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Linda Sarsour is a working woman, community activist and mother of three. And she’s only 28. Ambitious, outspoken and independent, Linda shatters stereotypes of Muslim women while also treasuring her religious and ethnic heritage. She is a Palestinian Muslim American and a self-proclaimed "pure new Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn!"
Linda’s parents immigrated to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, more than thirty years ago, and Linda grew up in a diverse community that represented the United States at its best.
"Growing up in Brooklyn was a great experience," she says. "Living among so many other immigrant communities struggling to make a better life, there was a feeling of 'we’re all in it together.'"
Linda has always embraced both her American identity and religious background. She started wearing hijab, the traditional Muslim head covering, in 2000 as a testament to her faith and cultural heritage. "It’s great to show people that even though I am a Muslim and wear a head scarf, I am still a New Yorker and an American," she proclaims in her distinct Brooklyn accent.
By the spring of 2001, just after her 21st birthday, Linda had married, given birth to two children and graduated from Kingsborough College. She had always wanted to be a high school English teacher, but her plans changed when she was called on to help provide services to Arabs and Muslims in New York City after 9/11.
"It was a really eye opening experience, because I come from a privileged Muslim family, and then I met all these people whose fathers were deported, whose mothers couldn’t speak English, who didn’t know how to get health insurance … and I just never looked back from that world." Linda said.
Linda stayed on as a volunteer and is now the acting director of the Arab American Association of New York (AANY). AAANY provides for the basic needs of underserved New Yorkers with services like basic case management, supportive counseling, domestic violence intervention and prevention, legal assistance, access to health care. It also offers ESOL classes, after school tutoring, teen leadership programs, teen folklore dance groups and cultural events.
In addition to working full time and raising three children, Linda is also the coordinator of community initiatives for the YWCA Brooklyn, expanding existing women’s health promotion programs to underserved women through partnerships with diverse community and faith-based organizations. She is currently a student at Empire State College.
Linda still lives in Bay Ridge with her three children, Tamir, 9, Sabreen, 7 and Sajida, 4.
Posted June 26, 2008
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