No Ban No Wall

Was honored to speak at today's No Ban No Wall rally in our beautiful downtown. An electric crowd of at least 300 people withstood the freezing cold to make their voices heard.

Below is the text of my speech

Dear brothers and sisters in humanity
Dear brothers and sisters in justice

My name is Ahmed Abdelmageed
I am a Muslim, Palestinian, immigrant American

I've been to many events like this
And I have to admit that I have a love-hate relationship with events like these

I hate that our nation
a nation that claims democracy as its credence
a nation that boasts human rights as its practice
A nation that is strengthened by the people who come to its shores
from all walks of life
To put their sweat, blood and tears to make it home
Is currently ripping apart the very fabric of its own society
By labeling
By categorizing
By generalizing
By demonizing

But at the same time I love that every time a threat exposes certain fragilities within our democracy

Every time there is an exposed hypocrisy

Every time we feel a tug that could tear the fabric of our society

You show up

You show up to remind everyone that WE the people will not stand idly by while justice is being trampled upon

That we the people will not succumb to fear mongering

That we the people will stand up for what is right

That we are not here solely because we belong to a group targeted by hate

We are here for justice
We are here for equality
We are here for one another

So when you are targeted for where you come from then you and I are one

So today,
I am not only Palestinian, I am Syrian, I am Iranian,
I am Sudanese, I am Iraqi, I am Somali, I am Yemeni, I am Libyan and I am Mexican

When you are targeted for your skin color then you and I are one

So today
I am not only white, I am brown, I am black, I am red and I am yellow

When you are targeted for what you believe then you and I are one

So today
I am Muslim
I am Christian
I am Jew

I am each and everyone of you

For we are the United in the United States of America

Dear brothers and sisters in justice
What is of utmost importance at this time is for those who do good to continue to do so. You're the constant in the equation, the rest is variables

And remember we can individually pray for peace but we must all work for justice

#NoBanNoWall #MuslimBan #ImmigrantsWelcome