On Oct. 3, 2015, the Smith College Muslim Student Association—which goes by the name of Al-Iman (Faith)—invited Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-Muslim American from Brooklyn, to speak at their annual Eid Dinner.

Sarsour describes herself as “a racial justice and civil rights activist and every Islamophobe’s worst nightmare.”

She is a proud Brooklynite who has organized the Muslims for Ferguson campaign, and has walked with around 70 people on a 250 mile march from Staten Island, NY to Washington D.C. Wearing a hijab on her head has not stopped her voice from being heard, rather it has empowered her to speak out against injustices towards not only Muslims, but also black men and women.

She is the Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York, a not-for-profit organization that provides services to the Arab Immigrant and Arab American community. This organization is involved in advocacy and civic engagement, by working with several campaigns such as the Law Enforcement Credibility Campaign, and the Muslim School Holidays Campaign—among many others.

Meeting Sarsour was a very pleasant and heartwarming experience. She has a very down-to-earth personality which makes her easily approachable. On top of that, she is a marvelous and powerful speaker. The photographer at the event, Asrie Karma, told us how the whole audience had their eyes on her the whole time she was speaking--no one was looking down at their phones. The audience included Muslims and some non-Muslims.

In her speech, she explained to us why she is a strong advocate for black liberation being a Palestinian-American Muslim woman. She related how the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), a very important Muslim figure, was a racial justice activist. Islam has already granted everyone equal rights--regardless of their color or the ethnicity they are from. By working hard to attain these rights for Americans, she is standing up for her Islamic beliefs.

Furthermore, she spoke about how Islam has been in America since the very beginning. Many of the slaves that were brought here were Muslim. Discriminatory remarks usually include sayings such as “Go back to your country!” —but Linda explains how Muslims belong in America just as much as anyone else does. This IS our country.

Linda strongly believes that Muslims will be liberated only after black men and women are liberated.

She then related her experience during the 250-mile march from Staten Island, NY to Washington D.C. The demographics included Muslim and non-Muslim blacks, Latinos and some white people. She recalled their stay at Hidaya mosque in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and how the marchers were moved by the actions and hospitality of those at the mosque. The doors of the mosque were left open all night, trusting and welcoming the visitors. No one was kicked out as the mosque never “closes.” It is open for anyone at anytime. Linda feels strongly about how our actions speak louder than our words. After this experience with Muslims, she knew the people she marched with would never tolerate any hate towards Muslims, for they had experienced first-hand “their hospitality, their service, their living their faith out loud.”

Linda defined faith as service--no matter what faith one believes in:

“Faith should be moving you to make the communities you live in a better place. I don’t believe we are on this earth to go to school, to go to work, and go home. I don’t believe that is why are here. I want you to see that when someone else around you is successful, that doesn’t take away from you. Right? That we should be happy for someone else who is successful because we hope that those who are before us, who have become successful, have opened those doors for us to be successful.”

Towards the end of her speech, Sarsour summarized how two groups of people have helped her reach where she is today: the black American muslims “who paved the way for people like me to worship and to be Muslim in this country” and women. She urged all of us to never put each other down, but to empower one another. She made the crowd laugh when she shared a quote in her office that says, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women.”

She explained, “If there weren’t other women who were vocal, who led social justice movements in this country, who paved the way for us to be here, even in an all-womens’ college, none of us would be sitting in this space. Don’t forget where you came from and don’t forget those before you who opened doors for you and allowed you to be in this space.”

FInally, she encouraged the audience not to be scared of speaking out due to verbal attacks such as “un-American,” and “not patriotic”:

“My response to people who say that is I am actually a true American. I actually am the true American because I actually believe that my country could be better and I am pushing my country to be better, because I know the mistakes that my country has made and I don’t want to be a part of that. I want to be a part of the generation that says ‘enough is enough,’ that I want to be a part of the generation that rights the wrongs of the past…it doesn't continue to perpetuate the institutional racism that has consistently lived in our country—that’s the generation I want to be a part of and that’s the generation that I consider to be true Patriots and true Americans and that’s your response to people who tell you that you are un-American for standing up for what you believe.”

She closed her speech by declaring: “I recommit myself, I commit my mind, my body, my soul, everything that I have for dignity, true self-determination, equality, and justice for all people and I hope that you all can commit yourself to the same.”

After the event was over, some students had the pleasure of taking Sarsour out to tea and spending more time with her. We went around in a circle and had everyone share some words about how they were feeling that night. She told us that she felt “rejuvenated,” “inspired,” and “youthful being around us.” After finishing up our tea and food, she paid for all of our bills—a token of her kindness and a mark of her “faith living out loud.”

To find out more about the organization that she is a part of, visit the site: www.arabamericanny.org