Linda Sarsour, left, and Afaf Nasher, of CAIR-NY, address the crowd at Washington Square Park. (Photo: John Knefel)
Ever since November 8, 2016, when Donald Trump was elected, Thania Hussain has gone to nearly every protest organized in New York City. Wednesday night in Washington Square Park was no different. Hussain, an undergraduate student at Fordham University, was one of thousands of people who came to take part in a protest organized by Muslim groups in response to President Donald Trump’s proposed de facto ban on Muslims entering the United States.
“Every time I come out [to protests] I see the same sentiments,” Hussain told me in an interview following the event. “Everyone wants social justice and equality for all. People don’t care if you have a headscarf. It’s wonderful.” She’s not part of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the lead organization that called for the evening’s demonstration. “But I want to be, that’s why I’m here tonight,” she says. “Right now I’m just an undergrad fighting for justice.”
Hussain and the friends who joined her are exactly the kinds of people CAIR, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the more than a half dozen other organizations that cosponsored the rally are trying to engage. “If you are in a movement and you aren’t following a woman of color, you’re in the wrong movement,” Linda Sarsour, one of the organizers behind the Women’s March in Washington, DC, last Saturday, told the assembled crowd. She also warned elected Democrats that if they collaborate with Trump, they will face primaries in 2018. “Keep your eyes on the prize,” she said. “We’re gonna Tea Party them.”
Thania Hussain holds a candle as speakers address the crowd assembled in Washington Square Park. (Photo: John Knefel)
The rally was organized following the news that Donald Trump was imminently preparing…