Rana Abdelhamid: 3 lessons on starting a movement from a self-defense trailblazer
拉娜·阿布德哈米德: 防身術課創辦人分享她開展社運所學會的 3 點
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
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
7 月 4 日說起。
her college sweetheart
at my mother jokingly and said,
much like a celebration
卻不怎麼像為我們慶祝。
would wander past Queens
and long flowy dresses
around my small fingers
against weathered comments like,
to make us feel unsafe, insecure
diverse places in the world,
holding stories that always start
經歷都是大同小異,
and 15 dollars in a pocket,
in jam-packed, busted apartments.
that we had safe microcommunities --
一個安全的微小社群,
in our identities.
that my mom faced,
some of the most powerful women
她們都有相應的網絡。
for who watched whose kids when,
時段託管鄰家的孩子,
of unapologetic North African aunties
無所歉疚的北非阿姨,
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.
一個女鄰居所創立的。
I felt a yank at the back of my head.
後腦被人猛地一拉,
from off of my head.
to a tall, broad-shouldered man,
of that organization and cried and cried.
of Muslim women in our hijabs.
是顯然而見的目標。
and make sure that no one I loved,
保證我所愛的人,
this insecure in her own skin.
因著膚色而感到不安。
how the women in my own neighborhood
community for themselves,
the very little resources they had
about what I could potentially offer
with you today, some of these lessons.
分享一下我學會的幾點。
Shotokan karate
I should go out into my neighborhood
and knocked on doors,
to parents, to young women,
家長和年青女性說了。
a free community center basement
一個免費的社區中心地下室,
that they should come to my class.
又戴頭巾的少女會空手道,
New York version of Mr. Miyagi
紐約皇后區的空手道大師,
in that community center basement
地下室裡向 13 個年青女性
over the course of that summer,
the power of our bodies,
shocking realizations,
with this incredible sisterhood,
我就有了一群很棒的姐妹。
much safer in my own skin.
that we just kept teaching.
我們不斷教導她們。
but we just kept teaching.
教下去,但我們沒停步。
去過 17 個城市,
開辦過 760 個課程,
grassroots organization
for women around the world:
和為她們帶來安全:
an expert in something
and think you have the magic recipe.
就更讓人興奮。
Kendrick Lamar once said,
肯德里克·拉馬爾曾經講過:
to be humble and to sit down.
any business doing work with
in my neighborhood,
那些 14 歲的女生,
I was friends with them.
what it meant to be a child
孟加拉裔孩子」
who were connected to those communities,
一些與這些社區有關的少女,
how they already had
and relationship with their communities.
信心、認知和關係。
and the women in her neighborhood,
social networks,
definition of safety.
a self-defense instructor,
as our network expanded,
is not just physical.
限於身體上的保障,
a 60-minute self-defense class,
for just talking and healing.
暢所欲言,療癒傷痛。
to the class to begin with
experiences with violence.
one time in one of those classes,
to talk about the fact
relationship for over 30 years,
being able to articulate that
that safe space for her.
in women's agency to define
looks like for themselves.
對她們來說的意思。
is to start with the joy.
懷著歡樂的心開始。
I was reacting to a hate-based attack,
是想回應自己因仇恨遭遇的攻擊。
and anxious and overwhelmed.
because if you take a step back,
in this room can probably relate to this,
許多的女性大概也感同身受,
feeling of insecurity,
hearing footsteps behind you.
聽到後面傳來腳步聲,
or if you should slow down.
in case you need to use them.
I want to make sure you are safe."
訊息。我想確保你安全回家了。」
too much or too little in a meeting.
and trans and queer and Latinx
黑人、變性人、酷兒、
貧窮階層、外來人口,
how overwhelming this work can be,
多讓人喘不過氣,
of personal safety.
to this work to begin with,
the love that I had
a refugee camp in Jordan
美麗神奇的方式聚集,
and supported each other
we built together.
just teach self-defense,
teaching self-defense all of these years
讓我明白的一個關鍵,
as cool as the self-defense moves are,
these self-defense techniques.
de-escalate any violent situation.
to take place to begin with needs to stop.
we need all hands on deck.
to start with who you know
從你認識的人開始,
千里之行,始於足下。
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