Linda Sarsour

Linda Sarsour
Sarsour in May 2016
Born	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Residence	Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Kingsborough Community College Brooklyn College
Occupation	Activist, writer
Known for	Co-chair of the 2017 Women's March

Linda Sarsour is a Palestinian-American political activist and former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. She was one of the organizers of the 2017 Women's March. According to the New York Times, she has attracted controversy and "hate-tinged criticism" for her political activism.

Sarsour was born in Brooklyn, New York and is the oldest of seven children born to a pair of Palestinian immigrants. She was raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and went to John Jay High School in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Sarsour was married in an arranged marriage at the age of 17. She had three children by her mid-20s. After high school, she took courses at Kingsborough Community College and Brooklyn College with the goal of becoming an English teacher. Sarsour lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Shortly before the September 11 attacks, Sarsour began to volunteer for the Arab American Association of New York. Sarsour's activism included defending the civil rights of Muslim Americans following the attacks. She worked to have Muslim holidays recognized in New York City's public schools, and later gained wider attention protesting police surveillance of Muslim Americans.

In 2007 Sarsour appeared in The Hijabi Monologues, a performance art piece based on stories about veiling.

Sarsour was appointed as director of the Arab American Association of New York in 2011, having already served in a variety of roles at the organization. As director, she advocated for passage of the Community Safety Act in New York, which created an independent office to review police policy and expanded the definition of bias-based profiling in New York. Sarsour and her organization pressed for the law after instances of what they saw as biased policing in local neighborhoods, and it passed over the objections of the city's mayor and police chief. In 2011 Sarsour participated in the Women's Media Center's Progressive Women's Voices Media and Leadership Training Program. In 2016 Sarsour ran for a position as a County Committee member with the Democratic Party of Kings County, New York. She placed third in that election.