YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

The other day, I had an opportunity to go around Steinway St. in Queens and meet a few of the local businessmen, and see the churches and mosques that make up the Arab American community here. First, let me just say that this neigborhood is truly vibrant and beautiful. There is a tremendously diverse Arab American community here that meshes together into one unique whole. Morroccans and Palestinians next to Lebanese, Yemeni, Egyptians, and Syrians- truly a beautiful thing. However, when discussing this neigborhood with Mr. Rami Nuseir, who heads the American Mideast Leadership Network, I came to understand that despite the positive environment, and strong community, there is very little in the way of political organization out here. This realization was at once troubling and encouraging.

On the one hand, trying to get large communities of Arab Americans to do anything at the same time can feel a bit like herding cats, and the prospect of recruiting volunteers, and getting signatures for the Yalla Vote National Petition seems daunting. On the other hand, the community that already does exist is so proud of its various cultures, and open to sharing it with the rest of the world. I see the potential in this neighborhood to utilize the network of good will and the true commitment to Arab American values that already runs deep in Queens. As a field organizer, I need to take what already exists in this cultural and social community and figure out how to transform that energy and enthusism into a cohesive political force to be reckoned with. I feel that the microcosm of Steinway Street in Queens examplifies the struggle for Arab American political assertion on a national scale. We’re here, we are proud of who we are, but for some reason we have difficulty banding together, organizing, and using the channels available to us as Americans to galvanize positive change. Hopefully, by the end of the Yalla Vote campaign, my hefty contact lists and business directories, which will eventually manifest themselves as signatures and actual voters, and serve as a new start for Arab American political empowerment in Queens and beyond.