Rana Abdelhamid: 3 lessons on starting a movement from a self-defense trailblazer
رنا عبد الحميد: ثلاثة دروس من رائدة دفاعٍ عن النفس حول بدء حركة
Rana Abdelhamid is an internationally acclaimed community organizer, first-degree black belt, public speaker and social entrepreneur focused on mass mobilization, international solidarity and the empowerment of marginalized communities. Full bio
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her college sweetheart
وراء الأفق،
at my mother jokingly and said,
much like a celebration
would wander past Queens
نتجول عبر مقاطعة كوينز
and long flowy dresses
وفساتينها الطويلة الواسعة،
around my small fingers
against weathered comments like,
to make us feel unsafe, insecure
أن تشعرنا بعدم الأمان وعدم الثقة
diverse places in the world,
تنوعًا في العالم،
holding stories that always start
الحاملين قصصًا دائمًا ما تبدأ
and 15 dollars in a pocket,
in jam-packed, busted apartments.
that we had safe microcommunities --
من أن لدينا مجتمعات صغيرة آمنة...
in our identities.
that my mom faced,
التي واجهتها أمي،
some of the most powerful women
لكل شيء.
for who watched whose kids when,
من يراقب أطفال من ومتى،
of unapologetic North African aunties
من الخالات الشمال أفريقيات غير الآسفات
and stand in front of a mirror,
bright silk around my head
and my grandmother did.
the streets of New York City
at a domestic violence organization
my neighborhood had started.
I felt a yank at the back of my head.
شعرت بشدّةٍ قوية في مؤخرة رأسي.
from off of my head.
to a tall, broad-shouldered man,
ذا أكتافٍ عريضة،
of that organization and cried and cried.
في الولايات المتحدة
بعد أحداث 11 سبتمبر،
of Muslim women in our hijabs.
and make sure that no one I loved,
وأتأكد أن لا أحد أحبه
this insecure in her own skin.
في جلدها الخاص.
how the women in my own neighborhood
في كيف أن النساء في حيي
community for themselves,
the very little resources they had
ما لديهن من موارد ضئيلة جدًا
about what I could potentially offer
with you today, some of these lessons.
بعض تلك الدروس.
Shotokan karate
I should go out into my neighborhood
and knocked on doors,
to parents, to young women,
وإلى النساء الشابات،
a free community center basement
قبو مركز مجتمعي مجاني
that they should come to my class.
أن عليهن حضور صفّي.
الخمسة أقدام وبوصة، تعرف الكراتيه.
New York version of Mr. Miyagi
الخاصة بحي كوينز في نيويورك
in that community center basement
في قبو المركز المجتمعي
over the course of that summer,
the power of our bodies,
shocking realizations,
with this incredible sisterhood,
بهذا التنظيم النسائي الرائع،
much safer in my own skin.
that we just kept teaching.
في أننا استمررنا في التدريس.
but we just kept teaching.
لكننا فقط استمررنا في التدريس.
grassroots organization
for women around the world:
للنساء حول العالم:
an expert in something
and think you have the magic recipe.
معتقدًا أنك تمتلك الوصفة السحرية.
Kendrick Lamar once said,
ذات مرة،
to be humble and to sit down.
any business doing work with
in my neighborhood,
في حيي،
I was friends with them.
what it meant to be a child
ماذا يعني أن تكون طفلًا
who were connected to those communities,
كنّ على صلةٍ بتلك المجتمعات،
how they already had
كيف أنه كان لديهن بالفعل
and relationship with their communities.
والارتباط بمجتمعاتهم.
and the women in her neighborhood,
social networks,
definition of safety.
a self-defense instructor,
as our network expanded,
is not just physical.
a 60-minute self-defense class,
مدته 60 دقيقة
for just talking and healing.
مخصصة فقط للحديث والتعافي.
to the class to begin with
السبب الذي دعاهن لحضور الصف كبداية
experiences with violence.
one time in one of those classes,
to talk about the fact
relationship for over 30 years,
لأكثر من 30 عامًا،
التي تكون فيها قادرة على الإفصاح عن هذا
being able to articulate that
that safe space for her.
in women's agency to define
بقدرة النساء على تعريف
looks like for themselves.
بالنسبة إليهن.
is to start with the joy.
I was reacting to a hate-based attack,
كنت أستجيب لهجوم قائم على الكراهية،
and anxious and overwhelmed.
because if you take a step back,
in this room can probably relate to this,
في هذه الغرفة يمكنهن فهم هذا على الأغلب،
feeling of insecurity,
hearing footsteps behind you.
وسماع وقع خطى خلفك.
or if you should slow down.
أم أن عليكِ الإبطاء.
in case you need to use them.
في حالة احتجتِ لاستعمالها.
I want to make sure you are safe."
أريد التأكد من سلامتك."
too much or too little in a meeting.
في اجتماع.
and trans and queer and Latinx
ومتحولة جنسيًا ومثلية ولاتينية
how overwhelming this work can be,
of personal safety.
to this work to begin with,
the love that I had
a refugee camp in Jordan
and supported each other
we built together.
just teach self-defense,
teaching self-defense all of these years
من تدريسي الدفاع عن النفس كل تلك السنوات
as cool as the self-defense moves are,
رغم روعة حركات الدفاع عن النفس،
these self-defense techniques.
تقنيات الدفاع عن النفس تلك،
de-escalate any violent situation.
إلى تقليل حدة أي حالة عنف.
to take place to begin with needs to stop.
أن تتوقف أولًا.
we need all hands on deck.
نحتاج عون الجميع.
to start with who you know
وتبدأوا بمن تعرفونهم
لكن لتبدأوا فقط.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Rana Abdelhamid - Community organizer, entrepreneurRana Abdelhamid is an internationally acclaimed community organizer, first-degree black belt, public speaker and social entrepreneur focused on mass mobilization, international solidarity and the empowerment of marginalized communities.
Why you should listen
Rana Abdelhamid is committed to organizing communities around migrant, gender and racial justice. For ten years, Abdelhamid has served as the Executive Director of Malikah, a global grassroots movement committed to building safety and power for all women through self-defense, healing justice, community organizing and financial literacy. She founded Malikah at the age of 16 after being attacked by a stranger, who tried to remove the hijab from her head. Today, Abdelhamid and her volunteer team of women conduct healing spaces and have trained more than 7,000 women in 18 cities across the globe. For the past three years, Malikah has held the National Muslim Women's Summit at Harvard University, training 50 Muslim American women in leadership and community organizing.
Abdelhamid's organizing work has always been rooted in building solidarity across communities domestically and abroad. During the Arab Spring, Abdelhamid was involved in mobilizing diaspora communities in solidarity with grassroots activists in Egypt. After the "Muslim ban" was passed, she helped organize thousands of people across Boston for the 20,000-person Copley Square protest and spoke alongside Senator Elizabeth Warren, among others. After the murder of Nabra Hassanen, Abdelhamid and her team worked to mobilize tens of thousands of people across ten cities in under 24 hours for prayers and vigils in her remembrance.
In 2013, Abdelhamid started Hijabis of NY, an online platform that highlights the stories of hijabi women. In 2017, she also coedited and published Muslim Women's Stories, a collection of narratives from young Muslim women across the US. She is highly committed to the global human rights movement and is one of youngest serving board members of Amnesty International USA. Abdelhamid has a BA from Middlebury in International Politics and Economics and a master's degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where her research was focused on policy interventions to mitigate the prevalence of domestic violence in Queens, NY and on refugee integration policy in the US.
In 2017, Abdelhamid was named one of the 17 women who "Rocked the Resistance" in 2017 and is frequently called "the Muslim Black Belt." She has been named a Truman Scholar, a Running Start Rising Political Star and has received both a NYC Council Proclamation and an International Youth Advocate award by the UNAUSA Foundation.
Rana Abdelhamid | Speaker | TED.com