The intention is that the audience will be primarily Arab and Black and that we will create a space to honestly discuss the current state of the relationship among both communities. We will briefly cover the context of the Arab immigrant experience, the choice they may have in slipping into the white dominant mainstream, the distancing from the African-American Communities, the legacy of slavery in the Arab World, the treatment of African peoples by Arab regimes, the lack of empathy with the Black experience in the United States and then transition in the second hour to strategies for coalition building by soliciting examples of solidarity from New York and around the country, and concluding with next steps.
This workshop encourages active participation by workshop participants.
We can include a discussion of:
Goals of a Black-Arab alliance and key areas for collective advocacy.
Resources either community has as constructive tools in coalition building: use of privilege, expertise and experience.
Awareness within our communities about the grounds for Black-Arab solidarity.
Problems faced in attempting to build a Black-Arab coalition: racism, mutual distrust, stereotypes, and class-differentials
Brown-on-black racism, anti-Arab racism post-9/11, Arab ownership of businesses in Black neighborhoods, apathy in both communities
