On January 27, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 13769, immediately suspending entry of citizens from seven Muslim majority countries. Confusion at the nation’s airports ensued, as well as wide-spread protests. At New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, thousands of protesters materialized spontaneously, joined by elected officials, volunteer lawyers and advocates providing assistance to many hastily detained immigrants and their families. Thirty thousand people gathered at Battery Park on January 29 for a rally led by the New York Immigration Coalition and other advocacy groups.
Although various aspects of the order have been struck down by different courts, the administration has not rescinded its policy on this issue, and the President has recently tweeted about his commitment to the “travel ban.” It is far from certain that the fight is over. On June 28, the New York Immigration Coalition and BAM present 48 Hours at JFK: What Now?, an event that will recount some of the rapid resistance to the order and discuss the recourse going forward.
The event will start with a 10-minute documentary, 48 Hours of Resistance by Micah Shaffer, which features interviews with the lawyers and organizers who worked on the ground, as well as the perspective of detainees. The film paints the full emotional picture of what those anxiety-ridden 48 hours meant for America. It will be followed by a panel discussion on what’s next. The panelists include Camille Mackler, director of Legal Initiatives for the New York Immigration Coalition; Nisrin Elahim, a Sudanese graduate student who was detained; and Ahed Festuk, a Syrian refugee who came out to JFK to offer her services as a translator. The panel will be moderated by Ahmed Ali Akbar, host of BuzzFeed’s hit podcast See Something Say Something.
Tickets to the event go on sale on June 16. A portion of the night's proceeds will go to support the New York Immigration Coalition and its work to advance justice for New York's four million immigrants. For ticket information, please call 718-636-4100, or visit www.BAM.org.
About the panelists
Ahmed Ali Akbar is a writer and host of the critically-acclaimed BuzzFeed podcast See Something Say Something, where he invites a rotating group of guests to drink tea, tell stories, and talk about being Muslim in America. He writes and tweets about American Muslim culture, nostalgia, the immigrant experience, video games, and more. Follow him on twitter @radbrowndads.
Camille J. Mackler, Esq. is the Director of Legal Initiatives at the New York Immigration Coalition. In that role she supports non-profit immigration attorneys and leads advocacy campaigns to improve resources for legal services as well as more just laws and policies to benefit all immigrants. Mackler has a Juris Doctorate from New York Law School and a bachelor of science in foreign service from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. She currently serves on the New York State Bar Association’s Special Committee on Immigration Representation, and on the American Immigration Lawyers Association committees on Consumer Protection and Unauthorized Practice of Law (national) and Media & Advocacy (New York Chapter).
Nisrin Elamin is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology at Stanford University where her dissertation focuses on the varied forms of communities’ resistance to land dispossession in rural Sudan. She is currently a member of African Communities Together and an educator at the Sadie Nash Leadership Project in New York City. Elamin is originally from Sudan and was detained at JFK Airport under the Muslim ban earlier this year.
Ahed Festuk is a Syrian refugee who came to the U.S. over a year ago and now lives in Brooklyn. Festuk went to JFK to offer her services as a translator after the travel ban.
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is recognized internationally for its innovative programming of dance, music, theater, opera, and film. Its mission is to be the home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas. With three venues, including the intimate and flexible 250-seats Fishman Space, BAM presents leading national and international artists and companies in its annual Winter/Spring Season and highlights groundbreaking, contemporary work in the performing arts with its Next Wave Festival each fall. Founded in 1983, the Next Wave is one of the world's most important festivals of contemporary performing arts. BAM Rose Cinemas features new, independent film releases and BAMcinématek––a curated, daily repertory film program. BAM serves New York City's diverse population through community events, literary series, and a wide variety of educational and family programs. The institution is led by President Katy Clark and Executive Producer Joseph V. Melillo. Visit www.BAM.org.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) is an umbrella policy and advocacy organization for 175 immigrant-led and –serving groups in New York State that work with immigrants and refugees. Their mission is to unite immigrants, members, and allies so all New Yorkers can thrive. They represent the collective interests of New York’s diverse immigrant communities and organizations and devise solutions to advance them; advocate for laws, policies, and programs that lead to justice and opportunity for all immigrant groups; and build the power of immigrants and the organizations that serve them to ensure their sustainability, to improve people’s lives, and to strengthen our state. The organization has distributed thousands of safety toolkits to immigrant communities and educated nearly 10,000 immigrants of their rights; worked with law enforcement and communities to track and combat hate crimes; trained more than 300 volunteers to become “Immigration Navigators” to support lawyers and expand high-quality legal services for immigrants; and have led several high-profile protests and rallies—including Jummah prayers, a 5,000-strong rally at JFK and a 30,000-strong march through lower Manhattan to protest the Muslim ban.
Credits
Support for Muslim Stories: Global to Local provided by the Building Bridges Program of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.
Your tax dollars make BAM programs possible through funding from the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The BAM facilities are owned by the City of New York and benefit from public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with support from Mayor Bill de Blasio; Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl; the New York City Council including Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito, Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras, Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Jimmy Van Bramer, Councilmember Laurie Cumbo, and the Brooklyn Delegation of the Council; and Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. BAM would like to thank the Brooklyn Delegations of the New York State Assembly, Joseph R. Lentol, Delegation Leader; and New York Senate, Senator Velmanette Montgomery.
General Information
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). Both locations house Greenlight Bookstore at BAM kiosks. BAM Fisher, located at 321 Ashland Place, is the newest addition to the BAM campus and houses the Judith and Alan Fishman Space and Rita K. Hillman Studio. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn’s only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, offers a bar menu and dinner entrées prior to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House evening performances.
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins St for Harvey Theater) D, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue
Train: Long Island Railroad to Atlantic Terminal – Barclays Center
Bus: B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM
Car: Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM
For ticket information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.
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The New York Immigration Coalition is an umbrella policy and advocacy organization for nearly 200 groups in New York State that work with immigrants and refugees.The NYIC aims to achieve a fairer and more just society that values the contributions of immigrants and extends opportunity to all by promoting immigrants’ full civic participation, fostering their leadership, and providing a unified voice and a vehicle for collective action for New York’s diverse immigrant communities.