone—in a real, true, inclusive movement—has phone and call the fire department. It’s a public good to have different ways to participate. And movement that we all get to share. And that’s why Bernie Sanders building gives people other ways to participate in doesn’t equivocate or try to make things complicated. building power, even if they can’t do that one thing Everybody gets their student debt cancelled. There’s which is voting. no formula for it. Because at the end of the day, Bernie Sanders understands reality. The reality is that the The Independent: I see Bernie as one of the only children of billionaires are not going to public univercandidates—as the only candidate—that’s calling on a sities. The children of billionaires don’t have college movement in addition to an electoral process. Do you debt. So these frivolous arguments being used against see that as something that sets him apart? The fact that us to paint us as some sort of radical fringe are not even he’s very explicitly calling on a wider social movement? true. Bernie Sanders is, in fact, not even a socialist candidate. I think what we’re doing in this campaign Sarsour: Absolutely. It’s one of the reasons why I’m is normalizing things that are seen as radical by a part of this campaign. And a lot of the time people segment of our population but, in fact, are not radical question why we’re supportive of this campaign, they at all. People should have healthcare. Healthcare is say, what are you doing, you’re an intersectional femi- a human right. People should not be graduating from nist, you know, you have been organizing on crim- college literally shackled in debt and unable to start a inal justice reform and immigrant rights, you are one career or have a successful future. of those people who have pushed for representation and for supporting and centering people of color and The Independent: We’re here today at a rally orgamarginalized communities and you’re supporting nized by students in Rhode Island. Where do you an old, white man for president? And what I say to see the power of student organizing and why is it people is that I’m not supporting an old, white man. important? What do you see as the role of college I’m supporting an intersectional movement that students at this moment? believes that the solutions to the ills of our country are with the working class, with people of color, with the Sarsour: College students are literally the nucleus of most marginalized people. I truly believe in my heart this campaign. I’ve been to Iowa, to New Hampshire, that that’s what Senator Bernie Sanders believes. And and I’ve seen the power of college students orgawhen we think about this campaign and who supports nizing. They’re enthusiastic. They’re also worried this campaign, it is absolutely reflective of the type about their future in terms of climate justice. And of movement that I want to be a part of. The majority they are also students who understand what it means of our donors are women. The majority of our donors to have student loans, knowing that the job market is are working class—nurses and teachers and fast-food dismal in America, particularly for college graduates. workers. They are members of unions and immigrant And so for me, we can’t win this campaign without communities and communities that for so long just college students. It’s just the bottom line. They’re our haven’t felt heard. key constituency and it’s an opportunity for Bernie Sanders to prove what it looks like when you expand The Independent: I think that brings us to a really the electorate. salient topic, which is solidarity. Solidarity seems like The voting rate for college students during the a common theme in your work, both with the Sanders 2016 general election was very low. This particular campaign and fighting against state violence, so we constituency has not always been a reliable voter base, wanted to ask what solidarity means to you and your and not all campaigns may be investing in this particwork. ular voter base. But the Bernie Sanders campaign is. We see them not as low-propensity voters. We see them Sarsour: Senator Sanders defines solidarity in such as high-potential voters. Because literally they are the an accessible way and it really moved me. It was at the generation that has everything at stake—them and the
An interview with political activist Linda Sarsour
+++ The Independent: Can you talk about your background, your activist work, and what brings you to this rally today? Linda Sarsour: I am a Brooklyn-born daughter of Palestinian immigrants. I have been an organizer for almost twenty years now. I started out organizing around hyper-local community issues, specifically around language access for my community, which was an Arabic-speaking immigrant community in New York City. I was a leader of a non-profit that served refugees, asylees, and immigrants, predominantly from the Middle East, for about 15 years. And so I’ve been really immersed in the immigrant rights movement and, from there, found the intersection between immigrant rights and criminal justice. I was an early supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders in late 2015, when no one thought he was a serious candidate. I believed in his platform and he was my primary protest candidate that I supported to help push Hillary Clinton to the Left. Then, as I supported the campaign in 2016, I realized that we could actually win this nomination. I was, of course, extremely disappointed with the Democratic Party and the ways in which this movement we were building was being sidelined, although there was so much enthusiasm around it. I continued to fight for Medicare for All over the last few years and really just continued to double down on the conversation that Bernie Sanders helped ignite back in 2016, and now I’m back again for Bernie 2020. I’m a national surrogate with the campaign and I get really excited about coming to gatherings, canvasses, rallies. I want to be amongst the regular folks who are supporting the senator and I’m excited about just being here in Rhode Island. I’m excited about the enthusiasm of a younger generation that is committed to an inclusive, progressive society, including one that centers the dignity of Palestinians. The Independent: How do electoral politics—and
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