PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Activists on the "front lines of the fight for immigrant rights" amid President Donald Trump's travel ban will take part in a free Brooklyn Museum panel discussion Thursday night.
The panelists — Linda Sarsour, a Brooklyn-based activist and leader of last month's Women’s March in Washington D.C.; Murad Awawdeh, of the New York Immigrant Coalition; Carl Lipscombe, of Black Alliance for Just Immigration; Lisa Schreibersdorf, of Brooklyn Defender Services; and Nayim Islam, of Desis Rising Up and Moving — will speak about how they've dealt with Trump's executive orders, according to the Brooklyn Community Foundation, which is co-hosting the event.
All of the groups have been directly involved in actions to help those affected by Trump's travel ban in recent weeks, whether at the rallies held to protest the executive orders or helping provide legal services to those caught up in the ban.
Sarsour, executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, has become a particularly visible figure in recent weeks after she helped organize the Women's March in Washington, D.C., then became the subject of #IStandWithLinda, a social media campaign created to defend the Palestinian-American activist from false accusations that she supports the Islamic State.
Many of the speakers lead groups given “immediate response” grants from $10,000 to $25,000 from the Brooklyn Community Foundation to continue their work “on behalf of Brooklyn’s immigrant communities,” said foundation spokeswoman Liane Stegmaier.
“So many people are looking for direction and leadership right now, and these organizations can provide just that,” she said.
The foundation’s president, Cecilia Clarke, will moderate the panel.
The event will take place Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the museum, located at 200 Eastern Parkway. The panel is free and open to the public, but organizers suggest getting there early because they are expecting full capacity.
