American Hate: A Panel Discussion

Thursday, August 2, 2018 - 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Event Presenter/Author: 
Arjun Singh Sethi, Kalia Abiade, Niketa Brar, and Bassem Kawar
 
 
Please join us for a panel discussion with Arjun Singh Sethi, Kalia Abiade, Niketa Brar, and Bassem Kawar, celebrating the publication of American Hate: Survivors Speak Out.  A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion.
At the Co-op
 
RSVP HERE (Please note that your RSVP is requested but not required.)
 
About the book: In American Hate: Survivors Speak Out, survivors tell their stories in their own words and describe how the bigoted rhetoric and policies of the Trump administration have intensified bullying, discrimination, and even violence toward them and their communities.
 
You will hear from immigrants and refugees weighing whether to stay in this country, from parents grappling with how to explain the surge in hostility to their children, and from families mourning the loss of a loved one. While these accounts are troubling, the survivors themselves are often hopeful. These are stories of communities coming together to support those who have lost so much, of activists reaching across divides to help one another, and of young people rallying to fight bigotry and hate.
 
About Arjun Singh Sethi: Arjun Singh Sethi is a community activist, civil rights lawyer, writer, and law professor based in Washington, DC. He works closely with Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Sikh communities and advocates for racial justice, equity, and social change at the local and national levels. His writing has appeared in CNN Opinion, The Guardian, Politico Magazine, USA Today, and The Washington Post, and he is featured regularly on national radio and television. He holds faculty appointments at Georgetown University Law Center and Vanderbilt University Law School, and presently co-chairs the American Bar Association's National Committee on Homeland Security, Terrorism, and Treatment of Enemy Combatants. He lives in Washington, D.C.
 
About Kalia Abiade: Kalia Abiade is the Director of Programs at the Pillars Fund. In this role she oversees the community infrastructure fund, managing grantee relationships and the annual grant cycle, and she provides leadership for emerging Pillars initiatives. Prior to joining Pillars, Kalia spent four years working with community-based groups, faith communities, and national coalitions to challenge organized anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim movements and their policies. She is an experienced trainer and convener on issues related to communications and racial justice. Kalia has more than 15 years of journalism experience and has taught high school students in rural Southwest Virginia with the Upward Bound program. Her analysis has been cited in the Washington Post, The Nation, NPR, Public Radio International, In These Times and USA Today, among other outlets. Kalia holds a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Florida and studied race and social policy at Virginia Tech.
 
About Niketa Brar: Niketa Brar is the co-founder and executive director of Chicago United for Equity, a civil rights organization that bridges policy and organizing to forward a mission of a more just, equitable, and inclusive Chicago. CUE builds civic action networks designed to tackle the greatest inequities of our time by connecting racial justice advocates in schools, neighborhoods, and civic institutions. Brar comes to this work from a career bringing a community-centered approach to government. She has served as a consultant and adviser to political leaders including Oakland City Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Chicago City Treasurer Kurt Summers and Illinois Secretary of Education Beth Purvis. Brar holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and International Affairs from the George Washington University, a Masters of Arts in Teaching Secondary Mathematics from American University, and a Masters in Public Policy from the Ford School at the University of Michigan.
 
About Bassem Kawar: Bassem Kawar is a community organizer from Chicago, and currently the National Coordinator for the Campaign to TAKE ON HATE, a project of the National Network for Arab American Communities. Kawar graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from DePaul University, where he was a student organizer.  He began his career as a community organizer with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), working predominantly in the Arab American and Arab immigrant communities of Chicago and its southwest suburbs. Over the past few years, Kawar worked on Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s historic Chicago mayoral campaign, and later moved to Detroit to organize with the American Federation of Teachers and the Detroit Federation of Teachers in the rank-and-file teachers’ contract battle with the city.
Event Location: 
The Seminary Co-op Bookstore
5751 S. Woodlawn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637
See map: Google Maps