Against Islamophobia and White Supremacy - A Reflection by Linda Sarsour

The January 6th attack on the United States Capitol showed that white Christian Nationalism is on the rise. 2022 ended with over 200 white nationalist candidates elected at every level of government. With each passing election, fringe political ideas become more and more mainstream. Simultaneously, islamophobia has never lost its public appeal. The so-called Muslim Ban is just one example of white supremacy becoming policy. Religious leaders are called to fight back against the rising tide of islamophobia in our community and congregations.

Join the conversation with Linda Sarsour, noted Palestinian-American civil rights leader who will speak on the topic: Islamophobia and White Supremacy. Sarsour was co-chair of the 2017 Women's March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, and the 2019 Women's March. She is also a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. The event will be livestreamed on the United Church of Christ YouTube channel.

Hosted by the Valley and Mountain Fellowship’s Center for Faith, Art, and Justice in partnership with the United Church of Christ’s Join the Movement toward Racial Justice and others, the series Set Us Free from Fear: Faith, White Supremacy, and Politics invites scholars, clergy, and activists working at the intersection of race and faith to share their wisdom to our broader communities.

Linda Sarsour was co-chair of the 2017 Women's March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, and the 2019 Women's March. She is also a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. She and her Women's March co-chairs were profiled in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2017. Sarsour is the co-founder and executive director of MPOWER Change, the first Muslim online organizing platform. And she served for nearly 16 years as executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. Through these organizations, she has been at the forefront of major civil rights campaigns, including the call for an end to unwarranted surveillance of New York’s Muslim communities. In the wake of the 2014 police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, she co-founded Muslims for Ferguson to build solidarity among American Muslims and to work against police brutality.
Sarsour co-chaired the 2015 March2Justice—a 250-mile journey on foot, from New York City to Washington, D.C., to deliver a “justice package” to end racial profiling, demilitarize police, and demand the government invest in young people and communities. And in 2017, Sarsour co-chaired the Women’s March on Washington, the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. The march brought together millions of Americans to rally for change and equality for all. According to The New York Times, Sarsour “has tackled issues like immigration policy, mass incarceration, stop-and-frisk and the New York City Police Department’s spying operations on Muslims—all of which have largely inured her to hate-tinged criticism.”
Sarsour is the author of “We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders: A Memoir of Love and Resistance,” published in March 2020. She was recognized as one of Fortune’s 50 Greatest Leaders and featured among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2017.
Linda Sarsour is outspoken, ambitious, and independent. She continues to shatter long-held stereotypes of Muslim women while cherishing her religious and ethnic heritage and while building coalitions across communities.